This game is also available on PS1.
Retro Game Walkthroughs for NBA Live 2000 (PC Games)
Submitted By: Dharav
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NBA 2000 Franchise mode - Walkthrough, tips and hints
By Dharav Solanki "Dharav"
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
If you have any comments/complimets/questions/complaints or wish that I add some information to this walkthrough contact me on [email protected]. I would surely credit you if give some additions to this walkthrough and help the users of SRDN succeed on the game.
Also please note that though the walkthrough was made after playing NBA Live 2000, it might be useful to the users of latest versions of NBA Live, since the structure of Franchise mode would remain almost the same.
---------------------------------------
--> Core Elements of Franchise Mode <--
---------------------------------------
-- Point Limit: this simulates the salary cap management aspect of a GM’s job, and must be managed throughout Franchise Mode. The Point Limit remains a constant number throughout all 25 seasons.
-- CPU Signing/Trading: computer-controlled GMs will attempt to improve their teams by initiating trades and signing available Free Agents.
-- Free Agency: players are signed to contracts between 1 and 7 years and become free agents when the contracts expire.
-- Retiring Players: players may decide to call it quits once they reach a certain age.
-- Draft Lottery: held once per year in the off-season, the draft lottery is used to determine first round order of selection for the rookie draft.
-- Rookie Draft: held once per year in the off-season, the rookie draft provides the league an influx of new talent.
-- Player Development: players’ skills improve and decline at the end of each season. You can follow a player’s development in the Player Progress screen.
------------------------------------------
--> Important Info - Vital for success <--
------------------------------------------
Franchise Mode extends for 25 seasons, after which GM performance is graded in several key areas.
Players are signed to contracts at a per-year point amount. Contracts range from 1 to 7 years. The number of points a Free Agent player requires to be signed over the current contract length is based on the player's relative worth compared to the rest of the league, his age, and other factors. You cannot go over the Point limit when signing a Free Agent unless you are re-signing your own player during the Re-sign Players phase, or signing a player for minimum points (30,000).
You may sign any Free Agent for minimum points. When making a trade that would end with one or both teams over the point limit, the points involved in the trade must be equal on both sides to within 20% of the higher point amount, plus a fudge factor of 10,000 points. When a player is released to free up roster space, his contract continues to count against his former team’s point limit until the contract runs out, the player is signed by another team, or he retires.
Order of selection in the first round of the Rookie Draft is determined by the Draft Lottery. Teams with fewer wins in the previous season have a higher chance of receiving one of the top three draft picks. Teams that made the playoffs in the previous season are not eligible to receive a lottery pick.
Following the Rookie Draft, first round rookies are signed to guaranteed 3-year contracts at a point amount based on the rookie point scale for their draft position. Second round picks are signed to 1-year contracts at minimum points.
The Scouting Report shows information about each rookie in the rookie draft, including an approximate prediction as to where he should/will be drafted, and his top three strengths or weaknesses. It also lists his potential for continued development.
-----------------------
--> THE POINT LIMIT <--
-----------------------
The Point Limit in NBA Live 2000 simulates one of the many tasks of a NBA General Manager: managing a salary cap. Here is an overview of how the Point Cap works:
-- Each player costs a certain number of points per season.
-- Every team in the NBA must keep the total number of points for all of its players under the Point Limit. This is a number set at the beginning of the game that does not change season to season. It is possible for a team to be over the Point Limit, but this restricts the team’s ability to make transactions.
---------------------------------------
--> OPERATING ABOVE THE POINT LIMIT <--
---------------------------------------
A team may make transactions above the Point Limit under certain circumstances. They are:
-- When signing any player to a contract for Minimum Points. The Minimum Point amount in NBA Live 2000 is 30,000 points.
-- When Re-signing a free agent within the Re-sign Players phase of the Off-season.
-- When drafting a rookie.
-- When trading players whose contracts are equal to within 20% (of the higher salary) plus a 10,000-point fudge factor.
All these points are explained in detail in the sections below, so do not worry if you could not follow the text above.
