TCFFL: Rules
The TCFFL (Team Contribution Factor Fantasy League)
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last updated: 9/30/06
Description:
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Yup, this is yet another fantasy basketball league over the net, but this one
has many more features than most of the other ones. It is not just playing
games against other owners, in fact, the games are only a small part of the
league. Owners will have their hands full with numerous management problems
(salary cap, player contracts, etc....)
Teams:
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(NEW 2006-2007)
Just like the real NBA teams, each team may have up to 15 players on the
active roster at any given time. IR has been eliminated.
Players:
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Every player, who is on a team will have a salary.
The league minumim is $50/year. A duration of the contract is also being
associated for each player who is getting paid.
Players Position:
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The players position is determined by www.nba.com designated position.
When a rookie or a FA is signed, his position is determined by www.nba.com
on the day he signs. (Exception: during offseason, if the FA has remained
on the roster page from the previous season, then he can inherit his former
position. If his former position is different from his current one, then
he can become a swingman.)
A player may become a swingman when one of the following happens:
1) that player is already a swingman from the previous season.
2) an owner petition to the league when that player's position at site
www.nba.com changes during the middle of the season (between the beginning
and the end of the TCFFL regular season.)
Once a player has left the roster page (e.g. waived by a team during the
middle of a season), his former position will NOT be remembered.
Player Contracts:
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There are several kinds of contract of which the owner may wish to sign
with his players:
a) a contract that ends with unrestricted free-agency status:
once the contract expires, the player becomes a free agent, which
is to say, other teams can bid on the player without any restriction.
The bad thing about this type of contract is that there will be a
a percentage (4*duration of contract(yrs))% increase in the player's
salary as each year goes along. (e.g. Shaq's salary for 94-95
season is $500, and an owner wants to sign a 5-yr unrestricted deal
with him, then Shaq's salary for the 95-96 season will be $600, and
$700 for 96-97, a 20% raise for each year) Any extension of the
contract during the season will be based on the current salary for
that particular year. An owner may only extend a contract, and cannot
curtail the duration of a contract without pay.
b) a contract that ends with restricted free-agency status:
once the contract expires, the player becomes a restricted
free-agent. When this happens, the player may sign offer sheets
with other teams, but his former team may have the right to match
any offers. The bad thing about this type of contract is that there
will be a (5* number of years)% increase in the player's salary as
each year goes along. Any extension of the contract during the
season will be based on the current salary for that season.
c) 14-day contracts: (NEW 2/29/00)
during the midst of the season, owners may pick up players to fill
the roster if necessary. The contract is $5 each time. The owner
may sign the same player for 2 consecutive 14-day periods, afterwards,
the owner must decide whether to sign that player for the remainder
of the season or waive him. Whenever a 14-day contract is expiring,
his status has become a FA, which means that other teams can bid on
him. So, don't be surprised to see the player leave after serving his
first 14-day contract. However, when a player is in the middle of
serving his 14-day contract, that team will have exclusive rights to
extend his contract, because he is not considered as a FA when serving
in the middle of the contract.
After the first 14-day contract has expired, the default action
for the owner is to extend another 14-day contract, unless this is
otherwised stated, and after the 2nd 14-day contract has expired, the
default action for the owner is to waive him.
(New for 2007)
Owners may negotiate/extend contracts between game#16 and the end of
the regular season. There is a minimum that the player will play for,
based on his current production. If the player's current salary is below than
the minimum, then the contract extension will also imply an immdiate salary
increase to the minimum level.
Here's the breakdown:
$1800 --> if the player averages .25 or more (NEW)
$900 --> if the player averages .20 or more (NEW)
$300 --> if the player averages .15 or more
$100 --> if the player averages .10 or more (NEW)
Other contract restrictions:
--Owner may extend a player's contract for 3 consecutive times, after which,
the player must become a NFA or a RFA. (NEW 2006-2007)
When a player is traded, the count will NO longer be reset.
--All contracts signed in 2004 or onwards cannot be switch from NFA to RFA,
or vice versa, when being extended.
--The maximum length of any contract is 5 years.
--The maximum length of any contract with starting salary of under $100 is
2 years. (NEW)
Waivers:
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An owner must buy out the rest of the player's contract before he can waive
the player. That player's salary slot will be free up for the salary cap
(more on that later.)
Player Retirement:
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If a NBA player have decided to play elsewhere or to retire and if he
is still under TCFFL contract, then the owner may have the following
options:
a) pay 50% of the player's remaining unpaid salary for the entire contract.
b) pay the player's salary on a year-by-year basis
c) not to pay the player's salary on a year-by-year basis, but have
that salary amount to be counted toward the team's cap.
