GC's Yahoo! H2H League 2014 Constitutional Convention

[Gainesville Celtic]

This thread will be used to discuss changes to the GC Yahoo! H2H League Constitution.

For archival purposes, voting on proposed amendments will take place on the Yahoo! site: http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/luckyforevah.

1. Anyone may propose an amendment in the thread. You can kick around ideas, but to formally propose amendments please use the format:

Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
amendment text in bold red
 
2. I'd like to have someone second each amendment just to assure there's some support before we vote.
3. The Commissioner will approve the final wording (working to make consistent with the original author) by placing as a poll on the Yahoo! site.

Below in bold blue italics are 4 wording/cleanup amendments (Articles 1, 6, 12, 27) that will be adopted by acclimation unless a GM objects by September 19.




GC's Yahoo! H2H League Constitution


General

1. This is a 20-team dynasty league using 11-category H2H scoring. Gainesville Celtic Lucky 17 (reachable via Celticsblog personal message or via email at mark@10thumbs.org) serves as the commissioner.

2. Each team keeps their full roster of players from year-to-year.

3. The league uses the following 16 roster positions per team:
- 2 x PG
- 2 x SG
- 2 x SF
- 2 x PF
- 2 x C
- 1 x Utility (Util) slot
- 5 x bench (BN) slots

4. The league scoring is done on the following 11 categories:
- Field Goals Made (FGM)
- Field Goal Percentage (FG%)
- Free Throws Made (FTM)
- Free Throw Percentage (FT%)
- 3-point Shots Made (3PTM)
- Points Scored (PTS)
- Total Rebounds (REB)
- Assists (AST)
- Steals (ST)
- Blocked Shots (BLK)
- Turnovers (TO)

5. Each GM should provide commissioner with a valid email address. It is a GM's responsibility to notify the commissioner of any change to their email address.

6. GM activity, especially in a head-to-head format league, is vital. GMs who are inactive without a roster move, post, or other demonstrable proof of logging on and setting checking one?s lineup for 7 straight days are issued a warning. A second warning is grounds for replacement in the league. 14 straight days of inactivity is also grounds for replacement.

7. GM's will be replaced on a first-come, first-served basis at the discretion of the commissioner. If a departing GM wishes to nominate his/her replacement, the commissioner will consider that replacement?s candidacy.

8. For any rule not covered in this constitution, the default Yahoo! rules will apply.

9. A majority vote from the 20 GMs (e.g., 11 or more) is required to amend any league rule. (Validated via league vote, summer 2012).


II. Rookie Draft

10. The league will hold a rookie draft each season shortly after the NBA's Rookie Draft.

11. Draft order is determined by the following:

• A lottery will be held to determine the draft order for all 12 non-playoff teams. Each team will get assigned to a corresponding team in the NBA Lottery (where the last place team is assigned to last place NBA team, the second to last to the 2nd to last NBA, and so on). Each of these teams will have the chance to move into the top 3 of the draft, based on the chances of the corresponding NBA teams. As with the NBA draft, picks 4-12 will be in reverse order of finish. Therefore, the worst pick the team with the worst record can finish with is pick #4.
• Picks 13-18 will be in the reverse order of finish, where the team with the lower winning percentage gets the lower # pick.
• The league winner automatically gets #20 pick in the draft, regardless of regular season finish, and league runner-up gets the #19 pick.
• Second round picks will be slotted in the reverse order of regular season finish, regardless of lottery results or Finals appearance.

12. The offline rookie draft will be held in mid-September on the CelticsBlog.com forums. Any GM unable to participate can send the commissioner or a proxy an ordered list of picks to choose from.

13. Teams have 10 minutes to make 1st round picks; 5 minutes to make 2nd round picks.

14. The time listed next to each pick in the draft thread's original post is the time the pick is due. Any GM who fails to post a selection by the deadline and who has not sent the commissioner a sufficient list of preferences will be assigned the highest remaining ranked draft pick based on the results of the actual NBA draft from earlier that summer.

15. Future draft picks may be traded on draft day, but no further than one year into the future. This is also true for trades made after the draft or during the regular season.

16. The period from the Rookie Draft to the League Cut Down Date, usually roughly two weeks before the start of the regular season, is the only time that teams may carry more than 16 players.


III. Season Play

17. Teams must cut down rosters to 16 players by the date announced by the commissioner.

18. Any team that wants to retain the rights to a player playing overseas must continuously keep open a roster spot for that player (except during the period discussed in #16 above). Filling that empty roster slot with a free agent or via trade releases any claim on the overseas player, who becomes a free agent available for pickup by another team once that player is added to the Yahoo! list of players.

