{"id":680877,"date":"2026-03-26T22:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/680877\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T22:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T22:09:26","slug":"nba-expansion-a-way-too-early-mock-draft-of-how-seattle-and-las-vegas-could-build-their-rosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/680877\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA expansion: A way-too-early mock draft of how Seattle and Las Vegas could build their rosters"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in more than two decades, the NBA appears to be on the verge of expansion, with the league\u2019s Board of Governors voting to explore the potential addition<\/a> of new franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas, reportedly in time for the 2028-29 NBA season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On one hand, there\u2019s still an awful lot that needs to happen between now and then to arrive at a point where Teams No. 31 and 32 tip off an actual, honest-to-goodness NBA game. On the other \u2026 thinking about what those teams might look like seemed like it could be fun. And, as luck would have it, the fine folks at Spotrac recently launched an Expansion Draft tool<\/a> to help facilitate said fun.<\/p>\n

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So Ben Rohrbach<\/a> and I decided to kill a little time this week \u2014 Lord knows there isn\u2019t much else going on in the NBA at the moment! \u2014 by engaging in a mock draft to see what the rosters of the as-yet-still-theoretical teams in Seattle and Las Vegas might look like. Ben drafted for the Seattle team, which he creatively named \u201cthe SuperSonics.\u201d I drafted for Las Vegas, and while there were just so many wonderful names to choose from \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 I decided to call my team the Las Vegas Neon, in honor of the spellbindingly gaudy lights that dominate the Strip, and also in recognition of the fact that \u2014 as you all surely already knew \u2014 neon is the official element of the state of Nevada<\/a>. Hit the bricks, Strontium! This is Neon Country!<\/p>\n

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How exactly an expansion draft will work in real life remains, for the moment, unclear. The 2023 collective bargaining agreement<\/a> between the NBA\u2019s teams and its players doesn\u2019t deal with the nuts and bolts of expansion in any great detail, beyond laying out that expansion teams will operate under lower salary cap, minimum salary, tax, first apron and second apron levels than other teams for their first two seasons in the league. (In Year 1, expansion teams can spend up to 66.6% of the full salary cap; in Year 2, that increases to 80%.)<\/p>\n

Past that, though, specifics are scarce \u2014 and, potentially, outdated. The last expansion draft the NBA presided over happened in 2004<\/a>, when the salary cap was just under $43.9 million<\/a>; there are 24 individual players making more than that this season<\/a>. Nearly a quarter-century later, in a league that has seen four new CBAs since then, it\u2019s reasonable to presume that the stakeholders might want to take a fresh look at the rules, and perhaps tweak them a bit. In the absence of clarity on what those tweaks might be, though, we\u2019ll conduct our exercise based on prior<\/a> precedent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"(Bruno<\/p>\n

(Bruno Rouby\/Yahoo Sports Illustration)<\/p>\n

How an expansion draft could work<\/p>\n

Each of the NBA\u2019s 30 teams gets to protect up to eight players; they can choose to protect less. They all have to leave at least one player unprotected; they can choose to leave more than one.<\/p>\n

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Players left unprotected, who are under contract for the 2026-27 NBA season or entering restricted free agency in the summer of 2026, will comprise the pool of players from which the expansion clubs will select. Players about to enter unrestricted free agency, and thus not under contract, are excluded from consideration.<\/p>\n

The expansion clubs will select at least 14 players. Once they take a player from one team\u2019s roster, the rest of that team\u2019s unprotected players are off limits \u2014 meaning, for example, no raiding half the Thunder\u2019s bench.<\/p>\n

(Now, you may find yourself asking: If the expansion draft won\u2019t happen until the summer of 2028 at the earliest, why do it based on today\u2019s rosters? Well, trying to figure out which players teams might protect two years from now seemed like a fool\u2019s errand, and since this is intended to be less a projection of how things will unfold and more a case study in how something like this could go, it seemed more reasonable to just base our decisions on the players, salaries, prospective development paths and overall ecosystem as it exists right now. Let\u2019s take it as read that such decisions are very fluid, and that an incredible amount can change between now and the summer of 2028.)<\/p>\n

