NBA 2K18
How Franchise Modes Could Be Improved in NBA 2K18
With NBA 2K17 came a much needed overhaul of MyGM and MyLeague, the two franchise modes in the NBA 2K series. 2K17 brought in some much-needed additions: expansion (no contraction), start today, start in offseason, dynamic rule changes, draft pick protections and swaps and offseason trading (following lottery).
While it’s impossible to ask the 2K team to cram all of the nuances of the CBA into a video game, 2K17 was a giant step in the right direction towards an even more realistic simulation. Here are some things that could be implemented to make 2K18 the most realistic sim yet.
Free Agency Meetings
As it stands now, you can make an offer to any free agent. And to some extent, that is true in the real NBA. But that’s the black and white version, and free agency has plenty of shades of gray.
Take Chris Paul, for example. The most persistent rumors had him staying with the Clippers or fleeing to either the Spurs or Rockets. But when the season ended, plenty of teams had a need for a starting PG (for example, the Nuggets, Nets and Pacers). However, given the state of those franchises, if any of them had reached out to Chris Paul’s agent to schedule a meeting, they would’ve received a polite, yet firm, “thanks, but no thanks.”
Superstars go into free agency understanding what teams they want to play for and, of those teams, what teams have the means to sign him. In 2K18, It would be nice to see some of this implemented into the offseason. Instead of diving directly into the contract offer, you should have to schedule a meeting with the free agent before you can even get to the stage where an offer is made.
Using the Nets as an example, it’s likely Chris Paul would refuse to even meet with them. And even if he agreed to take the meeting, it’s highly unlikely he would seriously considering signing with the franchise. But when you’re a struggling franchise like the Nets, just getting into the meeting room could be a big boost to the franchise.
Remember a few years ago when everyone took note of how close LaMarcus Aldridge was to signing with the Phoenix Suns? Sure, they’ve yet to sign a marquee name since that time, but they at least get meetings now. That’s more than you can say for the Orlando Magic, for example.
But the way I see the system working is you first try and schedule a meeting with the free agent. If he agrees to the meeting, it’s at that time when he lets you know his level of interest in signing with your team, and also what steps you need to take to get into position to do so. For example, it may be something simple like clearing cap space.
If you’re trying to recruit Kevin Durant to your team, he might say he wants to see you improve your roster at the PG and C position before he’ll even consider signing. Based on you meeting these conditions, the FA will indicate his level of interest. If it’s 100 percent, then it’s safe to assume he’s yours if you can meet the conditions. If it’s 75 percent, then you have a really good shot. It’s up to you, though, to determine whether it’s worth making all these roster changes with no guarantee of getting the free agent.
Moratorium Period
If you are just a casual follower of the craziness known as NBA free agency, you might be under the impression that free agency starts on July 1. Well, you would be wrong. July 1 is actually the start of the league’s fiscal year. This is important for many reasons, one of which is that the salary cap for the upcoming season is finally set.
July 1 is also the start of the free agency moratorium period. During this time, free agents are permitted to reach verbal agreements with teams. These deals are considered unofficial until the moratorium period ends, which was July 6 this current offseason.
Of course, virtually every deal that is agreed upon during this period eventually becomes official once the moratorium period ends. There are, however, some rare, but extremely memorable examples of things going south. Back in 2004, the Cavs declined their team option on a young Carlos Boozer because, as they explained it, Boozer agreed to sign a long-term deal. Once he became an unrestricted free agent, he signed an offer sheet from the Jazz, and the rest is history.
More recently — and thanks to the power of social media much more famously — DeAndre Jordan verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks. This gave way to the emoji battle of 2015 (and a few other things), which led to DJ changing course and electing to return to the Clippers.
It might not seem worth re-creating this period in future iterations of 2K if almost all deals during this period become official, but this is, after all, a video game. With a few tweaks and some tweakable sliders, the moratorium period could become an essential part of your MyGM/MyLeague offseason.
