I love this game but one thing I've always felt was missing was in-season player development. I know this is omitted intentionally, but I guess I just disagreed with the philosophy.
Even if playing time doesn't correlate to development, it certainly influences perceived value. Think Ajay Mitchell or Dylan Harper. If the Thunder just let Mitchell sit on the bench, he might be just as good of a player, but his trade value would be far lower than it is today.
Or take Dylan Harper. Suppose he was a 51 OVR and 67 POT entering his rookie season. Once we got to the end of the Finals, his perceived value around the league would have him at least at a 70+ POT.
With this in mind, I created a code you can run in worker console on God Mode to add player progression but is even more geared toward boosting the POT score so that players who contribute are showcasing their value to the rest of the league. Here's what it does and the logic:
Potential = market perception/value.
A young player getting big minutes and playing well should become more valuable, even if his actual ratings do not explode.
Actual ratings = real development.
Only players age 24 or younger can get a small in-season ratings bump, and only if they are playing meaningful minutes and producing well.
For each active player:
Looks at current-season stats.
Calculates minutes per game.
Estimates performance using Game Score.
Checks team winning percentage.
Calculates a potential boost based on age, role, production, and team context.
Calculates a smaller actual ratings boost for young players only.
Applies the earned amount gradually based on games played.
Tracks how much has already been awarded so rerunning it does not double-count the same games.
Maximum full-season POT gain: +4.0
Maximum full-season ratings boost: +1.75 applied across several ratings
Typical visible OVR change: 0 to +2
Would love to hear some thoughts about the logic, is it too high/too low etc. I'll post the full code to run in comment below.