Rule change proposals for 2024/25 season

[Interpaga]

To make things more realistic and further align the salary system with the variable cap, the CCD Committee decided to switch to a rising salary system. Basically, the total contract value for players will no longer be split equally across each contract year. Instead, the salary will increase annually over the contract length.

1. For rookies, we will use the Rookie Scale starting from the upcoming draft.

2. For any contract extensions signed after 2/1/2025, the annual cost of the contract will increase by 3% in year 2, 6% in year 3, 10% in year 4, and 15% in year 5 (all calculated on the year 1 cost, which is determined by the player salary table based on Fantrax rankings). For example, if Kyrie Irving's 2025 expiring contract is extended after 2/1/2025 and Utah decides to grant him a 4-year contract, the annual cost will be $26 million in 2026 (assuming the best ranking is 29), $26.8 million in 2027, $27.6 million in 2028, and $28.6 million in 2029.

3. We are also working on a proposal for a Free Agent (FA) bidding change to align FA contracts with the new rising salary system as well. We will provide the proposal in the next few days

[Interpaga]

We have uploaded 2025 salaries, draft picks, and cap limits for each team to Fantrax.

Now you are allowed to send trade offers (including players or picks) also on Fantrax.

However, please note that any trades agreed upon on Fantrax must also be posted here for the traditional approval process

[Interpaga]

I am sorry that the cash bonus proposal did not receive a positive reception.
While I would not recommend using it for a rebuilding team, some playoff teams might find it beneficial to offset potential salary discrepancies caused by existing cash exchanges during the upcoming season. Therefore, if at least 5 owners support the proposal, we will move forward with it (any team in favor of the proposal can post here or use the poll to vote, only owners with no salary paid on their balance sheet can vote). Otherwise, the proposal will not be implemented.

Regarding the 2025/26 limitation on number of players with salary paid, this rule will go into effect in the 2025/26 season without the need for further approval.

The proposal for cash bonuses for the 2024/25 season was unsuccessful and will therefore not be implemented

[Interpaga]

In order to avoid teams trading away all their draft capital and to partially protect the rebuilding process of lottery teams, we are going to implement the following 3 new rules:
- introduction of Stepien Rule. A team cannot be without a own first round pick for more than two consecutive years. Basically, at any given time, a team must have at least 1 own first round pick in the next 3 drafts. This rule will take effect just after the upcoming draft;
- each trade posted must clarifies if the pick is protected or not;
- each first round pick traded 3 years out must have a top-5 protection. If the protection kicks-in, the team acquiring the pick would receive the first available first-round pick from the selling team in a subsequent year

[Interpaga]

Several significant changes have been made recently to CCD to promote the competitiveness and the balance of the league as well as the activity and engagement of the members:
- Removal of new cash exchanges
- All seasons salary cap compliance
- Launch of the in-season tournament with a format that favors rebuilding teams
- Creation of a dedicated league chat
- Advancement of the contract renewal deadline before the playoffs (season 2024/25)
- Limit to the number of players with cash exchanges (season 2025/26)

Also thanks to some of these changes, several top teams are approaching the salary cap limit and will face challenges in improving their rosters due to the reduced flexibility imposed by the restrictions. This opens up opportunities for other teams to bridge the gap and compete for championships, as some teams already demonstrated last season. Anyway it will take some time for some changes to have full effect and for some teams to rebuild.

We remain committed to continuously improving the quality and competitiveness of the league. We welcome and encourage any feedback, suggestions, or proposals, such as those from jimw, that can make CCD better and further enhance the league experience for all members

[Interpaga]

I am sorry that the cash bonus proposal did not receive a positive reception.
While I would not recommend using it for a rebuilding team, some playoff teams might find it beneficial to offset potential salary discrepancies caused by existing cash exchanges during the upcoming season. Therefore, if at least 5 owners support the proposal, we will move forward with it (any team in favor of the proposal can post here or use the poll to vote, only owners with no salary paid on their balance sheet can vote). Otherwise, the proposal will not be implemented.

Regarding the 2025/26 limitation on number of players with salary paid, this rule will go into effect in the 2025/26 season without the need for further approval.

[jimw]

I would say trading picks for extra cap room could hurt some struggling teams who might try it.

My thought was with the increased cap we are getting each season teams at the top could go without the benefit of being subsidized. If not for this season, at least next season. I can see that is not favorable to the top teams.

I thought then maybe extra money could be given to teams that didn't participate in the ponzi scheme or who found themselves on the losing end of it, but that too appears unfavorable to league management without teams having to pay for the privilege.

So I would say just leave it alone and we can see how competitive it might be a year from now. I don't want to see any bad teams make themselves worse by trading picks to sign FA that won't help them or by taking on bad contracts from the contenders to bail them out with increased cap.

I formally withdraw my ideas and hope that we don't trade picks for minimal cap space. I do appreciate that you have eliminated future cash exchanges, so thank you for that.

[Interpaga]

When we decided to eliminate new cash exchanges starting from 2024/25 season, it was also established that existing cash exchanges will not be touched.
Therefore we will not impose new rules to penalize teams that currently have positive cash exchanges on their balance sheet.

However, to further reduce the impact of previously agreed cash exchanges, we propose the following two solutions:
- in the 2025/26 season, each team will not be able to have more than one player with paid salary. It should be noted that in the 2025/26 season only 8 players will still have salaries paid and the highest payment will be $7.5m;
- in the upcoming 2024/25 season and only for this season, a cash bonus* will be introduced for teams that have no salaries paid in cash or a net salary payment amount of less than $1m.

*Cash bonus details. Teams that have no salaries paid in cash or a net salary payment amount of less than $1m in 2024/25 can apply for a 2024/25 cash bonus of up to $10 million in exchange for picks. The picks collected would then go to a pool for open teams to favor new owners and help rebuild these teams. The deadline to apply for the bonus is 6/30/24.

Cash bonus table:
- 10mn. A first round pick 2024
- 9mm. A first round pick 2025
- 8mn. A first round pick 2026.
- 3mn. A second round pick 2024
- 2.5mn. A second round pick 2025
- 2mn. A second round pick 2026.

For each team, the total 2024/25 cash bonus cannot exceed $10mn and no more than 2 second round picks can be moved

[OUDAN]

I agree I will be fine, however you cant penalize someone for using the rules that were in place. For instance I dont trade for KD last year without the future payments.

[jimw]

For the same reason they were eliminated moving forward.  They have created a large competitive imbalance in the league.  A team like yours would be fine since the cap has increased enough to cover it