The Approval Report

[garbageman]

While JNR has already looked into the team talent reports and how those have changed over the offseason, and a few articles in the past (from a golden age when the written word was still held in high regard) have tried to untangle cohesion, I'm here today to take a look at another aspect of the PBSL Fast Break Pro Basketball 3 footer: Approval. Whether this is fan approval, owner approval, or the GM's stern father's approval, I'm not quite sure. I just know it's not my approval rating. Anyway, let's take a look at both.


78# - Houston Rockets

Though the sim-puter is constantly enamored with 78%, his Approval rating sits at a flat AVG. I feel like this is low for a team that constantly gets the most out of its players and hasn't missed the playoffs since 10 seasons ago. Sure, it's frustrating for fans, owners, and dads alike to see a team get close so many times without even reaching the finals, but with the way that 78# has kept the Rockets competing for so long, he deserves a higher approval rating.


Angry Banana - OKC Thunder

If the FBB Pro rankings were hard on 78#, they're even harder on AngryBanana. He's given a rating of BAD with a downward trend. After years of neglect from the make_it_rain era, though, Thunder fans should know it's gotta be better than it was. Banana has had the reins for the Thunder for a few seasons now, and he's managed to assemble a lot of really promising young players like Pete Maravich, Clifton Cage, Nathaniel Anderson, Josh Hart, and Nick Papagiorgio who are starting to come into their own. However, many expected them to be a playoff team this year. Are they? No. But is there hope? Plenty. Since Angry didn't have to sit through the previous administration, maybe he had more patience to spare, but he's not rushing the rebuild and doing it right, proving himself the most capable new GM of the bunch.


ballsohard - Philadelphia 76ers

He's one of the most successful GMs in PBSL history, so the flat GOOD approval rating is even harsh. The 76ers are currently the frontrunners in a very talented Eastern Conference. They've been on a long successful run after a smart rebuild that fostered a roster with a replenishing mix of win-now talent and future superstars shortly after their last championship in 2010. Since then, they haven't won it again despite high expectations. Maybe that ticks them down to GOOD, but the Philly faithful should be GREATful for a guy like balls to helm their basketball team.


Conroy - Boston Celtics

After a Conference Finals appearance in 2011, Conroy let the Celtics step back and rebuild a bit throughout the 2010s, coming back this decade with a strongly built team consisting of one of the most potent backcourts in the league with Tyler Ulis and Julio De La Rosa. They've also done a tremendous job of fielding talent at other positions (though none of their bigs have remained with their guard core for too long). Perhaps this is why they're stuck with another flat AVG rating. I'd say that's a little low, but not too low. They've made it to the second round a couple times, but cap management put a ceiling on the Celts as they've never been able to put together a team with too much depth because of large contracts for their superstars. Still, gotta appreciate how hard Conroy hustled to make sure their tax situation never spun into something that would hurt the team long term.


Darth Vegito - Charlotte Bobcats

Speak of the devil, the Charlotte Bobcats are finally out of their tax nightmare, and it's no surprise that they've got a flat BAD approval rating. As GM of the Bobcats over their entire expansion team lifespan, Darth quickly ramped up the Bobcats, getting them into the playoffs by their third season as a team. He went for it all in 2019, and when that didn't pan out due to poorly timed injury, the Bobcats found themselves in the basement for the next six seasons, and it looks like despite another effort to field a winning team through trades, they're going to be missing out again. At least now they have the opportunity to start fresh and on an even offseason playing field, and I'm excited to see what Darth tries next. Hopefully the Bobcats fans will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, too.


Digiskunk - Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz have a flat AVG approval rating, and it's the first time in this article that I think their approval rating could be perceived as generous. Not that Gary, who some consider a wildcard, doesn't have a plan, but after coming so close (twice) with his last build only to get swept (twice) in the Finals, the Jazz are in their third year of a rebuild that looks like it's only now getting started. After trading Kight and Gebhardt, the Jazz received a young core that they decided they just didn't like, so they kicked the can down the road. With plenty of cap space, though, if they can slog through another couple of seasons, the Jazz will have to play their hand perfectly to get the right vets to come up with their future core--all who look like solid enough players, but none who look like a true team savior.


drkavarga - New York Knicks

What do the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers have in common? Their flat GOOD approval rating. This must be where all the APPROVAL CALCULATOR's generosity went. After winning a championship early on in his tenure, Kavarga has had to navigate the Knicks through a sea of bad contracts and has had to leverage his team's future to do so. With oversized contracts for Tim Locklear, Melvin McCall, and Andrew Aleman, he doesn't have a lot of maneuvering room for a while, and the Knicks have had to trade away some of their best future assets to avoid complete destruction. There's still a way out, but it's going to be a lot of work, and it's definitely not GOOD.