The Spotrac tool<\/a> allows you to go through and pick which eight players every NBA team would choose to protect; it also offers its own recommendations, which Ben and I \u2014 not super eager to make 240 discrete selections \u2014 decided to use. It also projects the Year 1 salary cap figure for our expansion SuperSonics and Neon at $132 million.<\/p>\n

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Some other notes:<\/p>\n

An expansion team that drafts a restricted free agent receives control of his Bird rights. However, that player immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent, and is thus eligible to test the market and potentially walk for nothing. (Said player cannot just walk right back to his previous employer, though.)<\/p>\n

An expansion team can choose to waive a player it selects in the draft; in that case, the player\u2019s contract wouldn\u2019t count toward the team\u2019s salary cap figure, but it would count as part of the team\u2019s effort to reach the salary floor, which requires the team to spend up to 90% of the cap line.<\/p>\n

The other 30 teams are allowed to negotiate trades with the expansion teams, involving other players or picks, in order to entice the expansion teams to stay away from (or perhaps take on) a particular unprotected player. We decided not to do that, because it gave us a headache, but don\u2019t be surprised if, y\u2019know, Sam Presti or whoever decides to do a little pre-draft dealing to attempt to achieve a preferred roster outcome.<\/p>\n

I gave Ben\u2019s Seattle SuperSonics the first pick, because the Neon are an organization of gentlemen and scholars. (Also, because I\u2019m pretty sure that gets me the higher of our two picks in the actual NBA Draft. I didn\u2019t tell Ben that. In the Vegas biz, we call that a Mindfreak<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Without further ado:<\/p>\n

1. Seattle SuperSonics: Luguentz Dort, Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n

Contract: $18.2 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Welcome to the SuperSonics, Lu. As we bring basketball back to Seattle, why not take a page out of the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 book and build with defense at top of mind?<\/p>\n

My rationale: I figured the Oklahoma City Thunder for the deepest team in the league, practically without a hole on the roster, so they would have the largest crop of talented players to choose from, and I wanted to take one off the board before it was too late. Which is to say: Immediately. While Jaylin Williams was an enticing option, I went with an All-Defensive stalwart as a culture-setter for my locker room.<\/p>\n

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Spiritually, too, starting Seattle\u2019s franchise by taking from Oklahoma City feels right.<\/p>\n

2. Las Vegas Neon: Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n

Contract: $42.2 million (2026-27) \u2022 $44.9 million (2027-28) \u2022 2028 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Stop me if you\u2019ve heard this one before: Immediately upon arriving in Vegas, I make a preposterously dicey wager.<\/p>\n

Is Zion under contract for more than $87 million over the next two seasons? Yes.<\/a> Has he played 30 or fewer games in more than half of his professional seasons? Yes.<\/a> Has his production dipped down to a comparatively quiet 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists per game? Yes.<\/a> Do I have at least some questions about Zion maintaining a rigorous commitment to physical excellence in Las Vegas? No comment.<\/p>\n

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But even after the years of injuries and up-and-down performance, Zion is, to my eyes, the highest-ceiling talent on the board here \u2014 a 25-year-old All-NBA-caliber performer and potential marquee attraction who\u2019s quietly been healthier this season, and who is, even in a down year, second in the league in points in the paint per game<\/a>, shooting 60% on 2s with a top-five free-throw attempt rate<\/a>. Let\u2019s roll the dice (topical) and see if our head coach can, once again, construct something devastating around a perpetual downhill threat.<\/p>\n

Who is that head coach, you ask? Only the subject of one of my favorite basketball\/wagering-related social media posts of all time:<\/p>\n

