The Season

Every league moves through the same calendar, one phase at a time:

1. League Setup: the commissioner configures settings, invites GMs and assigns teams.
2. Preseason: warm-up games before the season tips off.
3. Regular Season: the 82-game season. Standings count.
4. Play-In Tournament: seeds 7 through 10 in each conference fight for the last two playoff spots.
5. Playoffs: best-of-7 series on the road to the championship.
6. Offseason: the season is complete; contract decisions come first.
7. Staff Free Agency: hire and fire coaches and scouts.
8. Rookie Draft: the lottery draw and a two-round draft.
9. Free Agency: unrestricted free agents hit the open market.
10. Training Camp: set development focus and make final cuts. Then a new preseason begins.

The game phases (preseason through playoffs) move on by themselves the moment the last game of each stage is played. The offseason phases move on only when the commissioner advances them.

Trades are open in every phase except the play-in and the playoffs. During the regular season they close at the trade deadline (early February by default; the commissioner can move it). After an accepted trade there is a review window before it goes through.

Every team plays three preseason games in early October. They are real games in the sim, so you can test your depth chart and game plan, but they don't count: nothing carries into the standings.

HoopSim shows one record at a time. During preseason (and training camp before it), your team card shows your preseason record. Once the regular season tips off, preseason stats are archived, the standings reset, and from then on only your season record shows.

The regular season runs from late October into April, 82 games per team, 41 at home and 41 away. You play division rivals most, the rest of your conference a little less, and every team in the other conference twice. The schedule leaves a gap for the All-Star break in mid-February.

Re-signing talks with your own players whose contracts expire this season are open during the regular season. Some players would rather test the market and won't sign early.

In a multiplayer league the league clock only moves when it is advanced. You don't sim games yourself; the commissioner advances the league by days, and every game on those days is played.

• Auto-advance: the commissioner can turn on the auto-commissioner, which advances a set number of days (one to seven) on a regular cadence during the game phases.
• Ready: tap Ready when your team is set. If enough GMs are ready (the commissioner picks how many), the league can advance without waiting for the next scheduled run. Ready flags clear after each advance.
• Next advance notice: the commissioner can post when the next advance will happen and how many days it covers, with an optional note. It hangs as a clock at the top of your screen, shows who has seen it, and you get a reminder an hour before if you're not marked ready. It either advances automatically at that time or is a notice only, where the commissioner presses advance.
• Advancing early: if the commissioner sims before the posted time, they choose whether it replaces the scheduled advance or the rest still runs later, and the league is told. "Advanced early" shows on the clock for a while afterward.

In a solo league there is no clock to wait for: you press SIM yourself.

When the All-Star break begins, the league pauses for about ten days. Twenty-four All-Stars are selected from season performance, split East vs. West by default (the commissioner can choose a random split instead). The weekend has a 3-Point Contest, a Dunk Contest and a high-scoring All-Star Game. The commissioner runs the weekend from the All-Star page.

When the last regular-season game is final, the play-in is seeded in each conference: 7 hosts 8 and the winner is the 7 seed; 9 hosts 10 and the loser is out; then the loser of 7-vs-8 hosts the winner of 9-vs-10 for the 8 seed.

The playoffs follow: 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5 in each conference, then the second round, the conference finals and the Finals. Every series is best of 7, first to four wins. The higher seed (in the Finals, the team with more regular-season wins) has home court in games 1, 2, 5 and 7.

Awards are handed out as the season goes. They look at scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defense and efficiency.

• Weekly: Player of the Week.
• Monthly: Player, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Month.
• Season: League MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, All-League 1st and 2nd Teams.
• Postseason: Finals MVP and an MVP for each Conference Finals.
• All-Star: All-Star Game MVP, 3-Point Contest Champion and Dunk Contest Champion.

After the Finals the champion is crowned and the offseason runs in steps. Your offseason checklist shows what's left for your team in each one.

• Offseason: decide every team option and every qualifying offer on your Contracts tab. The league can't move on until all teams have.
• Staff free agency: every team needs a head coach, two assistants and a scout before the draft.
• Rookie draft: the lottery is run, then two rounds of picks on a clock. Drafted players get rookie contracts.
• Free agency: bid on free agents. Every team needs at least 8 players to leave free agency.
• Training camp: set development focus for your players and trim your roster. Teams need at least 8 players, and no more than 20, to start the preseason (the league office signs minimum deals for a team short of 8).