But in a twist, he suggests only allowing players outside the AFL to be drafted when long-term injuries at AFL clubs arise.
"I like the (mid-season draft) idea more outside of the current playing pool," he said.
"You've got blokes who are killing it at Diamond Valley or in the SANFL, or in the WAFL and they might have just missed out on being drafted or a rookie-listed player.
"But they've had a really great start to the season.
"You say ... 'We've got this guy we want to give a crack to'."
The idea would turn heads in state and regional leagues, where players could find themselves battling in the mud one week, and on the MCG the next.
Buckley believes it would also strengthen tight-knit bonds between grassroots and elite AFL clubs.
His contribution is the latest offering from AFL coaches keen to tinker with the balancing act between club loyalty and player power.
On Tuesday, Geelong coach Chris Scott argued for scrapping free agency, while Melbourne coach Paul Roos suggested clubs would resort to trading players in advance to avoid losing them for free.
Buckley said one the advantages of his draft would be that clubs wouldn't lose players, but injury-ravaged clubs could fill gaps on their list.
He cited his own struggles with key backmen Ben Reid and Nathan Brown as exhibit A.
"With the injury profiles we've seen at certain clubs ... we would have loved a little bit of support in the key back region.
"If we had a mid-season draft, we may have been able to go there."
Buckley didn't mince words when considering an AFLPA model where contracted players could sign secret mid-season agreements to join another club.
"It just sounds wrong," he said.
"I've heard stories about how the NRL run it and the fact you can have players play out a season in a team with his teammates already knowing.
"There's only one thing worse than that and that's somebody knowing that they're going somewhere else and not telling, not being honest."
