There are three rule changes likely coming to the NBA in the 2018-19 season.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that the NBA's board of governors are expected to approve three rule changes for the 2018-19 season, including shortening the shot clock reset following an offensive rebound, simplifying the clear-path rule and adding to the definition of a "hostile act." The board of governors will meet on Sept. 20-21 and a two-thirds vote will be required to implement the rule changes.
The most notable proposed rule change is shortening the shot clock reset following an offensive rebound from 24 seconds to 14 seconds. According to Wojnarowski, the league believes this change will increase the number of shot attempts overall and really have an effect on late-game situations, as teams that pull down offensive rebounds will no longer be able to dribble out as big of chunks of time off the clock. This rule is already in place in the WNBA and G League.
For what it's worth, the Sixers were the third-best offensive rebounding team last season, averaging 10.9 per game, and were fifth in second-chance points per game at 13.7. So this rule change would have a direct effect on some of those extra possessions that don't result in immediate shot attempts like a put-back around the rim or a kick-out to an open three.
The second proposed rule change is a simplification of the clear-path rule, which would now be when a foul occurs to "any offensive player" that "deprives the offensive team of transition scoring opportunity" while "the ball is ahead of the tip of the circle in the backcourt, no defensive player is ahead of the offensive player with the scoring opportunity and that offensive player is in control of the ball or a pass to him has been released."
The big adjustment here is that a play would no longer need to start in the backcourt to be a clear-path foul and referees would only have to determine if the player in control of the ball or set to receive a pass that's already been released is ahead of all defenders.
The third and final rule change is adding to the definition of a "hostile act" to make going to an instant replay review easier for referees. Rather than a "hostile act" referring to just interactions between players, the rule change would allow officials to review player interactions with coaches, referees and fans.
