Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Reading the bill Simmons book, I came across a footnote that talked about the NBA catastrophe rule so I looked it up.

"In the NBA there is a rule called the Catastrophe Rule. Basically, this is enacted if an entire team were to die in an accident (say, a plane crash). Here is how it would work:

-Each team would be allowed to protect its 4 or 5 best players.
-The remaining players would be entered into an expansion draft.
-The team that lost its players would then construct a 14 man roster from the expansion draft player pool.
-The team would only be allowed a maximum of one player from each team (therefore not allowing for another franchise to be destroyed by losing all of its players in the expansion draft).
-That team would also get the number one pick and keep its current pick for the upcoming NBA draft."

So I thought it might be interesting to decide on one of the horrible teams and then figure out who they'd take from the other teams in the event of a catastrophe.

[VDusen04]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I've always known it as the Disaster Draft. It's kind of morbid to think about, but I suppose it's good to be prepared.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I've always known it as the Disaster Draft. It's kind of morbid to think about, but I suppose it's good to be prepared.

Yeah lol I'm not hoping for this at all, just thought it's interesting to think about. What players would each team keep? Who would the expansion team take?

[Outcast]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

This would be amusing if it happened to the T-Wolves, it would be tragic yes, but seeing what dumb picks Kahn makes is pure gold

[Weeks]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I say we do this with the raptors, I think from top to bottom they are the least talented team in the league (sorry Raps fans)

We first have to decide on which players would be kept, and whether it's 4 or 5 people from a team.

[WTF]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

They could actually field a pretty decent team. Think of it this way, you get the 5th starter of any team you want, and you can fill the rosters out with 5th starters and/or 6th men.

So if the Lakers protected:

Kobe
Bynum
Gasol
Fisher

You could grab Artest, etc. So you can basically build your team of 5th/6th men. Not a bad way to rebuild, other than the morbidity factor.

[Weeks]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

They could actually field a pretty decent team. Think of it this way, you get the 5th starter of any team you want, and you can fill the rosters out with 5th starters and/or 6th men.

So if the Lakers protected:

Kobe
Bynum
Gasol
Fisher

You could grab Artest, etc. So you can basically build your team of 5th/6th men. Not a bad way to rebuild, other than the morbidity factor.

Along with the 1st pick in the draft.

If Bulls protected Rose, Noah, Deng, and Booz. Then they could get Taj Gibson

[da ThRONe]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

They could actually field a pretty decent team. Think of it this way, you get the 5th starter of any team you want, and you can fill the rosters out with 5th starters and/or 6th men.

So if the Lakers protected:

Kobe
Bynum
Gasol
Fisher

You could grab Artest, etc. So you can basically build your team of 5th/6th men. Not a bad way to rebuild, other than the morbidity factor.

That team is still a bottom feeder. With no stars on the team they go no where. Best case scenario they are the Denver Nuggets after the Melody trade.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

That team is still a bottom feeder. With no stars on the team they go no where. Best case scenario they are the Denver Nuggets after the Melody trade.

Yeah, they would definitely be a bottom feeder, but you figure 1 of 2 things would happen:

1. Some teams would keep 4 of their 5 starters or something but leave a good prospect available (I would imagine you would be able to get either Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap, or Derrick Favors from Utah.

2. Some teams would use one of their slots on a prospect and leave a solid veteran available.

And then I'm pretty sure you'd end up with 2 top 4 picks (#1 pick and your actual first round pick which would likely be top 3).

And then you have teams like Denver and Milwaukee that have a lot of good players, so someone would be left off.

My guesses for some of the teams:

Milwaukee:
Jennings
Bogut
Larry Sanders
Tobias Harris

Notable guys available: Stephen Jackson, Mbah a Moute, Delfino, Drew Gooden

Utah:
Derrick Favors
Enes Kanter
Alec Burks
Al Jefferson

Notable guys available: Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, Raja Bell

Atlanta:
Joe Johnson
Josh Smith
Al Horford
Jeff Teague

Notable guys available: Marvin Williams, Kirk Hinrich (FA anyway)

Charlotte:
Tyrus Thomas
Kemba Walker
Bismack the Demographic
DJ Augustine

Notable guys available: Gerald Henderson

Boston:
The Big Four

Notable: Jeff Green, Avery Bradley

Chicago:
Rose
Noah
Deng
Boozer

Notable guys: Taj Gibson (I think this would honestly be a tough call between securing him or securing Boozer, but I think they'd secure Boozer and hope the team takes Millsap over Taj or something, but in all likelihood, he'd probably be gone), Ronnie Brewer, CJ Watson

Cleveland:
Irving
Thompson
SF they just got from Sacto that I can't remember for the life of me
Varejao?

I can't decide between Varejao, Baron, and Jamison for the #4 spot.

Dallas:
Dirk
Terry
Kidd
Chandler (if they resign him), if not, then Marion.

Notable: Chandler/Marion, Caron Butler, Barea, Beaubois, Rudy Fernandez, that PG they drafted from Florida a year or two ago (Calathes?)

