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ESPN Senior Writer- Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series
- Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers
- Developed WARP rating and SCHOENE system
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ESPN Staff Writer- ESPN.com NBA analyst since 2010
- ESPN.com Insider researcher in 2009
- Developer of NBA DRAFT Initiative database
Exciting news: The NBA has decided to expand. (Not really, as Brian Windhorst reported Wednesday as part of our series on expansion.) In our imaginary NBA world, the league has awarded expansion franchises to both members of the Per Diem team.
Kevin Pelton has reincarnated his beloved Seattle SuperSonics, while Tom Haberstroh is bringing the NBA to his native Nutmeg State for the first time with the Connecticut Hot Hands, playing at the spectacular Mohegan Sun casino. New commissioner Adam Silver can consider the Hot Hands a trial run for the inevitable Las Vegas squad.
To fill the two teams, we'll need to conduct the league's first expansion draft since 2004, and the first with multiple teams since the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined the NBA in 1995.
We followed the rules for expansion drafts set out in the CBA, putting together protected lists for each team (you can see who was protected and who was available here) and even completing mock trades with other teams.
As a reminder, only one player can be selected from each NBA team.
Tom won a virtual coin toss and chose the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft, giving Kevin the No. 5 pick but first choice in the expansion draft. Here's how it played out.