IV. SALARY CAP EXCEPTIONS

There are 10 Salary Cap “Exceptions” that can help you meet the salary cap, but you can only use each Exception once per season. To use an Exception, please post a message on the league’s home page identifying which exception you're using. These exceptions are:

1. Rebuild Exception – In exchange for keeping no players, you can increase your max cap by $5M. In addition, using this Exception will bump up each of your draft picks by 1 spot, including all draft picks you traded for. Furthermore, using the rebuild exception will also wipe away any negative effects carried over from last season, including use of the Mortgage Exception, and allow you to re-acquire a previously dropped Bird player. [Note: the order in which you declare a Rebuild matters, doing so earlier will usually end in a better draft position. You cannot declare a Rebuild until teams have been finalized.]

2. Larry Bird Exception – You may designate one Keeper on your team with "Bird" rights and reduces his salary by (a) $3M this season, (b) an additional $2M for every season he is your Bird player, and (c) $5M for each time your player begins a new contract that increased his salary from the previous year while he was your Bird player. [You cannot trade a player with Bird rights. If you drop a player with Bird rights, you must forfeit $5M in cap space for this season and you cannot reacquire this player until you use the Rebuild Exception.]

3. Development Exception – Before the end of Week 1, you may designate one Rookie that you drafted with the "Devo" Exception. Instead of paying his actual salary, you may "fix" that rookie's salary at (a) $10M for players selected in the top 5 picks of his draft class, or (b) $5M for players drafted afterwards, for every season you designate him as a Keeper and continue to use this Exception on him. You can cancel this Exception at any time. Doing so reverts your player's salary back to its original amount. ["Rookie" means any player eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. If you drop a Devo player, his salary reverts to its original amount. However, if you trade a Devo player, the receiving team may opt to keep the Devo designation. You may only roster one Devo player at a time.]

4. Mortgage Exception – By giving up $5M in cap space for next season, you may reduce the cost of one player's salary this season by $5 million. This exception can only be used on a player whose salary is or exceeds $5M. [If you drop or trade a player you’ve used this exception on, his salary will revert to its original amount, but must still forfeit $5M next season]

5. Supermax Exception – Before week 10, you may reduce the cost of a player on your team with a base salary of $25M or more to $20M. However, for 5 weeks after using this Exception, your team will be frozen from adding or dropping players. [You can only drop this player by using the first prong of the Injury Exception, but you cannot use the Supermax again this season. The effects of this exception carry over via trade.]

6. Journeyman Exception – You can reduce the cost of one player you acquire via free agency or trade, who’s salary is $5M or less, to zero, but you cannot designate this player as a Keeper for next season. This exception can stack with the Injury Exception to reduce the cost of one player, who’s salary is $10M or less, to zero, if all conditions of both exceptions are met. [If you drop a player you’ve used this exception on, his salary will revert to its original amount. However, the effects of this exception carries over via trade.]

7. Injury Exception – Once per season if one of your players gets injured and is designated IL while he is on your roster, you may move that player to the IL roster spot, and temporarily reduce his salary by half (current value) until he returns to your active roster. Once per season, if a player on your team records 10 consecutive DNPs while he is in the IL spot, you may take back one of the Exceptions you’ve used on this injured player, meaning you can use the Exception again, and all current and future effects of using the Exception will be void. In addition, you can reduce the cost of one player on your roster whose salary is $5M or less, to zero. This exception can stack with the Journeyman Exception to reduce the cost of one player, who’s salary is $10M or less, to zero, if all conditions of both exceptions are met. [Each prong can be used once per season. If you drop or trade a player you’ve used picked up using this Exception, his salary will revert to its original amount.]

8. Trade Exception – You may reduce the cost of one player acquired in a trade by $3M. You cannot trade this player back to his original team. However, the player may be traded again to another team, while retaining this cost reduction. If the same player is traded again, his new team may reduce that player's salary by an additional $2M by using this Exception on him (up to $5M max). Only one player on your team can have this Exception active at a time. This Exception can only be used on a player who's active salary is $5M or more. [If you drop a player you’ve used this exception on, his salary reverts to its original amount.]

9. Dynamic Duo Exception – If two players have been designated a Keeper [K] on your team for two seasons in a row, in their third season as keepers, you may reduce the cost of both player by $2.5M. You cannot use this Exception on your Bird player. For the purposes of this Exception, a Rookie that you drafted is considered a Keeper in the year he is drafted. [You may drop or trade a player with this Exception. However, both players lose the effects of this Exception after either is dropped or traded, unless both players are traded together.]

10. Synergy Exception – During Week 5, you may increase your salary cap by $3M if your team has three players that completes one of the following sets of criteria. If you are able to complete a 2nd set of criteria, you may increase your salary cap by an addition $3M. If you are able to complete all 3 sets of criteria, you gain an addition $4M to your maximum cap space. However, you may only complete each specific set one time. This Exception resets and must be re-applied on Weeks 10, 15, and 20. Between and after each re-application week, the bonuses to your maximum cap space only lasts so long as you continue rostering the players you've used to complete each set of criteria, but the players do not need to keep up their stat averages. [The same player may be used in different sets, but you may not use the same player to meet multiple criteria within the same set.]

A. Run & Gun - one player with 7.5 or more assists/game, one player with 25 or more points/game, and one player with 3 or more turnovers/game;
B. Inside-Outside - one player with 3 or more made threes/game, one player with a FG% of 60% or higher, and one player with 6.5 or more free throws/game; or
C. Lock-down Defense - one player with 1.8 or more steals/game, one player with 1.8 or more blocks/game, and one player with 11 or more rebounds/game.

V. KEEPERS AND DRAFT

At the end of the season, you get to choose 5 keepers (1 PG, 1 SG, 1 SF, 1 PF, and 1 Center). Alternatively, you may elect to choose the same keepers you chose last season. Next season, you will draft in the reverse order of how you finished this season.

VI. TRADING PICKS AND CAP SPACE

In this league, you may trade draft picks as well as your excess cap space. Note: the last 5 draft spots are reserved for Keepers, meaning only picks 1-7 are tradeable. You can trade cap space in $1 million increments, up to $5 million total.

VII. END OF SEASON AWARDS

Unless a player won the same award last season: (1) If a player on your team wins the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award, you may increase your max salary cap by $5M for next season; (2) If a player on your team wins the Defensive Player of the Year Award, you may decrease the max salary cap of one other Team in the league by $5M for next season; (3) If a player on your team wins Rookie of the Year, you may move one draft pick up one spot in next year’s draft; (4) If a player on your team wins Most Improved Player of the Year, you may “move” your Bird Rights onto this player, retaining all stacks of salary cap reductions acquired over the years, or if this player was already your Bird player, you may further reduce his salary by an additional $3M; (5) If a player on your team wins 6th Man of the Year Award, you may select a 6th Keeper for next season disregarding any positional requirements.