Now this is frustrating...

Now that I went through all the trouble of learning to control the game, defending and finding the open shot, it bugs me even more that the signing, trading and development AI is so poor. Why does the CPU trade Kevin Willis for Abdur-Rahim or Antoine Walker for Austin Croshere? Why can't I trade Jason Terry(tweaked rating: 77) for Tony Parker(tweaked rating: 74)? Why can't I resign my free agents, now that I've become NBA champion, losing just one game during the playoffs? Why don't Jason Kidd or Tim Duncan resign with their teams, but get signed for min salary at the beginning of the season? Why oh why, EA? Trading and signing were so great in live 2k, why did that have to be changed? I'm not complaining about editable facts(even d-stats), cause it's my own fault if I don't change them til it pleases me.

das war mal wieder mein Senf.

Tweaked rosters aren't suitable for Franchise Mode, so some problems are going to arise if you use them to start a Franchise. Aside from that, the CPU teams tend to make meaningless deals, trading for the sake of making a trade. Free agency is also a problem - both are issues that are hopefully addressed in NBA Live 2004's Dynasty Mode.

...both are issues that are hopefully addressed in NBA Live 2004's Dynasty Mode.

Yeah, but that's what we said about 2003 too, right? And in live 2k, which I liked best, there were no such problems even with tweaked rosters.

Oh, bring me back live 2k!

I thought free agency in Live 2002 was alright. It got a little out of hand in 2003, as you pointed out. I do think that Live 2004's Dynasty Mode, which is being billed as deep, will be an improvement on the Franchise Mode in Live 2000-2003.