User Guide

35
SIGN ROOKIES AND FREE AGENTS
This is a heavy negotiation phase. Sign as many key
players as you can while staying under the cap and
maintaining some points in your point limit to run your
franchise and make transactions down the line.
Following the contract-signing marathon, it’s time
to get back to basketball.
TRAINING CAMP
Have your players work on specific aspects of their game to focus
their abilities over the course of the season. Once training camp
is over, it’s time to start the next season in the history of your
Franchise. (See Coach’s Desk on p. 24.)
SEASON
Choose your favorite NBA team and take it through their
entire 2002 NBA season schedule. If you have what it takes,
you can lead your team to the NBA Finals!
• To begin playing in Season mode, set the Season
options, then press the START button. The Team Select
screen appears.
• If you set Customize League ON, the Customize League
screen precedes the Team Select screen.
Season Length: Play a standard 82-game season, or choose
one of three shorter season options.
Trade Deadline: If you want to continue making player
transactions beyond the standard NBA trade deadline
period, choose OFF.
Round Formats: Set the duration of each round of
postseason action from 1 GAME elimination to a
BEST OF 7 series.
Fantasy Draft Roster: Set ON to build your team roster
through a fantasy draft.
Customize League: With this option set to ON, you can
customize the league by moving any team into any
conference and division you wish.
34
THE OFFSEASON
At the end of the season, players and coaches retire and
contracts expire. This is the rebuilding period for any
Franchise, and as GM, it’s up to you to continue to build
your program. Check your Calendar for notes on items to
consider during the off season.
RESIGN PLAYERS
At the Coach’s Desk screen, a new Resign Players option
appears, which lists all your players whose contracts are
up. This option gives you the opportunity to re-negotiate
the players’ contracts if you choose to do so. Of course,
you also have the option to let them go and try to fill in
the holes with free agents and trades.
NCAA IMPORT
Following the four-week resigning period, it is time to look
to the future. At this time, if you have a PlayStation 2
Memory Card with an NCAA 2K3 class saved to it, you
can import the players for an NBA entry draft.
LOTTERY
The 13 teams that finished the season with the worst
records are included in a lottery for the top draft choices.
The team with the absolute worst record has the best
odds of securing the number one draft choice. After the
lottery is run, draft choices are announced and it’s time
to start scouting.
SCOUTING
To scout, you organize workouts with the prospects you
have your eye on. Your Scouting Manager creates detailed
reports based upon the players’ performances, which
provides plenty of information to bring with you into
the draft.
NBA DRAFT
When it comes to selecting draft picks, the NBA Draft
works very much like the Fantasy Draft (p. 23), but the
presentation and spectacle of the event is like nothing
you’ve ever witnessed. Once the draft is complete, it’s time
to sign your rookies to contracts with your Franchise.