What could possibli go wrong<\/a>?<\/p>\n

3. Seattle SuperSonics: Bennedict Mathurin, Los Angeles Clippers<\/p>\n

Contract: RFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: As with Dort, I wanted to identify guys who could fill roles on a competitive roster for years to come, and Mathurin fits that bill, even if he is a restricted free agent.<\/p>\n

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I think I can re-sign him, and I think he will be worth it.<\/p>\n

For the Indiana Pacers, against Dort and the Thunder\u2019s vaunted backcourt defense, Mathurin scored 27 points in a Game 3 victory on the NBA Finals stage. He added 24 points and 13 rebounds in Indiana\u2019s Game 7 loss. Give me the 24-year-old, who nets 20 a night for the Clippers, and bank on his efficiency to become more consistent.<\/p>\n

4. Las Vegas Neon: D\u2019Angelo Russell, Washington Wizards<\/p>\n

Contract: $6 million (2026-27, player option) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: I\u2019m going to be honest: After the Zion pick, I was kind of on tilt.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know Russell hasn\u2019t played since getting traded to D.C., and I\u2019m aware that he wasn\u2019t particularly good in Dallas before getting moved. But I knew I\u2019d need a point guard to run some pick-and-roll and take some spot-up 3s, and I knew I\u2019d need him to be relatively inexpensive, and when I thought, \u201cWhich point guard seems to make the most spiritual sense on an expansion team in Las Vegas?\u201d \u2026 the first name that popped into my head was D\u2019Lo. Let\u2019s hope for the best!<\/p>\n

5. Seattle SuperSonics: Julian Champagnie, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n

Contract: $3 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: I\u2019m building from the middle out, and once again plucking from a roster rich with young talent. Champagnie is another rangy wing, switchable across positions, who has started 58 games for the 54-win San Antonio Spurs. Why project guys who could be role players on elite teams when there are proven ones from which to choose? Plus, at $3 million, he is among the best players available for near-minimum salary.<\/p>\n

6. Las Vegas Neon: Mohamed Diawara, New York Knicks<\/p>\n

Contract: 2026 RFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Having spent my first couple of picks on a pair of established veterans, I decided to go with a scratch-off ticket here.<\/p>\n

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New York\u2019s second-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Diawara is a 6-foot-9, 225-pound swingman with a near-7-foot-4 wingspan who\u2019s shooting 40.5% from 3-point range on more than 10 attempts per 100 possessions, and who\u2019s shown some juice attacking off the dribble in limited doses, all as a 20-year-old rookie. He\u2019s a restricted free agent, so I\u2019ll have to re-sign him, but the combination of size, youth and toolkit make that an investment with some upside, whether as a 3-and-D wing or, if things break right, maybe even more.<\/p>\n

7. Seattle SuperSonics: Day\u2019Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n

Contract: $6.25 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: I want size, without sacrificing athleticism, and I could find no better value at center than Sharpe, who had his share of suitors at the deadline, though he never moved. He is averaging a 17-13-5, along with 2.9 combined steals and blocks, per 36 minutes, and I might just give them to him in Seattle, where we are now switching everything.<\/p>\n

8. Las Vegas Neon: Ty Jerome, Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n

Contract: $9.2 million (2026-27) \u2022 $9.7 million (2027-28, player option) \u2022 2028 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Another thematically appropriate dice-roll upside swing! Jerome has logged more than 1,000 minutes just once in seven NBA seasons. In that season, though, he was an integral part of a 64-win Cavs team that fielded one of the most fearsome offenses in NBA history and finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting; since he got healthy in Memphis this season, all he\u2019s done is average nearly a point per minute, shoot 42% from long distance and post a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re trying to put on a show in Vegas. A healthy Zion and Jerome could make for one hell of a pick-and-roll partnership, and some highly entertaining high-scoring nights.<\/p>\n

9. Seattle SuperSonics: Jrue Holiday, Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

Contract: $34.8 million (2026-27) \u2022 $37.2 million (2027-28 player option) \u2022 2028 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Hey, I had to pay somebody, and I needed a floor general, so why not bring in the two-time Teammate of the Year, pair him with Dort in a ferocious backcourt, and see what happens. Even at age 35, Holiday can still man both guard positions, organizing an offense or playing most anywhere within it, and he can defend with the best of them.<\/p>\n