-----------------------
--> TRADING PLAYERS <--
-----------------------
Trades may be accomplished in one of two ways. If CPU Initiated Trades is turned ON in the Franchise Settings screen, the computer-controlled teams around the league will trade players amongst themselves and periodically offer trades to the user teams as well. As a GM you can also propose trades to other teams via the Trade Players screen. When you make a trade offer, the computer controlled GMs will consider its value on a number of criteria. In general, your offers will need to be weighted such that both teams stand to gain; otherwise the opposing GM will reject your offer.
In the Trade Players screen, point information for each team is displayed under the player lists. This shows each team’s current situation with regard to the point cap, as well as the number of points involved in the current trade. Each player’s current points-per-year and remaining contract length is displayed under his name in the player list. As you add a player to one of the three trade slots, the point information under his team is updated.
One stipulation of trades is that they not put either team over the Point Limit. If the trade would result in either team exceeding the Point Limit, it can still be made so long as the difference in points does not exceed 20% of the higher point amount, plus a fudge factor of 10,000 points. So for example, if Chicago and Vancouver are both over the Point Limit, they can still trade a player worth 100,000 points for a player worth 70,000 points. Experimentation within the Trade Players screen should allow you to make trades to suit your needs. Just don’t expect it to be easy to build a champion through trades alone... It needs a lot of hard work!
-------------------------
--> RELEASING PLAYERS <--
-------------------------
You may choose to release players from your roster to free space to sign or trade for another player. When a team releases a player, he becomes a Free Agent and can be signed by any other NBA team. Once released, the player’s contract continues to count against his former team’s Point Limit for the duration of the contract or until he is signed by another team or retires. If another team signs the player, then the amount he is signed for is deducted from the amount owed to him by his original team. So for example, if Grant Hill was earning 300,000 points per season and Detroit chose to release him, he would continue to count against their Point Limit. If he was then signed by Orlando for 200,000 points, Detroit would continue to carry 100,000 points owed to Hill against their Point Limit until his original contract ran out.
---------------------------------
--> FREE AGENTS DURING SEASON <--
---------------------------------
During a season, all available free agents will usually sign a 1 year contract for the minimum number of points required (30,000) so that they can get onto a team and start playing. For this reason, the free agents pool is a good source of role players to round out your team’s roster if you are in need. By default, there are no free agents in franchise mode until after the first season.
----------------------------
--> FRANCHISE OFF-SEASON <--
----------------------------
The off-season in NBA Live 2000 takes place in several sequential phases, after which the next season begins. These are:
-- Retiring Players
-- Draft Lottery
-- Re-sign Players
-- Rookie Draft
-- Sign Free Agents
------------------------
--> RETIRING PLAYERS <--
------------------------
After the season is complete and the playoffs are over, players around the league decide if they wish to retire. This decision is made based on the player’s age, his ability, and how likely he feels it is that he will win a championship in the near future. Players that decide to retire are shown in the Retiring Players screen. When a player retires, the remaining years on his contract are eliminated and he no longer counts against his former team’s Point Limit.
---------------------
--> DRAFT LOTTERY <--
---------------------
The Draft Lottery in NBA Live 2000 works like the NBA draft lottery that takes place each year. The 13 teams that missed the playoffs in the previous season are each given a berth in the 13 lottery slots, seeded by previous season record. These 13 lottery slots each carry a chance of jumping into the top 3 draft positions. Once the top 3 positions are determined by lottery, the remaining 10 positions are determined by previous season record. Draft positions 14 through 29 are always determined by previous season record.
--------------------------
--> RE-SIGNING PLAYERS <--
--------------------------
Players in Live 2000 are signed to contracts ranging in length from 1-7 years. When a player’s contract runs out, he becomes a Free Agent, and may choose to test the open market. When one of your players becomes a Free Agent, he will come up in the Re-sign Players screen in the off-season. At this point you can offer him the contract length of your choice and see how many points he will require to re-sign. Players each have their own individual preferences about the length of contract they sign. Some players will opt for the stability of a longer contract and may require a minimum contract length of 3 or 5 years in order to re-sign. Other players will desire a short-term contract to keep their options open. These preferences will vary depending on the player, his age, the team and its recent success. Experiment by moving the contract length slider to see which contract lengths the player is willing to re-sign to. In some cases the player may refuse to re-sign outright, regardless of the contract length you offer him. In this case the player has decided to test the open market and play elsewhere. The chances of a player refusing to re-sign outright vary depending on the team’s success in the previous season, and the player’s talent level as compared to the rest of the league.
