The NBA has announced a rule change heading into next season.
NBA insider Shams Charania reported the news on Wednesday and predicted how players and teams might treat long-distance shooting in the 2025-26 season.
What’s the New NBA Rule and What Is Shams Charania Projecting for Next Season?
Although basketball is considered a team sport, most statistics and accomplishments are tracked at the individual level. Because those stats affect areas such as contract negotiations, players are mindful of their shooting percentages.
NBA stars will have one less reason to worry next season. According to Charania, the league will no longer count unsuccessful end-of-period heaves against a player’s field goal percentage.
The NBA will implement a new change for the 2025-26 season: unsuccessful end-of-period heaves will now be recorded as a missed field-goal attempt for the team, not the player, sources tell ESPN. Those long heaves will no longer impact an individual player’s percentages.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 10, 2025
With the rule change, Charania predicted more players and teams would take advantage.
“So expect even more long-range shots from players this season, which was behind motivation of the change and the league testing it at Summer League in July. The Competition Committee has been in support of the adjustment in recent months too,” he said.
So expect even more long-range shots from players this season, which was behind motivation of the change and the league testing it at Summer League in July. The Competition Committee has been in support of the adjustment in recent months too. https://t.co/z9ue0Z219j
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 10, 2025
Although teams get 24 seconds per possession, there are often a few seconds left in a quarter when a player is forced to throw up a prayer from beyond half-court to widen or trim a lead. The new rule ensures those attempts will not impact individual percentages.
As a result of the rule change, 3-point shooting percentages for several stars across the league could increase slightly. While most fans support the move, others question whether it makes sense to count misses against the team if the player is credited with the rare successful half-court or full-court make. The upcoming season will reveal more about the impact of the change.
According to Underdog, Nikola Jokic had the most heave attempts last season with 22, followed by Mikal Bridges with 12, Anthony Edwards with 10, Tyrese Haliburton with nine, and Coby White, Payton Pritchard, Fred VanVleet, and Naji Marshall with eight each.