72 teams. 4 dynasty leagues. 1 Champions Cup.

Ambitious proposal: Establish four separate fantasy basketball leagues, each made up of 18 teams, each run by a different commissioner, all playing by the exact same rules. Though each league is run independently from each other, these four leagues are connected by all being a part of the TD, which holds inter-league matchups spread throughout the regular season, in a single elimination tournament. The four commissioners also collaborate on league issues, trade reviews, and any changes to any future league settings.

The inaugural season would potentially start with an auction draft in every league. Each team fills a 12-man roster, and will be able to keep as many players as they like from year to year. However the price to keep each player increases by $2 every year. The schedule has the 18 teams playing everyone exactly once in a 17-week regular season, followed by an 8-team playoff bracket. Payouts go to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place regular season records, as well as 1st and 2nd place in the playoffs. After that is where it gets interesting…

At the start of season 2, each league divides their teams up into 2 divisions.

Division A is comprised of the top 8 teams who qualified for the playoffs in the inaugural season. Going forward, these teams will now play each other twice, totaling 14 regular season matchups.

The other 10 teams are relegated to Division B (the lower division). These teams will play an 18 game regular season schedule, playing every team twice.

This means Division A has 4 open weeks, spread out over the course of the season. These 4 weeks (4, 8, 12, and 16) are filled in by a single elimination tournament comprised of the top 4 teams from each of the 4 leagues final standings from the prior year. This tournament is (tentatively) titled the Champions Cup. The Champions Cup matches are spread out during the regular season due to the fact that the other Division A teams not participating in it would simply have to have bye weeks during those times.

Division (number of teams)	Regular season weeks	Champions Cup weeks	Total
A (8)	14	4	18
B (10)	18	0	18

At the end of the regular season, the bottom 2 teams in each Division A are relegated to their corresponding Division B, while the regular season winner of Division B is promoted to Division A, along with the winner of a one week, 2nd place vs 3rd place matchup.

It is essentially a relegation system very similar to the English Premier League as well as many other different European football leagues.

What about payouts? Well that would depend on the agreed upon entry fee amounts, but here is an example…

Typical season payouts are calculated below based on a potential $40 per team entry fee:

Champions Cup winner	$140
Champions Cup runner up	$60
1st place in each Division A	$300 (x4)
2nd place in each Division A	$150 (x4)
3rd place in each Division A	$60 (x4)
4th place in each Division A	$40 (x4)
1st place in each Division B	$80 (x4)
2nd place in each Division B	$40 (x4)
TOTAL	$2,880

Additional (and optional) setting: The 72 team owners would choose their team name from a set list of current NBA team names, former or defunct NBA team names, and team names that existed in other discontinued professional basketball leagues like the ABA or NBL. No two teams may use the same name, due to the interleague matchups taking place in the Champions Cup each year.

Possible hang ups/issues that are likely to arise:

-Too many team owners quitting the league, after being relegated to their respective Division B, knowing they could be stuck in that division for several years.

-Making the Champions Cup a focal point of the TD, while still maintaining the importance of the regular season. In other words, balancing the payouts appropriately between them. After all, the actual playoffs in each league would still be top priority for teams, while the Champions Cup would be more of a bonus to the top tier teams.

-Fielding 72 teams to actually get this whole thing off the ground.

-Finding a site that allows the customization needed for this type of format and crossplay.

Room for expansion

The number of leagues that could join is relatively flexible. This kind of structure can simply be done with just two leagues (36 teams total), OR could expand to much more than four. The 16-team Champions Cup would be the only fixture, while the number of leagues would be the determining factor in how many teams qualify from each one.

TO BE CONTINUED…