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It is a short trip up to Seattle from Portland. Maybe he won\u2019t mind stamping himself as one of the league\u2019s great culture-setters by developing ours on the SuperSonics.<\/p>\n

10. Las Vegas Neon: Al Horford, Golden State Warriors<\/p>\n

Contract: $6 million (2026-27, player option) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Two can play this \u201cformer Celtic veteran leader\u201d game, Benjamin.<\/p>\n

While it feels almost unseemly to send the sainted Horford to Sin City, he\u2019s still an exemplary worker who can hold his own defensively in limited minutes, and he still shoots it well enough (36% on nearly five attempts per game) to space the floor and give Zion room to maneuver on those pell-mell drives to the rim. Combine that with the salutary impact he can have on the younger dudes<\/a> with which we\u2019ll be stocking the Neon roster, and it feels like $6 million well spent.<\/p>\n

11. Seattle SuperSonics: Jordan Walsh, Boston Celtics<\/p>\n

Contract: $2.4 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Another young guy who has proven his value by cracking the rotation of a deep team, even starting 20 games for the Celtics this season. He has shown the ability to defend an opposing team\u2019s best player. Even if he lost his starting spot for a lack of offensive consistency, he is shooting 40.8% on a couple 3-point attempts per game.<\/p>\n

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It appears my go-to strategy is identifying the best front offices<\/a> \u2014\u00a0the Thunder, Spurs and Celtics among them \u2014\u00a0and plucking depth off the end of their rosters.<\/p>\n

12. Las Vegas Neon: Johnny Furphy, Indiana Pacers<\/p>\n

Contract: $2.3 million (2026-27) \u2022 $2.5 million (2027-28, team option) \u2022 $3.1 million (2028-29) \u2022 2029 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Furphy joins Diawara in the Neon\u2019s Long-Term Wing Investment Fund. The 21-year-old Aussie is rehabbing after surgery to repair a torn right ACL<\/a>, but he\u2019s an athletic 6-8 wing who made two-thirds of his shots at the rim this season before going down. Rick Carlisle has praised the Kansas product\u2019s toughness, physicality and competitiveness; there\u2019s room for dudes like that in Vegas. Especially when they\u2019ve also got some bounce:<\/p>\n

13. Seattle SuperSonics: Tidjane Sala\u00fcn, Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n

Contract: $8.2 million (2026-27) \u2022 $10.4 million (2027-28 club option) \u2022 2028 RFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: I\u2019m not even sure I still believe in Tidjane Sala\u00fcn, and I just picked him. But he is only 20 years old. He was the No. 6 overall pick in 2024. He is 6-10 and shooting 43.4% on multiple 3-point attempts per game. Small sample size? Sure. But give me that potential. Somewhere around the seventh pick felt like a place to take that risk.<\/p>\n

14. Las Vegas Neon: Fred VanVleet, Houston Rockets<\/p>\n

Contract: $25 million (2026-27, player option) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Remember earlier, when I said the point guard in the player pool who felt most spiritually appropriate in Las Vegas was D\u2019Lo? Like five minutes after that I remembered that there was another one whose whole bit is betting on himself.<\/p>\n

VanVleet, like Furphy, is working his way back from a torn ACL<\/a>; it remains to be seen how much the injury and extended absence will impact the 32-year-old\u2019s game. When healthy, though, he\u2019s an ace pick-and-roll operator who doesn\u2019t turn the ball over, a stalwart defender at the point of attack who disrupts possessions off the ball, a high-volume 3-point threat, and a proven veteran leader who helped turn the Rockets from an also-ran into a serious outfit. We\u2019ll trust him to do the same in Vegas.<\/p>\n

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Also, we\u2019re building a starting lineup that can really spread the floor around Zion. Getting pretty excited, Ben!<\/p>\n

