Date: 7/12/2011 There are 8 comments on this topic
What To Expect From Free Agency 2011 by Ngozika Nwaneri aka FWG Wani aka The Commish of Commishes
Contents: 1. Cap Holds 2. Contract Length Restrictions due to Age 3. NTC (No Trade Clause) Restrictions Uplifted 4. Other Notes (Off topic)
Cap Holds
What is a cap hold? A "cap hold" is the calculated salary slot that a team must reserve for a free agent if they want to retain that free agent's "Bird rights" to resign the them. In simpler terms (this may or may not go too well by the time I reach the end of this explanation), think of a cap hold like a wedding RSVP invitation. If you are the bride or groom, you hand out RSVP invitations to those people who you expect will attend your wedding.
In order for a team not be charged a cap hold, they must renounce that free agent, which means they lose first dibs at resigning that player. To go back to the wedding example, if the wedding couple does not receive an RSVP back from a guest, it is assumed that the guest will not be attending the wedding and so that's one less plate to pay for. (I told you this example may not be good, but hopefully you get the idea)
What are the incentives for having a players bird rights? The incentives for having a players bird rights are to have the ability to offer a larger starting salary, contract length and salary increase than the rest of the GMs regardless of the teams salary cap situation.
How is a cap hold determined? Oftentimes, the cap hold is bigger than the actual salary that the player is likely to get. A typical calculation is a five percent (5%) increase from the players previous salary.
Why introduce cap holds in Mock GM 2011? Mock GM 2010 saw a record number of GMs buyout players, and trade for expiring contracts so they could use the money freed up to go after players they did not have on their rosters in addition to overspending to keep the players they did have on their roster. The result of this were payrolls almost twice as much as the salary cap, as well as teams that simply could not compete in head-to-head competition during the regular season.
Why not lockout Mock GM after this happened? Mock GM would have been locked out had there not been a meeting of the minds among GMs and Agents over this issue. Last year we were able to draft changes for the coming year avoiding a lockout- hence the difference between the NBA Offseason 2011 and Mock GM Offseason 2011.
How do I free up money in Mock GM 2011 (and beyond) to sign free agents? Last year we introduced the "Renounce Player" option which essentially removed free agent players off a teams payroll without financial penalty. However since there were no cap holds in 2010, renouncing players wasn't a priority since free agent players had a salary number of $0. This year in order to free up cap space you will have to renounce players giving up the right to offer that player a bigger contract versus the competition.
What happens to the caphold when I re-sign my player? If a free agent is re-signed, then the player's new salary becomes the cap figure and the cap hold is no longer calculated.
In some of the special edition rosters like roster 6.0, Lebron James has a cap hold of $0. How is this possible? If you started a league with a special edition roster such as 6.0, you will see 2010 free agents with cap holds of $0. That's because that player was a free agent for over a year and remained a free agent up to the current year as if no one signed the player the when they first became free agents. So technically they still belong to the team they last played on. Players with cap holds of $0 are golden on a GMs roster because you still maintain their rights without having to retro-fit them on your payroll with a salary.
Contract Length Restrictions Due To Age
This year if you plan on signing a player via regular signing, there will be an imposed a contract length restriction on players over 32 year old in order to keep contracts more realistic. A players age is calculated real-time so the contract length for a player may vary during the offseason if a player birthday is during the summer months. Age restrictions supersede any contract length rules such as the length of a contract you can give to bird right players.
The following will take affect:
Age - Max. Contract Length 32 yrs - 4-year max 33 yrs - 3-year max 34 yrs or more - 2-year max
NTC (No Trade Clause) Uplifted!
Players in the past who signed contracts with a "No Trade Clause" (NTC) can now be included in trades! However with all good news comes a tradeoff. In order for trades involving players with an NTC to be approved, that players' Agent must approve the trade as well! With that said, allow me to introduce Agents into the trade market!
What is a No Trade Clause (NTC)? The NTC was introduced in Mock GM about three years ago and has gradually been brought along as the agent concept in Mock GM developed and became more familiar to the end user. With Agents now being able to propose and approve trades, the NTC restriction in trades has been lifted.
Timeline Mock GM '08 - No Trade Clause (NTC) introduced; not enforced in league trading Mock GM '09, '10 - NTC clause enforced when trading Mock GM '11 - NTC player can be traded with agent approval
What the difference between NTC (No Trade Clause) and NT (Untradeable)? Both the "No Trade Clause" (NTC) and marking players as "Untradeable" (NT) keeps Gms from creating trades that involved players with those labels. The difference between the labels is that one is permanent (NTC) whereas the other (NT) was a temporary setting that can be turned on and off. NT also requires Mock GM Platinum.
Why Involve Agents? When a player has an NTC clause in their contract they get to dictate where it is they go if a GM decides to trade them. In order to enforce this, whoever represents the player(s) gets to play a role in deciding where that player(s) goes. Players are represented by Agents.
