Can you throw a weapon with the “thrown” keyword without using up the free equip/unequip of the attack action?
The “thrown” weapon keyword says: "If a weapon has the Thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, and you can draw that weapon as part of the attack."
The "attack" action says: "You can either equip or unequip one weapon when you make an attack as part of this action. You do so either before or after the attack."
By my reading, I could take the attack action, unequip my sword, throw a dart with a free draw, and then use my free object interaction at the end of my turn to re-equip my sword.
Another interpretation is that the thrown weapon text “you can draw that weapon as part of the attack” is just a reminder, not an ability thrown weapons get, and it still uses up your attack action’s “equip” to draw it. So you’d need to use up your free object interaction to stow your sword first, then use the attack action’s “equip” to draw the dart when throwing it.
It's definitely a free draw. It's the same verbiage used for drawing ammunition going all the way back to the 2014 rules.
2014: Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon).
2024: Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon).
This is definitely the intention because there's a Sage Advice Compendium answer that gets into it:
Do the first and third benefits of Crossbow Expert turn a hand crossbow into a semiautomatic weapon?
(...) The sentence tells us two important things. First, you’re assumed to be drawing—that is, extracting with your hand—the ammunition from a container. Second, the act of drawing the ammunition is included in the attack and therefore doesn’t require its own action and doesn’t use up your free interaction with an object on your turn.
In addition, the Thrown Weapon Fighting fighting style included similar text when it debuted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything:
You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon.
So this was a benefit you were gaining from the Fighting Style and not a reminder. The 2024 rules simply moved that benefit from the fighting style to the general rules for Thrown weapons.
So you can draw and throw multiple weapons if having multiattack. It's nice to improve the use of thrown weapons. Notice that now you can throw 2 daggers from empty hands even with no training using the extra Bonus Action attack.
Can you throw a weapon with the “thrown” keyword without using up the free equip/unequip of the attack action?
The “thrown” weapon keyword says: "If a weapon has the Thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, and you can draw that weapon as part of the attack."
The "attack" action says: "You can either equip or unequip one weapon when you make an attack as part of this action. You do so either before or after the attack."
By my reading, I could take the attack action, unequip my sword, throw a dart with a free draw, and then use my free object interaction at the end of my turn to re-equip my sword.
Another interpretation is that the thrown weapon text “you can draw that weapon as part of the attack” is just a reminder, not an ability thrown weapons get, and it still uses up your attack action’s “equip” to draw it. So you’d need to use up your free object interaction to stow your sword first, then use the attack action’s “equip” to draw the dart when throwing it.
Which interpretation of “thrown” is right?
It's definitely a free draw. It's the same verbiage used for drawing ammunition going all the way back to the 2014 rules.
This is definitely the intention because there's a Sage Advice Compendium answer that gets into it:
In addition, the Thrown Weapon Fighting fighting style included similar text when it debuted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything:
So this was a benefit you were gaining from the Fighting Style and not a reminder. The 2024 rules simply moved that benefit from the fighting style to the general rules for Thrown weapons.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
This is a very thorough answer; thank you!
So you can draw and throw multiple weapons if having multiattack. It's nice to improve the use of thrown weapons. Notice that now you can throw 2 daggers from empty hands even with no training using the extra Bonus Action attack.