#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Based on the results of the season, there are questions each team must answer (will be updated as teams are eliminated from the playoffs).

CELTICS: Is there a legitimate star in this draft?
The Celtics sold off John Wall to solidify their chances at a top-3 pick and have to hope there is a legitimate star... or two... in this draft to build around. Most of the pundits are down on this draft class, calling it undersized and underwhelming. For the C's to get back into contention, they'll need multiple draft picks to hit. Good thing for them they have stockpiled picks for the rebuild.

BOBCATS: When will Damion McNary be ready for primetime?
The Bobcats have a nice collection of smaller players but need to find an interior anchor. McNary wasn't that this season. Is Darth (and John Wall) patient enough to wait for him to come around or will the Bobcats try to accelerate their rebuild via trade?

TRAILBLAZERS: Is this C.J. McCollum's team?
The Blazers have the cap space to easily make a run at multiple free agents, but dangling C.J. McCollum on the block immediately after trading for him suggests they may not be sold on his talents. If he gets a max offer and signs with another team, will the Blazers want to match and commit to building around him?

HEAT: Do we have our next core?
The Heat have big money committed to Jonas Valanciunas, Greg Monroe, and Tobias Harris going forward. All are talents under 25 years old - but they only managed 23 wins this season. The Heat need to know if these guys just need better guards or if they just plain don't fit together well enough to compete.

MAVERICKS: Will free agents come to Dallas?
The Mavs have a bona fide young star with 23-year-old Bradley Beal and now that DeRozan will be coming off the books, should have the cap space to surround him. The trick will be finding the right pieces to put around them and hoping that all the free agent money they have available can be well-spent.

MAGIC: Which young guys are our core and which are expendable?
The Magic have four great young talents under 24, three top picks in this year's draft, and 10 more picks over the next 3 drafts. They will be well-positioned once Bogut's salary comes off the books to add talent but that window's only going to be open for a single free agent class before they have to start paying their young guys in RFA. And they're not going to be able to keep everybody once RFA starts hitting them in 2-3 seasons. How well will they be able to manage getting depth in their open-cap window and then circulating guys that aren't part of their core for younger parts? All I know is it's a good problem to have.

LAKERS: What went wrong?
The talent is there on paper, but the pieces just don't fit together. The Lakers have what looks like a great young core, they just can't win. They need to figure out why this happened and ship some guys out. Which guys? I don't know either, but the Lakers have been sitting on this core waiting for it to jell for several seasons now. It should be clear it's not happening.

WIZARDS: Where are we going to find a point guard?
The Wizards went big but didn't have anyone to really set up the offense (sorry, Jordan Clarkson, but no). They finished dead last in the league in assists and really need to get a floor general that can set up all their other guys. Finding a way to do that without giving up more draft picks (they lack their own this year) would be a good idea, too.

RAPTORS: Are we going to commit to a rebuild or take one more go at a ring?
The Raptors have been trying to straddle the line between reloading and rebuilding for a couple of seasons now and all of their key players except possibly Hassan Whiteside are reaching the end of their primes and don't have any more room for improvement. The Raptors could try to bring in a high-priced free agent to mix with their current talent and take another stab at a title with their core or start selling off pieces for a rebuild - they have the talent at the ages to do either, we'll just have to see which way they decide to go.

76ERS: How much insurance do we need?
The Sixers' squad is almost ready for primetime and all their key pieces still have room to grow. They just need to make sure TC doesn't set them back. Insurance will be key to make sure even if TC smacks them, it is only delaying - not destroying - their chance for dominance in the Atlantic.

KINGS: Win now with Rose or win later with Duren?
The Kings have been extremely patient with Duren but trading for Rose was more of a win-now move. The Kings have some pieces they could move around to try to get win-now talent, but the guess here is that the Kings are looking for the right time to trade their win-now pieces to try to accumulate a juggernaut that will peak in 3-4 years when Duren is ready.

JAZZ: Is it time to move Paul George?
George is going into the final year of his contract and is sure to get a max or supermax after next season. If the team in Utah isn't good enough to make the playoffs now, is the cap space that went to Darren Collison going to get them enough talent to make the jump next season? George will be infinitely more difficult to move on a supermax so if the Jazz aren't convinced they can put a winner around him this year, look for him to be shopped and the rebuild to be on.

THUNDER: How soon do we pivot to build around Jabari Parker?
Most of the Thunder talent outside of Parker is expiring and/or leaving their primes (Thomas). This squad feels like it underachieved. The Thunder had nice talent on mid-level salaries; I'm not sure they'll be able to pull that off again. If they don't have a good free agent period, we may see the Thunder decide it's time to move on from Thomas and focus on Parker.

