I've been playing around with this idea in my mind for awhile, and with the lockout, now seems as good a time as ever to start... THE EXPANSION CHALLENGE It's simple really, you're supposed to form an expansion team. You pick a city (make sure it has an arena and the finances needed for success) and team name. Then you draft players as an expansion owner would in a real expansion draft. For our sake, we'll use the NBA rosters as they were at the end of the 2011 NBA draft. If you are unfamilar with the rules of an expansion draft, you can read them here. Now, I'm going to take a gamble here and rely on the honor system. When you are drafting players, please DRAFT PLAYERS THAT WOULD BE UNPROTECTED. DRAFTING PLAYERS WHO WOULD BE PROTECTED WILL REMOVE YOU FROM THE CHALLENGE! However, if you feel I've slighted you and that sed player would be unprotected, send me a message explaining why and I'll consider your argument. One last rule, assume that there is only one fantasy team. So it's okay if multiple teams have the same players. You'll be judged(by me) on a ten point scale with these aspects: City/Location Team drafted In addition, there's a three point scale for the name of the team. Whomever has the most points when added up is the winner. Post your entries in this thread, and feel free to comment on other contestant's entries. Good Luck!
Here is another great source for expansion draft rules: Also, it would be helpful if you listed the eight players (including restricted free agents) protected by each team from which a player is selected. Again, unrestricted free agents are ineligible for the expansion draft and do not need to be protected. EDIT: After further reflection, I agree with da juice that we should use team rosters as of July 1, 2011. It's just easier that way. However, 2011 draftees should be exempt from the expansion draft, since the draft is typically held AFTER the expansion draft. At least I'll proceed as such. One word of warning: People, please don't abuse the rules by playing out scenarios to an unrealistic extent. For instance, your imaginary expansion team shouldn't be making 12 trades and acquiring 9 future first round picks as part of its expansion draft. Trades are welcome, but please keep them realistic and in moderation.
That is interesting. So City and team. Do we get to draft rookies or just unrestricted free agents? What is the cap limit?
As Bima pointed out, the rookies would not be drafted nor would unrestricted free agents. Cap limit is 66% of the normal cap (as per league rules). So basically, you run an expansion team. Pick a city and arena. Name the team, then draft players. I'll try to make a list of protected players, but I can't promise anything.
Here's the protected players for the Western Conference : Spoiler Mavericks: Nowitzki Kidd Butler Chandler Terry Marion Fernandez Haywood Rockets: Martin Lee Patterson Lowry Hayes Scola Budinger Dragic Grizzlies: Randolph Gasol Gay Conley Allen Mayo Battier Henry Hornets: Paul West Landry Ariza Okafor Jack Green Aaron Gray Spurs: Duncan Manu Parker DaJuan Blair Splitter Bonner Jefferson McDyess Nuggets: Nene Lawson Affalo Chandler Gallinari Smith Mozgov Koufos TWolves: Love Beasley Rubio Ridnour Darko Johnson Webster Randolph Trail Blazers: Aldrige Felton Matthews Roy Oden Camby Wallce Batum Elliot Williams Thunder: Durant Westbrook Harden Ibaka Perkins Sefolosha Collison Aldrich Jazz: Favors Hayward Jefferson Okur Milsap Kirilenko Harris Miles Warriors: Curry Ellis Wright Udoh Lee Amundson Clippers: Griffin Gordon Bledsoe Jordan Kaman Aminu Foye Lakers: Bryant Bynum Gasol Odom Fisher Metta World Peace Barnes Brown Suns: Nash Brooks Gortat Lopez Carter Fyre Kings: Cousins Evans Thornton Hickson Thompson Dalembart I'll have the East up a little later. Remember, you can't draft anybody who was drafted in 2011, and you can't bring on any free agents(this only applies to those who were free agents at June 23rd 2011).
