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Is the entire concept of having a draft even legal? Shouldn't a player have the right to sign with whatever team he wants (provided they want him), instead of having his employer dictated to him by the league?

An interesting question I've thought about on occasion. As a practical matter, since the NBA went to just two rounds and the NFL cut way back on the number of rounds they have, players drafted are very likely to make the teams they are drafted by and undrafted players are free to pick teams and situations that they view as most beneficial to them.

Professional sports also enjoy some protections from the applications of anti-trust laws, but those laws really can't be used to prevent someone from making a living if they have the ability to compete at that level.

The NFL Draft was declareds an anti-trust violation back in the 1970's I believe. However, the NFL Players Association negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that traded away free agency rights for the players for some other benefits, and the NFL Draft was restored.

The NFL has to my knowledge lost every anti-trust case filed against it. The really weird case was the Donald Trump League case in which the jury awarded the other league $1 of damages that was tripled to $3 despite finding that the NFL violated anti-trust laws.