GREAT LAKES BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Rules and Information
UPDATED DECEMBER 8, 1998

The Simulation Software

The software which is used to simulate the GLBA season is Strat-O-Matic Basketball v4.1, using the 1997-98 NBA rosters. Information about the software can be found at the Strat-O-Matic web site. The player performance in the GLBA is based on their 1997-98 NBA performance.

Rosters

Each team will have a maximum of 12 players before the All-Star break and 14 players after the 2-round All-Star Break Draft. Each team must have a minimum of 2 players at each position (point guard, shooting guard, center, small forward, power forward). The SOM rosters are the final word as to what positions each player can play. The other 2 / 4 roster slots are at the team's discretion, but there MUST be a minimum of 2 players at every position at any time (exception being injuries).   No roster can have fewer than 10 players that actually played in the NBA in 1997-98.

NO PLAYER CAN PLAY A POSITION THAT HE IS NOT RATED FOR. The only case in which a player will be allowed to play at an unrated position is if every player on the team at that position is injured.

Pre-Season Rosters (Non-expansion year)

At the start of each season, each team will keep 8 players. There will then be a 4-round draft to fill the remaining slots.

IN AN EXPANSION YEAR, THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS EACH EXISTING TEAM WILL KEEP WILL BE LOWER. THIS WILL BE THE CASE FOR THE 1998-99 SEASON, AS THE GLBA WILL BE EXPANDING TO A MINIMUM OF 18 TEAMS. DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF TEAMS FOR THE NEW SEASON, THE FOLLOWING NUMBER OF PLAYERS WILL BE KEPT ON EACH TEAM:

8 new teams (18 total) - 6 players per existing team (90 players for expansion draft, 48 drafted)
10 new teams (20 total) - 5 players per existing team (100 players for expansion draft, 50 drafted)

Expansion Draft

The new franchises will draft from the expansion player pool in the first 5 to 6 rounds (depending on the number of expansion teams). ONLY THE PLAYERS IN THE EXPANSION POOL WILL BE ALLOWED TO BE DRAFTED. The draft order for the expansion teams will be determined at random and will occur in a serpentine fashion (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 order).

Regular Draft

After the expansion draft is finished, the regular draft will then commence to get each roster to 12 players. The regular draft will be in normal order (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4). The team selection order will be as follows:

1.) Non-playoff team with worst record.
2.) Non-playoff team with next worst record.
3.) Non-playoff team with third worst record.
4.) Non-playoff team with third best record.
5.) Non-playoff team with second best record.
6.) Non-playoff team with best record.
7-14 or 16..) Expansion teams (same order as expansion draft).
15 or 17.) 1st round playoff loser with worse record.
16 or 18.) 1st round playoff loser with better record.
17 or 19.) GLBA Finals Runner-up.
18 or 20.) GLBA Finals Champion.

ONCE THE DRAFT IS COMPLETED, NO PLAYERS THAT WERE UNDRAFTED CAN BE PICKED UP UNTIL THE ALL-STAR BREAK 2-ROUND DRAFT. These players in essence do not "exist" until that time... once the draft is done, the players that are on GLBA rosters are the "universe" of basketball players available for trade.

Rookies (players that did not play in the NBA last season) CAN NOT be drafted until the All-Star Break 2-round draft, and they can not play during the current GLBA season (see Playing Time Limits below).

The All-Star Break 2-Round draft selection order will be based on the records of the teams at the All-Star break of the 1998-99 GLBA season, with the worst team picking first and proceeding from there.  Rookies (players who are playing in the NBA for the first year in 1998-99) and any players undrafted at the beginning of the season can be drafted at this time.

Trades

Trades are pretty straightforward in the GLBA. There are some rules that do apply:

You can not trade players so that you no longer have under 10 players with NBA stats remaining on your team after a trade. Each team must maintain a minimum of 10 players that played in the NBA in 1997-98.

Any trades invoving draft picks are subject to an immediate veto by the commissioners.  These trades are subject to more scrutiny because they can be made by a team attempting to weaken its position and then not rejoin the league the following year.  While this situation is rare, it can happen, and as a result, more care must be taken when making trades of this nature.

No All-Star Break draft picks can be traded.  The players selected in the All-Star break draft can only be traded after the All-Star Break draft is completed, with the above rules applying.

There is a trading deadline. The trading deadline will be at the same time as it is in the NBA season. When this time is known, it will be announced to all owners.

Any owner can dispute a trade within 48 hours of its announcement.   If a trade is disputed, the commissioners will review it and give a final decision on the trade within 48 hours of the dispute.  If no dispute is made within 48 hours of a trade announcement, the trade will be considered official.

Playing Time Limits

Players in the GLBA can only play the number of minutes that they played in the NBA last year. This information is available in the SOM Stats, which will be available in a link on the main GLBA screen. Rookies, having not played in the NBA last year, can not be used in the GLBA this year. However, if you draft one, you will have that player on your team for next year and won't have to try and acquire them in the draft.

GLBA Division Alignment

The GLBA will be made up of 2 conferences of 2 divisions each, with the expansion teams being split at random into the 4 divisions.

GLBA Season Schedule and Playoffs

Since the GLBA is in expansion and starting late, the GLBA season length and schedule have not yet been determined. The schedule will be set so that more games are played against teams in your own conference and more in your own division. The playoffs will take the best 5 teams (each division champion and the 3 next teams with the best records) from each conference for a total of 10 teams.

All playoff rounds are best-of-seven, with the teams with better records having home-field advantage. The first round will match the fourth-seeded team with the fifth-seeded team from each conference.  The second round will match the winner of the first-round matchups against the first-seeded team and the second-seeded team against the third-seeded team. The winners will then face off in the Conference Championships, with the Conference Championship winners going to the 1998-99 GLBA Finals. 

The division champions automatically get the first and second seeds.  It is possible that a division champion would play its second round matchup on the road if it has a worse record than the third-seeded team.

Other rules can be added by a 2/3 majority vote of GLBA owners and Commissioners' approval. New rules and rule changes can be brought up by any GLBA owner at any time during the season. They will then be voted on.

If any changes are made to this page, a change notification will be sent to all owners and posted at the top of the page.

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, e-mail us by clicking here.