--------------------
--> ROOKIE DRAFT <--
--------------------
Each year during the off-season there is a rookie draft where new players come into the league. The rookie draft consists of two rounds. The order of selection for the first round is determined by the Draft Lottery; second round selection is done in order of previous season’s record. Rookies are listed according to projected draft position. This is where scouts around the league have predicted the player to be selected. These are just educated guesses based on the player’s performance to date, so you should use them as guides but also take into account the needs of your team. When it is your turn to make a selection, you can view the available players in more detail in the Scouting Report (see section below), or draft a player from the list. You may also choose to forfeit your draft pick. This means you will not receive a player at the current draft position, but you also forgo the guaranteed contract that all rookies are automatically signed to. Rookies selected in the first round are signed to 3 year guaranteed contracts using a rookie point scale to determine their points per year. Second round selections are only signed for one year, and always at the minimum points. Rookie contracts are signed and count against your team’s point limit as soon as you leave the rookie draft, so this may prevent you from pursuing an elite Free Agent for high points if that is your plan.
-----------------------
--> SCOUTING REPORT <--
-----------------------
The Scouting Report screen contains a wealth of data about the current crop of rookies. This can be invaluable in helping you make a decision as to which rookie you will draft. This screen shows player information for each rookie, including height, weight, birthdate, birthplace, school and class. Scouting information for each player shows his projected draft position (according to NBA scouts’ pre-draft predictions), his actual draft position (if he has already been selected), and scouting comments regarding his key strengths and weaknesses. Refer to the scouting comments to get a feel for the areas in which the player excels and struggles. This screen also lists the player’s predicted development potential. The more potential a player has, the more likely it is that his skills will improve as he develops into a NBA veteran. Remember that just because a player has the potential to develop doesn’t necessarily mean that he will improve, it just means that it is more likely. High potential players may still bust once they get into the NBA.
------------------------
--> SIGN FREE AGENTS <--
------------------------
Players are signed to contracts that vary in length from 1 to 7 years. When a contract is signed, the player costs a certain number of points per season. The per season point amount is a consistent amount that counts against the team’s point limit for the duration of the contract, or until the player is traded or retires.
-----------------------
--> POINTS REQUIRED <--
-----------------------
The number of points required by a player to sign a contract is determined by a number of things. The player will take into account his market value as compared to other players in the league at his position, as well as his age and the team’s success. A player will generally require more points if he is younger (and therefore holds more long-term potential), and will sign for less points if the team offering the contract experienced success in the previous season. The minimum points required for a player in NBA Live 2000 is 30,000, and the maximum is 300,000.
--------------------------
--> PLAYER DEVELOPMENT <--
--------------------------
All players in NBA Live 2000 will have their skills develop or decline over time (except for NBA Legends). Some players develop or decline at a much higher rate than others. This aspect of the game is somewhat randomised from game to game, so the same players will not always develop in the same fashion. If players do improve, their development will typically occur between the ages of 19-29. After age 32 players will begin to decline with age, usually opting for retirement before the age of 42.
The best way to keep track of a player’s development is to check the Player Progress screen. This shows a graphical representation of the player’s ratings over the years since the first season of franchise mode. The ratings are broken down into layers such as Defense, Scoring, Athleticism, etc. You can use the check-box controls to toggle on or off any of the ratings for the current layer.
-----------------------------
--> FRANCHISE REPORT CARD <--
-----------------------------
At the end of your 25-year tenure as GM of your team you will receive a report card grading you on key aspects of your performance. These include your team’s regular season and playoff records, the number of championships you managed to win, the number of consecutive championships you managed to win, and your ability to draft key talent in recent years. Take a look at some of the other teams in the league to see how you fared in comparison over the years.
----------------------
--> FRANCHISE TIPS <--
----------------------
Here are some tips to help you get started on building a dynasty for the ages:
-- Solid veteran Free Agents near the end of their careers can sometimes be found for Minimum Points over 1 or 2 year contracts. They can be that final piece of your championship puzzle, and can still get valuable minutes off the bench.
