Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Date: June 13th, 1980

From the desk of Larry O'Brien:

I would first like to congratulate the Los Angeles Lakers on winning the league championship in a hard fought series with the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a great battle that brought more interest to the game and league and as a result, we have decided to expand the league to 29 teams (increase of 7). A vote took place last week among the owners of our respective teams outlining a plan forward of expansion and the vote was unanimous in favor.

The seven new franchises that will be joining us for the 1980 season are:

Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Charlotte Hornets
Toronto Raptors
Minnesota Timberwolves
Vancouver Grizzlies
Sacramento Kings

With a huge influx of expansion teams, we are taking the unprecedented approach of redrafting the whole league to accommodate them and provide all teams equal footing. With the success of the recent ABA merger, we feel confident that overhauling the league structure and setup will benefit all parties involved and bring more excitement to the league and with the fans bases across the league.

To create a fair and balanced league, we then looked into the conferences and divisions. Following will be how the divisions line up:

Atlantic
Boston Celtics
Miami Heat
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors

Central
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Washington Bullets

Midwest
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

Pacific
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings
Seattle Supersonics
Vancouver Grizzlies

We will also be implementing a salary structure to prevent teams from stockpiling talent and preventing free movement of players. The salary cap will be set at $40 million and a hard cap of $65 million. We believe this rule will benefit the small market franchises as well as the metro market franchises.

The redraft will begin on July 3rd and as we get closer more information will be released such as: draft order, player contracts and many other items.

This change will see a new commissioner lead the league effective immediately. I am pleased to welcome David Stern as the new DASL commissioner. David will be providing more information at a later date.

I for one welcome our new Stern overlord.

Exciting news!

Let’s go!!!!!

Can’t wait!

Very excited, been waiting for the revival.

Sweet..

Nice

Very nice.

I don't quite remember, but does the game assign new contracts to players based on their draft position? I ask as it makes offseason free agency really dull for 3 or so years as all of the great talent have 4 year deals.

But of course I don't know if it was this game or like DDSPB or something. hmm.

The Bean Regime wrote:Very nice.

I don't quite remember, but does the game assign new contracts to players based on their draft position? I ask as it makes offseason free agency really dull for 3 or so years as all of the great talent have 4 year deals.

But of course I don't know if it was this game or like DDSPB or something. hmm.

I believe in the first itteration of this league we randomized contract lengths at the start.

FlDuckFan wrote:

The Bean Regime wrote:Very nice.

I don't quite remember, but does the game assign new contracts to players based on their draft position? I ask as it makes offseason free agency really dull for 3 or so years as all of the great talent have 4 year deals.

But of course I don't know if it was this game or like DDSPB or something. hmm.

I believe in the first itteration of this league we randomized contract lengths at the start.

I will have more information on contracts when the draft file gets published

Oh boy!

If you have read this and not commented, please do so. I am tracking which GMs are active and what teams are available.

I am hopeful of posting the draft file later today

here

Oregon Ownage wrote:If you have read this and not commented, please do so. I am tracking which GMs are active and what teams are available.

I am hopeful of posting the draft file later today

Good call. A creation draft can kill a league before it starts if people aren’t around to keep it moving.