An owner may switch from option B to C and vice versa on a year-by-year
basis. In any case, the player will then be dropped from the team's roster.
For example, Player X has 3 years TCFFL contract left when he retires
in the NBA, and he is due to make $1000, $1100, and $1200 for each successive
years, then the owner may:
a) pay the league $3300/2=$1650 all at once and have nothing more to
do with that player.
on year one:
b) pay the league $1000
c) have the team's cap deducted by $1000
on year two:
b) pay the league $1100
c) have the team's cap deducted by $1100
on year three:
b) pay the league $1200
c) have the team's cap deducted by $1200
Free Agent Signings:
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Each week, an owner may offer contract to any available free agents by
specifying the type, the duration, and the amount of the contract.
At the end of the week, players will be assigned to teams with the best
offer. An owner is limited to 2 requests and 1 backup request per week.
The requests are closed (other owners won't know), and make sure that
there are roster slots available for the new signee (include a conditional
waiver if a signing takes place within the transaction request, if
necessary.)
Each year, the FA market opens about a month before the season begins. It's
based on a daily open 3-day bidding system. Owners will see the current
highest bid each day. If a bid remains the same for 3 days, the bid
becomes a contract. (If the winning bid is on a RFA, then that bid will
become the official offer sheet, the original team will then have 3 days
to match the offer.)
What makes the highest offer/bid? It's determined by the money a player makes
per year for the entire contract. So, if the offer is $50, 2yr,
non-restricted deal, then the average per year for the contract is $52, since
the player will make $54 the 2nd year. In the case of a tie, the owner
who makes the first request will win the offer.
An owner may NOT back down from any offer.
Salary Cap:
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It's a hard cap, and it will be $7000 and remain the same.
Trades:
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Restriction in trading: Just like the real NBA, the salary cap limits
the flexibility of trading. The total $$ of the trade for both teams must
lie within 25%. The $$ can either be a player's current salary, cash, or
draft picks. (Rate for future picks: 1st-rounder = $400, 2nd-rounder = 150)
There is a trading deadline during the regular season, usually at the 3/4
of the season point.
(NEW 2006-2007)
After a player has been traded, that player must be on that team's roster for
a minimum of 1 full-game. (i.e. when the player is traded in the
middle of game14, then that player cannot be traded to another team
until the end of game15) If a player is traded during the off-season,
then that player cannot be traded again until 30 calendar days has
elapsed.
(Starting on 9/30/06)
The "Billups" Clause -- After the player has signed a new or an extended
contract, that player cannot be traded for a minimum of 7 calendar days.
(Starting on 9/30/06)
The "Anti-Loan" Clause -- Player cannot be traded back to his "immediate"
former team within 1 calendar year. "Immediate" means that if a player is
traded from Team A to Team B, then he cannot be traded back to Team A from
Team B within the next year. He can, however, be traded to Team C, and then
back to team A.
Drafting:
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At the end of each season, a 2-round draft will be held. The draft order
is based on records, with the worst getting the 1st pick, except for the
non-playoff teams in the first round, where a lottery system will be used.
Players from the draft pool will include incoming rookies and also the other
available non-contract affliated free agents (i.e. no players from the roster
page may be drafted.)
Lottery system: for the 6 non-playoff teams. 6 balls for the worst record
5 balls for the 2nd, etc... The lottery will only draw balls for the 1st
three picks. The remaining three teams which lost the lottery will pick
4th, 5th, and 6th overall, with the 4th overall goes to the team with the
worst record of the 3 teams, and the the 6th overall goes to the team with
the best record of the 3 teams.
Season/Games:
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Games are played in a head-to-head style. The last month of the regular
is the playoffs. The games that will be counted toward the player's score
will be notified in the season's schedule.
Playoff:
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8 teams make the playoffs (4 teams from each conference).
1st round = Best of 3
2nd round = Best of 3
Finals = Best of 3
The brackets are separated between the Western and the Eastern conferences.
The #1 seed will play the #4 seed, and the #2 will play the #3. The winner
from each conference will play each other out.
Tie-breaker: (1) head-to-head record
(2) point differential in those games.
(3) coin toss, rare event
If more than 2 teams have identical records, then tie-breaker is as follows:
(1) head-to-head record in games with the teams involved.
(2) point differential in those games.
(3) coin toss, rare event
Roster:
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(NEW 2006-2007)
No team may carry more than 15 active players on its roster at any given
time.
(NEW 2006-2007)
Playoff teams will carry a constant 13-man active roster for the entire
playoff.
Lineup:
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For each game, the owner submits his lineups for the game. The lineup
includes 5 starters, and 4 reserves. The starters will contribute about 70%
of the total scoring, and the 4 reserves will make up the rest. The
starters' positions should be a conventional 2G's, 1C, 2F's, but one
doesn't have to follow it exactly, except that there will be a penalty
on the player's score, since he is playing out of position. For the 4
reserves, there has to be at least 1C, 1F, and 1G, and one of anything else.