so are we going to draft by order?? By the way my team name is the Vegas Bombers (you get it? Vegas bombs )
Here is the list of protected players for the East: Spoiler Celtics: Allen Garnett Rondo Green Pierce O’Neal Davis Nets: Williams Lopez Humphries Morrow James Farmar Knicks: Melo Stoudamire Billups Turiaf Fields Douglas Shelden Williams 76ers: Iguoldala Turner Holiday Speights Nocioni Williams Young Brand Raptors: Weeks Derozan Davis Johnson Calderson Bargnani Bayless Alabi Bulls: Osik Rose Noah Gibson Deng Boozer Korver Brewer Cavaliers : Varejao Jamison Casspi Sessions Graham Gee Pistons: Monroe Wilcox Wallace Stuckey Gordon Villanueva Hamilton McGrady Pacers: Granger George Hill Hibbert Hansborough Collison Price Bucks: Bogut Jennings Mbah a Moute Jackson Sanders Redd Dooling Hawks: Horford Crawford Johnson Teague Hinrich Smith Williams Bobcats: Augustin Henderson Thomas Diaw Brown Magette Heat: Lebron Wade Bosh Haslem Anthony Chalmers Jones Magic: Howard Nelson J. Richardson Q. Richardson Wizards: Wall McGee Young Crawford Blatche Seraphin To reiterate, you may not draft anybody drafted in the 2011 NBA draft or anybody who was a free agent as of June 23,2011. With that, let the challenge begin!
There is no order, just go and pick your team whenever. Obviously, there's going to be some teams that have the same players, but as long as there are no teams that are completely the same or have a lot of players in common, then it's fine.
As Bima mentioned, unrestricted FA to be do not need to be protected. So from your lists, the following players would not need to be protected, and their teams could protect more players. Might want to clean up your lists before people start submitting entries. MAVS: Chandler, Butler ROCKETS: Hayes GRIZZLIES: Battier HORNETS: Green Landry SPURS: I HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt they would protect Jefferson and Bonner over both Gary Neal and James Anderson. Additionally, I would expect the Spurs to leave Tim Duncan unprotected; since he has an ETO, they could have a handshake agreement to have him exercise his option and resign him if he got drafted; the Spurs would then have a $21M Trade Exception to make one more run at a Chip. NUGGETS: Smith WOLVES: God, they have a lot of bad contracts. BLAZERS: No Chance in Hell they protect Roy, but since you listed 9 players, I guess it's ok. ZOMBIES: I think there is little question they would protect Maynor over Aldrich. JAZZ: Kirilenko WARRIORS: They would definitely keep Reggie Williams' restricted free agent status intact. BLAKERS: Not much to say LAKERS: I think they'd keep Ebanks/Caracter over World Peace and his albatross contract. SUNS: No way Jared Dudley doesn't get protected. It's beyond crazy that you could make a case for all 3 of the guys they signed last year (Frye, Childress, Warrick) could be left unprotected, and furthermore, not get drafted. KINGS: Dalembert They got John Salmons for a reason; so I'd assume they would protect him. Also, since they have the extra spots, I would assume they would protect Jermaine Taylor and Donte Greene since they're cheap.
Continuing from my previous post, players I think would not be protected/do not need to be protected due to impending free agency: CELTICS: Davis NYETS: No arguments here KNICKS: Or here SIXERS: I would imagine they would leave Brand unprotected and find a spot for Jodie Meeks. RAPTORS: Speaking of a mess: there is little doubt they'd leave Calderon unprotected. BULLS: It's amazing that they spent almost $13M on Watson/Korver/Brewer last year, and they ended up starting Keith Bogans. CAVS: I can't imagine they give up on Christian Eyenga this easily, and Semih Erden seems like he could at least be 6 fouls for minimum wage. PISTONS: McGrady Prince Wilcox Plus, in real life I'm sure they'd be doing a victory dance if anyone took Villanueva, Gordon, or especially Rip off their hands. At the very least, they'd protect Austin Daye, and some of their younger players like Jerebko, White, Bynum. PACERS: Dahntay Jones is an OK player, either him or Brandon Rush would probably be protected. BUCKS: Yuck HAWKS: Crawford Hell, I wouldn't protect Marvin Williams or Joe Johnson either, but they have no one else worthy. JORDANCATS: Brown They would definitely keep DJ White protected. WADE, ROBIN and ALFRED: Have to keep Mike Miller for the sake of competing MAGIC: J. Richardson They definitely would protect Redick, Bass, Anderson and Orton. WIZARDS: Trevor Booker would be protected. Good Game Idea though. Thinking about an entry, but you better lock down your protected list first.