Eazy P - San Antonio Spurs

Since their championship win in 2016 (and the one before that in 2011), the Spurs entered a long rebuild, and they're just recently getting out of it...and fast. From a 35-47 team in 2023 that missed the playoffs (although in today's Western Conference, that sounds like a 7th seed to me!), they made round 2 in the 2024 playoffs and the conference finals in 2025. At 46-10, they look poised to make it just as far...and I'd say farther if it wasn't for the ridiculously dominant Nuggets going for a three-peat. Maybe it takes a while for approval to rise, but the flat AVG seems like it could be higher for Eazy...a longstanding GM with a winning record and a proven track record of knowing what he's doing.


false9 - Orlando Magic

The mad scientist behind "Bobaning", false 9 has an upward trending GOOD approval rating. After a long, 5 year rebuild that eventually resulted in some GM work that netted him his first championship in less than 10 seasons as a GM, false9 went on a shorter rebuild that saw him winning after only 3 years. With a trip to the league finals in 2024, the Magic have been a force in the Southeast Division, proving a foil for the Hawks for long enough that Wig finally committed to a rebuild for real. Still, the Magic stumbled in the playoffs last year, losing to the 8th seed (albeit a very talented one). Even after trading Wiggins to open the door for Young, Jackson, and Marjanovic to take the reins, they remain a division leader. I'd say they're upward trending GOOD is at least PROPERLY RAY-TED.


garbageman - Chicago Bulls

With a flat GREAT rating, it looks like the APPROVAL CALCULATOR hit this nail right on the head.


IamQuailman - Milwaukee Bucks

Another accurate flat GREAT rating. If you're a Milwaukee Bucks fan, you love the rollercoaster that Quailman puts you on. Even when he's tanking, the prospects he assembles are the ones that any fan gets super excited about: RJ Barrett, Clifford Paugh, DeAaron Fox, Jaren Jackson, Jr...the list goes on. Don't get too attached to any particular player though, IamQuailman can snap his fingers and turn a rebuilding team into a championship contender. Bucks fans know they're only stuck in the doldrums for a little bit at a time before Doug tires of spatting with Varga and decides to rock the league with a trade that turns his team 180 degrees.


kucoach7 - Portland Trailblazers

The APPROVAL CALCULATOR is putting the POOR in POOR-tland with a flat POOR rating. I'd say that's slightly harsh. Sure, the Trailblazers have had a recent history missing the playoffs, but their rebuild is coming to fruition, their trades to get Ronald Small, probably the league's best point guard, and sharpshooting Jaylen Brown have complemented that rebuild nicely. Portland is a surefire playoff team out West again, and they could make waves in the playoffs (until they run into the Nuggets in round 2). Perhaps the APPROVAL CALCULATOR fears kucoach7's rival--and likely superior--knowledge of algorithms and statistics. At least Bagley III is happy now. That's gotta be a good sign. I see the brass and the fans both following suit very soon.


LHamilton - Cleveland Cavaliers

The first half of LHamilton's tenure as the Cavaliers general manager were winning years, but the back 9 have been miserable for Clevaland fans, who already have enough to be miserable about living in Cleveland. It's not really for a lack of trying, more so from a lack of going all the way. The Cavs have never made it further than round 2 under LHamilton, and stuck in the mid lotto, it's understandable that the AC gives the Cavs a flat BAD approval rating. The team needs to find a better balance, and at this point, it seems like being more active in the trade market and going all in one way or another would do the Cavs well.


Letsplayhorse - Dallas Mavericks

It's possible that the flat POOR Mavericks are finally tanking properly with the impressive losing streak they're on, notching recent losses to the Grizzlies and Knioks. However, out in the West, tanking can be just as tricky as winning. In his 6 seasons figuring things out as the Mavs' GM, LPH has made the playoffs 4 times, seemingly by accident. It's nice for Dallas fans to at least get to enjoy some post-season ball, even if it is continually getting trounced by the top seed. With some steep contracts and a staunch refusal to believe that it's all downhill after 31, it's still a bit more work on the learning curve for the Mavs in some aspects of their game, but they're still putting in the work.


LoCo89 - Vancouver Grizzlies

The Grizzlies are being stewarded, so a flat BAD is pretty appropriate here. Without the stewards, they might be 0-56 instead of 7-49, but then again, the Grizzlies are deep in the tax and nowhere near paying it off, even though the league was generally in favor of tax forgiveness in a vote a few seasons back that never resulted in any ratified proposal. Perhaps we'll see LoCo on a milk carton before we see him back at the helm of the Grizz.


logpmess - Miami Heat

The APPROVAL CALCULATOR has the Heat at POOR, but they're trending up after their first playoff appearance in many years. They're scrapping to repeat that now, but it's going to be tough in a packed Eastern Conference. Still, if they don't make it, they don't make it with a winning record and a positive differential (most likely). Injuries have kind of hurt them this season, and despite Devin Booker looking fantastic, they need a little more meat on their team's bones to be in the same league as the more serious contenders. Chalk up another acceptable calculation.


