FAQ

This post will be updated frequently in Q&A format. Newest additions are in blue.
Also, here are the rules, and here is some spreadsheet help.


GENERAL

Q1. What the hell?

NBA Front Office is a mathematical experiment. Nerds from all around the world join forces to create a fantasy based on the Collective Bargaining Agreement - a brilliant yet confusing document governing the NBA. But we can't be doing such an awful job if in the end the Heat still win


Q2. Where are the rosters etc.?

If you're asking, you're probably on your phone. Please open the site on a PC, and enjoy the multitude of links in the left panel.


Q3. How can I edit the spreadsheet myself?

Please don't. (Perhaps make a copy and simulate your future finances in sandbox mode?)


Q8. Where do you find the fantasy stats?

Just go to our Fantrax , in the sections TEAM or PLAYERS you can find Fantasy Points per Game (FPG) of each player in each season. If you click on their names, you'll see their entire career.


Q9. Where can I find the historical results to get a feel for the ?

Regular Season results. Playoff results: 2013, 2014, 2015 etc.


Q12. A new GM position has just opened up. Who gets it?

We despise "first come first served". Whenever more people are interested (be it Assistant GM's, media members, agents, or simply folks on the waiting list), I will invite them to paint their vision of the franchise in question, and then choose the most competent one. Thanks to such a contest, we make sure only quality people are hired, and the man with the plan gets the job.


Q13. What is expected from Assistant GM's?

Your office is right next to your boss's. We expect the two of you to exchange information internally. Per default, "I offer this if the boss approves" is not a valid bid in free agency, "can you send me what you sent my boss?" shouldn't happen either, and your lack of understanding of any FO/CBA rules will be blamed on the franchise not investing enough resources in the continuous development of their employees As a rule of thumb, your franchise being a two-headed monster should not create more work/maintenance/spam for the rest of us. All bids should be made by the boss or explicitly state they have been agreed beforehand. That's of course unless the boss has utter confidence in his Assistant (or no time whatsoever for a certain period of time) and informs me in advance that all bids/proposals by the Assistant are binding.


Q15. What's with the money?

NBAFO is 100% free. (Many years ago I paid $279 for a Lifetime Premium on Fantrax, because we deserve the best out there. From there on, it's been 100% free. You're welcome.)


TRADE-RELATED

Q20. What is the trade etiquette?

1. For transparency, please post exactly what each team is giving and receiving. This is very important when more than two teams are involved or when protected draft picks are changing hands.

2. Below the trade breakdown you should post the financial mechanisms being used (cap space, traded player exception, trade exception, salary aggregation from each side) so that the legality of the trade can be easily checked. See Coon's Q82 etc.

3. The trade must be posted, agreed to by all parties involved, then approved and processed by the office, before any subsequent trade involving newly acquired players or picks is made.

4. Any GM who doesn't fully understand pick protections, the Stepien rule, or the financial aspect of trades, should consult cbafaq.com. If in doubt, post a question in the Q&A section.

5. In any case new managers are advised to take some time before diving into transactions head first and should be warned that their trades will receive extra scrutiny to uphold the integrity of the . The office can any trade which they think a non-paying member is losing.

6. Whether or not you're a trade addict, I encourage everybody to start a diary of their own team. What's the story? What state were they on your first day at the office? Which direction are you going? Why should you replace the dumbass ruining your real-life franchise? This way both yourself and others will always be able to look back, analyse, and appreciate your path to glory.

7. To any GM who has an asset he considers trading, the best way of approaching this is:
a) posting the name all over the Trade Block,
b) patiently waiting for different offers to come in,
c) negotiating to see how much more you can get (usually a lot more),
d) choosing your favourite option (or hanging on to the asset if nothing sweeps you off your feet),
e) sleeping over it,
f) optionally asking me for advice.
This process itself could (should?) take more than a week. Only if you have completed this entire process, you prove to both yourself and your more experienced colleagues that indeed "this is how much I can get for the guy", at which point no trade will be vetoed.


Q21. When can trades be posted?

"How about..." is not official. What's more, "I'll give you..." is not official either! Every negotiation should end with "Should I post it?" => "Yes, please".


Q23. Can trades be vetoed?

We don't use a Trade Committee. I reserve the right to a trade if our experts believe it's lopsided. Experienced members have more leeway, but if our experts believe an inexperienced GM is shooting himself in the foot by not using the Trade Block correctly, we'll apply the Deron Treatment (DT). The trade will be stalled, and the asset in question will be officially added to the Trade Block. The GM will then choose the best offer he gets and give the original taker one last chance to sweeten up his offer enough to beat it. DT has been used in two cases thus far.


CBA-RELATED

Q31. How exactly do we go about sending you our qualifying offers/team options/etc?

No PM's please. In the Transactions board, you'll also find dedicated threads for QO's, TO's, rookie scale extensions, and renouncing players/exceptions. "Lopez - yes, Gaines - no" will suffice.


Q33. I have so few players under contract, but still no cap space. How come?
Q34. I'm above the hard cap. How do I change it?

Make sure you take a long look at your team sheet to understand all factors deciding available cap space.


Q36. If my total team salary is more than my FO Owner Cap, can I still sign players?

In principle, no. You have to shred/renounce some contracts before you can sign players. However, all rookies and stashed players are automatically signed to your team regardless of the situation, and minimum salary players can always be signed using the MPE.



FREE AGENCY

Q47. What's the new salary cap, apron, MLE etc.?