19. Waiver claims can only be submitted for players who are on the Yahoo! list of available players.

20. Each team may make a maximum of 50 roster moves during the regular season.

21. In-season trades shall have a 1 day approval period, to allow league GMs to review and exercise veto, if necessary. One-third of league GMs exercising veto power (e.g., at least 7) are required to overturn any trade. (Validated by league vote, summer 2012.)

22. Waivers will be 1 day and will be by a continual rolling list that does not carry over from year to year. Waiver order is reset at the beginning of each season to the reverse order of the first round of the draft, with the league Finalists from the previous season owning the waiver priority #1 and #2, followed by the highest winning percentage teams from the previous season (except those teams that have improved their draft position based on lottery results), etc.


IV. Trades and Vetoes

23. Trades must be confirmed via PM or email by both parties to Gainesville Celtic, both during the offseason (when Yahoo! league pages are unavailable) and during the season. This is especially important when draft picks are involved; a running log of all trades will help track ownership of draft picks.

24. Trades may not include draft picks that are more than one full year/season into the future.

25. First round draft picks may be traded with protections. If protection is triggered, a second round draft pick must be conveyed instead.

26. Second round draft picks may not be traded with protections. Any team that trades a protected first rounder may not also trade a second round pick during the regular season.

27. It is the responsibility of all GMs to assist the commissioner in tracking picks owed/debited (via the trade log and roster pages managed via Google on the league website: www.10thumbs.org/h2h).

28. Trades may be vetoed by a 1/3 vote by the rest of the league (7 GMs). Vetoed trades are immediately voided, and GMs are free to rework any voided trade. (Validated by league vote, summer 2012.)

[Gainesville Celtic]

These amendments have been proposed, discussed and seconded and will therefore be voted on from Sep. 18-21 on the Yahoo! league site.

additions in bold italic red
deletions are bold and struckthrough



Constitutional Amendment #1
Games Played Audit For Non-Playoff Teams (new article)
-------------------------------
Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with either an O-Rank or Season (total) Rank of 100 or better which misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots. GMs may appeal this penalty to the league. Reversal requires an majority vote (i.e. 11 votes).

Proposed by Gainesville Celtic, seconded by Hpantazo
-- Amended to (a) O-Rank/Rank of 100 (instead of 150) and (b) added appeal provision




Constitutional Amendment #2
Maximum number of NA and Overseas Players (new articles)
-------------------------------
Article 19. Begining with the first day of the NBA season, each team may have a maximum of 2 players total listed as NA in the Y! system and/or overseas players as described in #18 above.

Article 20. There is no limit on the number of injured players a team may have on its 16-man roster.

Proposed by Gainesville Celtic, seconded by THE Walker Wiggle
-- Revised to clarify injured players and provide time frame.




Constitutional Amendment #3
Two Day Trade Review Period Instead of One (revised article)
-------------------------------
21. In-season trades shall have a two day 1 day approval period, to allow league GMs to review and exercise veto, if necessary. One-third of league GMs exercising veto power (e.g., at least 7) are required to overturn any trade. (Validated by league vote, summer 2012.)

Proposed by THE Walker Wiggle, seconded by Gainesville Celtic




Constitutional Amendment #4
Waiver Order Based on Regular Season Finish (revised article)
-------------------------------
22. Waivers will be 1 day and will be by a continual rolling list that does not carry over from year to year. Waiver order is reset at the beginning of each season to the reverse order of the first round of the draft, with the league Finalists from the previous season owning the waiver priority #1 and #2, followed by the highest regular season winning percentage teams from the previous season (except those teams that have improved their draft position based on lottery results), etc.

Proposed by THE Walker Wiggle, seconded by Gainesville Celtic




Constitutional Amendment #5
New GM Trading Moratorium (new article)
-------------------------------
8. Upon joining or rejoining the league, new GMs must wait 2 months before trading either their own 1st round pick or any top 50 player (by O-Rank) on their roster.

Proposed by Gainesville Celtic, seconded by The Walker Wiggle


Constitutional Amendment #6
Offseason Moratorium and Expanding When Future 1st Rounders Can Be Traded (new and revised articles)
-------------------------------

II. Offseason & Rookie Draft

9. There is a league-wide moratorium from June 1 to September 1, during which no trades will be processed. The moratorium will be lifted once all 20 GMs have confirmed return, any vacancies are filled or September 1, whichever is later.