ROCKETS: When will Horford be shipped out?
GM 78 has said he wants to leave, but also said he doesn't want to leave the Rockets in bad shape for the next GM. If that's the case, the Rockets need to be frugal in free agency and find a taker for Al Horford. He's going to have to take pennies on the dollar due to Horford's huge salary but if he can do that, the table can be cleared pretty quickly for a rebuild from the ground up in Houston - either in the image of 78 or whoever the next GM is.

GRIZZLIES: Was the February and March run fool's gold?
The Grizz had pretty much as good a February and March as anyone, but stumbled into the playoffs and wound up getting broomed out by the Spurs. If they are the team they were in February and March, they might be worth keeping together despite the crushing tax bill they're going rack up... if they're the team that showed up in April, Louie needs to sell off this team quickly to get his tax situation back under control.

WigNosy wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:23 pm

Based on the results of the season, there are questions each team must answer (will be updated as teams are eliminated from the playoffs).

CELTICS: Is there a legitimate star in this draft?
The Celtics sold off John Wall to solidify their chances at a top-3 pick and have to hope there is a legitimate star... or two... in this draft to build around. Most of the pundits are down on this draft class, calling it undersized and underwhelming. For the C's to get back into contention, they'll need multiple draft picks to hit. Good thing for them they have stockpiled picks for the rebuild.

Undersized and Underwhelming may be the new Boston motto...

NETS: Can we get the right pieces around Buddy, Ibaka, and Galinari now or do we make the long play for when Buddy hits his prime?
The Nets this year look like a team that's one or two pieces away from contention. They have a legitimate young star with Buddy and Ibaka and Galinari still have three to four years left before age starts degrading them. What they really need is backcourt help - they need to decide whether they can wait for Medina and Lamb to grow into their potential or if it's time to push all in, flip them for guards that can help them win now, and then build around Buddy again in 3-4 years when Ibaka and Galinari move out of their primes. The Nets should have several chances with this young core, and while they don't want to waste it, they can afford to be patient.

PACERS: Did this team peak last year and are we now on the downslope?
Spoiler alert: I think the answer is "yes." Deron is still as productive as ever and you can't blame him for the playoff loss (36 ppg and 16 apg). But he's 32. Oden is 29. Deng is 32. Shumpert and Dedmon are 26 and 27 respectively but they're not going to grow much and the rest of the core is getting old. The Pacers don't have to blow it up just yet, but at the very least they need to infuse some new talent into this team; the core they brought back after the Finals run last year is going to get worse, not better, with age.

CAVALIERS: What kind of a trade package can we find for Chris Paul?
That may sound harsh, but the Cavaliers barely eked into the playoffs this season and haven't been north of 43 wins in 5 seasons - that's a team in purgatory... too good to get better via a great draft pick, and not good enough to be a true contender. CP3 still has gas left in the tank, but he's 32 and their future star, Dirk Hardpeck, is 20. They need to get young pieces that will peak in the same window as Hardpeck and CP3 is their best bet to get those pieces - by the time Hardpeck is fully grown, Paul is going to be a shadow of himself.

NUGGETS: Can we find a new athletic trainer?
The Nuggets backed into the playoffs after injuries to Klay Thompson and Al Jefferson torpedoed their season. Before the injuries, they were 28-22 and if not a favorite to knock off a white-hot Warriors squad, certainly a worthy contender in the West. They'll have a chance to totally rework the squad around Drummond and Klay and as long as they can put enough offense in the frontcourt to offset Drummond's offensive ineptitude they could compete again next season. The big question in Denver will be whether they can bring in the right pieces at the right prices in Free Agency.

SUNS: Will top free agents take our money in Free Agency this offseason?
The Suns have absolutely every single player dropping off the books this season, enabling them to go full reset. We all know Love should be back on a supermax ... but who else will join him? They had to cobble a team together from the leftovers after striking out on their top targets in Phase 1 of Free Agency this season and will hope next season is a little kinder to them in terms of getting the attentions of the top free agents. They are a totally blank slate next season.

TIMBERWOLVES: Again?
We've heard on Horns and Fangs about the curse of Raby not being able to win in the playoffs, and he had the ill-fortune to run into the defending champs who were probably underseeded after adding a top player (Lebron) late in the season. Other than Bosh, the T-Wolves core shouldn't be hit too hard by age so I think they can probably run it back... and with Bosh's deal coming off the books, they should have some of cap space to add depth to the roster so they can survive an injury a little better even with Porter up for RFA. I think the Wolves are in a good spot and with a little better depth and a little better luck with injuries and matchups, they should be able to make a deep run next season.

