A few executives have spitballed about tweaking this one draft so that teams could trade only picks — and not current players. The appeal would be getting rookies in the door, such as they are allowed in any door, as early as possible. But the draft and free agency are connected; teams navigate the draft with an eye on what comes next. The league may prefer to keep the current draft date to capitalize on momentum coming out of the bubble. They could complete some frantic negotiation that would at least lead to a preliminary cap estimate. They could also just say, “Tough.” Teams have drafted under great uncertainty before — including with lockouts looming.