For those who just start in NBA 2K19 MyCareer Mode, below there are things that I wish I knew to start with or knew but have seen a lot of people ask about.
 
I’d recommend that you don’t spend any VC until you’ve finished the Prelude and you’re confident that you like your build. This is because the China games are very easy and might mislead you into thinking a build is more fun than it will be when you play real games.
 
You can’t skip the Prelude the first time, but in each game you can immediately sim to end after the jump ball. You won’t get VC, but you’ll get to the games that matter much faster. Your free agent starting salary would result in around 700-800VC before adjusting bonuses. (Edit. max is pretty much 1000VC if you do well). If you lack of enough VC, Cheap NBA 2K19 VC is on sale at Rvgm.com, a professional online in-game currency store.

The option to skip prelude comes after your first play through and after you’ve built your actual player using the same photo session in China.

As a free agent when selecting a team, consider picking a good team in the eastern conference. This is because you get a decent, flat MyPoint bonus for every win. (Edit. Winning matters). Also, the teammate grade system is less forgiving this year, so better to play more games against lower competition. You can always change teams at end of season if you selected a 1 year contract (you can ask for a trade after 10 games too).
 
When negotiating with a team, I’d suggest always targeting a 1 year contract so that you’ll have the opportunity to change your compensation, just in case what you've got isn’t working well for you personally.
 
In any negotiation, if the team/brand pulls the offer, immediately close the application and try again.
 
Don’t buy too many Gatorade stamina/energy boosts up front. You will get them for free with your endorsement with them.
 
The teammate grade bonus multiplier is worth negotiating up, if possible, this is because it will apply to both VC and your MyPoint earnings
 
I found it tempting to play on HOF difficulty to get the multiplier. But with the difficulty level of this year’s game, I found that I was initially able to get a better overall return by playing well on Pro, then gradually moving up when used to the new gameplay.
 
If you’re not highly-rated yet, you should consider setting Playvision to Full while you settle in, it will open mismatches for you and point out some scoring opportunities you might not otherwise have seen.
 
If you’re a wing, hold the left bumper to try to generate some off-ball screens for your cuts. (I only just discovered this year, a lot of people probably already know).
 
If you have defensive play communication turned on, don’t trust that when the AI calls for “switch”that they actually will. Use your best judgment.
 
If you’re wondering where to change your animations and the difficulty settings once you’ve finished the Prelude, you need to be in the Neighborhood for these options to appear in your menus.
 
Remember to go into the Ante-Up building once every day (or 24 hours?) to spin the prize wheel
 
If the server you’re playing on is too busy or too quiet, you can change server by going to the subway station
 
If you’re wondering where the boxout and defensive assist settings are, they are only visible when you're in game now.
 
By default the right-stick is set to absolute. In previous years it was camera-relative. If something doesn’t feel right, try changing it.

 
 

When on-ball defending, ease up on the steal button. It’s very much all or nothing in that, if you don’t get that steal, you will get a foul. Experiment with the LT + right-stick instead.
 
Pass the ball. The teammate grading system is very quick to penalize you with a “hold ball too long”. If that pick and roll you just ran went nowhere, pass the rock out.
 
In cut scenes where you have the opportunity to improve team chemistry or add fans, I recommend going with fans because it will get you VC endorsements sooner. Team chemistry at 50% allows "team takeover", in reality you'll hit 50% chemistry fairly organically anyway.
 
If you're a shooter and still at a low-level, prioritize getting to the corners. You'll have a much higher success rate on corner 3s and you'll boost both catch and shoot and corner specialist badges at same time. Once you have catch and shoot, you can move further out again to pick up the other badges.