15. Seattle SuperSonics: Sandro Mamukelashvili, Toronto Raptors<\/p>\n

Contract: $2.8 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Mamu! I told you I wanted competitors, and Mamukelashvili is that, scrapping as my small-ball center. When he mans that position for the Raptors, they are outscoring opponents by 7.3 points per 100 non-garbage possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass, stout on both sides of the ball. That\u2019s what I want this team to be, and that is Mamu.<\/p>\n

16. Las Vegas Neon: Paul Reed, Detroit Pistons<\/p>\n

Contract: $5.6 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Dangit. I kind of wanted Mamu. Oh, well.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ll pivot to another backup center I like. BBall Paul\u2019s overqualified to be a third center in Detroit, capable of making an impact on both ends of the court in reserve minutes. He\u2019s also available for the low, low price of less than 4% of the salary cap, and his game and personality are both delightfully off-beat in a way that feels perfectly in keeping with the entertainment-oriented vibe we\u2019re trying to foster in Vegas.<\/p>\n

17. Seattle SuperSonics: Marcus Smart, Los Angeles Lakers<\/p>\n

Contract: $5.4 million (2026-27 player option)<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Please pick up your player option, Marcus. Because I don\u2019t want anyone scoring on my backcourt, and at the law offices of Dort, Holiday and Smart, I don\u2019t think they will.<\/p>\n

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I also don\u2019t think anyone is stepping out of line in my locker room, for fear of being wrestled by Dort or Smart. My only concern: They end up wrestling each other. But the collective spirit of this group, it\u2019s going to be hard to beat. Just pray for the coach \u2026<\/p>\n

18. Las Vegas Neon: Cody Williams, Utah Jazz<\/p>\n

Contract: $6 million (2026-27) \u2022 $7.7 million (2027-28, club option) \u2022 2028 RFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Let\u2019s keep racking up those lottery tickets! Williams marks our third 21-and-under, 6-8-and-over wing prospect \u2014 one who underwhelmed in a major way during his rookie season, but who\u2019s perked up a bit in the second half of his second season, averaging just under 10 points per game on 50% shooting with more steals-and-blocks than turnovers since the calendar flipped to 2026<\/a>. We\u2019ll give him a chance to compete for rotation minutes in the backcourt, and see if the arrow keeps pointing north toward what the Jazz hoped he\u2019d be when they took him 10th overall.<\/p>\n

19. Seattle SuperSonics: Jonathan Kuminga, Atlanta Hawks<\/p>\n

Contract: $24.3 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: You know what this team needs? Someone who is willing to get up a ton of shots. And you know who Kuminga is? Someone who is willing to get up a ton of shots.<\/p>\n

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Steve Kerr didn\u2019t believe in you, but I do. I\u2019ve seen you put up 24.3 points on 55\/39\/72 shooting splits over the final four games of a second-round playoff series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, even if all in losses. I\u2019ve seen you find ways to contribute to winning in Atlanta, where the Hawks have taken 13 of their last 14 games. I\u2019ve seen you, and I\u2019m not sure you fit this competitive culture, but I\u2019m hoping it rubs off on you.<\/p>\n

He is, after all, still a 23-year-old former No. 7 overall pick. Between him and Sala\u00fcn, someone has to live up to their potential, right? That is how I figured it in my head.<\/p>\n

20. Las Vegas Neon: Max Strus, Cleveland Cavaliers<\/p>\n

Contract: $16.7 million (2026-27) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: I don\u2019t love that Strus has missed significant time in each of the last two seasons, first with a severe right ankle sprain and then with a Jones fracture in his left foot. But I do love that, when he\u2019s on the floor, he\u2019s been a high-volume, high-efficiency movement shooter for the last half-decade \u2014 and one who defends and rebounds bigger than his 6-foot-5 frame, which helps him hold up as a smaller small forward.<\/p>\n