MESSI 2.0 - Phoenix Suns

The Suns have an AVG approval, but it's trending down. They made the unpopular decision to finally tear down after years of Kevin Love led success. Perhaps some of the new disapproval comes from the fact that they were a surefire playoff team out West. They did manage to get a suite of picks for their players, but as of yet, there doesn't appear to be anyone who stands out as the future of the Suns...nor is there a pick that looks strong enough to net them a true superstar. We're okay with the AVG rating since the rebuild is so new, but we'll be watching carefully to see which direction his approval swings.


NickMalone77 - New Orleans Pelicans

Flat AVG might be fitting for the Pelicans who are a low seed playoff team out West. With Nikola Jokic, it'll be hard to miss the playoffs, but even he's starting to show signs of age as he only has the Pels at a .500 record. They made a big move to attain Damion Williams from the Lakers, but plagued by an empty point guard spot and stuck with Jokic at over 40 million a year for the next four seasons, it'll be interesting to see what the Pelicans do. They could go in a ton of directions after this season, but after stagnating in the middle of the Southwest Division, a different direction could raise their approval if they can make the right moves to get off of this plateau.


NOLa. - Sacramento Kings

With GREAT cohesion, GREAT talent, and GREAT approval, Tani's hit the GREAT Trifecta. But instead of focusing on the words, Tani is focusing on the color of those words...blue. Ever sicne Duren left him, he hasn't been the same, and not even a 450th Pacific Division title can cure him.


Pauly P - Indiana Pacers

While you've got to love the fighting spirit of the Pacers, it seems like the consistency in which Pauly tries to balance fielding a competitive team and a fiscally responsible one have put the Pacers out of contention recently. There seemed to be a bit of acknowledgement of this by trading Judd Williams to the Celtics for Phil Milburn and 2 picks, but we'll see what happens to Milburn in Indianapolis. Right now, they sit with a flat POOR approval rating and the 2nd worst record in the Eastern Conference, but even choices like drafting Laurence Curtin...a decent player already at his ceiling in college...the Pacers dont appear to have the future too close to the forefront of their minds, which could be why they have yet to see the postseason in the 2020's.


RealPelicansFan - Brooklyn Nets

While their record has them over the cusp that separates playoff teams from lotto teams, the APPROVAL CALCULATOR has them at a flat AVG. This makes sense to me as the Nets have hokey pokeyed in and out of the playoffs over the past decade and a half with some longer runs before that. The Nets are a team that always looks solidly built, but with a few exceptions here or there, seem to stay close enough to .500 season in and season out. They're never going to be flat out horrible, but if they want to bring home the hardware to Brooklyn, they're going to need a roster with more depth than 3 stars on an 8 man roster.


Samsonian - Golden State Warriors

The Warriors GM seems to have fallen off the map after making some big trades last season to try to field a winning team. Unfortunately, Grimaldi and Ellinger weren't enough last year when paired with other talent that just wasn't there yet, and that looks to be a repeat case this season, albeit with nobody at the helm. The calculator gives them a stagnant poor, which might be harsh for last season, but seems about right for this season. Another absent offseason should knock them down to BAD.


Soundwave - Toronto Raptors

Like division rival Celtics and Nets, the Raptors are also given a flat AVG, which shows them rising fast since their rebuild had them missing the playoffs from 2016-2023 with a return two seasons ago. However, tax woes had them in jeopardy, so they made what looks ilke it's going to be a brilliant trade to skirt tax delinquency before next offseason while netting them RJ Barrett, perhaps the most promising rookie contract player in the league. Alongside Bjorn Ironside, who appears to be poised to take the scoring crown from Anthony Davis, RJ should bring a bright future to the Raptors, but they'll need to figure out a way to surround RJ and Bjorn with a better team...their efforts this year have them scrapping to get into the playoffs. I'd say the AVG rating is fitting only insomuch as it's fitting for the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics, whose efforts in the West would be far more dominant.


The JNR - Minnesota Timberwolves

The JNR's flat GOOD rating is about as good as a rebuilding team can hope for, and with a lot of solid veterans on reasonable contracts out West, they're poised to make the playoffs while rebuilding. Still riding high off of their 2022 championship, the fans and ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves should never really rate the JNR any lower, either. He's gotten them a ton of wins over his tenure, and any way you rate the Timberwolves seems like it should fall under lifetime achievement award status, even when Raby spends a couple of seasons having a kid and focusing on that instead of trading.