10. The league will hold a rookie draft each season shortly after the NBA's Rookie Draft in the 2nd half of September.

11. Draft order is determined by the following:

• A lottery will be held to determine the draft order for all 12 non-playoff teams. Each team will get assigned to a corresponding team in the NBA Lottery (where the last place team is assigned to last place NBA team, the second to last to the 2nd to last NBA, and so on). Each of these teams will have the chance to move into the top 3 of the draft, based on the chances of the corresponding NBA teams. As with the NBA draft, picks 4-12 will be in reverse order of finish. Therefore, the worst pick the team with the worst record can finish with is pick #4.
• Picks 13-18 will be in the reverse order of finish, where the team with the lower winning percentage gets the lower # pick.
• The league winner automatically gets #20 pick in the draft, regardless of regular season finish, and league runner-up gets the #19 pick.
• Second round picks will be slotted in the reverse order of regular season finish, regardless of lottery results or Finals appearance.

12. The rookie draft will be held in in the 2nd half of September on the CelticsBlog.com forums. Any GM unable to participate can send the commissioner or a proxy an ordered list of picks to choose from.

13. Teams have 10 minutes to make 1st round picks; 5 minutes to make 2nd round picks.

14. The time listed next to each pick in the draft thread's original post is the time the pick is due. Any GM who fails to post a selection by the deadline and who has not sent the commissioner a sufficient list of preferences will be assigned the highest remaining ranked draft pick based on the results of the actual NBA draft from earlier that summer.

15. Future draft picks may be traded on draft day, butno further than one year into the future. This is also true for trades made after the draft or during the regular season. Picks for the following year's draft may be traded beginning with the lifting of the moratorium as descirbed in Article 9 above.

16. The period from the Rookie Draft to the League Cut Down Date, usually roughly two weeks before the start of the regular season, is the only time that teams may carry more than 16 players.

Proposed by Hpantazo, seconded/reformated by Gainesville Celtic

[Eja117]

25 and 26 I wasn't aware of. Good to know.

I also wasn't aware that you need to email the commish for a trade you do on Yahoo. Or maybe that suffices.

I'd like to see a rule added that states something to the effect of the league taking action on things during the season, so we never have a situation where we say "Well if we want to do that we have to wait till the off season."

I would just suggest an action be proposed, seconded, voted on. 51% wins. Commish can veto. Then it takes 14. Something like that. 

We've bumped into odd situations before that might have benefited from that. I think we need a tad more flexibility because I don't think we can presuppose every situation that could happen.

Like just hypothetically....saaayyy... a guy has a horrid situation where a star player is abducted by aliens in broad daylight. GM says "That crushes my whole team. Can I get a compensatory 2nd round pick?" The whole league votes yes. The next week the aliens abduct a fringe player and that GM wants a pick too. We should just take action, not wait till the offseason. IT COULD HAPPEN!

Also....since vetoes are so potentially contentious maybe instead of a third it should be half.

[Gainesville Celtic]

Here are my 2 proposed amendments... heading into a work meeting but will post explanations/justifications later today:



Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with with an o-rank in the top 150 misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots.


Proposed Amendment #2:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 19. Each team may have a maximum of 2 players listed as N/A in the Y! system and/or overseas players as described in #18 above.

[Eja117]

Here are my 2 proposed amendments... heading into a work meeting but will post explanations/justifications later today:



Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with with an o-rank in the top 150 misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots.


Proposed Amendment #2:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 19. Each team may have a maximum of 2 players listed as N/A in the Y! system and/or overseas players as described in #18 above.

I think I like

I think it means you can stash up to two Euros and that if a guy gets hurt it won't hurt you in the games not played category because he's not a top 150 player

[fairweatherfan]

Here are my 2 proposed amendments... heading into a work meeting but will post explanations/justifications later today:



Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with with an o-rank in the top 150 misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots.


Proposed Amendment #2:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 19. Each team may have a maximum of 2 players listed as N/A in the Y! system and/or overseas players as described in #18 above.

After adjusting for my own stupidity, I'm in the league on Yahoo.


For these amendments, I think #2 is great as is.  I'm trying to think of ways that #1 could backfire, though - some players can be useless this year while still having a decent O-Rank.  Glancing around, Nerlens Noel is #47 right now - if he's ineffective this year, it'll still probably take awhile for that rank to drop.  Or if say, #48 Isaiah Thomas winds up getting buried in Phoenix's PG rotation. 

I like the idea of #1 but I think we should maybe brainstorm different criteria for the penalty.

[Eja117]

That's why I've suggested the flexibility rule. If something needs fixing fix it. No waiting.