In reality, free agency never ends. Most teams do the heavy lifting up front and fill holes in their roster as training camp approaches. In 2K17, the free agency period lasts 20 days. During those 20 days, you are free to negotiate with any free agents, including your own. And that’s it.
2K could tweak this so that on day one of moratorium period, the upcoming season’s salary cap is announced. You can also see an overview of your team, how much cap space you have (with toggles to include/not include RFAs, etc.), and a list of free agents along with your front office’s prediction for how much it will take to sign them to your team. From here, you can select three players you want to target during the moratorium period. Steph Curry assumes everyone will want him, but how touched will Nick Young be if you let him know you want him on your team?
On the second day, players respond with their initial level of interest (along with conditions, as outlined above): don’t even bother, outside shot, in the running, etc. On the third day, you extend offers. On the fourth day, players respond and offers are tweaked accordingly. Lastly, on day five, players will make verbal agreements if they choose to.
More CBA Authenticity
Just as adding in offseason trades made 2K17’s front office game more realistic, adding in a few more CBA details would enhance the experience even more. Specifically, I’m talking about finances overall and how they affect player salaries and the salary cap. For the upcoming 2017-18 season, the salary cap sits at around $99 million. The luxury tax is roughly $119 million.
One important item already included in 2K is the concept of Bird Rights, which basically allows teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents. Using the defending champs as an example, they structured their free-agent signings in a way that allowed them to re-sign most of their team, and Kevin Durant’s willingness to sign for less than the max and wait for the Warriors to re-sign the other players is why this worked out so well for them. If KD demanded a max and/or an immediate offer, the Warriors would have had some tough decisions to make.
This is already in the game, albeit by accident. If you happen to make staggered offers with multiple players agreeing, you could stagger the signings to be cap friendly. But a renewed focus on this area with some intricacy during the free agency period would take things to the next level.
This could translate to the 2K world quite easily, especially since the salary cap and luxury tax are already in the game. And owners already give you goals and obligations each year as it is. A slight tweak could be that the owner is willing to spend X amount, this will determine if they want you to stay under the luxury tax or not (or, worse, stay way under). If they do, you have to be smart and meticulous with your transactions. If the owner gives you the green light to spend what it takes, you can get more creative with your offers.
Of course, your own team’s free agents might not be as generous and patient as KD. If he demands you re-sign him to a max ASAP, it might leave you with no more room to make additional moves to build around that player. But if he gives you a verbal agreement to sign at the end of free agency, you could play with your existing cap space to make some signings, and then exceed the cap to re-sign that player (assuming, of course, you have his Bird Rights).
What about you? What changes or additions would you like to see with respect to NBA 2K’s franchise modes?
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Jamaal Magliore made the All-Star team once, but Eric Bledsoe is unrealistic?
Also...Yes. Yes you can. You can earn VC from MyLeague. 865 VC per 48-minute game. Just no 100 VC bonus from a win like MyGM has.
In today's league, absolutely. Guys like Dame, Thompson, McCollum and more get left off for him every-time you sim MyLeague pretty much, guys on really bad teams with OK stats have always made it into 2K ASG over the 2nd or 3rd great guy on a really good team. Being able to select award winners and All-Star/Rookie game players would be great cause the CPU usually gets it wrong.
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Carry over saves is a tough one because that would basically mean that the game would not really change much in the coming years. Which right now, would be a terrible thing for 2K.
Also...Yes. Yes you can. You can earn VC from MyLeague. 865 VC per 48-minute game. Just no 100 VC bonus from a win like MyGM has.
In my MyLeague Bledsoe avg 21 ppg, 5 rpg, 8 apg, 2 spg & 1 bpg but the Suns were worst in the league. Yes those stats are great but he shouldn't make it over guards on playoff teams. Also, when I said you don't earn VC I meant due to awards etc. Obviously you get it via games. But other modes you earn VC based off achievements. MyLeague you do not.