da_juice, HI Mana: You see, THIS is why I suggested that each team simply list the protected players from each NBA team from which it selects a player in the expansion draft. This way: (A) No one will need to list out all 30 teams; (B) There is less chance of a "master list" containing any mistakes; and (C) Teams can be penalized for either selecting a player ineligible for the expansion draft or selecting a player based on a protected list that is incorrect. Also, da_juice, even though 2011 draftees are ineligible for purposes of this challenge, I think we need to use CURRENT rosters (as of 11:59 p.m. EST on June 30, 2011), not pre-draft rosters. For instance, the Cavs and Kings pulled off a J.J. Hickson-for-Omri Casspi trade right before the lockout. That trade should count for purposes of determining the teams' respective rosters. Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that this is a fun idea for bored NBA fans right about now. Good job, da_juice!
Since at least one other poster has led with his selected expansion city prior to naming his team, I'll go ahead and do the same: I'm going to bring an NBA team to St. Louis. The City already has the Scottrrade Center, which is a very good and modern basketball arena (home to many major March Madness events), so the NBA won't have to suffer through several years playing in a crappy college stadium while a new NBA arena gets built. St. Louis has a history with the NBA, which gives David Stern and the league office the ability to proclaim how they "brought NBA basketball back to St. Louis!" The city is also a great basketball town, despite not having an NBA team. And unlike Charlotte, the college basketball scene is not SOOO rabid that it would detract from the NBA fanbase. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the Greater St. Louis combined statistical area's population of 2,845,298 made it the 16th-largest urban area in the country, the fourth-largest in the Midwest, and the largest in the State of Missouri. Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready (whenever I get around to actually picking a team) to meet . . . The St. Louis Lightning. The name naturally lends itself to some good logos, with the added benefit that any OKC-St. Louis game could be billed as "Thunder vs. Lightning." (Also, I checked. The OKC Thunder don't use lightning in their logo.)
This is very interesting! I might need some training wheels for this, but putting my Stern-craving-international-expansion hat on, allow me to introduce... The Monterrey Matadors!! (Los Matadors) Home arena will be 17,599-seat Arena Monterrey. Still trying to determine the number of suites, but there are platimun-level and gold-level suites as well as a bar and grill a la the Silestone Club at Toyota Center. http://www.arenamonterrey.com/wtweb/web_page/ I still need to figure out the drafting rules though, lol.
Metro of over 4 million people, close to the US (which could be a plus for players)--in fact close enough to fit in the Southwest division, several multinational companies for sponsorships and suite purchases, and would be Mexico's team. This would be one more attempt by Stern to expand internationally with what should be a low-hanging-fruit situation. Plus the NBA has already played an exhibition game there and the WNBA had a game there (FWIW). Considered Mexico City (size and money make it a no-brainer and its new arena is amazing) but Monterrey was a little more favorable.
The Seattle Sonics are back, and on the clock! While the Arena is Key, my Microsoft buddies and I have plans in place for a new crib.
I have any and all trades listed that occured during the draft as well as the Hickson-Casspi deal. However, I did include the free agents. If another person wants to make a corrected list with the current rosters, then they can.
Disregard that last post. I'll go with what Bima said. No master list. I only ask, that you please, please, for the sake of the competition that you pick players that would be unprotected in reality. Also, some of you have asked about draft order. There is no order; because instead of having like fifteen expansion teams, pretend this is more like submitting proposals to the league about an expansion team (it just so happens that in this scenario, the proposal already has a roster). Now that we're on the same page, everyone can start drafting. If anybody else wants to get in that's fine, just post your entry.
I will be the San Diego Sails. (taken from a past ABA team) We will be playing at the Valley View Casino Center that seats 14,500 people. San Diego has had a history of NBA/ABA teams in this arena such as the Rockets and clippers. http://valleyviewcasinocenter.com/ So do we just pick our 12 man roster and post them here?
