NBA:GM Responsibilities
| Reference | Contracts · Rosters · Salary Cap · League Spreadsheet |
| Transactions | Waivers · Trades · Options · Re-Signing · Draft · Free Agency · G League · Injured Reserve |
| Timeline | Off-Season · In-Season |
| Governance | League Structure · GM Responsibilities · Rule Changes |
| Tools | Re-Sign Calculator · Free Agency Bid Calculator |
These are the obligations that come with running a team, and what happens if you miss one.
Your obligations
| Obligation | When | If you don't |
|---|---|---|
| Check in | Each off-season | You are replaced |
| Keep your posted roster current, and matching the league spreadsheet | Always | Free agency bids are invalid; re-signs are blocked |
| Exercise or decline every option due that year | Option window | Treated as a decline — the player goes to free agency |
| Set a legitimate lineup | Daily, in-season | Warnings, then loss of a 2nd-round pick, then a 1st |
| Never alter a contract | Always | Removal from the league |
Check-in
Check-in starts the off-season's activities and confirms you are running your team for the coming season. It also reopens trades and brings another year of draft picks into range.
Dates are announced each year.
Your posted roster
Keeping your roster post current is a standing obligation, not a courtesy, and it gates two things:
- Free agency — without a current roster, every bid you make is invalid
- Re-signing — without one your re-sign thread is locked and no one will verify it
Your post must also match the league spreadsheet, the league's authoritative record of every contract, waiver, and draft pick. It wins any disagreement.
Posting standards
Every transaction has required content. The formats are conventions, but what must be communicated is a rule.
Title every topic with the player's name — except trades, which are titled with the teams involved. The description field carries the move itself for G League, IR, and option topics. The other forums do not use it.
| Post | Must carry |
|---|---|
| Free agency bid | The offer and its points total |
| Re-sign | The 3 Fantrax scores, the average, and the offer |
| Waiver | Name, salary, contract length, and the cap hit with its end year |
| Trade | Full names, contracts, acceptance, and reasoning from every team |
| G League move | The contract, and for a demotion the player's career games played |
| IR move | The player and the direction of the move |
| Option | Your decision, the option year, and the contract — for each player with an option decision that year |
If you need to step away
Say so rather than going quiet. The league keeps a replacement GM list and hands teams over rather than leaving them idle — a team that goes silent through check-in is reassigned anyway, and handing it over cleanly is better for whoever inherits it.
See also
- Rosters — what a roster post should contain
- Off-Season — check-in and the phases that follow
- In-Season — daily lineup obligations and enforcement
- Salary Cap — the cap and calculating your cap space