Lol all I'm asking is to have control over it. MyLeague is advertised as having control over everything. Bledsoe shouldn't be all nba 2nd team with the Suns having an 18-64 record over a player X who's team just won 55 games and has slightly lesser stats. Media votes for all-nba teams. No way they vote Bledsoe over player x. Just give me control over it. Simple as that.
With the creative freedom ML has, earning VC based off anything other than games seems ripe for exploitation. These cats post videos on YouTube about how to glitch VC.
I think you misunderstood me. I don't want VC in MyLeague. Because there's no VC in the game mode it let's you have tons of freedom.
Any word if they're offering the 2 way contacts this year in 2K?
If these are the items that stand out for improvement, there are some much bigger needs for improvement to the modes crying out for attention, even beyond CBA improvements.
The comment thread about the modes from the community here is much more rich with suggestions to improve the modes. Fortunately that's what the modes developers have reviewed before setting out their development goals for the cycle.
My bad. I could imagine guys editing their teams and players to 99 and simulating season after season racking up VC for allstar appearances, and championships and such.
A young team isn't signing Milsap to a 4 year 32m/year contract.
Nuggets aren't signing 3 more SG's to play alongside Will Barton Jamal Murray and Garry Harris.
Suns aren't drafting Luka Donic to play Co-SG with Devin Booker.
Durant isn't leaving the warriors for Brooklyn.
Curry isn't leaving the warriors for Lakers.
There needs to be player intentions more indepth than play for winner financial security and loyalty.
There needs to be team intentions.
There's team needs that needs to be expanded upon.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianmazique/2017/07/17/nba-2k18-player-ratings-isaiah-thomas-and-joel-embiid-are-surprised-by-their-overalls/#3d90a5973d75
i think IT should be 90 and Embied a 88 PG13 91 is okay
Smarter team building - The AI should stop using overall as the end all be all. There should be a rating on how good players are in a specific role (rebounder, sharpshooter, playmaker, all around star etc). Then have team concepts for each GM where they look for players that fit their scheme based on these ratings and not entirely on overall. The AI needs work here because sometimes I don't have a clue on what it's doing. In one instance the Knicks draft a PF at 7. They traded him + another player for the 8th pick. They then drafted a worse PF at 8 :jpshakehe.
Deeper generated draft classes - Outside of the top 10 very few players become contributors. Lottery should be young guys who are skilled and athletic that can contribute right away. Later picks are either projects or older guys who are skilled but with unknown upside. Guys who go undrafted are completely useless because their values are unrealistically low. Once saw an undrafted PG with 25 speed for example. Again I feel the overall rating is overvalued here.
Believable sim results - Tired of seeing the 7th seed vs the 5th seed in the finals or the 8th seed beating the 1st seed. Does the AI have a different game plan for every team or the same game plan for every team? Maybe that contributes to it idk.
Player development - I honestly have very little clue on what I'm doing here. In player training there have been instances where I've put a ton of points in one rating and saw very little growth while seeing similar growth in ratings I put very little points in. I also don't know what value keeps the rating from dropping.
Wishlist:
Export team (want to see different teams I've put together square off)
D-League
Euroleague
Something in the mode that league wide news is more accesible like a fake webpage, newspaper or tv show. Made a post earlier here that goes more in depth.
made you think much more about who you filled your roster out with and I loved playing the d league games and boosting prospects and feeling like you were creating a player for the future. For me made the whole thing more interesting.
I can never play with a 2K auto generated draft class ever again. It probably is my biggest issue with my league. I don't mind making my own draft classses but this year they take absolutely forever to create. They really need templates you can save. Would save me hours upon hours. Anything that allows us to edit players quicker is needed
This is priority #1 for me.
2k does a lot of stuff better than Madden, but the generated rookies are much worse.
