[EricH]

I was thinking more like this:

newly-available team: Any team that becomes available for any reason more than X time after a draft (say 24 hours--that's usually enough time to settle down any post-draft trades).

During the drafting/build seasons, newly-available teams go through the waiver process as outlined above.

During competition, the priority is based on number of missing teams, and current standings (each missing team being equivalent to Y leapfrogs higher up the list, and standings in reverse order).