Contraction Draft: A possible fix?

With a labor dispute looming, some teams in financial crisis, and the NBA taking a weird step in owning a team, there has been talk of contraction. Some have speculated for many years that the league should subtract a few teams. The talent level is good right now, but pundits are getting worried that all the stars are flocking to a few select teams (mainly based off what the Heat did, and also Melo forcing his way to New York). I don't think it's going to become like that, but I have thought about contraction for a while.

Every year, I ask myself what would happen if the league lost 2 more more teams and condensed rosters. I even have a mock draft to see what might happen. I was inspired by this way back in 2003 or so when Bill Simmons tried to see what would happen if recent expansion teams were shut down. I don't think we need to kill 4 teams; 2 always seems like a nice number. That would push the number back down to 28, in 4 divisions. I've complained about the 6 division format a million times on here and I desperately want them to go back to how it was before 2005. It's so much easier. If this helps, I'm for it.

I don't know how the financials would work or if any of this is legal. I'm not worried about it, because this is just hypothetical anyway. I merely want to see how much the talent level would be raised.

So who am I cutting? I thought about the teams with the worst fan support, or who have been losing the most money, or smallest market, or are worth the least, or are just bad and poorly run. I'm considering all of these and picking a team from each conference. The Hornets are an obvious choice because they are already in a state of flux, being owned by the league. They are a good team, though, and they have a solid coach and front office staff minus ownership. I hate to break them up, so I have a quirky solution: much like Bud Selig arranged for some owners to dump one franchise for another, I propose that the Hornets move back to Charlotte under Michael Jordan's ownership (but he should cut his front office people, they're terrible) and the Bobcat players are dispersed. The Bobcats have a terrible roster, despite their playoff contention, and no stars. They could be cut and no one would notice. Meanwhile, the long-suffering city of Charlotte would have an exciting team again with North Carolina natives Chris Paul and David West. This move might ensure that they stay with the team, instead of bolting for bigger markets. Sorry, New Orleans, but there's too many problems.

My other team is the Sacramento Kings. I hate to do this because they have an interesting roster and are one of the league's oldest franchises, but if they're seriously considering becoming the third team in one Southern California market, they need to go. If the Maloofs need the money so bad, I propose they just cut their losses and sell the team to the league. I wish it was the Clippers being contracted, but it seems like they'll just keep surviving somehow. This would give me some pleasure, but there's a lot of stuff I would change if I was in charge - Charlotte never would have given up the Hornets, George Shinn would've just sold them to Jordan and Bob Johnson in the first place; there would be no Grizzlies; the Sonics would be in Seattle; and Oklahoma City would be a nice backup plan for any other team that needed to move. We can't solve all these problems, but we can improve some if we dumped these two teams.

So, let's begin: the Bobcats and Kings are disbanded. All their players enter a supplemental draft held right after the season ends. Their contracts are still guaranteed by the league, although there aren't too many big deals left. Teams can draft them, and are responsible for paying their salaries. Those not selected will become free agents, although they will still get paid what they are owed. The draft order is based solely on record, from worst to first. No lottery.

Here's a look at how it might play out.....

1. Cleveland - Tyreke Evans
2. Minnesota - DeMarcus Cousins * (trade)
3. Washington - Gerald Henderson
4. Toronto - Omri Casspi
5. Detroit - Jason Thompson
6. New Jersey - D. J. Augustin (for trade)
7. L.A. Clippers - Stephen Jackson
8. Milwaukee - Boris Diaw
9. Indiana - Tyrus Thomas
10. Golden State - Hassan Whiteside
11. Phoenix - Marcus Thornton
12. Houston - Donte Greene
13. Philadelphia - Samuel Dalembert * (trade)
14. New York - Joel Pryzbilla
15. Utah - Francisco Garcia
16. Memphis - Beno Udrih
17. Portland - D.J. White
18. New Orleans (new Charlotte) - Dominic McGuire
19. Atlanta - Kwame Brown
20. Denver - Dante Cunningham
21. Orlando - DeSanga Diop

...and that probably ends it.

I made a faux trade too: Philly admits they screwed up last year, and sends the 11 pick in the contraction draft (Dalembert), their first round pick in this year's regular draft, and Evan Turner to Minnesota for the second pick in the contraction draft (Cousins) and Wayne Ellington. Minnesota didn't need another head case, but didn't want to waste their pick, so now they have Turner (who they wanted last year) and someone to block shots and play D. Works out well for both.

Let's look at how this improves some of the league's bottom feeders. Cleveland gets a new star in Evans; Minnesota gets two starters; Washington gets another young wing; Toronto gets another international player and shores up its small forward spot; Detroit gets another big man they desperately need; New Jersey gets more prospects or insurance for Deron leaving; the Clips get a sold wing who will help until Aminu is ready; Milwaukee gets post help; Indiana really is excited to have an athletic big guy; Golden State gets a big man project; Phoenix gets a wing scorer to replace Jason Richardson; Houston gets another young prospect; Philly finally gets a center; and other teams get depth where they need it. Half the teams in the league are severely improved by this, and the ripple effect of guys being traded and moved around will probably help some of the good teams get even more depth.

Think about what this does for talent levels and teams that have major holes. Cleveland suddenly looks a lot better and won't have to use NBDL guys at wing. Toronto doesn't have journeymen at small forward. Detroit and Philly don't have to play undersized. New Jersey gets depth. The Clips get an important wing piece. Indiana goes from terrible at the power forward spot to intriguing.

I don't want to take away jobs; I think the league could expand roster size so that the total number of players remains the same. I do want players to be earning their spots instead of being the only option. This will move some of the weaker starters around the league to the bench, and weaker rotation players to the end of the bench. I want that.

It's hard to come up with a constant number of teams based on talent because the level is always changing; 10 years ago it was bad, but after some good drafts, I feel better. (Look how many bad teams were at least fine with their point guard spot. No one needed Augustin, who should've been picked high.) But everything is always fluctuating.

This was just an experiment, and I think it showed that maybe just 2 teams would help. I don't think it will happen, and I don't know what other changes will be made this summer. I just wanted to see what would happen, and I propose that the NBA at least consider this as a way to improve itself.