Denver:
Lawson
Gallinari
Mozgov
Chandler/Afflalo (whichever one they can resign)

Notable: Chandler/Afflalo (whichever one they don't resign), Felton, Kosta Koufos (I kid, I kid)

And I'll leave it there for now. Feel free to add some other teams or correct me if you disagree with my choices. I honestly forgot who Boston and Denver ended up with in the draft (I remember Denver got some good guys though, so maybe one of them would be the #4 guy instead?

[Shinyhubcaps]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I think that squad would be pretty good. I'm thrown by the "4 or 5" protected players. Is it a choice? Is it something they'd figure out if/when it happened? Protecting 5 players would lead to a substantially worse crop than protecting 4 players (meaning that the 5th most valuable player on a team is that far ahead of the 6th most valuable, which would be the first open to selection).

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I think that squad would be pretty good. I'm thrown by the "4 or 5" protected players. Is it a choice? Is it something they'd figure out if/when it happened? Protecting 5 players would lead to a substantially worse crop than protecting 4 players (meaning that the 5th most valuable player on a team is that far ahead of the 6th most valuable, which would be the first open to selection).

Yeah I don't really get that part either. I'm not sure, but I'm just going to hypothetically go with 4 guys to make it more interesting.

[Dice]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

Along with the 1st pick in the draft.

If Bulls protected Rose, Noah, Deng, and Booz. Then they could get Taj Gibson

WHAT! No protection for Keith Bogans?

[trekfan]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

Reading the bill Simmons book, I came across a footnote that talked about the NBA catastrophe rule so I looked it up.

"In the NBA there is a rule called the Catastrophe Rule. Basically, this is enacted if an entire team were to die in an accident (say, a plane crash). Here is how it would work:

-Each team would be allowed to protect its 4 or 5 best players.
-The remaining players would be entered into an expansion draft.
-The team that lost its players would then construct a 14 man roster from the expansion draft player pool.
-The team would only be allowed a maximum of one player from each team (therefore not allowing for another franchise to be destroyed by losing all of its players in the expansion draft).
-That team would also get the number one pick and keep its current pick for the upcoming NBA draft."

So I thought it might be interesting to decide on one of the horrible teams and then figure out who they'd take from the other teams in the event of a catastrophe.

Necro-ing this thread -- I know, I know, it's five years old, but I just got Simmons book (The Book of Basketball, Paperback edition - highly entertaining and decently informative) and came across the very same passage where he's speaking about the 1960 Lakers and how they nearly became a disaster.

Based on what I can find (an old article from 2001 here), the NBA still hasn't really gone into what the details of this plan is, but the rules outlined above still hold for the most part:

1. Five players protected for every team.

2. Can only select one player from each team.

3. First draft pick awarded in upcoming draft, along with victim team's own pick (can't find a source on this one, but I expect it's true).

Considering the depth and talent of teams today (as well as the cap implications), let's say an entire NBA team suffers a tragic disaster -- in this case, a small market squad, the Pacers.

If you're the other 29 NBA teams, which players do you protect? Let's operate under the assumption that the current Irving/Thomas trade goes through and that all unsigned draft picks/restricted free agents end up signing with their respective teams.

I'm interested to hear your takes. I have a prospective list I came up with last night of guys I think other GMs would protect, but I want to check myself against others.

[trekfan]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

My list of teams and who'd they'd protect (and who'd be the best available from them) in a potential disaster draft.

List of protected player by team:


ATL
Protected: Schoder, Prince, Bembry, Collins, Bazemore
Best Available: Dedmon, Dorsey



BOS
Protected: Irving, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Horford
Best Available: Smart, Ojeleye, Rozier, Yabusele



BKY
Protected: Russell, Levert, Allen, Hollis-Jefferson, Lin
Best Available: Crabbe, Kilpatrick, Whitehead



CHA
Protected: Walker, Kaminsky, Monk, Batum, Howard
Best Available: MKG, Zeller, Bacon
(Unsure if Charlotte would let Howard or Batum be unprotected and bet no one would take them -- after missing the playoffs last year, I say they'd aim for the present and not risk losing a key veteran)


CHI
Protected: Lavine, Dunn, Markkanen, Portis, Valentine
Best Available: Payne, Wade, Zipser, Lopez



CLE
Protected: James, Love, Crowder, Thomas, Thompson
Best Available: Felder, Frye, Rose, Smith, Green




DAL
Protected: Nowitzki, Smith, Noel, Barnes, Curry
Best Available: Dozier, Ferrell, Finney-Smith, Powell
(Based on recent news that Noel accepted his qualifying offer, Dallas might let him be unprotected, as he'll be an unrestricted free agent next summer)


DEN
Protected: Murray, Jokic, Harris, Lydon, Millsap
Best Available: Mudiay, Beasley, Lyles, Hernangomez
(Mudiay gets left unprotected here -- DEN was trying to trade him last deadline, as I recall, and I don't think they'd miss him if he went)


DET
Protected: Drummond, Johnson, Kennard, Bradley, Harris
Best Available: Ellenson, Galloway, Leur, Smith, Jackson



GS
Protected: Curry, Durant, Green, Thompson, Iguodala
Best Available: Livingston, McCaw, West, Bell