-- Depending on the depth of the Rookie Draft, it is sometimes a wise idea to Forfeit a pick if you feel that your team cannot or should not commit to a guaranteed contract for an unproven rookie.
-- When deciding whether or not to re-sign your players, refer to their development in the Player Progress screen over the past couple of seasons. If a player is in a general decline, it may be time to cut him loose and allocate your resources more efficiently rather than to have precious points occupied by a fading player.
-- There's no award for playing with a short bench. It’s usually a good idea to try and round out your team with a few role players to provide minutes off the bench or depth in case of injuries. Don't worry about exceeding the Point Limit in finding quality backups for all positions. The starting five set the tone, but it's depth that wins championships.
-- When making trades with other teams, keep in mind that equally important to the skills that the player brings on the floor, are the number of points he costs your team. Trading a player with a long-term contract in exchange for a slightly better player with a short-term contract may seem like a quick fix solution, but it may come back to haunt you if that player refuses to re-sign with your team at the end of his term. This strategy can sometimes be effective in preparing for an upcoming playoff run, but you will need to decide whether winning today is worth risking your team’s future.
-- Offering long-term contracts to ageing veterans is one way to bring down the number of points per season required to sign them. Keep in mind that as a player continues to age, his skills will typically decline and in this case the contract may not favour your team in the long-term.
-- Try to keep up with player movement around the league both during season and in the off-season. This will give you some clues as to which teams will be your toughest opponents. The At A Glance screen provides a list of transactions (player signings and re-signings, trades and releases) for all teams in the league. Refer back to this screen at the beginning of each new season to review changes in rosters around the league.
-- If there are particular players you wish to acquire for your team and you are unable to arrange suitable trades, you may be able to sign them as Free Agents. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on the other teams’ rosters in Manager’s Statement to see when their players will come up for contract renewal. This way you can save up Points to make a bid for key Free Agents. This is always a gamble since a player may choose to re-sign with his current team or even refuse to sign with you if he wishes to play elsewhere.
-------------------
--> Final Words <--
-------------------
After taking about two years of experience and one week of hard work, this walkthrough was completed. Although it is just for the franchise mode, I hope you liked it. Please, give this walkthrough a good rating if you found it helpful.
-----------------------------------------------------
NBA 2000 Franchise mode - Walkthrough, tips and hints
By Dharav Solanki "Dharav"
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
If you have any comments/complimets/questions/complaints or wish that I add some information to this walkthrough contact me on [email protected]. I would surely credit you if give some additions to this walkthrough and help the users of SRDN succeed on the game.
Also please note that though the walkthrough was made after playing NBA Live 2000, it might be useful to the users of latest versions of NBA Live, since the structure of Franchise mode would remain almost the same.
---------------------------------------
--> Core Elements of Franchise Mode <--
---------------------------------------
-- Point Limit: this simulates the salary cap management aspect of a GM’s job, and must be managed throughout Franchise Mode. The Point Limit remains a constant number throughout all 25 seasons.
-- CPU Signing/Trading: computer-controlled GMs will attempt to improve their teams by initiating trades and signing available Free Agents.
-- Free Agency: players are signed to contracts between 1 and 7 years and become free agents when the contracts expire.
-- Retiring Players: players may decide to call it quits once they reach a certain age.
-- Draft Lottery: held once per year in the off-season, the draft lottery is used to determine first round order of selection for the rookie draft.
-- Rookie Draft: held once per year in the off-season, the rookie draft provides the league an influx of new talent.
-- Player Development: players’ skills improve and decline at the end of each season. You can follow a player’s development in the Player Progress screen.
------------------------------------------
--> Important Info - Vital for success <--
------------------------------------------
Franchise Mode extends for 25 seasons, after which GM performance is graded in several key areas.
Players are signed to contracts at a per-year point amount. Contracts range from 1 to 7 years. The number of points a Free Agent player requires to be signed over the current contract length is based on the player's relative worth compared to the rest of the league, his age, and other factors. You cannot go over the Point limit when signing a Free Agent unless you are re-signing your own player during the Re-sign Players phase, or signing a player for minimum points (30,000).
