Rule Changes

During the season, I asked everyone if they wanted to make a tweak to the rule regarding rookies and when they should be made free agents upon receiving an extension. We decided that any rookie that came through our D-League system would not have to automatically become a free agent once they received an extension (assuming it happened before the season). We decided they could play out the final year of their rookie contract before the first year of their extension kicked-in the following the season. This would allow owners to keep their D-League prospects for one extra year, thus making the draft picks more valuable.

I'd really like to make an amendment to that proposal and not limit the rule to just rookies who came up through our D-League system. Rather, have the rule apply to any rookie, whether drafted in the D-League or the NBA fantasy draft. Differentiating between the two would be a pain in the ass and this rule benefits just about everybody except maybe We Wear Short Shorts and Farming for Fatty's whose main keepers are predominantly players who are already on their 2nd contract or beyond.

Hopefully I don't meet much resistance with this tweak, and everyone's onboard with the change.

Other than that, the only major change I'm seriously considering is slashing the amount of D-League picks each year from 8 to 6, starting in the 2010-2011 season. We'll see how this year's draft goes, we might not have anyone left to draft if we keep picking 8 players every year.

Other changes or tweaks on the agenda:

-Defining tie-breakers

-Addressing the October 1st deadline and what happens if a player signs an offer sheet from a different team before October 1st, but his original team comes in and matches the offer after the October 1st deadline.

-What avenue to use to conduct the D-League draft (I'm hoping our homepage has a functional chatroom).

-Possible incentives for teams in bottom half to compete during the final months of the season.

And I'm sure there will be more topics to hit on once the off season progresses further, but I don't have any other major plans in terms of changes.

Stayed tuned for my season 1 recap on Monday/Tuesday of next week.