Ok, so in adding in the main drains I am considering adding the 3-way valve to balance the drains and the skimmer to the equipment pad, but the situation I have is if I do that I end up with the outlet sitting at the inlet of the pump.

When I say this, I mean there is a 2 to 1.5" reducer and a male adapter directly off the T portion of the valve into the pump inlet and the skimmer and main drain connections are connected to the run, so I would have the "dreaded" rams horn configuration where the flows collide at the inlet.

The way I have it configured right now, without the main drain, is the riser comes up through a ball valve, to a 90 degree elbow, through a union and into the pump. It has about 9 inches of straight flow into the pump.

I do have an option of plumbing the main drains out at the pool and putting the 3-way valve out there to control flow to the pump inlet. If I did that I would not have to mess with the plumbing at the pad and I would end up with an extra line for anything else in the future.

But, if it isn't such a crime to put the valve on the inlet of the pump, then that would be my "preferred" way of plumbing it for now. Everything is 2" PVC plumbing for reference.