The UBL League Setup

The teams, the divisions, the breakdown of what's to come.

The UBL (Universal Basketball League) is a league containing 36 fictional teams with fictional names & former NBA or ABA team names -- featuring custom-made logos, real logos, or custom-made logos from someone or somewhere else. I don't do current full team names for any of these sports projects, I will do current mascot names in different cities for interesting takes...

For example, I have teams such as the Los Angeles Magic, Milwaukee Hawks, San Antonio Bullets. The Magic features a typical Orlando Magic-type logo but with Lakers colors, while a team like the UBL Hawks is a shout-out to its beginnings as the Tri-City Hawks, then Milwaukee Hawks, St. Louis Hawks and now Atlanta Hawks in the NBA. I brought the Bullets back, but placed them in San Antonio for a twist, while the Washington franchise will kick the Wizards moniker out the door and go as the Federals with old Bullets colors. The San Antonio Bullets version will feature Spurs colors.

“My league, my rules, my drama”

The league consists of 6 divisions of 6 teams & two conferences (with 3 divisions each). The teams consist of 15 players -- 5 players from the 1967-68' NBA & ABA teams, 5 players from the 1992-93' NBA season & 5 players from the 2017-18' NBA Season. No more or no less than 5 players from each era at all times.

The teams will have a $120 million team salary cap, while the teams will kick off the inaugural season with predetermined player contracts up to five seasons. I purposely spaced many of the contract years for each era on the rosters, so that teams didn't load up on 5-year deals, but at the same time... why would you? All players would be leaving at the same time, putting a team in crisis, with only so much to bring back.

The players' annual salaries were done through the salary system that DK Sports provides for the Action PC Basketball computer game. I do have a rule though, if a player's salary goes up 1 1/2 times its start year salary, the team will be forced to pay arbitration in that new salary per year for the remainder of contract. At the same time, if a team is forced to pay arbitration that team has the option to extend the player's contract for another season.

In my baseball project, I brought in Japanese stars such as Sadaharu Oh, Isao Harimoto and others that actually never played in the Majors to make things more interesting. I did something sort of like that by bringing in Arvydas Sabonis a few years early on an international contract for 3-years with the Phoenix Heat, but once he comes up for 1996, Portland will have the option to take him as their franchise pick or go with a different 1st Rd pick instead. I am also tinkering with the idea of Michael Jordan not retiring the first or second time, having a more natural regression. I know most people might frown upon this, but its my league, my rules, my drama. I will be the one to tell the story, just hopefully you all are able to enjoy it.

There is a certain draft rule in place for each franchise. I like a little familiarity with teams, and have given the teams qualified for franchise picks to be able to take those players with their 1st Rd pick. For example, next season the Milwaukee Hawks (who are using Bucks players; Atlanta Revolution is using Hawks players, but while the St.Louis Bombers came in with 5 players from the 1968 St. Louis Hawks team) will get a chance to draft one guy in the 1st Rd from either the 1969 Bucks, 1994 Bucks & 2019 Bucks -- that player would be UCLA's Lew Alcindor or who most of the world knows as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. By taking their franchise pick, they don't get to draft in the 1st Round again.

There may be times that a franchise feels that they may have a better shot in what's available in the draft, there will be some franchises that will have more than one great draft option as a franchise pick, but they only can have one, and would have to sacrifice talent in the process. Teams that don't take a franchise pick would be placed in draft order according to team record or if they traded or acquired picks. Teams can acquire 1st Rd picks from other teams and use that pick, along with a franchise pick... but they can't use that acquired pick to take a franchise pick from the acquired team (Example: Detroit acquires 1st Rd pick from Chicago, but can't use that acquired pick as a Chicago-player debut franchise pick).

I know that this can all be confusing, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the season that takes place with me worrying about all the X's and O's.

You all might think that over time these teams would benefit overnight, but not really when teams like Milwaukee pull out a Jabbar every so often and will use their franchise pick to pick up position need on maybe even the likes of a Vin Baker. The Detroit Motors for example will most definitely be using their 'Franchise Pick' in each of their next three seasons by drafting Allan Houston (93'-94') in Year 2, Grant Hill (94'-95') in Year 3 & Bob Lanier (70'-71') in Year 4.

At the same time, teams that traditionally have had great teams and great players such as the Boston Fighting Irish (Celtics) and Los Angeles Magic (Lakers) can only have one franchise pick per year (like every team) but will be kicking off some talent from time-to-time to take better talent... For example, the Irish will be losing two guards next season, one to death unfortunately to Reggie Lewis and the other as a free agent. So they will either take a chance in the draft or settle on a position need in franchise pick - guard Don Chaney, while sacrificing other franchise pick option (of same Galaxy Season) in center Robert Williams (2019), who still has breakout potential for the Celtics in today's NBA.

The inaugural start-up roster for Boston consisted of such great talent, that between 1968, 1993 & 2018 and picking only five players from those eras while watching that $120 salary cap, Boston had to say good bye to an old, but relatively still-productive Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale, plus Tom Sanders, Rick Fox, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Larry Siegfried & Daniel Theis. The team was so loaded that to honor guard Sam Jones some playing time, they sent him packing to Pittsburgh for another 1968 player in Chico Vaughn (who won't play, unless serious injuries) and Pittsburgh's Year 2 - 2nd Rd Draft Pick, which should be an early pick. Also keep in mind, Jones is at the tip-of-the tail end of his career here.

The Irish will be playing a rotation of Reggie Lewis, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, John Havlicek, Bill Russell, Jaylen Brown, Dee Brown, Kevin Gamble, Al Horford, Don Nelson & Bailey Howell. The team is simply stacked and that's after the preseason decisions listed above in the previous paragraph.

It's safe to say that putting together 36 rosters, starting lineups, rotations, salary sheets for each team, excel files on these teams, you name it... has all taken a few months to put together. I looked for logos, bounced team names ideas even off the wife, find a new direction on a name, change another team again do to similarities, see something online, and I would think Damn, I didn't think of that, that's clever and then I was on another thing etc etc....

It has been a long and winding trip, but I am extremely happy that I took my time though, even up to the last minute here I was still tinkering with possible trades, but I think it's time to get this ball rolling now.