With JBL XXX only 10 months away, I was thinking about any tweaks or things we could do to spark up the JBL. Plus, with Golden languishing in 9th, I’ve got some time on my hands.
My idea stems from thinking about keepers and our protection rules. It also stems from looking at NBA contracts and some of the horrible ones out there (Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, etc). For those NBA contracts, GM’s took a chance and locked up guys for the long term, regardless of injury concerns or the likelihood that the player’s performance would regress as they got older. Some work out great and some work out horrible. Some players, like Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell are on super cheap deals while other players, Christiano Felicio and others have signed long term monstrosities.
So is there anyway we could incorporate something like this into the JBL world?
Currently, at the end of each season, JBL teams are able to protect players. How many depends on where the JBL team finishes in the standings. I’m not looking or suggesting any modifications to the number of keepers per team.
Currently, any player being protected gets a $5 dollar bump on his JBL salary. JBL teams decide on who they want to keep over the summer months. We watch what that the NBA teams are doing and whether that player is going to be a good value or not. As the JBL Auction approaches, a team can simply drop the player if they don’t want to protect him at that price or if the player suffers an injury. The risk is low for a JBL team in the current set-up.
But what if JBL teams could decide on a keeper right now? What would the benefit be to the team? What would the risks be?
So here's my idea in a nutshell. I'll then walk you though some scenarios.
I call it...the Early Extension (EE).
- A JBL team can sign one player, per JBL season, to an Early Extension contract
- This essentially signs the player for the life of his JBL contract
- It also adds one year to the life of the contract (rookies can go to R6 and players drafted at Auction or signed as a Free Agent can go to Year 4)
- These players cannot be released (they can be traded)
- The only way these players are not on a JBL roster for the following season is because the JBL team did not have a keeper spot available (then penalties would be applied)
Read on for some different scenarios...and some Q & A
Let’s use Idaho and DeAndre Ayton. Clearly, Idaho is going to keep Ayton for next season (assuming he doesn’t trade him). Currently, Ayton is $20 bucks so his salary for next season will be $25 and this will be his R3 season and then R4 for $30 and so on...
So here’s me spit-balling on a way to spice things up and make things interesting.
What if Idaho had the ability right now to sign Ayton to his full rookie deal? Essentially, signing him for the life of his rookie contract. The player would still keep their current salary for this season (Ayton would still be $20 bucks). However, if Idaho traded Ayton, it would mean whoever is acquiring him HAS to keep Ayton as well (in this case, it’s a no-brainer for the club acquiring him because of Ayton’s current salary). It also would mean that if Ayton blows his knee tomorrow, Idaho still HAS to keep Ayton for next season and beyond. It would be the same for any other jBL team acquiring him. Ayton essentially has to be protected by whatever club he ends up with.
Q. What if the JBL team finished so low in the standings they had no keeper spots?
A. Let’s look at Bellingham’s current state. Last place gets you no keepers. Currently, he has John Wall for $4 bucks. So let's say the Ham N Eggers announce they are signing Wall to his extension right now. But at the end of the year, he’s still in last and gets 0 keepers. Then what? One option would be to say since you signed Wall to his extension and ended up in spot where you can’t protect anyone – you forfeit your rookie pick in the upcoming rookie draft. Would Bellingham want to risk that? Last place gets you 14 lottery balls and the chance to get the #1 rookie pick at a $15 dollar salary – or the chance to keep John Wall for $9 and then $14 and then $19.. Would that make the risk worth it? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the crop of rookies and how strongly you felt about your chances to get out of last place.
So in that scenario, let’s say Bellingham signs Wall to his early extension and hopes he can move up from 14th place. Let’s say they still finish last. Because he’s signed Wall to the early extension, he would forfeit his rookie draft pick. He doesn’t get to keep Wall (because last place gets 0 keepers). But is there an additional penalty required? Reduce his $260 budget for the next season’s Auction? Or is losing the rookie pick penalty enough? I discuss further penalty options below.
So why would Bellingham or any team near the bottom of the standings take the risk to sign anyone to an early extension? The benefit/appeal would be the trade market appeal as it would significantly increase his keeper value if the Ham N Eggers were to trade him. What team wouldn’t want to take on Wall and get the extra year? This will of course be a major negative for some JBL owners that don’t want to see the injured players (Wall, Durant, Klay, Oladipo, Nurkic, etc) drafted at Auction at all due to their significantly reduced Auction price.
Q. Why just let JBL teams sign 1 player to this Early Extension?
A. We want to try and keep a level playing field. Top teams get more keepers and allowing them to sign multiple players to an extra year gives them more chance of sustained success. That’s why I’m suggesting, for the initial role out of this idea, that each JBL team can only sign 1 player to the ‘early extension’ per JBL season starting in the 20/21 JBL season. If we like the idea and work out all the ‘what-if’ scenarios, then I would propose we expand the number of potential EE deals in future seasons.