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Strus gives me another established serious vet (shouts to Heat Culture) to help set a professional tone in Vegas \u2014 and, just as importantly, he gives me another shooter to spread the floor for Zion. Right now, we\u2019re looking at a Horford-Zion-Strus-Jerome-FVV starting five. We might give up 120 points a night, but we might score 125. (Health-permitting, of course. But that is the ethos of our organization: big bets, scared money don\u2019t make money, etc.)<\/p>\n

21. Seattle SuperSonics: Spencer Jones, Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n

Contract: RFA<\/p>\n

I like Jones as a connective player who understands his role. Maybe Nikola Joki\u0107 makes him look better than he is in Denver. That is always a concern. But give me a guy who doesn\u2019t seem to mind taking only four shots per game, and is efficient on those few opportunities. Jones is shooting 63.2% inside the arc and 40.1% beyond it. He doesn\u2019t hurt the team. He\u2019s only additive, and that\u2019s a quality our Sonics demand.<\/p>\n

22. Las Vegas Neon: Royce O\u2019Neale, Phoenix Suns<\/p>\n

Contract: $10.9 million (2026-27) \u2022 $11.6 million (2027-28) \u2022 2028 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Along the same lines as Strus \u2014 a steady vet and proven pro who\u2019s able to defend and rebound at the 3, and who\u2019s shot 39% from 3 on more than nine attempts per 100 possessions over the last half-dozen years<\/a>. A credible complementary player in the short term, and a mentor for our core of young wings moving forward.<\/p>\n

23. Seattle SuperSonics: Jaden Ivey, Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n

Contract: RFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: The guard group on this team is a bunch of bulls. And thankfully not a bunch of Bulls.<\/p>\n

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With Dort, Holiday and Smart on the roster, I could use a jolt of ball dominance at the guard position, and Ivey could be that. He has some creativity to him, too. Let him run the second unit with some offensive punch. He was averaging an 18-4-4 on rock-solid efficiency for a good Detroit Pistons team when last we saw him at full strength.<\/p>\n

Is he an injury risk? Sure, a series of leg injuries is a concern, but pickings are starting to get slim around here, and you know who sounds good at this point: A No. 5 overall pick who is the 24-year-old son of Notre Dame women\u2019s basketball coach Niele Ivey.<\/p>\n

24. Las Vegas Neon: Ryan Nembhard, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n

Contract: $2.2 million (2026-27, club option) \u2022 2027 UFA<\/p>\n

Devine: I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat it: The Neon are getting pretty pricey. (Almost like using our first pick on a guy making $42 million wasn\u2019t the most fiscally sound strategy!) We\u2019ll round out our ball-handling crew by bringing in Nembhard, a reserve who\u2019s both cost-effective on the deal he signed with the Mavs to move off a two-way, and a potential contributor who\u2019s shot 38% from deep with a 3.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in his rookie season. Him and D\u2019Lo can reminisce about Dallas! Good times.<\/p>\n

25. Seattle SuperSonics: Goga Bitadze, Orlando Magic<\/p>\n

Contract: $7.6 million (2026-27)<\/p>\n

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Rohrbach: We\u2019re going to need somebody to bang bodies with Joki\u0107 in the playoffs, am I right? Here are six more fouls at the center position. But Bitadze is more than that, certainly worth this one-year deal. (Notice how financially flexible our SuperSonics are going forward. Only Holiday is on the hook for big money beyond 2026-27, and he comes off the books in 2028, when we are going to be big players in free agency. I swear.)<\/p>\n

Bitadze fits into our outfit as a rough-and-tumble big who just cares about setting screens, grabbing rebounds, blocking shots, occasionally dunking and generally getting under everyone\u2019s skin. It\u2019s a vibe around here. Ask Dort and Smart. My center rotation of Sharpe, Mamukelashvili and Bitadze is starting to match their strength.<\/p>\n