The tendencies and ratings are all over the show. Same goes for the body types. Having these tiny PG's with t-rex wingspan going in the top 3 just because their ratings are good is stupid (also not being able to see the numerical wingspan value after the player has been drafted is annoying).
Having guys whose main plus is their athleticism, having really high vertical but then absolutely terrible speed or acceleration etc rarely makes any sense.
As you mentioned there is absolutely zero depth to the draft classes. No high athletic/potential, but a bit raw skill level guys. No older late/second round guys but more NBA ready (see Malcolm Brogdon).
UDFA's are practically worthless as well.
The draft should be one of the most exciting and fun parts of this mode, yet it's just way too underdeveloped. The generated rookies need a massive amount of improvement.
The scouting system is also in dire need of a revamp but that's another beast entirely...
A young team isn't signing Milsap to a 4 year 32m/year contract.
Nuggets aren't signing 3 more SG's to play alongside Will Barton Jamal Murray and Garry Harris.
Suns aren't drafting Luka Donic to play Co-SG with Devin Booker.
Durant isn't leaving the warriors for Brooklyn.
Curry isn't leaving the warriors for Lakers.
There needs to be player intentions more indepth than play for winner financial security and loyalty.
There needs to be team intentions.
There's team needs that needs to be expanded upon.
Did you read the article? A huge part of it was about players not joining off situations like you just wrote about.
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MyLeague is in a very good place compared to the actual gameplay. What I would like to see, in terms of actual realistic priorities:
1. Give us editable body types for draft classes. This alone will drastically improve the mode's replayability.
2. Give us some of the RPG features of MyGM in MyLeague, or give us a version of MyGM where we can do 30 team control, override trades, etc.
3. User choosing All-Star/All-NBA teams.
If you're on Xbox just use simworld
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianmazique/2017/07/17/nba-2k18-player-ratings-tracker-latest-reveals-for-the-upcoming-release/#3925da92b332
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I'd also like to see the G-Leagur and euroleague added with some unique integreation. Have some Tesovic and Whiteside stories and make it interesting. The euroleague and the FA meetings in Steves articles could be extremely interesting.
I can't wait to see what they have this year.
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But what absolutely needs fixing now are the generated draft classes. Every single class you'll see guys with 85 speed with ball but only a 50 regular speed. Guard with a 90 dunk but a 30 vertical rating. 90 off-dribble shot ratings but 40 standing shots. Wing players with 80+ defensive ratings but 50 lateral quickness. It's frustrating.
If these are the items that stand out for improvement, there are some much bigger needs for improvement to the modes crying out for attention, even beyond CBA improvements.
The comment thread about the modes from the community here is much more rich with suggestions to improve the modes. Fortunately that's what the modes developers have reviewed before setting out their development goals for the cycle.
I think he made some good points about free agency meetings and more CBA authenticity. Two things I would add to those specific points he made are
1) We need a trade period for CPU teams before Free Agency starts. For example, if OKC wanted to go after Blake Griffin this past offseason, they couldn't afford him and would have to make a trade or two in order to afford him. User teams can make trades like that, but CPU teams cannot. It's also the reason you will see big names go to small markets; because the big market teams that would likely sign with in real life are capped out.
2) In regards to inflation, 2K really just need to use dollar amounts when it comes instead of an inflation rate that I've never been able to figure out. :y220d:
Everyone wants different things when it comes to MyLeague. I bet you could ask all of us who have replied in this thread so far the three things we want to see the most for MyLeague improvements and none of us will likely have the same three answers. Personally, I'd love to see team building and trade logic improved, but it wouldn't be in my top three because I'm not sure that 2k can really improve it that much. I mean, to be honest, no sports game has ever gotten either right and to ask them to is almost unrealistic because the league is so unpredictable. Heck, I haven't accepted a single 2k proposed trade yet and I'm three and a half years into my MyLeague. I can never make any sense out of them so I just come up with my own trades instead and use Random.Org to choose which ones I actually allow. I don't think they should give up though because both can certainly be improved.