[mkogav]

Here are my 2 proposed amendments... heading into a work meeting but will post explanations/justifications later today:



Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with with an o-rank in the top 150 misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots.


Proposed Amendment #2:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 19. Each team may have a maximum of 2 players listed as N/A in the Y! system and/or overseas players as described in #18 above.

After adjusting for my own stupidity, I'm in the league on Yahoo.


For these amendments, I think #2 is great as is.  I'm trying to think of ways that #1 could backfire, though - some players can be useless this year while still having a decent O-Rank.  Glancing around, Nerlens Noel is #47 right now - if he's ineffective this year, it'll still probably take awhile for that rank to drop.  Or if say, #48 Isaiah Thomas winds up getting buried in Phoenix's PG rotation. 

I like the idea of #1 but I think we should maybe brainstorm different criteria for the penalty.

To further this point, perhaps use "Rank", based on totals (not average) instead of "O-Rank". "Rank" is the actual top 150 players for the given year, not the preseason ranking which are inaccurate.

Mk

[fairweatherfan]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The flipside of that is if a player is buried on the bench for the first couple of months, but then gets an opportunity via trade or injury and blows up.  Think Jeremy Lin; he probably finished his breakout year in the top 150, but no one would've played him much before the Linsanity phase started. 

It's way too onerous to have to check what a player's rank was when an owner was actually sitting him...maybe some combination of year-end O-Rank and Rank?  Don't know; it's hard to think of a criteria that won't burn a non-tanking owner in at least some circumstances.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I'm gonna spitball something here:

A moratorium on new GMs trading either their 1st rounder or any top 50 player (by O-ranK) for 2 months upon joining the league.

----------

we've seen this be a much bigger problem in the Pts. league, but in a dynasty format the worst thing is a new GM gutting his team (wittingly or unwittingly), IMO.

[Eja117]

Remember last year when I was added to the league on draft day and didn't know it so I ended up with Anthony Bennet instead of V Oladipo, and then during the draft logged in and tried to change my pick before the next pick was made but it was ignored and I got the autopick on that pick too? I propose we don't do that to anyone again.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I also wasn't aware that you need to email the commish for a trade you do on Yahoo. Or maybe that suffices.
 

Since the commish (as a GM) gets the email notification from Yahoo! that suffices.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I'd like to see a rule added that states something to the effect of the league taking action on things during the season, so we never have a situation where we say "Well if we want to do that we have to wait till the off season."

I would just suggest an action be proposed, seconded, voted on. 51% wins. Commish can veto. Then it takes 14. Something like that. 

We've bumped into odd situations before that might have benefited from that. I think we need a tad more flexibility because I don't think we can presuppose every situation that could happen.

Like just hypothetically....saaayyy... a guy has a horrid situation where a star player is abducted by aliens in broad daylight. GM says "That crushes my whole team. Can I get a compensatory 2nd round pick?" The whole league votes yes. The next week the aliens abduct a fringe player and that GM wants a pick too. We should just take action, not wait till the offseason. IT COULD HAPPEN!

Also....since vetoes are so potentially contentious maybe instead of a third it should be half.

(I guess what you're saying is allowing for just non-amendment voting procedure.... i need to think about that).

Otherwise, there is nothing that prevents what you are talking about from happening, eja, in terms of amending the constitution.

GMs can always propose amendments --- the only question is how quickly they will take effect.

It has been past practice (and I will suggest an amendment if need be) that they take effect in the next applicable period.

To suggest a more serious example than your abduction one....:

Let's say you have Paul George and he got injured midseason and we amend the const. for an Injury slot (something that Y! doesn't allow for in basketball). That change would take effect *the following season*.

This is because there is no way to go back and undo moves made by other teams under the old rules (i.e. maybe I dropped an out-for-the-season Brian Scalabrine but would have held onto him with this IR slot).

[Eja117]

I'd like to see a rule added that states something to the effect of the league taking action on things during the season, so we never have a situation where we say "Well if we want to do that we have to wait till the off season."

I would just suggest an action be proposed, seconded, voted on. 51% wins. Commish can veto. Then it takes 14. Something like that. 

We've bumped into odd situations before that might have benefited from that. I think we need a tad more flexibility because I don't think we can presuppose every situation that could happen.

Like just hypothetically....saaayyy... a guy has a horrid situation where a star player is abducted by aliens in broad daylight. GM says "That crushes my whole team. Can I get a compensatory 2nd round pick?" The whole league votes yes. The next week the aliens abduct a fringe player and that GM wants a pick too. We should just take action, not wait till the offseason. IT COULD HAPPEN!

