Description: The Free Agent List is where teams can sign players not currently under contract to other teams.

Topics

Free Agents
Waivers
Asking Price
Making an Offer
Accepting an Offer
Canceling an Offer
Signing Bonus

Free Agents: Free Agents are players who are not currently under contract to a team. The free agent screen shows a list (roughly sorted by raw talent level) of all players who fall into this category. The player vital statistics are shown (in the form of red, yellow, green and blue basketballs) along with the player age and position. This is to help owners make informed decisions about the players they sign. Clicking on the players name will take you to the player page for additional player information.

Waivers: When a free agent is first added to the free agent pool, they are required to stay there for a number of days so that all teams have the opportunity to see the player. That period of days is known as "waivers". It is league specific. The default is 3 days. For example, a player comes on the Free Agent market on Monday, he has 3 days to clear waivers, so, he is allowed to sign with a team Friday, three days after he initially comes on the market. Teams may bid on him that whole time, but, he cannot sign with anyone until Friday. The number of days the player has left to clear waivers is displayed in square brackets after the player's name.  One exception to this rule is at the end of the season.  At the end of a franchise basketball season, a players "waiver" number is reset.  This is to allow owners to view and evaluate all players at the start of the season at a leisurely pace.  Players will decide what teams they are going to (if any) the night before the first set of games are played.

Asking Price: The asking price is what the player is asking for to play for one season. Of course you may offer him more or less depending on your situation. If you are trying to sign him to a longer contract, you may have to pay a little more, if you are offering him a signing bonus you may have to pay a little less. Please remember that free agents take what they deem to be the most lucrative offer, so, you are not simply trying to get the player for the best price. While that is the case (obviously) you also have other teams to compete with.

Making an Offer: Making an offer to a free agent is a lot like negotiating with the players on your team. To make an offer, select the radio button in front of the player's name, scroll down and click on "Make Offer". You will be taken to the contract negotiations screen where you can enter an offer, number of years, and a bonus. When you click on the "offer" button, you will be taken back to the free agents screen. You will notice that the player you offered the contract to is now highlighted in green and instead of having an asking price, he now displays your offer. Players do not sign immediately (see Accepting an Offer). Remember also that you are in competition with other teams when signing free agents. There are 31 other owners who might be looking to sign the exact same player as you are. Players evaluate offers and select the one that is most beneficial to them.

Accepting an Offer: Players on the free agent list (unlike negotiating with players on your roster) do not immediately accept or reject offers. Their agent collects all offers from teams, and the player picks the offer he likes the most and signs with that team (provided there are any offers that he likes). This occurs the night after the offers are made and the player has cleared waivers (value of 0 for waivers).

Canceling an Offer: At any time before the player selects his team, you may cancel your offer to that player. Select the radio button before the player's name, scroll down, and select "Cancel". The offer will be deleted and any signing bonus money will be returned to your bank.

Signing Bonus: When you offer a free agent a signing bonus that money is removed from your cash and bank (if there is not enough in cash). The money will remain out of your bank until the player makes a decision. This way you cannot accidentally spend it. If a player elects to play for your team, the money is given to the player and he joins your team. If the player either rejects your offer or elects to sign with another team, the money is returned to your bank.