I still think that casual viewers will stumble upon games, and you'd think ESPN and ABC (being part of the same parent company) could probably make a shift if they were truly concerned.  Still, I think that if you don't own cable, you're probably not really going to care if you stumble on a game.

As far as the NFL goes... that's exactly what they're doing. NFL network gets random games?  The coveted Monday Night Football slot going to ESPN?  Not quite the same level, but each football game counts for more than an NBA one.

Finally, I agree with you about cultivating a product, I'm simply stating the problem with the age-limit defense for the NBA...obviously it's beneficial for the NBA to have many players develop before hitting the league, but unlike football, they can't justify it AS much in terms of defending themselves form an age-discrimination lawsuit.  There are too many high-school to superstar cases to argue otherwise (even if the development took a few years in the league).  The NFL can just argue that a 19 year-old will get killed playing with 300 pound behemoths, but the NBA doesn't have that route.

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