Post by David - Cleveland on Sept 21, 2017 17:30:34 GMT -8
Here is something that will fry a few brain cells. 
This is RADICAL, But please have a look!
Several years ago the NBA tried to tweak it's draft lottery and implement a brand new idea that would be pretty much "Tank Proof" in the eyes of many. It never took off. But I think there might be a place for it right here in the ABL! It would make the league totally unique among online leagues, make it virtually "Tank Proof" and would give every GM/Team a shot at the #1 overall pick (over time of course).
In a solo league you can play any way you want, because it's just you against the game. You can assemble a starting lineup of "#1 Picks or Future Hall of Famers" all on 10-year contracts for $1M per and nobody cares (not even you obviously). It's your game, play it any way you like and have fun! But, in almost every online league I have been in, there is always someone who thinks that completely tanking their team is a both a good idea and sure way to success. As a result, measures have been put in place, whether house rules to guard against tanking or, in the case of this league and others, adopting an NBA style lottery to at least spread around the first overall pick and keep the very worst team from always picking first.
Even the ABL has adopted the "NBA Style Lottery" (pulled over with the PBL rules) to hopefully persuade GM's NOT to TANK! So I'm not suggesting change from NOTHING to RADICAL, just suggesting an alternate (and admittedly rejected) form of the NBA Anti-Tank Lottery suggestion.
The Wheel
The idea rejected by the NBA was "The Wheel" in which every team, over their 30 years, would cycle through each and every draft pick position. Regardless of record, regardless of anything really, you would simply move through an order of picks.
For example, if you have the #1 pick this year, you would have the #30 pick the following year and the #19 the year after. Forcing teams to stick to this specific draft order would guarantee that every team would have:
i. #1 pick every thirty years
ii. A top 6 pick every five years
iii. Back to back top 12 picks every five years
It ensures a certain degree of parity in the picking process. It eliminates the need to "Tank" for one of more years, as there is no point. Teams could always, instead, strive to compete! What a novel concept.
Obviously the ABL is not "real life". Opponents to the system in real life raised several concerns and THAT is why it was ultimately rejected.
i. A very good team, potentially a championship team, could possibly find themselves with a #1 pick immediately after their championship. True!
ii. Players could try to "rig" their pick by staying in school and trying to time their draft eligibility so that they could chance of going to a team they desire. True.
iii. Teams could try to "rig" the draft by coercing players to do just that and by promising they would be picked at a certain number if they entered in a certain year. True.
iv. Of those three variables, only the first one would be a concern here in the fictional ABL because the players are generated randomly annually.
This system would be very easy to use and the picks are pre-determined EVERY season. It might require a bit of set up time on the part of the Commissioner to set the draft order to follow the "Wheel Pick Schedule" and, of course, should we continue to trade picks that would have to be accommodated too. But it's certainly not unworkable.
The COMP picks for free agents signed by other teams could still fall as sandwich picks, so no difference there.
And while the compensation for not signing your draft picks falls within the game coding, I might also suggest that we simply wipe those each off-season before the draft pool is generated and simply go with the draft order each round per "The Wheel" list (attached here). If you do NOT sign your picks, for whatever reason, that's your fault. You can set aside budget and also be careful about not drafting "impossible" players.
This is a chance for ABL, at least in this specific area, to be very "different" in the online league universe.
For the very FIRST year, we would just assign the current pick list to "The Wheel" attached, then use "The Wheel" list annually going forward (each team simply shifting DOWN one spot each draft - so Pick #1 then has Pick #30 next season - Pick #2 has Pick #29 the next season - Pick #12 'last on the wheel' then has Pick #1 the next season).
This is RADICAL, But please have a look!
Several years ago the NBA tried to tweak it's draft lottery and implement a brand new idea that would be pretty much "Tank Proof" in the eyes of many. It never took off. But I think there might be a place for it right here in the ABL! It would make the league totally unique among online leagues, make it virtually "Tank Proof" and would give every GM/Team a shot at the #1 overall pick (over time of course).
In a solo league you can play any way you want, because it's just you against the game. You can assemble a starting lineup of "#1 Picks or Future Hall of Famers" all on 10-year contracts for $1M per and nobody cares (not even you obviously). It's your game, play it any way you like and have fun! But, in almost every online league I have been in, there is always someone who thinks that completely tanking their team is a both a good idea and sure way to success. As a result, measures have been put in place, whether house rules to guard against tanking or, in the case of this league and others, adopting an NBA style lottery to at least spread around the first overall pick and keep the very worst team from always picking first.
Even the ABL has adopted the "NBA Style Lottery" (pulled over with the PBL rules) to hopefully persuade GM's NOT to TANK! So I'm not suggesting change from NOTHING to RADICAL, just suggesting an alternate (and admittedly rejected) form of the NBA Anti-Tank Lottery suggestion.
The Wheel
The idea rejected by the NBA was "The Wheel" in which every team, over their 30 years, would cycle through each and every draft pick position. Regardless of record, regardless of anything really, you would simply move through an order of picks.
For example, if you have the #1 pick this year, you would have the #30 pick the following year and the #19 the year after. Forcing teams to stick to this specific draft order would guarantee that every team would have:
i. #1 pick every thirty years
ii. A top 6 pick every five years
iii. Back to back top 12 picks every five years
It ensures a certain degree of parity in the picking process. It eliminates the need to "Tank" for one of more years, as there is no point. Teams could always, instead, strive to compete! What a novel concept.
Obviously the ABL is not "real life". Opponents to the system in real life raised several concerns and THAT is why it was ultimately rejected.
i. A very good team, potentially a championship team, could possibly find themselves with a #1 pick immediately after their championship. True!
ii. Players could try to "rig" their pick by staying in school and trying to time their draft eligibility so that they could chance of going to a team they desire. True.
iii. Teams could try to "rig" the draft by coercing players to do just that and by promising they would be picked at a certain number if they entered in a certain year. True.
iv. Of those three variables, only the first one would be a concern here in the fictional ABL because the players are generated randomly annually.
This system would be very easy to use and the picks are pre-determined EVERY season. It might require a bit of set up time on the part of the Commissioner to set the draft order to follow the "Wheel Pick Schedule" and, of course, should we continue to trade picks that would have to be accommodated too. But it's certainly not unworkable.
The COMP picks for free agents signed by other teams could still fall as sandwich picks, so no difference there.
And while the compensation for not signing your draft picks falls within the game coding, I might also suggest that we simply wipe those each off-season before the draft pool is generated and simply go with the draft order each round per "The Wheel" list (attached here). If you do NOT sign your picks, for whatever reason, that's your fault. You can set aside budget and also be careful about not drafting "impossible" players.
This is a chance for ABL, at least in this specific area, to be very "different" in the online league universe.
For the very FIRST year, we would just assign the current pick list to "The Wheel" attached, then use "The Wheel" list annually going forward (each team simply shifting DOWN one spot each draft - so Pick #1 then has Pick #30 next season - Pick #2 has Pick #29 the next season - Pick #12 'last on the wheel' then has Pick #1 the next season).
A learning experience...