[PINNED] Rookie Draft Rules

General Rules:
- All draft threads are for PICKS ONLY. Do not post in them if your team isn't on the clock
- All draft picks must be made on the site
- Once you've made a draft selection, the pick is final
- You will remain on the clock until you make your pick. You are not considered to be officially off the clock until you've tagged whoever is picking after you in the Discord
- You can request a CPU draft pick, but it costs league cash
- If your roster is full when your pick is on the clock, you will be fined $1,000,000 and your pick will be forfeited

Commissioner Advice: If you are a GM that isn't usually immediately available when tagged on Discord, or you know you're going to be away during a certain time period when your pick is looming, please send a list (either on site or Discord) to keep the draft moving. All other GM's will be grateful you did, as well. Tagging the GM who is picking after you is another integral part of keeping drafts moving quickly.

Draft-and-Stash

If a player has a year next to his name on the index, it means he won't come into the league until that season. He will not count as a roster spot and will not take up any salary until he comes into the league. He will sit in free agency until that year and is still subject to training camp, like all other players.

You do have the option to bring the player over early in the League Shop.

Regarding the player's salary when he comes in, most stash players drafted in the first round are subject to whatever contract a rookie drafted in the same slot in the current year would make. If the player's entry year is 3 or more seasons away from the current league year (i.e. his stash year is 2014 or later when he is a prospect in the 2011 draft), that means the player is not subject to the rookie scale when he enters the league. When he enters the league, the team owning his rights will immediately be entered into contract negotiations. If the two sides cannot come to a deal, the player will remain in Europe for another year, and his original team will still own his draft rights.

If the player was a second round pick, he can enter into the same negotiations, as well.

Second Round Picks

CONTRACT

Unlike first-round draft picks who are tied to the rookie scale contracts when drafted, second-round draft picks come with more flexibility contract-wise. Here are the multiple different contract avenues you can use for a second rounder:

- 1-year rookie minimum
- 2-year rookie minimum (no options)
- 3-year minimum contract, starting at the 1-year minimum salary (team option in the final year)
- 4-year minimum contract, starting at the 2-year minimum salary (team option in the final year)

As you can see, if you want to lock these second-round picks down for a longer period, it will cost you more than just the rookie minimum to do so. To see the amount of these minimum salaries, click here. The extra salary will not kick in until after off-season free agency ends, so it will not impact your cap room available to you.

It is up to you to specify which contract you want to give your second-round draft pick at the time of the draft selection. If you do not specify any contract, they will be given the 1-year rookie minimum by default.

POTENTIAL

Every second-round pick and undrafted player will have a 10% chance of having their true potential secretly randomized. This randomization will be a uniform distribution between 0-100, meaning they have just as good of a chance of having their potential completely vanquished as they do of hitting the ultimate jackpot (and all other outcomes in between).

Trading Current Picks

When trading during the draft, all the trade rules that have already been covered are still in effect. One of the most relevant rules here is that you cannot sell first-round picks at any point, and you cannot sell second-round picks once the second round has started.

In the first round, you have a 4-hour window when you can trade your pick once your clock has started. In the second round, you have a 1-hour window when you can trade your pick once your clock has started. Once these time windows have elapsed, you have no choice but to make your pick.^a

One other relevant note, already covered in the Rules on Trading Draft Picks, is that the Stepien Rule does not apply to a currently underway draft, once it has officially started. This means that, for example, if we're currently underway in the 2022 Draft and you do not own any first-round picks for the 2023 Draft, you can still trade away any 2022 first-round picks you have unencumbered.

Notes:
a - If you're asking why this rule exists, there are many GM's who like to wait until their on the clock to shop their pick around, and many will hold up the draft until they get an offer they like.