Again, the player's effectiveness will be slightly lowered because he is
out of position. More details on the scoring later. If no new lineup is
submitted, then the same lineup from previous game will be used. Lineups
are due an hour before the tip-off of the first game.
Scoring:
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Ok, the scoring is slightly different as in other leagues. It is based on
how much the player is contributing on his team. For example, if the player
scores 25 points out of the team's 100 for a particularly counted game, then
the player's (TCF) team-contributing-factor is 25% of the team in scoring.
The scoring formula for each player is as follows:
0.45*(TCF points)+0.25*(TCF rebounds)+0.25*(TCF assists)+
0.05*(TCF steals)+0.05*(TCF blocks)-0.05*(TCF turnovers)
= the player's score.
Team score is calculated as:
starter1+starter2+starter3+starter4+starter5+
1/2*(reserve1+reserve2+reserve3+reserve4) = total team score.
Home Court advantage in playoffs
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The home team will have the option of replacing a backup forward with a
starting forward, a backup guard with a starting guard, OR a backup center
with the starting center. This decision (G,F, or C) will have to be made
before the game, though.
For example, a lineup of:
F1, F2, C1, G1, G2
F3, C2, G3, R
and if the home owner decides to replace forwards, then if F3 ends up scoring
higher than either F1 or F2, F3 will becomes a starter and the lower of F1
or F2 will become a reserve. But if F3 scores the lowest of the 3 forwards,
then nothing changes. Similar scenario for guards and centers.
This "position" decision can be changed from game to game, but unless it's
specified, the same position will be used for the next game.
Injury/IR:
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IR No longer exist as of season 2006-2007
Transactions:
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Any transaction, except for trades, happens on Mondays. (Requested FA
signings, from the previous week.) Lineups can be changed from a
game-to-game basis, however.
Bonus/Penalties:
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Bonus:
Per Game basis:
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NOTE: A Game may have multiple "matches", but the bonus is based on a
game-to-game basis, not match-to-match basis.
Owner gets $200 for owning a player who gets the player-of-the-game honor.
Owner gets $100 for owning a player who is runner-up for POG honor.
Owner gets $50 for owning a player who is 2nd runner-up for POG honor.
Owner gets $100 for having a team score of over 1.00
Owner gets $50 for having a team score of over 0.95
End of season:
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-At the end of each regular season, the league will give out
$500 to the two divisional winners.
-Owner gets $500 for making the playoffs
-Owner gets $1000 for advancing to the 2nd round
-Owner gets $1500 for getting to the Finals
-Owner gets $2000 for winning the whole thing
-Owner gets $3000 of sponsorship/interests at the beginning of each season.
Penalties/Fees:
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Per Game Basis:
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- for each player playing out of position, a 5% decrease on the team's
score will be deducted.
Initialization:
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Expansion teams get $10,000 to start.
Expansion:
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The 2 expansion teams will hold a 8-round expansion draft. The expansion
teams will inherit the contract of the players being drafted. And the
2 teams will draft #5 and #6 both rounds in the rookie draft of next season.
Expansion draft:
The participants will take turns in drafting the players. A method
(coin-flip, random # generator) will be used to determine this order. The
order will not be reversed for the entire draft. However, the team that
drafts first in the expansion draft will draft later in the rookie draft.
The draft does not allow the drafting of incoming rookies or players who
are about to become FA's.
Each team will get to protect up to 8 contracted-players, and can only lose
up to 2 players for the expansion draft.
Expansion teams may choose to pass up selections during the expansion
draft, if they can't find anymore players that they would like to inherit
the contracts from the existing teams.
Bankruptcy:
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Any team may file bankruptcy for the next season during the course of the
year (before the playoff begins). In which case, the team will then be
treated as an expansion team for the next year. It will lose all of its
players and these players cannot be re-signed immediately from the FA
market in the following year. If a team happens to have its draft choices
traded away, then the teams that own the draft choice(s) will have a choice
of inheriting the contract of one player from the bankrupt team per
draft choice. The order in which the teams will select the players will
be determined by the draft choice (1st rounders will have precedents over
2nd rounders and then the sooner pick will have precedents over later pick.)
For example, if the bankrupt team has traded their 2000 1st rounder to team
A and its 1999 2nd rounder to team B, then team A will get to select a
player from the bankrupt team first, followed by team B.
FA Market
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About a month before the season kicks off, the FA market begins. Teams can
participate in bidding RFA's and NFA's left from the previous year as well
as undrafted rookies or other FA's.