Hello & welcome to the Triple Era Progressive League (hereafter called the TEPL)! This is much like the Double progressive league, only it’s three different eras instead of two. Much of the proposed league charter is based off of that, so if it looks familiar, that’s why!

What are the advantages of running three eras? Well, for one, teams will be, in general, better. There will be a larger player pool from which to choose, which by default should mean teams will be better. This means that there shouldn’t be long stretches where there are one or two really, really good teams, a few high win but not real contenders, and 16 teams playing the tanking for the lottery game. Almost every draft will have impact players, and every draft will have players available for those bubble/playoff teams that can help them improve. Too often in a single season progressive league, teams get stuck in that good enough to make the playoffs, but bad enough to never really win stage. You know the drill. You go 46-36, get the 5th or 6th seed along with a draft pick that may give you a couple thousand minutes of meh for a couple of seasons. There’s no progress. This isn’t much of a problem in a double progressive, and it will be even less of one in a triple prog!

That being said, teams won’t be so stupid good like in the Ultimate Progressive League. This is a true progressive, so there will be impact players in upcoming drafts that can totally turn a team around. This should add to the longevity of the league and make it easier to turn a poorly crafted team into a contender.

The league will start in the following seasons:

58-59 / 78-79 / 98-99. (58/78/98 for draft class purposes)

With 20 year spreads, there will be some (read: very, very, VERY few) clones, though none of them will ever be significant. (the 76-77/16-17 season, for example, will have two Robert Parishes, but one will play barely 300 minutes. Same with KG in 75-76/15-16). I think that Kevin Willis is the only other player where this issue will pop up. In all cases of clones, the team that had a player previously has no right to him again when that player’s career starts all over. For example, Kareem will retire in the 68-69/08-09 season, but will be a rookie again in the 69-70/09-10 season. If I have him on my 68-69 roster, I have no right to him in the 69-70 season (though would be able to draft him theoretically).

Why did I pick these particular seasons to start? For one thing, I think that it captures the league right on the verge of explosion with plenty of quality guys still in the mix. The very next season will see Wilt, Magic & Bird enter the mix (along with a lot of solid pieces like Moncrief, Brand & Matrix). The next year? Oscar. Logo. McHale. Check out some of the later drafts:

4th - Bellamy, Nance, Zeke, Buck, Pau, Tyson Chandler - lot of solid pieces
5th - Zelmo, Sleepy, ‘Nique, Worthy, Boozer, Ginobili, Amare - good mix of stuff
6th - Lucas, Thurmond, Drexler, D. Harper, Lebron, Wade, Melo, Bosh (!!!)
7th - Willis Reed, MJ, Dream, Barkley, Stockton, Howard, Okafor (!!!!)
8th - Barry, Cunningham, Goodrich, Mailman, Ewing, Mullin, CP3, Dwill - I mean… !!!
9th - Worm - okay, so not every year is amazing, but lots of solid players still (R. Harper, Daugherty, Millsap, Rondo)
10th - Mel Daniels, Connie Hawkins, Horace Grant, KJ, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Pippen, Durant, Horford, Noah - again, lots of solid pieces for teams.

...and so on. Kareem, Dr, J, Curry & David Robinson in same class (69/89/09). Gilmore, Kawhi & Mutombo together (71/91/11). Shaq, Zo, McAdoo, A-Davis, Draymond (72/92/12)!


Point is, even later 1st round picks will have players available to help make a squad better, and almost every other year is a pretty stellar draft - ie not everybody is going to want to try & tank for the same draft. There are many quality drafts this way, and every one of them should be something that all teams are looking forward to, not just the bottom 2 or 3 teams in the league.

Interested? Sign up. I already have a few owners that I've been working out some details with via pms, but I'll let them sign up normally here.

Go ahead and post a location/mascot if you already have an idea of where you want to play. I'll use a randomizer for the initial draft like the NY lottery or random.org with someone outside of the league running it.

League Constitution
This league is a triple era progressive which started with the 1958-59, the 78-79 & the 98-99 seasons and progresses one season at a time.The following Constitution will constitute the league's ethical guidelines and rules.

A. Ethical Principles
All owners have an obligation to play the game in such a manner that their team makes a genuine effort to win as many games as possible with the roster at their disposal. This obligation includes but is not limited to:

1. Over the course of a season, attempting to keep the team's better players on the court as much as reasonably possible . For purposes of example only, if a team's 2 centers for the 1984/85 season were Artis Gilmore, who played 34 minutes per game, and Dave Corzine, who played 25 minute per game, playing Corzine 25 minutes per game and Gilmore 23 minutes per game would not be maximizing the use of the better player. No one instance of such behavior would necessarily be an indication of tanking, but consistent such behavior would be suspect.

The better player meaning the better player in the Sim, not necessarily IRL. Exceptions for possession penalty will always be considered, though if you have two players that will fix the problem, the better of the two is obviously what you should use.

2. Not playing players out of position, (i.e. at a position with less than 90% effectiveness) unless required by injuries or total unavailability of playing time at the position.

