The National Basketball League gets under way on Wednesday night and there are some significant changes you may have missed.
The first notable change to talk about is the introduction of the Rapid League which will run side-by-side with the NBL.
It was successfully introduced in Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa and has been adopted in the men’s competition. The Rapid League is restricted to New Zealand players and players who are not starting for their NBL in the corresponding NBL game.
The competition ladder has been tweaked as well. Teams will be positioned according to their winning percentage.
Previously teams were awarded two points for winning a game.
The other significant change to the ladder is points for and against will now be recorded as a percentage, including the points scored in the Rapid League.
It is significant because if teams are tied then the points scored for and against percentage will be the tiebreaker. Basically, every basket will count.
Team fouls will be worked out differently during overtime periods. Each team will start on two fouls meaning they can only make two fouls before the opposing team will be awarded two free throws shot for every foul thereafter.
There is a mid-season trade window to shake things up. In the 66 hours following round seven the league’s 11 teams will have an opportunity to trade with each other.
The players must agree to any trade and any team completing a successful trade will receive a 6.5% boost to their salary cap, which can be used on any player during the second half of the season.
Any player traded into a team must remain on the roster for the remainder of the season.