You may sign any Free Agent for minimum points. When making a trade that would end with one or both teams over the point limit, the points involved in the trade must be equal on both sides to within 20% of the higher point amount, plus a fudge factor of 10,000 points. When a player is released to free up roster space, his contract continues to count against his former team’s point limit until the contract runs out, the player is signed by another team, or he retires.
Order of selection in the first round of the Rookie Draft is determined by the Draft Lottery. Teams with fewer wins in the previous season have a higher chance of receiving one of the top three draft picks. Teams that made the playoffs in the previous season are not eligible to receive a lottery pick.
Following the Rookie Draft, first round rookies are signed to guaranteed 3-year contracts at a point amount based on the rookie point scale for their draft position. Second round picks are signed to 1-year contracts at minimum points.
The Scouting Report shows information about each rookie in the rookie draft, including an approximate prediction as to where he should/will be drafted, and his top three strengths or weaknesses. It also lists his potential for continued development.
-----------------------
--> THE POINT LIMIT <--
-----------------------
The Point Limit in NBA Live 2000 simulates one of the many tasks of a NBA General Manager: managing a salary cap. Here is an overview of how the Point Cap works:
-- Each player costs a certain number of points per season.
-- Every team in the NBA must keep the total number of points for all of its players under the Point Limit. This is a number set at the beginning of the game that does not change season to season. It is possible for a team to be over the Point Limit, but this restricts the team’s ability to make transactions.
---------------------------------------
--> OPERATING ABOVE THE POINT LIMIT <--
---------------------------------------
A team may make transactions above the Point Limit under certain circumstances. They are:
-- When signing any player to a contract for Minimum Points. The Minimum Point amount in NBA Live 2000 is 30,000 points.
-- When Re-signing a free agent within the Re-sign Players phase of the Off-season.
-- When drafting a rookie.
-- When trading players whose contracts are equal to within 20% (of the higher salary) plus a 10,000-point fudge factor.
All these points are explained in detail in the sections below, so do not worry if you could not follow the text above.
-----------------------
--> TRADING PLAYERS <--
-----------------------
Trades may be accomplished in one of two ways. If CPU Initiated Trades is turned ON in the Franchise Settings screen, the computer-controlled teams around the league will trade players amongst themselves and periodically offer trades to the user teams as well. As a GM you can also propose trades to other teams via the Trade Players screen. When you make a trade offer, the computer controlled GMs will consider its value on a number of criteria. In general, your offers will need to be weighted such that both teams stand to gain; otherwise the opposing GM will reject your offer.
In the Trade Players screen, point information for each team is displayed under the player lists. This shows each team’s current situation with regard to the point cap, as well as the number of points involved in the current trade. Each player’s current points-per-year and remaining contract length is displayed under his name in the player list. As you add a player to one of the three trade slots, the point information under his team is updated.
One stipulation of trades is that they not put either team over the Point Limit. If the trade would result in either team exceeding the Point Limit, it can still be made so long as the difference in points does not exceed 20% of the higher point amount, plus a fudge factor of 10,000 points. So for example, if Chicago and Vancouver are both over the Point Limit, they can still trade a player worth 100,000 points for a player worth 70,000 points. Experimentation within the Trade Players screen should allow you to make trades to suit your needs. Just don’t expect it to be easy to build a champion through trades alone... It needs a lot of hard work!
-------------------------
--> RELEASING PLAYERS <--
-------------------------
You may choose to release players from your roster to free space to sign or trade for another player. When a team releases a player, he becomes a Free Agent and can be signed by any other NBA team. Once released, the player’s contract continues to count against his former team’s Point Limit for the duration of the contract or until he is signed by another team or retires. If another team signs the player, then the amount he is signed for is deducted from the amount owed to him by his original team. So for example, if Grant Hill was earning 300,000 points per season and Detroit chose to release him, he would continue to count against their Point Limit. If he was then signed by Orlando for 200,000 points, Detroit would continue to carry 100,000 points owed to Hill against their Point Limit until his original contract ran out.
---------------------------------
--> FREE AGENTS DURING SEASON <--
---------------------------------
During a season, all available free agents will usually sign a 1 year contract for the minimum number of points required (30,000) so that they can get onto a team and start playing. For this reason, the free agents pool is a good source of role players to round out your team’s roster if you are in need. By default, there are no free agents in franchise mode until after the first season.
