Lottery Delayed....

Just like the NBA season, the JBL is delaying the rookie lottery that was scheduled for this weekend. I hoped to hold the lottery on Sunday, Sept 25th but due to lack of time and lack of JBL owner witnesses (only 1 other JBL owner was apparently available) we'll have to postpone the lottery and rookie draft at this time.

Don't get me wrong here though. We will be holding a lottery and a rookie draft before we start the next JBL season. But, at this point, because of the lack of progress being made by the NBA and the players - there really isn't any urgency to get this done. We're not even sure if there will be a 2011 NBA season at this point. Best case, it appears the NBA would be looking at a January 2012 start and a shortened season.

So, the new lottery date, in my mind, is the usual JBL Draft night date. For 20 years we have used one of the last 2 Saturday's in October as our draft night. So, I am proposing the rookie lottery be held that night. We could get all the boys together and do the lottery and then grab a bite to eat somewhere. Boys night out! I'll post a poll on the JBL site to see if the 22nd or the 29th works better. Of course, not everyone would be able to attend and not everyone would be required to attend or be online. It's just a boys night to draw some golf balls out of a hat to see who gets what pick in the rookie draft. Sounds to me like an excuse to get out of the house and hang out with the guys. Brilliant.

The Balls are Ready!

The balls are ready to go! With the reverse draw style of this lottery - you want your ball to stay in the container for as long as possible. The first ball out will get the #12 pick in the rookie draft. The last ball out will get the coveted #1 selection in the October rookie draft. The lottery excitement is scheduled for next weekend - either the 24th or 25th depending on who's around and who wants to be a part of JBL history. I know the NBA is still locked out - but it's time to start to think about NBA rookies because each JBL team could add a very interesting player to their roster in the next couple of weeks.

Lottery Time

Well, after a 10-2 vote in favor of a rookie lottery the wheels are in motion to have the balls rollin' next weekend. Either Saturday or Sunday (24th or 25th) I plan to get the lottery going. I will need a couple of witnesses to the event and think I can post the results either on the JBL website or here on the Chronicles (or both).

I wasn't able to locate ping pong balls but did find a dozen white plastic golf balls for $2.00 bucks. So, dimples and all, I have written the team name of all 12 JBL teams on each ball (remember we only have 12 teams now that Belgrade has folded up shop).

I'm still tying to figure out what I can use to shake, toss, turn, jiggle, wiggle, twist, and pop those balls around before selecting them one by one. I may let Ryan do the honours. He'll have no idea the significance of the moment - but maybe one day he'll be running this thing when we are all said and done.

I know it doesn't really feel much like NBA time right now. The NFL season is underway and the NBA is locked out and there is no end in sight. But, the JBL is fun and having a rookie draft and having guys thinking about their JBL teams might ease the paid of knowing that it doesn't look like we'll be holding our annual JBL draft on the 3rd Saturday in October. Think about that for a moment. For 19 of the last 20 years, that 3rd Saturday has hosted the JBL Auction. It's been held on my birthday (23rd) and Trev's birthday (26th) yet somehow we're always there for the draft. This could (likely) be just the 2nd time that the JBL draft isn't hosted on that night. Sad. Very sad.

I admit I haven't done much in terms of preparation for the NBA season as it just doesn't look like there will be one very soon. Throw in the fact that for the first time ever the Golden Showers team has just one keeper and I don't have very many tough decisions ahead of me. Kevin Love is coming back to Golden barring any beach volleyball ACL tears.

I am excited about the rookie draft. I think it will be fun. The lottery, just because it's a lottery has some drama. Once the order is determined some guy's will begin to evaluate their position and who might be available at that spot and whether they want to draft him at that price or consider trading up or down in the rookie draft.

By October 1st, all JBL teams must reduce their rosters down to the maximum number of keepers available to them. A number of teams have several cuts still to make (myself included). Then, once all those cuts are made, we'll start the rookie draft on October 1st and work our way through 12 rookie picks. And I definitely think there is some homework to do on the rookies as I don't see the NBA order being the same as the JBL rookie order based on potential playing time for some of these kids. It will be interesting to see what order we pick in and how many trades will be made. I think some teams willl trade down while others will want to move up and try to grab Irving. If he is the #1 pick his JBL salary will be just $15 bucks. Remember guys like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins both went for waaaay more than that last season. There is value to be had here and whoever lands the #1 rookie pick is going to be really, really glad they have the chance to land Irving (or whoever the feel is the best fantasy player available for $15 bucks).

