Retro roster project, some questions

Hey!

I am thinking about starting a retro roster project...where should I start?

1) NBA 2K23 or an older version? Do you think there will be a good mod to edit in 2K23?

2) I created a 1994-95 mod for 2K20 (based on another mod)...all good, but I want to do something different.

I want to use the start of the 1995-96 season with Toronto and Vancouver...all teams have their real players...
Then I want to add an expansion team that should be allowed to select players from all other teams including Toronto and Vancouver.

I tested this with NBA2K19, but there are always two teams in expansion mod..my created team AND Seattle. Why?

Is it possible to select players from all teams without limits? Can I override the CPU's decision what players to protect?

3) When adding draft classes, do they only contain players, but teams draft random players (or based on attributes) OR is it possible to assign players in the draft class to the teams they were actually drafted by?

I think the issue is that 2k does not allow us to save our rosters or use our rosters once we go offline. Offline we cant play with our rosters. Which is why i feel people have not or are afraid to start creating retro rosters. There are ways around this though.....

But im gonna start just creating players that need to be on retro teams. Im gonna start that really soon. But let me know if you need help with creating players that's needed.