1.Duration of the Game
1.1 Forever
2. How to Win
2.1 There is a winner each year. The team ‘GM’ whose players, as their “big league” roster stands at the end of the NBA Finals, accumulate the most points that season, is that year's winner.
3. Definitions
3.1 Big League: The 10 players on each team’s roster designated as having ‘big league’ status. These are the only players on each roster eligible to score points.
3.2 D-League: Remaining players on each team’s roster who are given ‘D-League’ status by their GM. D-League players are not eligible to score points for their team while they maintain D-League status.
3.3 Season: From the tipoff of the first game of the NBA regular season to the final whistle of the NBA finals.
3.4 Off-Season: From the final whistle of the NBA finals to the tipoff of the first game of the NBA regular season.
4. Player Acquisition
4.1 Players may be acquired by only 1 of 3 means. 1. The annual player draft; 2. Trade with another owner; 3. Acquiring a player through waivers when another owner has dropped that player.
4.2 Trades may be vetoed by a vote to veto by 85% or more of the GMs not involved in the trade. A league member should only vote to veto a trade if they believe there are shenanigans afoot. A trade being bad may be a necessary indicator that shenanigans are afoot, but is not, in and of itself, sufficient to indicate that such shenanigans are, in fact, afoot. Benefits outside the game, such as beejers, are shenanigans.
4.3 All player transactions involving money, or any benefit outside of the game, are banned.
5. Team Acquisition
5.1 Team GMs are Romsa, Freddy, Tim, Sean, Bain, Radtke, Joel, Joe, John, Trevor, and Matt or whoever has been given, sold, or bequeathed a team by any of those jokers.
6. Trade Deadline
6.1 The trade deadline for each season shall be exactly one week, or 168 hours, after the NBA trade deadline. Trades submitted after the trade deadline are not valid. Trades submitted prior to the trade deadline will be valid subject to these rules.
6.2 Trading may begin again on the first day of the off-season, aka, immediately after the last game of that season’s NBA finals.
7. Team Size & Structure
7.1 Each team has 10 Big League roster spots. See Rule 3.1.
7.2 The minimum number of players on a big-league roster during a season is eight.
7.3 During the NBA off-season, from the day after the last game of the NBA finals until the tip of the first regular season game the next season, there is no limit on roster size.
7.4 Rosters must be cut to the number of total players on a roster for that season (12 for the ‘20-’21 season, 13 thereafter) prior to the beginning of each Season (see rule 3.3).
7.5 D-League rosters will come into existence in the 2019/2020 season. D-League rosters will consist of 1 player during that season, 2 players the following season, and 3 players thereafter, forever.
7.6 Players who have been on a big-league roster during a season are not eligible to be placed on a D-League roster at any time thereafter.
7.7 Players must be designated with D-League status approximately two weeks from the beginning of each Season (see rule 3.3). The league commissioner will provide notice of the exact date and time each Season. Once given D-League status, a player maintains that status until it is removed by the player’s GM by providing notice to the league commissioner.
7.8 If a player is on a D-League roster at the beginning of a season, the GM placing that player on the D-League roster cannot bring the player up to their big league roster until the following off-season, except as permitted by Rules 7.11 and 7.12. A GM who acquires a player on a D-League roster during a season has the option of placing the newly acquired player on their big-league roster within one week of the time the acquisition is finalized.
7.9 There is no limit to the time a player may remain on a D-League roster except that standard sunset provision rules apply from the time the player is drafted.
7.10 D-League players dropped or traded from a GM’s roster during a season cannot be re-acquired by that owner until the following off-season.
7.11 GMs may place one player on Injury Reserve per season. Players may not be placed on IR after midnight ET on Christmas of the relevant season or before the end of the second week of the relevant season. A player's real life injury status is not relevant to IR status in this game - a GM may place any player on their roster on IR. Once placed on IR, that player is frozen on IR for the remainder of that season - they may not be traded, dropped, brought back to the roster from IR, etc. and they will not score any points for their GM during the season as they will be considered off the big-league roster for the remainder of that season. Once that season is complete, the player returns to the GM's off-season roster.
7.12 When a player is placed on IR, the team's GM may bring one player from their D-League roster onto their big-league roster. That player's D-League eligibility will be destroyed for all of eternity.
8. Waivers & Drops
8.1 A player can be dropped by a GM at any time except during the time that trades are not allowed. There are two exceptions to this rule: 1) where a GM must drop a player to accommodate their desired roster construction after a trade and 2) where a GM must drop a player to accommodate their desired roster construction after a waiver-wire pickup.
8.2 If a player is dropped by a GM that player is immediately placed on waivers. The other GMs will then have the ability to claim that player off of waivers. The waiver order will be determined by the final standings in year 2. The player that finishes last will be first, 2nd to last 2nd, etc. When a GM drops a player the first person on the waiver list will have the first right to claim that player. If that GM passes on a player that right will go to the 2nd person on the list etc. If a player passes through waivers without being claimed, that player is lost to the sands of time.
8.3 When a GM successfully claims a player off waivers, their name is set to the side. After each pass through the waiver order, successful claimants are added back to the waiver order in reverse order of their successful claims.