These are usually announced around July 1, and can be seen in the CtrlPanel sheet. Most of them are bumped slightly from previous season.


Q49. What is the timing? Any deadlines?

Just like IRL, come July 1 negotiations with agents begin. Just like IRL, some players will decide quickly, others will weigh their options forever. Just like IRL, no signing or trade becomes official (i.e. posted in Transactions) until the Moratorium ends. Unlike IRL, we put deadlines on agents based on the player's perceived value.


Q51. What about sign-and-trades?

I assume you've already seen the rules and Coon's explanation, so I'll focus on mechanics:

In short, just make sure all three parties are happy: new team, old team, player=agent.

TL/DR: although usually you merely need to satisfy the agent, S&T is the only situation where consent from the old team is also needed. Still lost? You could try the following:

GM
Step 1 - A GM would like to sign a player via a Sign and Trade
Step 2 - The GM sends in an offer to an agent and notes that the signing would have to be a sign and trade
Step 3 - Wait for the agent

Agent
Step 1 - Is the S&T offer the highest? If its not let the GM know they need to step up their offer.
Step 2 - Is the S&T offer the highest and the team with bird rights has the 2nd highest offer? If true let the team with bird rights know that they have the choice to either complete a S&T with Team A or they can sign the player using their 2nd highest offer.
Step 3 - Is the S&T offer the highest and a 3rd team has the 2nd highest offer? If true let the team with bird rights know that they have the choice to either complete a S&T with Team A or they will lose the free agent to a 3rd team.

Notes for the Agent: A S&T offer is not a real offer until the "T" is agreed to in principle. This means if you receive a S&T offer, don't use it to try to up the other teams offers. If the GM submits a S&T offer and also says the trade has been agreed to in principle than you can use this offer as the "high" offer and give the other interested teams a chance to beat it before you sign away your player.


Q53. Which players can I offer contracts to?

The FAxy sheet is your friend, "xy" being the current year.


Q54. In which order should I sign players if I have cap space?

1) Sign players with high cap holds 1st. If you sign a player with a 1st yr salary lower than their cap hold, your cap hit goes down.
2) Sign players using your cap room.
3) Sign players using bird-rights who have low cap holds.
4) Sign players using your Room MLE.

If you need to go out of order - talk to the agent, they'll help you out.


Q55. Should I offer a contract to my own RFA?

That sounds like a good idea. Otherwise he might like his QO better than all other offers, and walk as UFA a year from now. If your contract proves less attractive than what others offer, you'll still have the chance to match of course.


Q57. That other team has no GM, but just signed a free agent. How come?

The office (as in, yours truly) will take care of the orphans: QO's, TO's, no-brainer trades, and occasionally low-balling offers to free agents.


Q59. How to know which kind of Bird rights I have to my own free agent?

As you know from Coon #25, it's full Bird for players who haven't changed teams as free agents for 3 years, Early Bird - for 2 years, or Non-Bird - all others. Hopefully your sheet clarifies is explicitly (last column). If it doesn't, ask for help!


Q61. I want to sign a player with cap space, do I need to renounce my exceptions?

No, if you already have the required cap space. And if you don't? Not always, as you might as well already have so much cap space your exceptions have been lost automatically. (In this case, you will also gain a new exception: "Room Mid-Level Exception".) But if you don't have the cap you want to use, feel free to mention to the agent that you're renouncing this or that exception conditionally, i.e. only if the bid is successful.


Q63. I want an RFA to sign an offer sheet with me, but my own free agents have cap holds. Do I need to renounce these players? When?

Larry Coon covers the theory. In practice, just point out to the agent which players you're renouncing only for this purpose.


Q64. What about UFA's and renouncements then?

We're extending the rule mentioned in Q63 to all free agents, assuming that until the guy signs on the dotted line you're merely testing the waters. Thus, just like with exceptions (Q61), feel free to mention to the agent that you're renouncing this or that player conditionally, i.e. only if the bid is successful.


Q71. I'm below the hard cap. Am I signing all the max players?

The hard cap is irrelevant when it comes to signing other teams' free agents. The NBA operates under a soft cap, plus all unused exceptions count against it, so what really matters is your cap space, at the very very bottom of your team sheet. But don't panic: 80% of real-life NBA teams don't have cap room either

In the past we also used a so-called Owner Cap to simulate no team going deeper into their luxury tax than their owner's pockets would allow.
However, in 2024 we will abandon it, since the new CBA introduces a second apron that will take care of those cases.


Q73. Why are free agents signing before their deadlines?

The agent deadline constitutes the last possible moment to sign the player before losing him, not the first.


Q75. What's the max roster size during Free Agency?

20. 15 after October 31.


Q77. What should (could) I do with players who are not in the NBA in real life? Do I waive them?

If they are this summer's draft picks, they will automatically move to the Unsigned Draft Picks section at the bottom of your sheet. They earn nothing and don't count against the max number of players. Once they join the in the future, you'll be given the Stashed Rookie Exception to sign them, see the Rules.

Waiving players won't give you any advantage if their contracts are guaranteed (90% of the cases), unless you use the Stretch provision.
Of course if you're above 15 players, those outside the are the first ones you should waive. Their salaries will remain in the books.


Q79 What do agents want?

Short version: pure realism. We like high average salary, PO's, short deals for young stars and long deals for geezers. As a tie-breaker: good teams. We hate TO's, NG years.