TheSyndicate - Denver Nuggets

The other side of the Duren situation from seasons past, the Nuggets are also a GREAT, GREAT, GREAT team, and their record shows. After two consecutive championships, this team seems poised to be the first ever PBSL team to three-peat. At 53-4, the Nuggets are on pace to set a record that may never be broken. They're on pace for around 76 wins. I don't have the SoS Report formula, but the ease of their schedule at least passes the eyeball test...they've got 15 home games to 10 away games to play and only 11 against the Eastern Conference, who they've had slightly more trouble with, if you can even call it that.


TheHollywoodClipShow - Los Angeles Clippers

It's not a surprise to me that the Clippers are a flat BAD. They haven't seen the playoffs since aburns211, and while ClipShow seems to be more active than the previous two Clippers GMs, a combination of devastating injuries (that's what you get when you name your dudes after wrestlers), new guy mistakes on offering old guys contracts that are too big, and not being super integrated into the league yet have hampered the Clips from getting out of the gutter. They do have some nice, young pieces and should get one more this draft, but they'll need patience and a bit more tutelage before they're out of the woods. At least Los Angeles has another team.


TrayWithAnA - Los Angeles Lakers

Oh, right. For all the talk about whether the Lakers should be stewarded, the game gives his approval rating a flat average, which is too high for someone who shows up once every couple of seasons and gives away his best players for non-assets (like Denver Nuggets picks). Even Jack Nicholson has been hightailing it up to Sacramento to watch the only good basketball that's being played in the state of California. Can anyone in LA name the Lakers' 5 starters? Who the eff is Marty Dillow? I swear, the LA crowd is too high off the smell of their own asshole bleach to give the Lakers a proper BAD approval rating.


WigNosy - Atlanta Hawks

It's been a while since Wig's won a championship, but it's also been a while since Wig won less than 50 games, so the trending downward GOOD, while undeserved, could be a testament to the city's expectations for the Hawks, who have been a postseason mainstay for so long, that when Wig finally decided to deal Baldwin and Tatum to start a right proper rebuild, the Atlanta fans weren't having none of it and revoked his GREAT approval. This is the winningest GM of all time, here, and while the competition has gotten tougher, Wig's stayed ahead of the curve. Whoever's calculating these approval grades better learn some respect and paste a permanent GREAT in that box on the Hawks HOT SEAT page.


Wombataholic - Detroit Pistons

After coasting off of 117 time MVP Anthony Davis for GREAT approval, the Pistons are now trending down to a mere GOOD. Despite that, they're still atop a very competitive Central Division, but it'll be interesting to see a post-Davis Pistons. The league doesn't know what kind of GMing it's going to see from Wombataholic, who hasn't been all too active in terms of trading or shaking up his team, which is a luxury you can afford when you have a player like Anthony Davis, and ultimately, probably the smartest thing you can do when you have a player like Anthony Davis. Suffering from the same curse as the Jazz, though, recent sweeps in the Finals and a declining Davis have some in Detroit resigning to the idea that perhaps, despite all his greatness, AD will only ever win the Pistons a single ring. One ring to rule them all! I think the approval ranking is fair, but I could see arguments that the drop from GREAT to GOOD is too hasty. Just as well, we won't really know for sure until Davis is seen as just a regular human.


xist2inspire - Washington Wizards

A downtrending POOR is a little harsh for xist, who has seen Wizards teams perform well without a true superstar. His gamble on JR Johnson paid off, and an uncharacteristic move to get Giannis Antetokounmpo for a playoff push was one I really liked. However, perhaps it is xist's unorthodox experimentation that sometimes confounds the DC fans and ownership board...looking for the tallest team rather than the most skilled or a leadership by committee team of all really good players instead of some great players and some roleplayers. That's socialism, and that doesn't fly in the capital of America, dammit! Still, a lot of his experimentation has panned out (not with a ring, but at least with winning seasons). At some point though, the Wiz have to go all-in on a tried and true formula if they want results sooner rather than later.

[JNR]

Fantastic article! It would be interesting to compare this report to the article I did about it however many seasons ago. I'll see if I can find it.

[garbageman]

Fantastic article! It would be interesting to compare this report to the article I did about it however many seasons ago. I'll see if I can find it.

Ah, damn. I forgot anyone did this before. Maybe get that door up and we can dig it up and compare on H&F.

[Darth Vegito]

Great article Josh!!

[IamQuailman]

Great League-Centric article! 5pts... just kidding, you used so many words, the best words, 3,789 of the best words. 10pts for you! FIVE STAR