How to play with next season's rookies, updated rosters in 'NBA 2K17'

Bryan Wiedey

How to play with next season's rookies, updated rosters in 'NBA 2K17' image

It's only natural for many NBA fans to be excited after getting early looks at rookies, including Summer League MVP Lonzo Ball, while anticipating the 2017-18 season with the likes of Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler and Paul George joining new teams.

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Those who want to see them in a video game can actually do so without having to wait for the new editions that are still two months away from being released.

While "NBA 2K18" won't be out until mid-September, it's possible to start playing with updated rosters in "NBA 2K17" now.

Because transactions following the season are considered to be for the next league year, video game companies are unable to include the moves or any new players in an official roster update. That responsibility instead falls on fans of the game who can create and edit players and adjust rosters as needed while spreading the completed projects through an in-game share feature.

In order to grab the updated rosters for use in "NBA 2K17," here is what you do from the Main Menu...

1) Go to Options/Features
2) Roster Creator
3) Create Roster
4) Search
5) Search by Online ID
6) EmbraceThePace (PlayStation 4) or BryanDfor3 (Xbox One)
7) Download the corresponding offseason roster file and then save

In order to utilize the new roster, load it up manually when beginning a new franchise or playing single games. These rosters are kept up-to-date by the creators with moves that are being made throughout the offseason but would need to be re-downloaded to receive any of those changes going forward.

Currently, nothing has been revealed about the upcoming "NBA 2K18" aside from the cover athletes (Shaquille O'Neal on the pricey Legend Editions of the game and Kyrie Irving on the standard edition). The flow of information relating to new features and improvements is expected to begin in mid-to-late August.

Bryan Wiedey

Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is a regular participant in the Press Row Podcast and Press Row Hangout shows, and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.