Q. My team finished 13th and I get 1 keeper. I have one player signed to an Early Extension deal and another, better, keeper option. Can I keep the other player?
A. No, if you have a player signed to an Early Extension deal - you must keep that player for the next season.
This brings in some risk and excitement around signing guys to long term deals and having to work around contracts. Look at the Pistons and Blake Griffin or OKC with Chris Paul. It makes it interesting trying to build a roster where you have a player who is really tough to move.
Q. Can teams make trades for other Early Extension players?
A. Yes. here's a scenario.
What if Idaho signed Ayton to his early extension and Maui has signed Isaac to his early extension. So, 1 early extension for each JBL team as per my suggested guideline. And then let’s say Idaho acquires Isaac from Maui. Now Idaho has 2 players on ‘early extension’ deals. Is that allowed? I would say yes because Maui was the team who signed Isaac to the extension. Now, I would also say that since Maui signed Isaac to the early extension that Maui cannot go and sign another one of his players to an ‘early extension’ deal. He used the option on Isaac for this season. Again, I’m suggesting each JBL team can only use 1 early extension offer per JBL season.
This of course also means that Idaho must protect both Ayton and Isaac for the coming season.
If the proposal is adopted, over years, teams would ultimately likely have more than 1 player signed to EE deals and would have to carefully navigate the world of long term deals, where their team is going to finish in the standings, etc.
What about a player who is in the FINAL year of his JBL contract and is due to go back into the JBL Auction in October? I would propose that any player that is in the final year of his JBL contract, is ineligible to be signed to an ‘early extension’.
The idea of the ‘early extension’ keeper has no other impact on the current keeper rules in place in terms of the number of keepers per team or salary bumps ($5). In order to be eligible for any type of protection, players must be on their JBL team by the February NBA All-Star weekend. I would suggest the same time period for the Early Extension deals to be signed and to be acquired. It would also mean that these EE players cannot be traded after the All-Star weekend (because they need to be protected and any player traded after the keeper deadline is ineligible for protection)
And of course, a JBL team does not have to sign any player to an Early Extension deal. It’s simply an option to lock up a player for an extra year if you wanted.
Q. What are the penalties if I don't have enough keeper spots to keep a player signed on an Early Extension deal?
A. This is where I'm still in thinking mode. We could go with the idea that you forfeit your rookie draft pick. But, that could be such a low rookie pick that the owner does even care about losing it. So I was thinking it would be a double-edged penalty. Firstly, the JBL team loses their rookie pick and secondly, they lose the final year value of each Early Extension player from their $260 budget at the next Auction.
So, using the Ham N Eggers example above with John Wall. He is currently $4 bucks and let's say he's signed to his Early Extension. So that's $9 in the 2nd year, $14 in the 3rd year and now $19 in the 4th (extended year). And let's say Bellingham finishes last and gets zero keepers and can't keep Wall. Ultimately, John Wall goes back into the Auction for the following draft.
Penalties that would apply:
1) Bellingham forfeits their rookie pick (which in this case would be 14 lottery balls and the chance at a really high pick)
2) They would also lose $19 bucks off the $260 limit for the next draft. The $19 bucks represents the 4th year salary of Wall. Essentially you can think of this as the buyout amount.
OK, there are definitely more things to nail down, but that’s essentially my proposal/idea. Here’s the summary and highlights of the proposal (the finer details still to be detailed):
- Each JBL team can sign 1 ‘Early Extension’ deal with a player on their roster.
- The player is signed for the life of his JBL contract (regardless of what JBL team he plays for) and must be protected to the end of the JBL contract (unless the JBL team is unable to protect the player due to their finish in the JBL standings – penalties apply)
- Signing the ‘Early Extension’ adds one year to the player’s JBL contract. For rookies, it means they can go to R6 and for players drafted at auction or signed as Free Agents – they can go to Year 4.
- The player cannot be released from a JBL roster (even if he suffers injury)
- Each JBL team can only sign 1 player to an Early Extension deal per season
- Currently, if you want to protect a player for next season, the player must be on your roster before the NBA All-Star game. I would propose the same rules to apply for Early Extension players.
- The Early Extension deals must be confirmed before the end of NBA All-Star weekend (Sunday, midnight)
- Also, this would mean that any player signed to an EE contract cannot be traded after the keeper deadline (to keep in line with current keeper rules).
- Any player in the FINAL (rookie or regular) year of his JBL contract is not eligible to be signed to an Early Extension deal
- A JBL team can trade for players on other teams signed to an early extension deal and have multiple players under this designation on their roster. However, they must protect these players and if they do not end up with enough keeper spots they will forfeit their rookie draft pick and potentially suffer other penalties (TBD). This would be the only scenario where a player signed to an Early Extension goes back into the Auction.
What else? Worthy of a discussion gents?