I'm excited to see what other moves October 1st brings. That date is now essentially the start of the 2011/12 JBL season. Roster limits go out the door. If you could only protect 2 players for next season based on last year's standings - it's now 'next season'. In other words, if I wanted to turn Kevin Love into 4 players - I can do that. Will there be any blockbuster JBL trades in October. I doubt it. With no NBA season on the horizon I just don't see anyone making any moves. But never say never. You never know.

Anyways, that's all for me. I miss the JBL prep that I would normally be doing. I'll have to settle for rookie draft reading. Which, I have to say, is an exciting new part of the JBL. I hope this works out well and everyone enjoys it. The next thing to figure out will be how to do the lottery next season??? I'm all ears for your ideas and suggestions on that matter...

First the Lockout, Now This...

Well, if the NBA lockout wasn't bad enough, the JBL received some shocking and saddening news. For a couple years now we have been 13 teams strong. Well, whenever the NBA and the JBL resumes, we will only have 12 teams next season. The Belgrade Zombies are folding their tents for next season.

The JBL League office recently contacted Belgrade about his stance on the rookie draft when we learned of the shocking news. Apparently, Belgrade is moving to beautiful Montreal and has taken on a brand new challenging job. The move and the new job will take up a lot of time and Belgrade states he just won't have the time to put into the JBL. Marko's a competitive guy and didn't want to go at the JBL at anything left than 100% so he is folding his squad for next season.

Marko didn't rule out the idea of returning to the JBL in future seasons so we'll see if finds the time to come back. I can think of a few cities in Quebec that could use a JBL team...

Quebec Hams
Sherbrooke Shields
Montreal Madrid

OK, so maybe those aren't the best ideas...

anyways, I'm wishing Marko all the best in his move to Montreal and who knows, maybe one day, we'll see him back in the JBL ranks again.

The JBL Summit - July 20th

Well, what a night! 7 JBL owners descended on the Keg and the restaurant matched our class with wonderful service and food. The 7 teams represented on this evening were - Golden, Chilliwack, Idaho, French Lick, Brussels, Maui and Arctic. We talked, we ate, we drank, we talked, and ate some more. In the end, we think we've come up with some pretty solid foundation points to move forward on. So, let's recap. And I will apologize now - it's a lengthy document.

The JBL is now 20 years old. It's time to put our league rules into a Constitution. Benny has been tasked with this and will work on it over the summer months. Most of the rules are posted on the JBL website but we want to create a BIBLE of JBL rules and restrictions so it's clear for everyone.

The 1st ever JBL rookie draft looks like it's a go. We need 9 out of 13 JBL owners to say YES to the rookie draft. So far, we have 7 YES (all in attendance tonight) and 2 NO (Bangkok and Seoul). We still need definitive answers from Yuma, MBB, Belgrade, and Juan de Fuca. If we get the required 9 YES's then we will be holding the 1st ever JBL rookie lottery and draft later this year. So, how would it work?

The JBL lottery would/could be held anytime after the 9th YES vote is obtained. The lottery system proposed (for this year) would be an equal-weighted ping pong ball lottery draft. Each JBL team would have 1 ping pong ball in the hopper (so everyone has equal opportunity of obtaining the 1st rookie pick).

We propose the JBL rookie draft to be 1 round of 13 picks. Any rookies not selected in this draft would be eligible for Auction (same as years past).

The lottery proposal would be in a reverse draw order. So, the first ball out gets the 13th pick, then 12th, then 11th and so on until the last ball drawn gets the 1st rookie pick. This keeps the suspense going until the final ball is drawn.

This lottery draft would be an event in itself and I propose an evening is planned around it.

This lottery could be held at any point over the summer. It should be held before October 1st.

