3 ways that NBA expansion would drastically alter the NBA

Way #3: Expansion Draft

With as many as 34 roster spots available, two new franchises would have plenty of openings, but they wouldn’t need to rely on free agency to fill them. Instead, there’d likely be an expansion draft. An expansion draft allows new teams to fill out their roster by picking from players that are left unprotected by other teams.

If teams are able to protect 10 players, that would leave around 150 players available, not including players on two-way contracts. That’s a big talent pool to select from, and while there wouldn’t be any stars in that bunch, quite a few young players would be, and several of them could evolve into good players with increased opportunity.

There’d also be a number of solid role players that could help a team compete in their formative stages. Even a few years ago, it might’ve been slim pickings, but the NBA has far more talent now.

Still, even once the expansion team’s rosters are set, they probably wouldn’t make the playoffs for a few seasons, meaning both would be picking in the draft lottery. As a result, there’d be more competition and lower odds of landing the number one pick. That might extend the rebuilding length of several teams as young talent is distributed across more teams.

Overall, there are plenty of reasons why both the owners and the NBA Players Association would favor expansion, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver has already stated that it will happen at some point. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time.