(Plus, Mamu and Goga, two Star Wars-ian names, how could I resist.)<\/p>\n

26. Las Vegas Neon: Ousmane Dieng, Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n

Contract: 2026 RFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Dieng fits with the lottery-ticket build of our second unit: a 6-9 22-year-old with a 7-foot wingspan who has flashed a 3-point stroke since getting some consistent minutes in Milwaukee after being stuck on the outside of a title-winning rotation in OKC. And we\u2019re right up against the cap, so we take a flyer on an RFA-to-be who we can either A) use Bird rights to go over the cap to re-sign or B) let walk and not keep on our books.<\/p>\n

27. Seattle SuperSonics: Cam Payne, Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n

Contract: RFA<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: I\u2019m really running out of options now. You know what I could use? Someone who doesn\u2019t give a care in the world about being on the end of the bench. Someone who is just happy to be here, contributing. Enter The Cam Payne, who will join his ninth team in almost as many seasons. The man has 72 playoff games under his belt.<\/p>\n

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Did you know that Cam Payne \u2014 and, yes, we use his first and last name every time \u2014 is only 31 years old? Didn\u2019t you think he was, like, 41? He\u2019s been around. He loves his wacky-footed 3-pointers and generally doing a lot in a little amount of time, for better or worse. Sometimes better. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re banking on in Seattle.<\/p>\n

28. Las Vegas Neon: Keshad Johnson, Miami Heat<\/p>\n

Contract: 2026 RFA<\/p>\n

Devine: Another \u201ceither we keep him for cheap or we let him go\u201d RFA swing here as we get near the end of the line. Johnson\u2019s an athletic wing defender who\u2019s earned minutes for Erik Spoelstra, which ain\u2019t nothing. He also won the Dunk Contest, which, y\u2019know: showmanship!<\/p>\n

29. Seattle SuperSonics: DeMar DeRozan, Sacramento Kings<\/p>\n

Contract: $25.7 million (2026-27)<\/p>\n

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Rohrbach: I\u2019m staring at Julian Phillips, who can\u2019t get on the floor for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Devin Carter, who is shooting a cool 25% from 3 for his career on the Sacramento Kings, and I\u2019m not liking my plan to stay under the salary cap.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019m pivoting. Screw it. I can go over the salary cap! The Spotrac tool \u2014\u00a0and, more importantly, the NBA \u2014 allows me to do it. We\u2019ve got deep pockets in Seattle. And you know who I\u2019ve always liked? DeMar DeRozan. He\u2019s cool as hell, and still smooth with the ball. He knows what he is, and that is a midrange maestro. He used to do some pretty sweet dunks, too, but now he\u2019s mostly a midrange maestro, and he\u2019s cool with that. I\u2019m cool with that. Do you, DeMar. He\u2019ll get to his 20 points somehow.<\/p>\n

Besides, you know what this organization needs right off the bat? A 20,000-point scorer. He is the yin on offense to Holiday\u2019s yang on defense. They are my co-leaders, a pair of 30-somethings who command nothing but respect from every one of their teammates. They set the culture, where competition is fierce, the rotation is deep, and we\u2019re just waiting on a superstar. For now, DeRozan isn\u2019t such a bad substitute.<\/p>\n

30. Las Vegas Neon: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves<\/p>\n

Contract: $36.5 million (2026-27) \u2022 $38 million (2027-28 player option)<\/p>\n

Devine: I\u2019m not going to lie: When we got down to the final two picks, and we learned that Spotrac\u2019s draft tool would allow us to go over the cap, I was kind of perplexed. I didn\u2019t think we could do that!<\/p>\n

I later checked in with Keith Smith<\/a>, Spotrac\u2019s resident NBA cap guru, to make sure we hadn\u2019t inadvertently broken the system. As he patiently explained to me, expansion teams are allowed to exceed the cap, just like any other team; it\u2019s just that, since the expansion teams\u2019 salary cap line would be lower than the rest of the league, so too would their luxury tax, first apron and second apron thresholds.<\/p>\n