HOU
Protected: Harden, Paul, Capela, Ariza, Gordon
Best Available: Anderson, Hartenstein, Onuaku, Williams, Qi
(The Rockets hope and pray someone takes Anderson -- I can imagine a scenario where Houston sends some extra assets the Pacers way if they take Anderson and his mammoth contract off their books, paving the way for them to get Melo)


LAC
Protected: Griffin, Jordan, Beverly, Gallinari, Rivers
Best Available: Evans, Harrell, Thonwell



LAL
Protected: Ball, Ingram, Nance, Kuzma, Clarkson
Best Available: Randle, Bryant, KCP, Lopez, Zubac
(Julius Randle is not part of the future for LAL, IMO)


MEM
Protected: Conley, Gasol, Baldwin, Davis, Green
Best Available: Rabb, Harrison, Brooks



MIA
Protected: Waiters, Johnson, Whiteside, Winslow, Adebayo
Best Available: Dragic, Johnson, Richardson, Olynk, White
(Miami would like it if someone took Johnson or Dragic off their hands)


MIL
Protected: Antetokounmpo, Maker, Brogdon, Parker, Middleton
Best Available: Wilson, Payton II, Monroe, Vaughn, Henson
(Seriously debated having the Bucks leave Parker unprotected. His injury history plus being due for a new contract makes him a risky proposition, but they play pretty well with him; it's a toss up)


MIN
Protected: Butler, Towns, Wiggins, Gibson, Teague
Best Available: Jones, Dieng, Patton



NOLA
Protected: Davis, Cousins, Holiday, Jackson, Hill
Best Available: Clark, Diallo



NYK
Protected: Porzingis, Ntilikina, Hernangomez, Anthony, Hardaway
Best Available: Lee, Noah, Kuzminskas



OKC
Protected: Westbrook, George, Adams, Patterson, Roberson
Best Available: Kanter, Christon, Ferguson



ORL
Protected: Issac, Gordon, Hezonja, Vucevic, Fournier
Best Available: Ross, Biyombo, Payton, Simmons, Speights, Mack



PHI
Protected: Embiid, Simmons, Fultz, Reddick, Saric
Best Available: Okafor, Anderson, Holmes, Korkmaz, Luwawu-Cabarrot
(I feel Okafor's value is only as a backup to Embiid at this point -- I still believe he can be a good player and Philly has too much talent to waste a protection on him)


PHX
Protected: Booker, Jackson, Bender, Chriss, Bledsoe
Best Available: Chandler, Knight, Len, Ulis, Warren



POR
Protected: Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic, Collins, Swanigan
Best Available: Vonleh, Turner, Davis
(Not sure about Swanigan - I feel Portland would have to do it, as he's cheap talent at this point)


SAC
Protected: Fox, Hield, Labissiere, Cauley-Stein, Hill
Best Available: Papagiannis, Jackson, Giles, Bogdanovic, Richardson
(Another team stacked with talent -- Hill has to be protected as he was brought there to help guide the young team I feel)


SAS
Protected: Leonard, Aldridge, Gasol, Parker, Ginobli
Best Available: Anderson, Murray, White, Blossomgame



TOR
Protected: Lowry, DeRozan, Ibaka, Poetl, Anunoby
Best Available: Caboclo, Valanciunas, Meeks, Siakam, Wright
(If Toronto lost Valanciunas, they wouldn't be too sad -- I feel Ibaka would slide to the five and the Raptors would be better overall)


UTA
Protected: Gobert, Hood, Rubio, Exum, Mitchell
Best Available: Bradley, Favors, Ingles, Johnson



WAS
Protected: Wall, Beal, Porter, Gortat, Oubre

Best Available: Mahinmi, Morris, Satoransky

[AlexBrady]

Re: Catastrophe Rule Expansion Draft

I'll assemble an expansion team based on the talent available. Some solid players were excluded from your list however such as Michael Beasley and P.J. Tucker. There was also some confusion about the Miami Johnson's since they employ both Tyler and James.

Starters
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Courtney Lee
SF: Evan Turner
PF: Markieff Morris
C: Robin Lopez

Primary Subs
Marcus Smart
Allen Crabbe
Dwyane Wade
Enes Kanter
Jonas Valanciunas

Others on bench
Derrick Rose
Shaun Livingston
Derrick Favors
Greg Monroe
Gorgui Dieng

So how would this team look on the floor? Well, their biggest assets would be their power and size throughout but especially in the frontcourt. The screens would be solid and the boards would always be attacked and protected. The depth of this squad is tough to match.

Perimeter shooting is a big concern for this cast though with Allen Crabbe and Courtney Lee being the only dead-eye three ballers. Overall team-speed is lacking. The bench lacks defenders.

Drop them into the Eastern Conference and they pound and power their way to about 49 wins. They would easily win a first round playoff series before bowing out in the second round to Cleveland or Boston in seven close games.

If they were thrust into the Western Conference they would blast and bang to about 47 wins. In the first playoff round they would surprise a higher ranked club like Houston and win in six games. In the next round they would meet Golden State and would lose in five games because of too many slow bigs being matched up against GState's speedsters.