First question is can a FFDL team hold rights to a player not on an NBA roster?
Saying yes would add a whole other dynamic to the league. It's clear that the answer as of right now is no.
If the answer is no, and Rubio is not an NBA roster at the time of our draft, then he cannot be drafted and we wait until he comesto the NBA. If he comes back in the off season, then his availability will be in our rookie/fa draft in September. If he enters the NBafter our draft or during the season, then it's like Krstic last season and whoever has top wavier priority picks him up off Yahoo.
That seems fine to me, although I don't like the idea of a player with the value of a rubio just randomly hitting the wire after the draft. In a perfect world, he comes back in the offseason two years from now, and then we just shove him into that years draft, which is what happened with Rudy. The difference with Rudy is that he was so under the radar, he wouldn't even have been put in yahoo!s system. Rubio will likely be there, listed under NA.
My opinion is that you can (1) keep the rights of a player on your roster that leaves the NBA, (2) draft the rigths only during our rookie/FA draft in September, and (3) you can trade for a player whose rigths are held by another FFDL team. Otherwise, a player's rights cannot be picked up.
I mean that's venturing into a whole new area that we haven't explored. I would be ok trying it. But do we add a new, special roster spot for that kind of thing? In the NBA, you can hold the rights to as many players as you want.
As for maintaining the rights, I think that player would have to occupy a roster spot, but can be placed on the IL after five games into the season. In other words, he is treated as if he is an injured player, but if he is dropped anytime by the team holding his rights, he can only picked up off waivers if he is on an NBA team (through Yahoo during the season) or drafted in the offseason
That sounds fine to me. That way theres risk involved in taking a guy who may not play in the NBA right away as he'll occupy an IL spot.