The things that I'd really love in 2K18 is some sort of G-League Integration, a Create-A-Coach/GM along with stat tracking, and some text based (optional) Owner/GM goals come over from MyGM to MyLeague. I'm not necessarily expecting any of those, but they would be welcome additions in my book.
Just do it like NHL or EHM, for example, a player can have a 94 potential, but with a 60% chance that he reaches that potential.
Another player could have a 85 potential, but with a 95% chance to reach his potential. And it could be influenced by performance and other factors. That would be great.
Just do it like NHL or EHM, for example, a player can have a 94 potential, but with a 60% chance that he reaches that potential.
Another player could have a 85 potential, but with a 95% chance to reach his potential. And it could be influenced by performance and other factors. That would be great.
Please do not copy NHL. There's make zero sense.
I agree with unpredictability but NHL's is just nonsense.
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Like ...
- Create a Staff (be it Owner, GM, Coach, etc)
- Edit GM/team stances on specific areas such as FA, Trades, Draft, Rotation, etc
- Edit Chemestry and other variables that either affect sim stats or gameplay results
- Edit rivalries
- Even more incidence on overalls by the subjective Intangible Rating
- Allow import of CAPs
- Allow to set specific numbers for yearly caps (soft/hard)
- Allow to set priority plays run priority
- More sim stats engine refinements (to increase range and allow for more historic results) and tools to try and affect them even more.
Etc, etc ...
1.) Providing us with body types, tattoos, and more hairstyles for CAPs.
2.) Player attribute movement based on stats. I really love the idea of a slider for this. For instance I just finished a season with the Kings and Malachi Richardson averaged 22 pts, 4 rebs, 5 ast over the course of the season as a 69 ovrl. The following season he moved up to a lofty 71 ovrl. I get that the progression is based on the player's peak start and potential but it should definitely factor in guys having breakout seasons. I'm not saying he should have been like 85 ovrl but I mean improving to mid to upper 70s overall seems realistic. (And yes I know overall isn't the end-all, be-all, but it would be nice to see the progress reflected somewhere in his attributes rather than just his stats) Conversely maybe you use Steph and average 5 ppg... (just as an example). He probably wouldn't be a 95 after that season, still good like 90 or upper 80s based on his past but it should respond a little bit to the player's season. Basically, player potential and overall should be more fluid and possible to change especially based on a full season or seasons of play. More busts and gems would show up that way. But others may want progression to work more like it does currently so a slider for that would be perfect.
Another thing along those lines would be more control over player growth/regression in the offseason. I don't mind the training camp system but it's so limited. First of all I only ever end up with 1 or 2, I should be able to train more than 2 players. Something like a more expansive version of that with x amount of points to spend on your team and you could spread them out over the whole team and it may not impact one guy too much but maybe everyone on the team improves a little. Or you can focus on a couple guys and they see big increases. You may also want to skip over some guys you feel are "washed up". Mix in just enough randomness (the amount of points they increase isn't fixed, you might waste your points on someone who has already reached their full potential) and customization of what skill areas to focus on by player and it could be awesome. It could also produce unexpectedly good players and unexpected busts. If you don't work on a player they don't improve much and if you dedicate a lot to one person they might break out.
3.) Downloadable CAPs should be a thing. They had it in past gens, and I can download an entire team and all its assets now, so why not a player? Or even the ability to go into a full roster and snag a couple of CAPs off of it and save them for future use in other rosters.
4.) A way to import new players into an existing MyLeague's free agent pool. Look at guys like Yogi Ferrell popping up in the official roster a couple months into the game's release. You don't have to make it mandatory but if we want to we should be able to get those guys into our existing MyLeagues and then do as we please with them (so we could sign them to their actual team... or leave them out in free agency and see what happens). This could also be done with CAPs, downloadable CAPs, etc.