8.4 Waiver wire claims must include the name of players to be dropped if the waiver claim is successful.
8.5 Waiver wire claims that include multiple players must make the order of preference clear.
9. The Annual Player Draft/Draft Picks
9.1 The annual player draft occurs after the annual NBA draft - preferably after the end of the Las Vegas Summer League, or, in the future, its analog.
9.2 The order of the draft is in reverse order of the final standings from the previous year.
9.3 Picks may be traded freely subject to the same rules applying to player trades. Trades involving both players and picks are, of course, encouraged.
9.4 GMs may only select players entered in the NBA draft on the night of the NBA draft that year. Once a player is selected by a GM, that player is off the board. Two GMs can't have the same player on their roster.
9.5 There are 4 standard rounds of the draft each year. Subject to trades, the draft order for each round will be the same. GMs do not have to use all 4 of their picks. If a draft selection is not used, the draft continues on to the next selection.
9.6 A fifth round of the draft will take place after the fourth round. This round will be conducted via shouts. Draft eligible players may be selected by shouting where that selection is heard and acknowledged by the individual conducting the draft.
9.7 Draft picks may not be included in a trade more than 5 drafts into the future. During an Off-Season, the draft occurring that calendar year is not a "draft in the future". As an example of the rule, 2028 draft picks may be, but 2029 draft picks may not be, included in a trade during the 2023-2024 Season (the '24, '25, '26, '27, and '28 drafts being the 5 future drafts). 2029 draft picks may be included in trades once the 2023-2024 season ends - so that there is a period, from the commencement of the 2024 Off-Season until the completion of the 2024 draft when picks from 6 future drafts are live to be included in trades. 3 draft picks are grandfathered in and this rule does not apply to them at any time - Matt's '30, and '31 1sts and Radtke's '30 1st.
9.8 "Future consideration" included in a trade must comply with Rule 9.7 based on the date of the trade.
10. Player Sunset Provision
10.1 Players drafted in the first three rounds of our draft are considered dead – they cease to be – for purposes of our game – following the 8th season after their draft. I don't want to hear any nonsense with them being injured for a year, or getting put in the d-league or stashed in Europe or something. 8 years on a calendar. Then ya done.
10.2 Players selected in the 4th and 5th rounds of the player draft will have a sunset provision that kicks in after their year 10. Sunset rules apply whether obtained through the draft, by trade, or off of waivers.
10.3 The fact a player has had D-League status in this game does not affect that player’s sunset provision.
10.4 During a player’s final season of eligibility (see 10.1-10.3), that player cannot be traded after the season begins. To be clear, the last moment a trade can be submitted to the league involving a player entering their final season of eligibility is the last moment of that player's final off-season (see rule 3.4).
10.5 If a player in or entering their final Season of eligibility is waived during their final Off-Season or Season, that player will immediately be lost to the sands of time and will not enter the waiver wire.
11. Logistics
11.1 Send all trades and drops to the league commissioner by email or text. Every week that there is a transaction an email will go out to the league detailing those transactions. All GMs will then have seven full days to register a vote to veto a trade (which they should almost never do) or send their list of players they'd like to claim off waivers.
11.2 If a trade is submitted to the commissioner by email or text it is final unless vetoed by the league. The time for bargaining is over when the email or text is sent.
12. Luchre
12.1 In year 1 the buy in is $5. The buy in amount increases by $5 every year.
12.2 Winner take all each year.
12.3 By taking part, you are swearing, to your brothers, that the only way you'll leave is if you give/sell your team to someone else, or you die, in which case you really need to have something written down somewhere.
13. Scoring
13.1 The team with the most points wins.
13.2 Each player on a GM's big-league roster gets points based on the following formula:
Regular Season PER + (Minutes Played / [the number of team games played by the NBA team the player was last on at the end of the season times two]) = Player's score. As an example, the denominator in the minutes portion of the calculation will be 164 in a normal 82 game season.
13.3 Only players who have played a minimum of 400 minutes in the NBA in a season will be counted. All players who have played a minimum of 400 minutes in a season will be counted. The 400 minute threshold will be pro-rated in seasons with more or less than 82 games.
13.4 Points are added for all players on the owner's big-league roster.
13.5 Each player will also receive bonus points as follows:
MVP: +5 (keep in mind if someone's getting MVP they're also getting 1st team all-nba)
All-NBA: 1st: +5, 2nd: +4, 3rd: +3
Start a playoff game: +1 (may only be awarded once per playoff series)
Start a finals game: +2 (may only be awarded once per finals series)
Finals MVP: +3
Conference Finals MVP: +2
Win an NBA Championship: +2
Start an all-star game: +4
Make the bench of an all-star game: +2
6th man of the year: +3
Defensive Player of the year: +3
All-Defense 1st Team: + 2
All-Defense 2nd Team: +1
Citizenship, Sportsmanship, Teammate, Social Justice Champion awards: +1
Hustle, Clutch awards: +2
Most Improved Player: +3
ROY: +3
All-Rookie 1st team: +3
All-Rookie 2nd team: +2
All-star rookie/sophomore game appearance: +1
Victory in an all-star weekend carnival game (3-point contest, dunk contest, skills contest, etc.): +1
Per Game Stat Leaders: (Must qualify as leader per NBA rules): Points, Rebounds, Assists: +2
Overall Stat Leaders: (Most of these things) Blocks, Steals, Technical Fouls: +1