RealGM

This is pretty simple, and hopefully it will be a fun discussion during the lockout. If there were to be an expansion draft, what 8 players from your roster would you protect?

The rules:
1. Unrestricted free agents are not available to an expansion team to draft.
2. Unsigned draft picks are not available for the expansion team to draft.
3. Restricted free agents are available.
4. Each team must have at least one player unprotected, so if team x had 8 players under contract and 4 that were UFAs, it could only protect 7 players.
5. The expansion team can only draft one player from each roster and must have at least 14 players.

The Wizards have only 7 players under contract:

Wall
Mcgee
Booker
Crawford
Blatche
Seraphin
Lewis

Young is a restricted free agent.

The decision is easy. We would leave Lewis unprotected.

Isn't the opposite more likely to occur via contraction?

Lewis, easy decision!

closg00 wrote:Isn't the opposite more likely to occur via contraction?

Well, when we get bored later, we can speculate which team might pick which Wizard in a contraction draft.

What. Is Cleveland finally getting a team?

closg00 wrote:Isn't the opposite more likely to occur via contraction?

I don't see any way the NBA would want to leave Washington DC, especially with an owner with deep pockets. I think the list of candidates would be pretty short. First off teams with history like the Celtics, Bulls and Lakers would be off the table. I think the well-run small market teams are off the table(SAS, OKC).

It would have to be teams in bad financial shape with owners who don't have deep pockets.

New Orleans would be the most obvious contraction casualty. The only other teams I could see would be Memphis, Toronto, Sacramento, Bucks and Clippers.

Contraction actually makes good sense for the NBA, but I doubt it actually happens. If anything, Stern wants to add more teams internationally. That said, teams like the Wolves, Bucks, and Kings (read: small mkt, low intrigue) would be the first on the chopping block.

If the league does in fact contract, does anyone know how the draft order would be determined? Or will the teamless players all become FAs?

Unfortunatly for this team it is to simple. You protect everyone besides Lewis. You could make an argument about not protecting Blatche and hope he gets taken from you. I believe he has more value than just to give away, but there can be a case made to leave him exposed.

We are more likely to get a team contracted. New Orleans, Wolves, Bucks, Kings would all give very interesting options on a dispersal draft. How would they decide to get to draft the better players from those teams? Who would you take out of those 4?

daSwami wrote:Contraction actually makes good sense for the NBA, but I doubt it actually happens. If anything, Stern wants to add more teams internationally. That said, teams like the Wolves, Bucks, and Kings (read: small mkt, low intrigue) would be the first on the chopping block.

If the league does in fact contract, does anyone know how the draft order would be determined? Or will the teamless players all become FAs?

Contraction would be very interesting. I do wonder how that would work. I'm sure the weaker teams in the league would have the best shot at getting the remaining talent. But I wonder about the cap implications from say Chris Paul getting picked by the Cavs?

The Hornets would be an easy choice for contraction since the league is controlling the team already. The Kings, considering how desperate the Maloofs are for cash might be another. Who knows maybe DeMarcus Cousins ends up in a Wizards uni sooner than he could have hoped for.