Our off-season roster management needs to be better refined in the coming years. Currently, on July 1st, all JBL teams are required to reduce their roster to a maximum of 10 players. On Sept. 1st - JBL rosters are reduced to a maximum of 6 players. No trades are allowed during the summer months. Finally, on October 1st, all JBL teams are required to reduce their rosters to the maximum allowable protection available to them based on the previous years' standings.

Once all JBL rosters (Oct. 1st) are trimmed - we also open up the JBL to trades. Currently, we have stated that a team that can only protect 1 player (based on previous years standings) can still only protect one player. Now, after recent discussions, we seem to be in agreement that the next JBL season should start on October 1st and teams can start to build their teams through the draft and trades. (Example: Golden finished 12th last year and I can keep 1 player. Kevin Love. After October 1st, I have always been able to trade Kevin Love. Now, I could trade Love for 3 players if I so desired and bring those 3 players into the season). This probably needs to be voted on.

So, with the rookie lottery held before October 1st - then the 2 week rookie Christmas party begins. The proposal would see 13 days of JBL rookie draft. On Oct 1st, the team with the 1st pick has 24 hours to make a pick or a trade. On October 2nd, the team with the 2nd pick has 24 hours to make a pick or a trade. And so on...This gives us 2 solid weeks of JBL build up to the Auction.

We propose that JBL teams must select a rookie. At the end of the 2 week rookie draft, JBL teams would have the option to drop/release the rookie from their team if they so desired. The rookie would then be available at Auction and awarded to the highest bidder. The highest bid would also be his salary (ie. the rookie draft salary would not apply).

We propose JBL rookies drafted would fall under the same protection rules already in place.

We propose that rookie picks could be traded for players or other picks. (ie. I could trade Kevin Love to another team for their rookie pick)

We propose the rookie draft pick would not count against any previous allotment of players. Example - Bangkok has 4 keepers spots. Now he has 1 rookie spot. So, he could have 5 players on his team before the Auction even happens. Or, he could trade one of his keepers for another player and pick. So, he would have 4 players and 2 rookie picks - now he has 6 players on his team before Auction. This is OK. Essentially, the way to look at this would be to remember that after October 1st - any roster minimums or maximums are gone and the new JBL season is underway. Further example - Golden currently has 1 keeper spot. Currently, I have 5 guys on my roster still. By October 1st, I have to reduce my roster to just my 1 keeper (Love). Once that happens I will have 1 player and 1 rookie pick. So, 2 spots. However, I could use Love and my rookie pick and trade them to another team for their 4 protected players (that would be the maximum any team could have) and their pick. So, I would have 4 players and 1 rookie pick. Golden would enter the Auction with 5 players. This would be OK under the proposed system.

Any players on JBL rosters after October 1st could be released due to injury up until 1 week prior to the JBL Auction date. Obviously, if a guy blows a knee and is out for the season, we should NOT have to keep this player through to the Auction.

For the 1st year of the rookie draft we are proposing an equally weighted system to determine the draft order (ie. each JBL team has 1 ping pong ball). Next year, assuming their is a 2011/12 NBA season, we propose that our JBL rookie lottery is weighted (just like the NBA). If you finish 13th - you would have 13 ping pong balls. 12th gets 12 balls. On down the list. The JBL Champ would have 1 ball in the pot and have a 1 in 91 chance to win the lottery. In the event that the entire 2011/12 NBA season is cancelled - we propose that the 2012 JBL rookie draft be equally weighted again.

Any rookie selected in this year's draft (2011) would keep the same salary for next season (if the entire NBA season is cancelled). (ie. no $5 dollar bump)

We propose all current keeper allotments remain in place (13th - no keepers; 11th & 12th = 1 keeper; etc)

We propose to maintain current salary cap restrictions - $200 minimum and $300 maximum. Could Lebron ($75) be traded for a future rookie pick - yes - provided the team trading Lebron meets the salary cap requirements.

All rookie picks that get traded during the course of the season would be tracked on the JBL website.

JBL teams could obtain/acquire/use multiple rookie picks if they so desired. All current salary cap and roster restrictions would apply.

