like in real life...if they decline and leave...then you get a draft pick...is there a reason hbd doesnt have this...or can we implement it...

Yes. I'm all about this. Shouldn't automatically get the draft pick.

Why isn't this in HBD, I've always wondered?  I think if this were implemented they should also move arbitration hearings until later in the offseason. 

agreed...

IMO, this is a big flaw in HBD.

The Type A/B system is a mess in real BB.  But because there are big market and small market teams, it tends to funnel draft picks from big market to small market teams who can't sign top dollar FAs.  Even though the ranking is flawed, it has some benefit when it comes to maintaining competitive balance.

In HBD, all teams have the same money every season.  The Type A/B system maintains imbalances once they're created forever (so long as the owner doesn't mess it up).

Once an experience owner takes a newbie in a deal and gets a future all-star for spare parts, the experienced owner gets the use of that player for years and, when the player leaves, that owner probably gets another top draft pick.  That will usually turn into another future Type A/B.  Continuing the cycle.

Even if the newbie got some OK players in return, if they're not future Type A/B, the value of the deal is done when those players leave.

I doubt every comp pick turns into a Type A/B, but it's often enough to make it easier for a good team to stay good and harder for a bad team to turn it around (excepting complete tanking and playing for top draft picks for several seasons).

Having to offer arbitration to get a comp draft pick  wouldn't 100% fix this, but it would be a big step. 

As it is now, a top team can let a player go FA and get a comp pick, without any risk, when the next MinL stud is ready to fill that slot on the ML team.

If an arbitration offer was required, there would be some risk to making the offer.  Do I really want to risk having to pay this player big money for 1 more season?  If I really don't want him, probably not.  If I make the offer, and it's accepted, win or lose in arbitration, I've got to pay a big salary to a player I really didn't want.

The better solution, IMO, would be to toss the Type A/B comp picks entirely.

If every team as the same amount of money, there's no reason to compensate a team that loses top FAs.  That's money they can spend on other player (including bidding on their FAs) or invest in other areas.  You don't really just lose the payer.  It frees up money for other purposes.

IMO, either of these changes would improve HBD.

"Once an experience owner takes a newbie in a deal and gets a future all-star for spare parts, the experienced owner gets the use of that player for years and, when the player leaves, that owner probably gets another top draft pick.  That will usually turn into another future Type A/B.  Continuing the cycle.

Even if the newbie got some OK players in return, if they're not future Type A/B, the value of the deal is done when those players leave."

But his isn't a problem with the game, but with the world. We have tools for preventing thing like that from happening, and they should be used. If owners aren't consistently getting value in trades – especially n00bs – you should probably consider finding a better world. That stuff doesn't happen everywhere.

This horse left the barn years ago on a lot of worlds.  50% of them?  80% of them?  I don't know.