----------------------------
--> FRANCHISE OFF-SEASON <--
----------------------------
The off-season in NBA Live 2000 takes place in several sequential phases, after which the next season begins. These are:
-- Retiring Players
-- Draft Lottery
-- Re-sign Players
-- Rookie Draft
-- Sign Free Agents
------------------------
--> RETIRING PLAYERS <--
------------------------
After the season is complete and the playoffs are over, players around the league decide if they wish to retire. This decision is made based on the player’s age, his ability, and how likely he feels it is that he will win a championship in the near future. Players that decide to retire are shown in the Retiring Players screen. When a player retires, the remaining years on his contract are eliminated and he no longer counts against his former team’s Point Limit.
---------------------
--> DRAFT LOTTERY <--
---------------------
The Draft Lottery in NBA Live 2000 works like the NBA draft lottery that takes place each year. The 13 teams that missed the playoffs in the previous season are each given a berth in the 13 lottery slots, seeded by previous season record. These 13 lottery slots each carry a chance of jumping into the top 3 draft positions. Once the top 3 positions are determined by lottery, the remaining 10 positions are determined by previous season record. Draft positions 14 through 29 are always determined by previous season record.
--------------------------
--> RE-SIGNING PLAYERS <--
--------------------------
Players in Live 2000 are signed to contracts ranging in length from 1-7 years. When a player’s contract runs out, he becomes a Free Agent, and may choose to test the open market. When one of your players becomes a Free Agent, he will come up in the Re-sign Players screen in the off-season. At this point you can offer him the contract length of your choice and see how many points he will require to re-sign. Players each have their own individual preferences about the length of contract they sign. Some players will opt for the stability of a longer contract and may require a minimum contract length of 3 or 5 years in order to re-sign. Other players will desire a short-term contract to keep their options open. These preferences will vary depending on the player, his age, the team and its recent success. Experiment by moving the contract length slider to see which contract lengths the player is willing to re-sign to. In some cases the player may refuse to re-sign outright, regardless of the contract length you offer him. In this case the player has decided to test the open market and play elsewhere. The chances of a player refusing to re-sign outright vary depending on the team’s success in the previous season, and the player’s talent level as compared to the rest of the league.
--------------------
--> ROOKIE DRAFT <--
--------------------
Each year during the off-season there is a rookie draft where new players come into the league. The rookie draft consists of two rounds. The order of selection for the first round is determined by the Draft Lottery; second round selection is done in order of previous season’s record. Rookies are listed according to projected draft position. This is where scouts around the league have predicted the player to be selected. These are just educated guesses based on the player’s performance to date, so you should use them as guides but also take into account the needs of your team. When it is your turn to make a selection, you can view the available players in more detail in the Scouting Report (see section below), or draft a player from the list. You may also choose to forfeit your draft pick. This means you will not receive a player at the current draft position, but you also forgo the guaranteed contract that all rookies are automatically signed to. Rookies selected in the first round are signed to 3 year guaranteed contracts using a rookie point scale to determine their points per year. Second round selections are only signed for one year, and always at the minimum points. Rookie contracts are signed and count against your team’s point limit as soon as you leave the rookie draft, so this may prevent you from pursuing an elite Free Agent for high points if that is your plan.
-----------------------
--> SCOUTING REPORT <--
-----------------------
The Scouting Report screen contains a wealth of data about the current crop of rookies. This can be invaluable in helping you make a decision as to which rookie you will draft. This screen shows player information for each rookie, including height, weight, birthdate, birthplace, school and class. Scouting information for each player shows his projected draft position (according to NBA scouts’ pre-draft predictions), his actual draft position (if he has already been selected), and scouting comments regarding his key strengths and weaknesses. Refer to the scouting comments to get a feel for the areas in which the player excels and struggles. This screen also lists the player’s predicted development potential. The more potential a player has, the more likely it is that his skills will improve as he develops into a NBA veteran. Remember that just because a player has the potential to develop doesn’t necessarily mean that he will improve, it just means that it is more likely. High potential players may still bust once they get into the NBA.
------------------------
--> SIGN FREE AGENTS <--
------------------------
Players are signed to contracts that vary in length from 1 to 7 years. When a contract is signed, the player costs a certain number of points per season. The per season point amount is a consistent amount that counts against the team’s point limit for the duration of the contract, or until the player is traded or retires.
