I don't like #1 for this reason. I often recruit players to play 2 possible positions in their time at my school. Example. a guard with high potentials in BH and passing might be low to start with, so I will play him at SG early. Once his BH and passing move up, I might move him to pg. Or the other side is his potentials play out well to a future SF, but his current stats are better suited at sg etc.
As for the stockpiling players, it's not quite how you see it. For example, I will recruit multiple players because I know there is a good chance that someone will battle me or take one I'm recruiting. If I already have player x considering me, but he's not a priority, I will continue to recruit other players, and if I lose the battle and maybe even run out of money, there is no further effort needed for player x and I still get a guy I was considering without scrambling at the last minute to find someone. Also, sometimes, you're just putting out feelers for players and one might consider you before you expected it.