3. Not playing every game with an unusual offensive or defensive set resulting in an unusual number of fouls or turnovers. Most of this league should take place in an era where 3-point shooting happens regularly, but that still doesn’t mean a +3 is right for every squad you face. It often won’t be right for most squads, so if you’re found to be doing so, that behaviour would be suspect.

These ethical principles are not intended to result in specific penalties but just may be among the indicators that the Fair Play Committee (defined below) may use in determining whether an owner is tanking.


B. Annual Draft Fair Play Rules

1.. There will be a weighted lottery (6 chances for the team with the worst record, 5 chances for the second worst etc) for the first 6 positions in the first round only. The 6 teams with the worst record will qualify for the lottery except as defined below. All other positions in the first round and all positions in all other rounds will be inverse order of finish. The tiebreaker among teams with the same W/L Pct. will first be head to head record & then points differential-total points made less total points allowed. The team with the worst point differential will draft higher. If more than two teams have the same record, you skip the head-to-head and go straight to point differential.

2. In order to qualify for an upcoming season's lottery, a team's roster for the prior season must have a minimum of 19,300 minutes (the number needed to have zero fatigue without Overtime). No appeal from this requirement will be allowed. If an owner recognizes during a draft that he will fall short of the requirement he may (and is encouraged to) appeal to other owners to trade him an excess player who will meet his minutes requirement. This requirement will be waived for a new owner who takes over a team that failed the requirement for the prior season.

Seriously, in a triple era progressive, this should NEVER be an issue.

3. Once the draft has started, the keeper lists & alpha lists will be frozen and changes may not be made. If a player was left off a keeper list, once the draft has started he will be available. Additionally, once the draft has started, a player may not be released in order to get an additional draft pick. There will be no available player list for drafts. There will be a post in our private forum for player starting seasons to be used for rookies, and an alpha list that will be compiled from keepers. If a player isn’t on the alpha list, he’s available. Keep in mind that you cannot draft a player that did not play that season (ie Larry Bird was drafted in 78 but didn’t play till the 79-80 season. You have to wait for the draft that included 1979 to draft him. Similarly, David Robinson was drafted in 1987 but didn’t play till 1989-90 season, so you can’t take him till 1989).

C. Fair Play Committee

1.There will be a Fair Play Committee of 3-5 members (and an alternate at the discretion of the Commissioner) with the responsibility of ruling on allegations of tanking and settling disputes between owners. No member of the Fair Play Committee will participate in any matter in which he is involved.

2. If an owner believes there is "tanking" or any other violation of league ethics or rules by another owner he should contact a member of the Fair Play Committee, stating the reasons for his concerns.

3. The Fair Play Committee will contact the owner accused to hear his defense of the allegations.

4. The Fair Play Committee may (but is not required) to seek input from league members concerning the issue.

5. The Fair Play Committee will decide what penalty, if any, should be imposed. The penalty which may be imposed by the Fair Play Committee without any league vote is limited to at maximum the loss of a lottery position in the following season's draft. However, the Fair Play Committee may, in extreme situations, recommend to the league membership for a vote greater penalties such complete loss of the first round draft pick, or expulsion from the league.

6. The Fair Play Committee can also be consulted about possible trading violations (an expert owner repeatedly taking advantage of a new owner, or vice versa - a new owner foolishly trading away tons of good options in bad deals to teams that are already borderline dynasty teams). Possible temporary trading restrictions can be put into place if an owner is deemed harmful to the league.

D. Trading of draft picks

Draft picks made be traded up to only 1 season in advance. This means that during the 1963/83/03 draft, for example, draft picks may be traded for 63-64, 64-65, 83-84, 84-85, 03-04 & 04-05 seasons only. Trading of optional or protected draft picks will not be allowed.

After the completion of the draft but before the new season begins, an add/drop period will occur. During this time, owners can drop players & add those not on the alpha list (or undrafted) on a first come, first served basis. This add/drop period will be for a definite time, and all add/drops must be posted in the draft thread to be legit. Also, at this point, the 1 season in advance rule moves to the next season (ie once the draft is finished, for trading purposes, you’ve already moved on to the next draft). Therefore in the above scenario, it is perfectly legal to trade a player for a 65/85/05 pick once the 63/83/03 draft has finished.


E. Keeper lists and Trades

Once a draft has started the keeper lists will be final and owners may not add or remove players from their keeper list. It is an obligation of every owner to check the alpha list when posted to make sure none of his players, including players previously on an IR list, are excluded. This also means that after the draft starts a player may not be acquired by trade by dropping a player from the roster. This is potentially unfair in that owners who have already drafted do not have an opportunity to acquire the dropped player. A player may be acquired by trade only for another player OR by reducing the number of remaining draft picks as long as there are draft picks remaining. The only time a team can have 13 or more players on it (not counting IR) is if the league is in an add/drop period, in which case the team must immediately drop enough players to get down to 12.

