If you are forward thinking and find expansion owners 1,2, or 3 years in advance, why not include them in drafts preceding expansion.
thus they'd have a core of 6 to 10 guys before expansion draft. In addition they could trade these guys or slots to further better their position.

Posted by coldfoot on 7/14/2021 8:38:00 AM (view original):
If you are forward thinking and find expansion owners 1,2, or 3 years in advance, why not include them in drafts preceding expansion.
thus they'd have a core of 6 to 10 guys before expansion draft. In addition they could trade these guys or slots to further better their position.

Well looking at this suggestion gave me an idea for the 3 seasons before the 1969 expansion.

In 1966,1967,1968 allow the 4 expansion teams to select one player from the existing teams after the existing teams protect 12 players each. The existing teams would each lose one, and only that one player.

So 16 players total will be selected by the four expansion teams. Each Expansion Team would then control a total of four 1969 season
players.

The existing teams would continue to use the drafted player as their own player until the 1969 SIM Season starts.

Each expansion team would have four each of a team's the 16 existing teams. The existing teams could adjust their teams plans for the future knowing specifically who some of their players that they will be losing in the 1969 expansion.

Doing this for 1966,1967,1968 would have the expansion teams with 12 average to above average players going into the 1969 season before the regular expansion draft.