-----------------------
--> POINTS REQUIRED <--
-----------------------
The number of points required by a player to sign a contract is determined by a number of things. The player will take into account his market value as compared to other players in the league at his position, as well as his age and the team’s success. A player will generally require more points if he is younger (and therefore holds more long-term potential), and will sign for less points if the team offering the contract experienced success in the previous season. The minimum points required for a player in NBA Live 2000 is 30,000, and the maximum is 300,000.
--------------------------
--> PLAYER DEVELOPMENT <--
--------------------------
All players in NBA Live 2000 will have their skills develop or decline over time (except for NBA Legends). Some players develop or decline at a much higher rate than others. This aspect of the game is somewhat randomised from game to game, so the same players will not always develop in the same fashion. If players do improve, their development will typically occur between the ages of 19-29. After age 32 players will begin to decline with age, usually opting for retirement before the age of 42.
The best way to keep track of a player’s development is to check the Player Progress screen. This shows a graphical representation of the player’s ratings over the years since the first season of franchise mode. The ratings are broken down into layers such as Defense, Scoring, Athleticism, etc. You can use the check-box controls to toggle on or off any of the ratings for the current layer.
-----------------------------
--> FRANCHISE REPORT CARD <--
-----------------------------
At the end of your 25-year tenure as GM of your team you will receive a report card grading you on key aspects of your performance. These include your team’s regular season and playoff records, the number of championships you managed to win, the number of consecutive championships you managed to win, and your ability to draft key talent in recent years. Take a look at some of the other teams in the league to see how you fared in comparison over the years.
----------------------
--> FRANCHISE TIPS <--
----------------------
Here are some tips to help you get started on building a dynasty for the ages:
-- Solid veteran Free Agents near the end of their careers can sometimes be found for Minimum Points over 1 or 2 year contracts. They can be that final piece of your championship puzzle, and can still get valuable minutes off the bench.
-- Depending on the depth of the Rookie Draft, it is sometimes a wise idea to Forfeit a pick if you feel that your team cannot or should not commit to a guaranteed contract for an unproven rookie.
-- When deciding whether or not to re-sign your players, refer to their development in the Player Progress screen over the past couple of seasons. If a player is in a general decline, it may be time to cut him loose and allocate your resources more efficiently rather than to have precious points occupied by a fading player.
-- There's no award for playing with a short bench. It’s usually a good idea to try and round out your team with a few role players to provide minutes off the bench or depth in case of injuries. Don't worry about exceeding the Point Limit in finding quality backups for all positions. The starting five set the tone, but it's depth that wins championships.
-- When making trades with other teams, keep in mind that equally important to the skills that the player brings on the floor, are the number of points he costs your team. Trading a player with a long-term contract in exchange for a slightly better player with a short-term contract may seem like a quick fix solution, but it may come back to haunt you if that player refuses to re-sign with your team at the end of his term. This strategy can sometimes be effective in preparing for an upcoming playoff run, but you will need to decide whether winning today is worth risking your team’s future.
-- Offering long-term contracts to ageing veterans is one way to bring down the number of points per season required to sign them. Keep in mind that as a player continues to age, his skills will typically decline and in this case the contract may not favour your team in the long-term.
-- Try to keep up with player movement around the league both during season and in the off-season. This will give you some clues as to which teams will be your toughest opponents. The At A Glance screen provides a list of transactions (player signings and re-signings, trades and releases) for all teams in the league. Refer back to this screen at the beginning of each new season to review changes in rosters around the league.
-- If there are particular players you wish to acquire for your team and you are unable to arrange suitable trades, you may be able to sign them as Free Agents. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on the other teams’ rosters in Manager’s Statement to see when their players will come up for contract renewal. This way you can save up Points to make a bid for key Free Agents. This is always a gamble since a player may choose to re-sign with his current team or even refuse to sign with you if he wishes to play elsewhere.
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--> Final Words <--
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After taking about two years of experience and one week of hard work, this walkthrough was completed. Although it is just for the franchise mode, I hope you liked it. Please, give this walkthrough a good rating if you found it helpful.