F. Other Trading Restrictions

Every trade is subject to review by the Fair Play Committee, though they should only overturn trades in extreme cases (lopsided trades or dynasty dismantling).

You can’t trade players on the IR. If you’re receiving minutes this season, you have to give up minutes this season (or a draft pick).

An owner that continually takes advantage of newer owners via trades will be warned & put on watch. If the behavior continues, trading restrictions may occur from the FPC. With the vast player pool available, it should never be a problem to assemble a squad of 19.3k+ minutes. Note that this will be the last resort.

Similarly, an owner who continues to make lopsided trades (not in their favor) will be warned and possibly put on trading restrictions. Again, this is a last resort and is meant not only to help the particular owner but the league as a whole.


G. Other Rules

Extra IR - Have a stud that plays less 1,000 minutes? Once per year, you can place a player on the IR who normally would not be on the IR. The player has to have less than 1,000 minutes, and doing so is not free. If you choose to place a sub 1k minute player on the IR that normally isn't on the IR (ie doesn't have a WIS season that particular year but does have at least one future season), then you will forfeit your place in the lottery, should you qualify. What do I mean?

Say you finish with the worst record in the league after putting 85-86 Michael Jordan on the IR. You will still get your first round pick - it just will be the 4th pick. You gave up your lottery chance by putting him on the IR.

Why would you want to do this? If you are a stat head & care about career averages, using the 85-86 Jordan for only a few minutes per game will seem greatly detract from his career averages & would seem extremely unrealistic (nobody would play a 24 year old MJ 6 minutes a game!). At the same time, the way WIS is set up, you cannot just play him a few games & expect him to give you 30 a game; he'd hit the possession penalty. So, to preserve his career averages, you can forgo your lottery chance (but still have your first rounder) and play the season without him. There's no real strategic reason to do this; it's a stat-head thing only.

Location - Teams should have a realistic location with a stadium in the area they are located. The mascot should be a mascot but does not have to be a historically accurate one (ie, I could be the Memphis Mustangs - I don’t have to be the Grizzlies. But I can’t be the Memphis Look At My Foot or some stupid **** like that). Once established, the divisions will remain the same unless extreme circumstances arise.

New owners - New owners are not responsible for any mistakes or penalties the previous owner may have made or incurred. They can pick a new location/team name but must be regionally consistent with where they are.

Changes to league - Proposed changes to the league can be brought up, discussed and even voted on in our private league forum. Major changes will take almost unanimous votes to occur, but there might be things we run into from time to time that aren’t as big of deal that need a simple majority.

Rules specific to the Inaugural Draft:

The draft will start as Abb and then alternate. So the 1st pick in round one will pick last in rounds 2 & 3, then alternate through round 12.

A b b A b A b A b A b A

(All offseason drafts will be in a worst to first format, with a lottery drawing for the first 3 picks among the worst 6 records)

There will be no trading picks in the inaugural draft. None. Sorry, you don’t get a head start in the race for Wilt here. Draft the team you intend to play initially.

The first round will be untimed, though if 24 hours pass without you making your pick, I or another member of the Fair Play Committee (FPC) will make your selection for you. If you miss multiple picks in this or any draft, your removal from the league will be considered.

All other rounds will be timed. If you miss your draft slot, subsequent owners do not need to wait for their time slot to draft. If the draft makes it back to you and you still haven’t made your pick, the draft stops and again, I or another member of the FPC will draft for you & your removal will be considered.

League sitemail list

ashamael; bkbillups; seapilots; grayfoxx; shine06; midzim; thohoops; kacyon; scudmissle; smokey63; ncmusician_7; dh555; jkaye24; Poddy; bds9992; cmcafeeky; thomcat; skypilot; jcred5; beachhouse; all3; longtallbrad; cjok1051; jhsukow

Owners & Team

East
1. bkbillups - Atlanta Hawks
2. grayfoxx - Cleveland Cavaliers
3. shine06 - Pittsburgh (?)
4. kacyon - Charlotte Hornets
5. scudmissle - Washington War Drums
6. smokey63 - Boston Trojans
7. dh555 - Philadelphia (?)
8. jkaye24 - Baltimore (?)
9. bds9992 - Buffalo Buffaloes
10. cmcafeeky - Kentucky Colonels
11. thomcat - New York Knicks
12. beachhouse - Toronto (?)

West
1. seapilots - Denver Drones
2. midzim - Portland (?)
3. ncmusician_7 - Houston Rockets
4. Poddy - Seattle (?)
5. skypilot - San Diego Clippers
6. jcred5 - Golden State Warriors
7. all3 - New Orleans Jazz
8. longtallbrad - Minnesota Muskies
9. thohoops - Memphis Sounds
10. Ashamael - (undecided locale but it's in the West) Mustangs
11. cjok1051 - Oklahoma City (?)
12. jhsukow - Las Vegas Craps

reserved

reserved

okay post!

Atlanta Hawks

Will give this a try. Denver Drones

Cleveland Cavaliers

Pittsburgh

I'm in - Portland

Memphis Sounds

Charlotte Hornets