Won't Agents Slow Down An Already Tough Process When It Comes To Trading? Short answer is no. Yes trading just got a bit more complicated. Not only do you have to deal with agents during free agency but now in trades if you have a player with an NTC in their contract.
How do I prevent Agents from being involved in trades involving my players? Simple. When creating a contract offer, DO NOT check the NTC option. The NTC is a nice incentive to include in a contract offer if you are serious about not trading the player. However, remember that a NTC favors the player and Agent and can be more than a GM bargained for down the line. Bottom line don't include the NTC out of desperation in order to win your bid for a player.
Will Super Agent "automatically" accept trade offers involving players with NTC? NO. Because players with NTC are likely those who want to stay where they are. Moral of the story is don't use the NTC unless you are absolutely sure!
Are Agents involved in all trade proposals from now on? No. Agents are only asked to approve trades if it involves a player with an NTC in their contracts. For everyone else, an agent has no say in whether the trade gets approved or rejected.
I understand why Agents should approve trades with players having an NTC in their contracts, but why allow Agents to propose trades? Ask any agent playing Mock GM and the players they represent are their players just as much as the teams they are on. And if an agent doesn't like the team a player is on, now they can attempt to do something about it. During the regular season, Agent points depends on whether or not a Gm has their player(s) in their lineup. If the Gm isn't playing the Agents player, they have a right to impose a trade. Also, you can have a situation where an Agent knows their player doesn't want to come back to a team, and as a result can put pressure on a team to trade them-- sort of like what Carmelo Anthony did to Denver during the 2010-11 season.
If an Agent proposes a trade and none of the players involved has an NTC, do the agents have a say in whether the trade is approved or rejected? No. The only thing an agent can do when they propose a trade under this scenario is withdraw or nix the trade.
Are Agents rated on the trades they propose? Eventually they will be. The same can be said for Gms.
Can Agents Trade Clients With Other Agents? Not Yet!
Other Notes:
Be on the look out for Mock GM Invitational PROMO Leagues This Year where only the best Gms and Agents are invited. If you are new to Mock GM, now is the time to show us what you've got!
Coming soon!Mock GM Transaction Manager - Manage all your trades and free agent offers on one screen across all Mock GM
Mock GM® is now MOBILE!!
Check trades, view the trading block, set salary requirements, even draft your college players ON THE GO! HTTP://M.PASPN.NET
phxsuns2k9 posted on 7/5/2011 4:57:07 AM PASPN.net member class: NBA Sixth Man - Terry Tyler
No trade clauses Quick question on how they work-how does an agent waive them if you want to trade a player with a NTC? If I want to try and clear cap space by dealing JJ for example, what do I have to do in order for the no trade clause to be waived and make him available in potential trades? FWG Wani posted on 7/5/2011 7:38:15 AM PASPN.net member class: Hall of Famer - Isiah Thomas Contributing Member Administrator
re: No trade clauses
on Jul 5 2011 4:57AM, phxsuns2k9 wrote:
Quick question on how they work-how does an agent waive them if you want to trade a player with a NTC? If I want to try and clear cap space by dealing JJ for example, what do I have to do in order for the no trade clause to be waived and make him available in potential trades?
We are working to uplift the NTC so you can trade those players. We are working on an interface for agents to be able to accept trade offers because that is what is involved when dealing with a player with a NTCphxsuns2k9 posted on 7/11/2011 4:45:32 AM PASPN.net member class: NBA Sixth Man - Terry Tyler
re: re: No trade clauses
ok great-do you have any idea as to when it will be in place? I've been trying to deal players with a NTC, but they don't even show up as being selectable when choosing players to include in a trade. FWG Wani posted on 7/11/2011 8:33:48 AM PASPN.net member class: Hall of Famer - Isiah Thomas Contributing Member Administrator
re: re: re: No trade clauses
on Jul 11 2011 4:45AM, phxsuns2k9 wrote:
ok great-do you have any idea as to when it will be in place? I've been trying to deal players with a NTC, but they don't even show up as being selectable when choosing players to include in a trade.
Hopefully tonight! The interface for agents to propose and approve trades is set. Just have to make sure it's all clear and there are no bugs when adding agents to the whole trade process. Up to this point its just been GMs involved in tradesphxsuns2k9 posted on 7/11/2011 4:57:48 PM PASPN.net member class: NBA Sixth Man - Terry Tyler
re: re: re: re: No trade clauses Awesome, thanks for the update. One final question if you don't mind. How will the NTC work if the agent is SuperAgent? Will they just allow teams to trade players with a no-trade clause? FWG Wani posted on 7/12/2011 9:20:43 AM PASPN.net member class: Hall of Famer - Isiah Thomas Contributing Member Administrator
re: re: re: re: re: No trade clauses
on Jul 11 2011 4:57PM, phxsuns2k9 wrote:
Awesome, thanks for the update. One final question if you don't mind. How will the NTC work if the agent is SuperAgent? Will they just allow teams to trade players with a no-trade clause?
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