To be clear can we draft someone who started before the merger but was still in the league after it. So a if guy like Kareem wasn't a top 75 player could we draft him? And if so, how should we account for someone like that? Do we only account for the post-merger seasons in our analysis of the player? Another top 75 that really represents this issue is Havlicek. He played a couple of seasons post-merger, but no one would draft him based on those couple of seasons. Just looking for clarity
I say yes, all guys who played 1976-77 onwards are available to draft.
We only consider single season performance in these things rather than career so how they played pre 1976 doesn't matter.
Havlicek of 1976-77 may get drafted. He was an All-Star his final two years and a well rounded SF. He is better than some other SFs who put up more guady stat lines due to his two-way game. Edit: Hondo would be top 75 so he couldn't be drafted. But yeah you just got to take one of their 1976-77 or onwards seasons if selecting a player who started before the merger.