I did some back-of-the-envelope math based on the $132 million figure in the expansion draft tool used, and came up with a luxury tax line of about $160.4 million, with the first apron set at about $167.3 million and the second at $177.4 million \u2014 all of which \u201csounds about right\u201d based on the projections, according to Smith.<\/p>\n

With that in mind: If I don\u2019t have to take Julian Phillips, the other unprotected player on the Wolves roster, I can instead take Gobert, who\u2019s still patrolling the paint at a First Team All-Defense level \u2014 and who would go a long way toward establishing a serious infrastructure around and behind Zion. And if the only problem\u2019s going to be that our scrappy little start-up expansion team actually enters its first season of existence not only over the cap, but over the first apron \u2026 well, why not? Maybe our ownership is committed to trying to compete right away! Maybe I\u2019m a visionary!<\/p>\n

Seattle SuperSonics<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Neon<\/p>\n

Round 1<\/p>\n

Lu Dort<\/p>\n

Zion Williamson<\/p>\n

Round 2<\/p>\n

Bennedict Mathurin<\/p>\n

D’Angelo Russell<\/p>\n

Round 3<\/p>\n

Julian Champagnie<\/p>\n

Mo Diawara<\/p>\n

Round 4<\/p>\n

Day’Ron Sharpe<\/p>\n

Ty Jerome<\/p>\n

Round 5<\/p>\n

Jrue Holiday<\/p>\n

Al Horford<\/p>\n

Round 6<\/p>\n

Jordan Walsh<\/p>\n

Johnny Furphy<\/p>\n

Round 7<\/p>\n

Tidjane Salaun<\/p>\n

Fred VanVleet<\/p>\n

Round 8<\/p>\n

Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/p>\n

Paul Reed<\/p>\n

Round 9<\/p>\n

Marcus Smart<\/p>\n

Cody Williams<\/p>\n

Round 10<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kuminga<\/p>\n

Max Strus<\/p>\n

Round 11<\/p>\n

Spencer Jones<\/p>\n

Royce O’Neale<\/p>\n

Round 12<\/p>\n

Jaden Ivey<\/p>\n

Ryan Nembhard<\/p>\n

Round 13<\/p>\n

Goga Bitadze<\/p>\n

Ousmane Dieng<\/p>\n

Round 14<\/p>\n

Cam Payne<\/p>\n

Keshad Johnson<\/p>\n

Round 15<\/p>\n

DeMar DeRozan<\/p>\n

Rudy Gobert<\/p>\n

Or, y\u2019know, maybe not. Maybe building a team around a bunch of injury risks, salty 30-somethings and unproven 21-year-olds wasn\u2019t the best plan. If nothing else, though, my first (and perhaps final) draft in charge of the Neon was thematically appropriate: I arrived in Sin City with a budget in place \u2026 and promptly spent way more money than I was supposed to. Sounds like a pretty standard trip to Vegas to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in more than two decades, the NBA appears to be on the verge of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[869,208,7,3595,363,75,247,136,473,1082,686,1429,188,8230,27454,866,164,194,126,6563,1252,867,4989,2038,4076,6073,86507,135,150,183,326,177,152,17348,6,470,191,475,179,2617,471,474,7990,10607,3970,2547,4289,476,1201,427,468,814],"class_list":["post-680877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-al-horford","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball","tag-ben-rohrbach","tag-bennedict-mathurin","tag-boston-celtics","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-cavs","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-cody-williams","tag-dallas","tag-dan-devine","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-expansion-draft","tag-expansion-team","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-houston-rockets","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-jaylin-williams","tag-johnny-furphy","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-jordan-walsh","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-julian-champagnie","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-neon","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luguentz-dort","tag-marcus-smart","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-mohamed-diawara","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-paul-reed","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sandro-mamukelashvili","tag-seahawks","tag-seattle","tag-seattle-supersonics","tag-supersonics","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-ty-jerome","tag-utah-jazz","tag-washington-wizards","tag-zion-williamson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}