Also....since vetoes are so potentially contentious maybe instead of a third it should be half.

(I guess what you're saying is allowing for just non-amendment voting procedure.... i need to think about that).

Otherwise, there is nothing that prevents what you are talking about from happening, eja, in terms of amending the constitution.

GMs can always propose amendments --- the only question is how quickly they will take effect.

It has been past practice (and I will suggest an amendment if need be) that they take effect in the next applicable period.

To suggest a more serious example than your abduction one....:

Let's say you have Paul George and he got injured midseason and we amend the const. for an Injury slot (something that Y! doesn't allow for in basketball). That change would take effect *the following season*.

This is because there is no way to go back and undo moves made by other teams under the old rules (i.e. maybe I dropped an out-for-the-season Brian Scalabrine but would have held onto him with this IR slot).

I see what you are saying. I think the pros outweigh the cons. But I think in this case anyway it would work out. I don't think anyone would have picked up Scala so he'd still be there for you and if a couple GMs had Paul Georges I don't think anyone would have dropped them really, and could just all get their IR slot at the same time.

That's why I've suggested changes on the fly. Because then you can't really fix the problem causing the discussion

[Gainesville Celtic]

Proposed Amendment #1:
-------------------------------
NEW Article 7. At the end of the season the commissioner will conduct an Games Played Audit of the 12 non-playoff teams. For each player with with an o-rank in the top 150 misses more than 20 games that he plays in real life (i.e. Basketball Reference "games played" minus Y! Team Log "GP" > 20 games) that team shall be penalized 5 post-lottery draft spots.

Following up on this after my meeting.

This is meant to be a pretty wide net rule --- i.e. penalizing someone for not playing a guy like Westbrook or Gerald Green, not missing out on the first 1/2 of Gorgui Dieng's season last year. (to take some stiffs from my roster).

only 1 or 2 teams even came close to meeting this limit last year -- and i'm hoping that b/c of "E" below it's really never an issue again. this is to address the question head-on of sitting players on purpose to improve draft position.

I've tried to build in a big enough range of both games missed (20) and player universe (150 by o-rank) that no team really should ever come close to it.


------------

A. Keep in mind this is just an added layer of protection against inactivity/willful tanking. GMs not setting their rosters will be warned then possibly removed. The only real way we have to do that is to look at the managers page that reports "last league activity" of a GM.

B. Likewise only non-playoff teams at the end of the year are assessed.

C. Whatever line we pick as the cutoff (Top 150 o-rank or rank) is by definition arbitrary. 150 players by O-rank is essentially (though certainly not exactly) the 5 starters (or 4 starters and a Manu-like 6th man) of the 30 NBA teams. IMO those type of players really shouldn't be sitting for any reason (outside of maybe a close Sunday matchup to protect a category).

D. The reality is that most GMs play most of their available players each night in this league to try and win week-to-week (this is born out by the Team Logs from last year).

E. In a H2H dynasty league, there are really only 3-4 reasons IMO a guy shouldn't be in your lineup on any given night:

1. he's hurt
2. he's not one of your best 11 options that night (i.e. you have 13 players playing one night and only 11 avail. roster spots).
3. you just forgot to set your lineup (this happens from time to time... it's just if it becomes a problem.)
4. A combo of 1&2 -- i.e. conflicting reports of if player X will play b/c of a gimpy ankle so you start another lesser player.

----

re: 1 -- games missed to injury aren't factored into Bref.com GP so you wouldn't be penalized.
re: 2/3/4 -- these things happen throughout the year and there should be some leeway, but not enough to compile 20 games (a little over 1x a week) for a top 150 player

----



FWIW, when I did my first round of calculations about missed games, I think went back and looked at why. If a team trades for Westbrook or adds Lin/Dieng off the Waiver Wire they are only counted for the games the player was on their roster.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The flipside of that is if a player is buried on the bench for the first couple of months, but then gets an opportunity via trade or injury and blows up.  Think Jeremy Lin; he probably finished his breakout year in the top 150, but no one would've played him much before the Linsanity phase started. 

It's way too onerous to have to check what a player's rank was when an owner was actually sitting him...maybe some combination of year-end O-Rank and Rank?  Don't know; it's hard to think of a criteria that won't burn a non-tanking owner in at least some circumstances.

there really is no easy way to know a player's rank when he was sitting (since that's fluid and not archived by Y!)


One solution could be to say top 150 O-rank OR Rank --- since those 2 lists overlap quite a bit... and it wouldn't be impossible amount of work.