5.) The G-League and the new Two-Way Contracts. The ability to sign guys from/send guys to the G-League during the season has been missing from this gen, it used be a thing. I want it back. It would be a huge help to player improvement/finding hidden gems/roster management in the league.
6.) Smarter offseasons from the AI, after a year I see a lot of teams with 5/6 guys at one position and 1 at another. I mean I understand that happens occasionally in real life but it's happening far too often in MyLeage. That or if you let the AI do its thing, it will sign redundant players a lot of times. I had one MyLeague where the 76ers had Joel Embiid and Greg Monroe and then went out and spent all their money on Booge in free agency leaving with a bunch of terrible guards. It's so bad that I've gone in a few times (when not doing 30 team control) and forced a couple of trades to happen to smooth it out a bit. I don't want to have to do that every season or do 30 team control.
7.) International League expansion. This one is more of a dream. Throw in several European/Asian cities and maybe we could even add an entire new division or two or a third conference for the League. Also just the ability to add new conferences and truly realign the league, edit how the playoffs work, etc. would be cool too. Like the NFL's layout or something. Make the regular season that much more meaningful.
8.) Staff hiring seems odd. Every year I see Popovich/Kerr/other top coaches in the coaching pool which seems unrealistic. Also making coaches and staff more meaningful or giving more subtle boosts to your team.
9.) Deeper draft storylines. I've seen that when you import a draft class it has a generate storylines button but it doesn't do much other than jack with ratings here and there. I'd like to see this more fleshed out. So that if I don't keep up with my scouting I'm not going to know that a guy like Harry Giles barely played and didn't look as impressive as expected. Stuff like that would be cool to see.
This year's MyLeague gave us a lot of important steps forward, like being able to change draft classes during a season, Expansion teams, more relocation options, etc. Let's keep it moving in the right direction because for a lot of us, this mode is what makes the game worth playing.
2. make the online franchise mode an actual franchise mode (salary cap, free agency, draft). 2k completely disrespected the people that buy the game for online franchise for the past 2 years. we're gonna eventually stop buying the game. it can't always be all about the MyPlayer mode.
3. randomize progression for rookies and young players.
4. let part of the progression be based on performance and playing time
5. players should not stop progressing at age 25. players should not automatically regress just cuz they hit a certain age
6. again....give some attention to the online league this time. we should be able to rank our draft choices and free agency choices so the cpu can handle our business if we're gone
7. fix the rookie draft...2k17 randomized all the ratings after the draft even when you said not to
8. let teams continue to play against each other in the online league after playoffs have started (exhibition games)
these 2k rookies look deformed and drugged out
21 year old white guy with a receding hairline, red cornrolls, and a blonde james harden beard
22 year old black guy darker than draymond green with blue eyes and a chandler parsons haircut
number 1 overall draft prospect - point guard with 74 speed, 68 ball handling, and 97 rebounding
like come on lmao
make these dudes look normal and give them attributes and handles/jump shot form/badges that actually fit their position
Ps. Steve your pics you posted in your opening post are not showing on Chrome on Mobile / Tablet.
I agree there in my league KD led the league in scoring and didn't make any of the all nba teams 1st 2nd or 3rd
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NBA 2K always takes care of franchise in terms of new additions. The problems arise from the implementation and tuning, as has been mentioned in many posts in this thread.
Well said. I do give 2k credit. Some of the additions last year were really good but the AI for example still hasn't been fixed.
EA is reporting improved GM AI for their NHL series. If they implement that in Live too it could push 2k. That's the great thing about competition looking forward to the updates.
AI is huge for me.
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Seems like when the player with the NTC wants to be traded you can trade them to any team. Which defeats the purpose of the player with the clause having the final say.
Really hope they haven't been putting time in trade logic and AI GMs. No sports series gets that right, it's impossible to get right in my mind. I don't need new features. I would just like tendencies to be really fine-tuned and for sim-stats to not get crazy.