the.com/layup

means A close-range basketball shot made by laying the ball gently against the backboard or through the hoop, generally considered the easiest shot in the game.

from Straightforward compound of 'lay' (to place something gently) and 'up,' describing exactly the motion — laying the ball up near the rim instead of shooting it hard from a distance. The term grew up alongside basketball itself, coined to name a basic technique rather than borrowed from some other field, and it later jumped into general English for any easy, nearly guaranteed task.