Draft Night

[LazyTitanSmash]

Draft Night

After memeing for an hour yesterday and miscounting my points, even after voting in the awards for two points, I’m still 5 points short of paying my taxes. So here we go. (I’ll leave last year's playoff for the presser.)

First off, why am I the only one who cares that the Magic didn’t play their best player and DID NOT OWN THEIR DRAFT PICK? WTF is that about? It left the best GM of all time (the Bulls) with the best chance of getting the number 1 pick in the draft. I want to say the Magic weren't paying attention and it was an oversight, but Candice Parker got 0 minutes and was on the injured reserve list. Why? At the very least, people need to start making memes about this.

For some context about this draft, I think it was loaded. It was probably the deepest draft of really good players I’ve seen since joining the league. I liked it so much I tried to make a deal similar to the Aja deal (two legit blues) for any of the first six picks. (And I made offers on the 7th and 8th picks as well.) For those few of you who still don’t believe in the youth movement, no one took me up on my offers because legit blue-pot rookies are the most valuable players in this league, no matter what anyone says during trade talks.
Now, back to the actual draft.


#1 Pick - Jay Ortiz/Dalton Knecht

Thank the sim gods that the Grizzlies moved into the first overall pick and chose what I think is the obvious best player in the draft. First off, there isn’t a young lottery team more ready to win now than the Grizzlies. They have young players who are good now and still on rookie contracts. They have a ton of cap space to add to their core of Dalton Knecht, Desmond Bane, Josh Giddey, and Tennessee Rainwater.

Knecht is obviously blue/blue and ready to contribute now. He’s a lock for Rookie of the Year and joining a damn good team. What I’m curious about is whether being b/b coming into the league means he’s more likely to go purple. My guess is yes. He’s super athletic, super fast, has an A in inside scoring, and an A in defense. His only downside is being 6'5". But that’s better than 6'0", so I’m curious to see his long-term upside. Has he already reached it? My guess is no.

They now have four superstars who are about to go blue. All they need to do is keep them together, pick up a few role players, and they’re a playoff team next year for sure. Super happy to see the Grizzlies back in action.

#2 Rhett Lykins/Dejounte Murray

This guy on the Bulls gives me PTSD. I feel like I’m about to rewatch the Mac McClung movie again. There are three teams I watch closely because they win so god damn always: the Bulls, Lakers, and Pistons.

I was thinking Thomas Rego was the premier point guard of this draft. But because the Bulls took Dejounte Murray, it has me re-evaluating. Rego is all gas on offense, except passing. And seeing how he can only be a point guard at 6'0", that’s going to be a problem. Which brings me to height: Dejounte Murray is 6'3" versus Rego's 6'0". The only thing that stopped McClung from going purple was height. Did that factor into the decision? The most obvious reason to take Murray over Rego is defense. Without points added, I doubt Murray will ever be the offensive player Rego could be, but defensively, Murray is way better. Especially for Garbageman—he took defense, passing, and height over offense and speed. Or maybe he took him because he sees how to use points more efficiently to boost him.

#3 Tony Simpkins

This was especially annoying since I texted him last night that the draft was tomorrow morning, and he had the 3rd overall pick. And he still let it auto-pick. Now for the pick itself: I don’t hate it. I personally like Thomas Rego better, but seeing that he already has the best point guard in the league, picking Simpkins was probably the right move. Height, speed, offense, and defense—what’s not to like? If he could have seen all the draft picks' player pages before the draft, that might have made a difference.

#4 Jerry Byars/Dain Dainja

A really good big man. He’s the classic big, and he’s quick. I think he went a little higher than I would have chosen him. I personally liked Thomas Rego and Melvin Siegfried more, but Dainja has a ton of upside if you're willing to put the points in. I’d be curious to see his player page and see how many points it would take to turn him purple.

#5 Melvin Siegfried/Jay Bilas

He’s fast for his size, athletic for his size. He can go inside, get fouled, and shoot free throws. He can hit the three with regularity. He’s going to be a scoring microwave. Not only is he going to be an offensive powerhouse once he comes online, but he’s also not a lost cause on defense. B inside defense kind of locks him in at SF, but with Cs in steals, perimeter defense, and blocking, he won’t be out there like IRL James Harden.

#6 Thomas Rego

This guy was a steal at the 6th spot. Even though you HAVE TO train his passing, and his defense is suspect for sure, and he’s not the tallest PG (6'0"), he’s going to be a beast in the league. Offensively, there are only 2 or 3 players in this draft on his level. Having to train a point guard’s potential passing is annoying, especially since you can’t get it past 85. But damn, he’s going to be a scoring point guard. If you don’t want a score-first, Russell Westbrook-type point guard, then I guess letting him slip to the 6th spot makes sense.

Players 2-6 seemed to have similar potential to me. I think the players after the 6th pick were a slight step down.

#7 Timothy Northcutt/Rui Aizawa

He wasn’t one of my targets. He’ll be an experiment in how good you can be if you’re 6'6", athletic, super fast, and have inside scoring. Those are very key categories to excel in. I mean, that’s mostly what people train their players in, but if you ONLY have those key attributes, how good can you be? We’ll see.

#8 Thomas Evans/Rui Todoroki

I really liked Rui Todoroki. The 46 quickness on a 6'10" frame is hard to come by in this league. He is also a very strong defender, blocker, and rebounder. While he may never be an All-Star, he’ll hold down the middle and could easily be a defensive starter on a championship team when he hits his prime.

#9 Jerry Minor/Lenny Stapleton

He slipped through the cracks and could have been taken a few picks earlier. 55 quickness on a 6'11" frame who can rebound, get fouled, and shoot free throws. He’s decent at everything, and with a few points toward inside scoring, he could easily be a problem for the league down the road.



(God damn. Finally got the last 5 points I needed to get out of the <expletive deleted> tax hell. Note to self: don’t go into the tax if the Pistons have a super team. Also, next time figure out a way to break old man Alvarado’s kneecaps like we did to Bricker. Oh and if I make another trade with the Hawks it's because no one will trade two 26 year old very good b/b players for 1 rookie!)

[greepleairport]

Absolutely everyone: feeder teams are cheating
LTS: its everyone else's fault i have a feeder team

[AngryBanana]

Complains about the Pistons having so much talent compared to everyone else, proceeds to thank the sim gods that the Grizz get the top pick to set up another Pistons like team... All seriousness, good read. I hope you write some more, since your tax bill needs some loving again.

1301 words, +5 points