5 on 5 Draft Edition

[ballsohard]

Good afternoon, we have a treat for you. 5 on 5 is back and today we have 5 esteemed guest and myself. That's right, my first ever 5 on 5, im not only making a mockery of the name, but i'm going to shame it by beating it by adding another panelist!

5 on 5 Panel:
Will Maukie, Wisconsin Post
Chris Angel, Los Angeles Times
Nola's number1 Fan, Sacramento Post
Clark Kent, The Daily Planet
Jean Baptiste Étienne, of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch) newspaper
Generic Wolves Reporter, Minnesota Frost

Who won the rebuilding sweepstakes this year in the draft and why?

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Generic Wolves Reporter: So the Bucks went into the draft with Shaq and fresh off of a conference finals appearance. For some reason, the GM felt necessary to blow up the team, but regardless of motives or whether it was the right choice, the Bucks definitely won this draft. They turned Shaq into three picks in the top half of what is a pretty deep draft, and then also got Manu Ginobli. And they still have Jalen Rose to get more assets! Should they rebuild? Not my business. But did they do a good job of it? You bet.

Jean Baptiste Étienne: This one is actually pretty tough. I almost the Sonics won before the Camby trade, without a doubt. They finally had direction with two top 3 picks to build from and little to know cap commitments, which would've just allowed them to collect assets from panicked cash strapped teams as we've seen other tanking teams do. However this is the draft, and the point is to collect young talent and to cultivate it. With that in mind, I'm actually going to the nod to the Magic. They added two more potentially good, young talents in Tyson and R-Jeff to go along with Mike Miller and Dermarr Johnson, and added another potential lottery pick by taking Anthony Peeler's contract. While they may not be good anytime soon and will most likely be right back in the lottery again next season, I'm pretty sure that's exactly where they want to be.

Clark Kent, Daily Planet: It would be easy to pick the Sonics here but they traded away Gilbert in somewhat of a head scratching move. So I'm gonna go with the Orlando Magic as the draft winners. I loved everything they did in this draft. That is a good you core forming in Orlando. While Chandler may have been a bit of a reach where he was picked,I think this team likes the slow build and are in no rush to push the issue now so the fit is good. Then for them to get back in and select Curry was a ballsy but good move. This will be a fun team to watch in the future.

NOLa.'s #1 Fan: I think NOLa. put it best in his recent write-up in "NOLa.'s Big Board 2001" where he selected the Bucks and Magic as the winners. