League Rules

Welcome to the Association!

This league was found in April of 2022, when Bragan fell in love with the new PC basketball sim, and after deciding he wanted to run a dynasty league, he launched a league that adapted the PC sim to the real NBA rules. Thank you for joining us along this journey!

Since then we have gone through some changes. dgtedford is now the commish but the league remains as competitive and engaging as ever.

Disclaimers:
- Stay active or let the Commish Team know you won’t be active. If you need to leave for a short period of time, we will take care of your team until you return (so long as you let us know).

- Keep things civil. Nobody likes drama and stress. Treat everyone with respect. If you have an issue with someone or something, let the Commish Team know. We will mediate the issue to the best of our ability. If the solution is not to your liking, you may leave. Nobody is forcing you to stay. We aren’t trying to be harsh, but this is for fun and we’d like to keep it that way.

- We actively encourage suggestions/questions. While we ask that you not be offended if we don’t take them, we will always explain why we aren’t or why things are the way they are to the best of our ability for your understanding.

- Light hearted trash talk and banter is welcome. Just don't be a dick, and be understanding if someone takes offense.

- Take care of your team. We don’t want to run your teams for you. That said, new owners will have a level of training wheels regarding trades and other decisions (more likely to have trades reviewed/conversational intervention to make sure owners know what they’re doing regarding the sim). As owners prove themselves this will happen less often. It should be noted that no one explicitly wants to be telling secrets to competing owners, and this intervention is done to make sure new owners aren’t taken advantage of; So, if someone is offering advice and you don’t want it, don’t be afraid to say so - and if someone tells you not to offer them advice, respect it.

- Tanking in this league is forbidden. Tanking penalties will be handled on a case by case basis, which will include loss of picks and/or removal from the league. There is not a strict definition in this league of tanking, but as long as you are able to articulate a reason you are making a decision, we will most likely be okay with it. We reserve the right to ask what your strategy is behind any decision at any time for the sanctity of the league’s rules regarding tanking.

- Everyone is here for different reasons, from different places, different ages and backgrounds, etc, but within the league every owner is equal, even us. The rules are written for the league to run on the principle of the Commish Team being the first of many. Running the league is a responsibility and honor, not a privilege or superiority.

Notes:
- Rules are subject to change over time; any changes will be put into a League Message and subject to conversational explanation on discord/ PC.

- We do not use the "free year" that PennantChase contracts have in this league.

- While it is possible to play, and compete, in this league only participating on PennantChase, we also have a very active discord where most conversations and events happen that makes the league what it is. We heavily encourage everyone in the league to be in the discord. You can message the Commish Team for a link.

- There was expansion following the 2027 season (Seattle Supersonics and Kansas City Reign) and realignment (shift to North/South conferences, with four 4 team divisions in each)

- There was realignment following the 2031 season (returning to East/West conferences, with two 8 team divisions in each), as well as the relocation and rebrand of the Memphis Grizzlies to the Las Vegas Scorpions

- There was the elimination of the Second Round of the Rookie Draft following the 2033 season

- This league is the basketball sister league to the PC baseball League of Controversy (https://www.pennantchase.com/lgHome.aspx?lgid=691). We encourage as many people to be in both as possible, let us know and we can invite you to the other/put you on the waitlist)

Thank you all for your interest in the Association! We hope you have as much fun participating as we did setting it up!

Best of luck,

Current Head Commish - (Daniel) dgtedford
Current Vice Commish -

Special Thanks:
Founder of League - (Bragan) bragankelly11
Special thanks to goldencane for providing us with our first FA system, and ritzcards for a temporary system that led us to the final FA system designed by egankelly8 that we use today.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Roster Deadline
Regular Season
All Star Weekend/ Trade Deadline/ Waiver Deadline
Play-In Tournament
Playoffs
Start Offseason
Extension Period
Progressions Run (Peak at 27, Decline at 29)
Trading Turned Back On
Draft Lottery
Rookie Draft (Slow)
Rookie Draft (Live)
RFA Bidding
RFA Rebidding
Matching Period
Unrestricted Free Agency
Offseason Program Deadline
Free Agency Free For All (Open Add/Drop)
New Season Begins

-----------------------------------------------------------------

REGULAR SEASON
3 sims per day at 9 a.m., Noon and 4 p.m. PST.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ALL STAR WEEKEND
There will be 14 players selected from each conference by the commissioner.
~There will be 5 Days off given
Also Trade Deadline
-----------------------------------------------------------------

TRADING
Picks can be traded up to 3 drafts ahead
- Trade Cap- No maximum
- 3+ team trades ARE allowed
- Protected picks ARE allowed
- Trades must include assets going both ways
Note: If a trade is made during the season that puts a team over the roster limit, they must cut (not waive, but outright cut) players to get down to 15 immediately when completing the trade
-----------------------------------------------------------------

TRADE COMMITTEE
Any trade that raises concerns by an owner should be reported directly to the Commish and nowhere else
- For this reason, trades involving the Commish Team may be reported publicly

If there is an issue with a trade, the Commish will engage with the parties involved to understand thinking within the trade. Commish will also conference with long term owners in the league to get their opinions on the merits of the trade.

The goal is to intervene as little as possible, but to avoid trades that would greatly diminish competitive balance in the league, take advantage of new owners or are so egregious they would be detrimental to the league.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PROTECTED PICKS
Teams are allowed to protect 1st round picks in trades

After the Draft Lottery, if a protected pick falls within the protection, it is returned to its original team.

Their 1st round pick the following year will be conveyed to complete the trade at this point instead

If a team protects a 1st round pick, they are NOT allowed to trade their 1st round pick the following year until the protected pick has conveyed

Picks can only be protected for one draft. If the pick gets protected the first year, it will automatically be unprotected when conveyed the next
-----------------------------------------------------------------

WAIVERS
Waiver System
- If a team claims a player on the waiver wire they can either work out a trade or claim the player outright and assume all remaining salary
This system is irrevocable on both fronts. Both the waiving team and the claiming team cannot revoke their action. - - If nobody claims the player, the player will be cut from your team through the normal rules of releasing a player
The waiver order will be reverse power rankings for the current season (or past season if in offseason)
- This order does not reset
-----------------------------------------------------------------

RELEASING PLAYERS
If you decide to release a player without placing him on waivers, they will be cut from the team while having to pay half of their salary (if odd, round up) until it expires
- This sum can be paid through differing amounts each year, so long as it is within the timeframe of their contract
A cut player may not be signed by that player's former team until the next offseason. (If in the offseason, this means one season away. If in season, this means the closest offseason.)
- This will prevent teams from cutting players, then immediately signing them as a free agent for 1/$1 to save money
In the event of a high end player being released during the season, the Commish Team may have a 1* Day auction in PennantChase public chat
-----------------------------------------------------------------

CAP SPACE
Salary cap is $160M
Cap space can NOT be traded for
If a team is over the cap by the start of the regular season, they will be forced to place their player with the biggest current year contract (not total contact) on waivers. If the waived player clears waivers, they will be cut from the team. This process will be repeated until the team at fault is back under the cap
- Teams CANNOT go over the cap during the regular season
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
In each conference at the end of the regular season; considered part of regular season
Game 1 - 8th place at 7th place - Winner is 7th seed
Game 2 - 10th place at 9th place - Winner Plays Loser of Game 1
Game 3 - Winner of Game 2 at Loser of Game 1 - Winner is 8th seed
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PLAYOFFS
16 team tournament (Best of 7 series); Conference Quarterfinals, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, Finals
(2-3-2)
Division winners make up the top 2 seeds in each conference
-----------------------------------------------------------------

RETIREMENT
- Any player that goes a full season (from one FA cycle through the end of the following season) without being rostered, and hasn’t played a minute of NBA action in 3+ seasons, will hang up their shoes and retire
- Any player 30 or older that goes a full season without being rostered will hang up their shoes and retire
- Any player 34 or older may be retired if they are a free agent at the commish's discretion.
- Any player 40 or older who enters FA will retire
If a team sees a player planning to retire that they want to remain in the league, they can send a message to the league office asking the player to remain active for another year (which they will, except for players age 40+)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

ROOKIE EXTENSIONS/ RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
Following the rookie contract, teams will have the option of signing players to a rookie extension (3/$14M for lottery picks, 3/$7M for non-lottery)
- If a team declines to pick up the option, the player becomes a restricted free agent (RFA). If signed by another team during the RFA signing period, the original team will have the option of matching the contract or letting the player walk
-----------------------------------------------------------------

MAX EXTENSIONS
Following the rookie extension, teams will have the option of signing players to a rookie max extension (3/$45M). Players are eligible for one max extension in their career.
- If a team declines to pick up the option, the player becomes an UFA and free to sign with any team in the offseason, with no option to match the top bidder
-----------------------------------------------------------------

AWARDS
Voted on during the Extension Period. 5 Candidates will be chosen by the Commish for each award

MVP
DPOY
ROY
6MOY (Must have started less than 50% of games played in and play less than 28 mpg)
Most Improved Player
Executive of the Year
All NBA (chosen by commissioner)
All Defense Team (chosen by commissioner)
All Rookie Team (chosen by commissioner)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

DRAFT LOTTERY
The top 16 picks will be generated via NBA lottery rules
Picks 1-4 will be decided by lottery generator
Picks 5-16 being the inverse of the remaining teams' records
If traded picks are involved, W-L record of the original team will determine order
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ROOKIE DRAFT
The rookie draft will consist of 1 round starting in 2033
Roughly 40 players will be created per draft class

-----------------------------------------------------------------

ROOKIE CONTRACTS
Rookie contract scale will be based on draft position
If a team does not wish to sign their player to the rookie contract, teams will have until the end of the RFA bidding period to notify the Commish team and the player will be placed in the FA pool for UFA
Contract scale is as follows:
Top 3 pick- 4/$8M/+$1M raise per year ($38M total)
Picks 4-16- 4/$2M/+$1M raise per year ($14M total)
Picks 17-32- 4/$1M/+1M raise per year ($10M total)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

RFA/UFA CONTRACT GUIDELINES
No expiring ‘free’ year
Maximum of 4 years
Maximum raise of $5M/-$5M
FA offers will have a minimum of $3 for 1 year deals and $4 AAV for multi-year deals.
Note: There is no limit to how much a player can be offered, max extensions (3/$45) should not be confused with max salary a player can receive in RFA or UFA
NOTE: Any player signed in Free Agency can not be traded until Day 1 of the regular season has been simmed
-----------------------------------------------------------------

RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY
Restricted Free Agency will be a blind auction
2* Days - Period for teams to submit initial bids for RFAs
1* Day - Matching Period
- Original teams must notify the Commish team if they wish to match. If the Commish Team is not notified, the player will automatically be signed to the top bidding team
- If the team chooses to match, they may change the years/average annual value (AAV) so long as the total contract value (TCV) is the same and it is within the above contract guidelines
- If a player receives no offer, they become an UFA
- Teams are allowed to bid on their own RFAs
-----------------------------------------------------------------

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY
Following the RFA signing period, UFA will be a rolling auction
Bids will be automatically updated via google forms and sheets
If no one exceeds the top bid for 48 hours, that player will sign with the top bidding team
In the second week of free agency, a player will be signed following a new bid that is the highest bid for 24 hours. Bids that happen at the end of the first week but carry into the second week will still need 48 hours as the highest bid to sign the player.
Bids will be considered by total contract value (TCV) as opposed to average annual value (AAV)
The last *Day of UFA will be blind, with the remaining current high bids of all UFAs on the homepage
-----------------------------------------------------------------

OFFSEASON WORKOUT PROGRAM
These will no longer be offered to all teams. Instead, OWP will only be awarded to rookies who make the all rookie team or a player who wins 6th man or most improved. The reward will still be a 3 minute boost with a max mpg of 30 regardless of player potential.
- Players must be 28 years old or younger
- Player potential no longer matters

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FREE AGENCY OPEN ADDS/DROPS
From after the offseason program deadline until the beginning of the playoffs, free agents can be signed to veteran minimum 1/$1M contracts using the Free Agents tab in the PC navigation bar
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ROSTER DEADLINE
Teams may go over roster limit during the offseason as long as they are back at or under 15 players by the roster deadline
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NEW OWNERS
New owners will be allowed to eliminate one contract of their choosing. This player must be on the roster when the new owner takes over. This request is only available until their first offseason in the league. Cut players will go into the free agent pool
-----------------------------------------------------------------

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	2000 - 2022
Roster Size	15
Min Active Players	8
Max Active Players	13
Keepers	(16 keepers)
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency
Drops
No-Drop List
Injuries	(10 games max)
Player Training
User Sims