We propose that rookie picks can only be traded one year in advance. For example, I can't trade Kevin Love to Chilliwack for his rookie picks in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

We propose that all 2011 rookie picks must be used and not traded to future picks. (Let's test drive the new system and see that it works before messing with it too much)

SALARY STRUCTURE FOR ROOKIES

This was the most debated and discussed topic of the evening. Trying to figure out what the JBL salary of each rookie pick should be. It can't be too high because there won't be enough value picks. So, one suggestion was to weight it the same way the NBA currently does. The NBA salary cap last year was 58 million and the 1st pick (John Wall) made 4.4 million (or 7.5% of the cap). In the JBL, some would say our cap is $260. Some would say it's $300. Others might say it's $200.

In the $260 scenario - the 13 picks salaries - based on the same % weighting as the NBA salary cap would look like this (1st thru 13th).

19-17-15-14-13-11-10-9-8-8-8-7-7

This doesn't work because no JBL team, wants to pay $7 bucks for the 13th best rookie. Our own JBL Auction history is filled with $1 and $2 dollar nuggets.

In the $200 JBL cap scenario, picks 1 thru 13 would look like this...

15-13-12-11-10-8-8-7-6-6-6-5-5.

Again, the drop off just doesn't appear to be significant enough to make those last few picks worthwhile.

So, after crunching some more numbers and looking back at some previous JBL Auctions I think I have come up with a possible salary structure. But first, just by way of history, did you know that JBL owners drafted 11 rookies on Auction night in 2010? And in the 2009 JBL Auction - 12 rookies were selected? So, we do draft rookies. Some more than others for sure.

Last year, JBL owners spent $49 on Blake Griffin, $37 on John Wall and $27 on DeMarcus Cousins. Also, $9 on Wesley Johnson, $7 on Derrick Favors, and $6 on Evan Turner. Yes, there are $1 dollar specials in there as well, but it goes to show you that we will take a chance with our JBL dollars on Auction night.

So, here's my proposal for a salary structure. From the past drafts I've looked at there always appears to be more bargain hunting going rather than paying big bucks on an unknown. That being said, there are always 2 or 3 rookies who get big bucks on Auction night. However, I think we want to make sure that rookies can be bargains and that JBL teams are rewarded for taking the risk of the kid panning out. And I don't think we want to lose that. So, I propose we go with a lower salary structure. This would also place great excitement and potential of landing that #1 overall pick and landing a future stud player and keeper for 3 years. Here's my proposed structure.

Pick 1 = $15 dollar JBL salary

Pick 2 = $12 bucks

Pick 3 = $10 bucks

Pick 4 - $8 bucks

Pick 5 - $7 bucks

Pick 6 - $6 bucks

Pick 7 - $5 bucks

Pick 8 - $4 bucks

Pick 9 - $3 bucks

Pick 10 - $2 bucks

Pick 11 - $1 buck

Pick 12 - $1 buck

Pick 13 - $1 buck

I propose that picks 11-13 are all $1 dollar as that appears to be reaching the maximum number of rookies we draft every year. So, would a JBL team be willing to take a risk on a rookie for $3 bucks at pick #9?? I say sure. Why not? And if they didn't like the kid - they could always drop him up until 1 week prior to the Auction. Or they could pick at #9 and try to trade him. The options are there and it's very minimal risk (in dollars).

And how about the top 3 picks being $15, $12 and $10? You wouldn't want Blake Griffin for $15? John Wall for $12? Or Cousins for $10? Remember what they went for at Auction last year (49, 37, and 27)!! Think of how excited you would be to land the #1 pick in the JBL rookie draft knowing that Blake Griffin will be yours for $15 bucks. Think of the trade offers you would get for that pick? And if you didn't want to pay $15 bucks for a rookie - you could always trade down and try to get a $1 dollar rookie with the 11th pick. The options are endless!!

This salary structure needs to be voted on and approved.

There you have it guys...I tried to summarize our evening in here. If I've missed anything please let me know. The goal is to make the rookie draft fun. For Rick and Phil, who are currently opposed, I hope this might make them see how much fun this rookie lottery would be as well as the 2 weeks of rookie picks and trading would be leading up to the JBL Auction. Usually, we are all anxiously awaiting the 3rd Saturday in October for the JBL season to start. With the rookie draft and proposed roster changes - our JBL season will now start on October 1st. JBL teams can build through the rookie draft and through trades like never before. I think it's very exciting stuff.

