I have a lot of commitments too. I'm not sure how the draft will work, but it will be over an extended period (week or something). Its unrealistic for all of us to be able to sync up our schedules. We'd do two rounds though. I'd use an unnamed mock draft to automate team decisions, while rolling dice to add some variety (I was thinking something like roll two dice each pick and if doubles are rolled, that number on the dice, skip that amount of prospects and pick the next player. Just to add some basic variety without me being in control of everything.
I'd find some expected value for key free agents and start around there for negotiations. I'd roll dice to give some variety and see how negotiations work with the teams. I'm not going to negotiate for the Brad Wanamakers of the world. I think we can focus on the top 8-10 of the roster and assume the rest is filled with minimums. Unless there is a specific binkie that someone wants for some reason (holding out hope for Bender or something).
Trades will be pretty straight forward (use realgm or espn trade machine or prove your trade would work), but we might establish some rule with a maximum of two trades to keep things easy and practical to track.
Admittedly this will probably be less stringent on the rules. I'm not throwing out the rules, but I'd rather focus on fun, use common sense, and try to mirror what an off-season could realistically look like for teams if they took different directions.