BUCKS: How close is the talent gap between us and the Bulls?
The Bucks finished six games behind the Bulls thanks to injuries early and a concerted attempt to avoid the Pistons late. The Bucks, Pistons, and Bulls all have cores that still have room to grow and Kyrie Irving in particular was a revelation this year. The Bucks could close the talent gap with a good TC but the smart money is on Doug trying to find a way to add another piece or two in the offseason. How aggressive they are in adding pieces will depend largely upon how close they perceive the talent gap to be.

WARRIORS: What are we going to do about our bills?
GM BowtotheBill is probably the more important "Bill" to worry about, as he has announced he is looking to retire from GM'ing for a period. The Warriors have learned to rely on his steady hand and he has proven to be one of the best GMs in the league. The other "Bill" they have to worry about, of course, is their pending luxury tax bills as they are looking to be deep into the tax for some time unless they make some massive roster changes... again.

PISTONS: Who can we get to surround AD?
The Pistons are looking to take the next step after winning a playoff series, and it probably has to start with getting a secondary scorer. Their gameplan this season was to run a lot of 3-point shooters (Singler, Bogdanovic) out around AD, which is fine, but they really need a dynamic secondary scorer who can get more than 13 ppg even if it hurts AD's point production. Finding a star-caliber point guard who can score and distribute would be a huge help. Ramon Sessions and Aaron Brooks were decent this season but they need better.

BULLS: How do we line up our talent windows?
The Bulls made a strong showing this season but Goran Dragic and Carmelo Anthony are on the wrong side of thirty and 22-year-old Zach LaVine hasn't quite matured as fast as Chicago would like. The Bulls need to commit to one timeframe or the other - either be willing to move LaVine for a win-now talent to push them over the hump even if it costs them in the future - or try to find win-now takers for their older pieces willing to give up young talent that is 2 or 3 years away and build around LaVine and Oladipo.

PELICANS: How many more runs are in our core?
The Pelicans made a gutsy move to bring in LeBron, and both LeBron and George Hill should still be very productive next season but no member of their core is under 27 and age is going to start eating away at them eventually. The Pelicans have made great win-now moves the last couple of seasons, and can probably keep making such moves as long as their core is championship caliber. But with everyone except Lillard coming off the books this season, and keeping the core likely requiring big money, the Pelicans need to figure out how long their window will stay open.

CLIPPERS: Will Biyombo ever reach his potential?
When Roy Hibbert got hurt, the Clippers could have used a step up from Biyombo. They didn't get it. Monta Ellis and Greivis Vasquez are starting to see their games erode and with Biyombo eating up a substantial portion of their salary (along with KD) they need to see improvement from him soon. Most of the Clipper core are starting the backside of their career and while KD is likely to continue to be a monster, they need their investment in Biyombo to start paying dividends soon.

HAWKS: Was it injuries, gameplanning, or just not quite being good enough that did us in?
The Hawks have a lot of moves to look back on this season and second-guess themselves about. A team that started 11-deep reached the playoffs only 6-deep. Would keeping Afflalo and Ed Davis on the roster instead of trading them to the Bobcats for cap relief have helped them better weather the Middleton and Green injuries? Maybe. Should they have tried to stick with their "big man" gameplan of Noah and Gasol after Chandler went down instead of trying to work a still-injured Draymond back in at PF? Maybe. Is it possible that their outside-focused squad relied too much on streaky jump shooting to win cost them against a team with good perimeter defenders? Maybe. Could it have been something else? Maybe. The Hawks aren't in big trouble, but they have to figure out what went wrong and try to correct it if they want to make a deep playoff run again next season.

WigNosy wrote:WARRIORS: What are we going to do about our bills?
GM BowtotheBill is probably the more important "Bill" to worry about, as he has announced he is looking to retire from GM'ing for a period. The Warriors have learned to rely on his steady hand and he has proven to be one of the best GMs in the league. The other "Bill" they have to worry about, of course, is their pending luxury tax bills as they are looking to be deep into the tax for some time unless they make some massive roster changes... again.

Quitting is a pretty good way to handle a tax bill

KNICKS: Can we get over the hump?
The Knicks need to assess whether they think internal growth from some of their young players (like Jokic) will be enough to get them over the hump for a title next season or whether they need to hand on to DeMarre Carroll, let their core keep growing, or go out and find another piece.

SPURS: Can we repeat?
The question every champion asks themselves every time they win the title. With Jordan Hill, Russell Westbrook, and Dennis Schroder hitting free agency (including RFA) in the off-season, the Spurs will have to manage their money carefully to bring this squad back intact. But hey, they're champions so it's a good problem to have!

Wow, great write-up Wigs!!!

You can claim 5 points.