Thanks to the 6 JBL owners who all took time out of their busy lives to meet for dinner tonight. I thought it was awesome and that we should definitely do it more often. And as Benny asked during dinner - how many guys are out there (aged 20+ to 40+) - that are discussing a fantasy basketball league in the middle of July when the NBA is locked out???? Unreal. The JBL truly is awesome and you guys make it that way. So I thank all of you...and to all a good night.

Night Before the Summit...

Well, we're 24 hours away from the JBL summit. It's exciting. Mostly because we'll have 7 of the JBL owners in one room. Awesome. First time since Vegas. I'm looking forward to seeing the boys. Besides having a few pops we will be discussing the proposed JBL Rookie Draft. So far, 4 of 5 JBL owners have voted YES for this idea. We will need 9 of the 13 owners to say Yes to this proposal for it to come into play. So far, I have a definitive NO from Bangkok on the proposal. Figures, the guy who always gets the best rookies says no to this proposal. Oh well.

So, we have a lot to discuss tomorrow night (assuming we stay on pace for this rookie proposal to get passed). Thought I would jot down some points here so I can remember all the topics to discuss.

• do we agree that the JBL rookie draft should be just one round? I think this is best because that would leave a bunch of rookies still eligible for auction. At most, there are 13 rookies selected in the draft. And in some cases, I would imagine some teams would PASS on their rookie picks - leaving more rookies for auction. Does everyone agree to a one round draft?


• what is the salary structure for the rookie picks? I have suggested a few ideas. Crikker has suggested an idea as well. These need to be discussed. Crikker has suggested a salary system based on the average price of the rookies across all fantasy pools (ie. If Kyrie Irving's average fantasy salary is $28 bucks - then this should be his JBL salary - regardless of where he is selected). This is a tough one to figure out...I'm interested in hearing what others have to say


• We are going to need to figure out some rules around trading these picks and whether that's compatible with the JBL website. Can we trade a player for a future pick? I'm not sure how the website can handle this? Can we trade picks for picks? Can we trade 2 players for pick? We need some structure around the transaction process and rookie picks.


• What will the rookie draft look like? Due to the structure of the JBL Auction - we can't simply do the rookie draft right before the Auction. The rookie draft would have to be at least a couple weeks before the Auction. Or, as suggested by Crikker, the rookie draft could start on October 1st and each team would have 24 hours to pick, pass, or trade their pick and then on October 2nd, the #2 team would have 24 hours to pick, pass or trade. It would build the excitement for the Auction and give us 13 days of JBL activity at the start of October. I do like this idea but we need to see what everyone else thinks.

Lots to discuss - I'm looking forward to the night!!

Rookie Draft?

Well boys, I'm back from a week in Oregon. Beautiful holiday. Beautiful coastline. Beautiful area.
And I still have another week off work!! Yahoo!
So, before I went on holidays, I was writing a lot about holding a JBL rookie draft. I've canvassed the idea with 3 other JBL owners it's looking like something that we will consider doing. However, I think that we need to put this to a vote. Every rule change we've ever considered in the JBL has been put to a vote and this is another time to keep with tradition. We have a few things to work on then while we also have some solid concepts in place already...

• I think the rookie draft should be just 1 round


• I think a JBL owner should be able to 'PASS' on their pick if they want

But after that - there are a lot of things up for debate...

1. Vote on whether to conduct a rookie draft? (need 3 out of 4 JBL owners to approve)
2. Determine the salary structure for the picks/rookies
3. Determine rules around trading of rookies
4. What are the rules around trading future rookie picks?
5. If the NBA is still locked out on October 29th - should we conduct our JBL Auction?

So - I think the best way to get the ball moving on this is to have a JBL owners summit. Get the boys together for a barbeque or something and chat about the options and rules around the issue. We would need 9 of the 13 JBL owners to say 'YES' to a rookie draft. So, let's see what the JBL owners have to say....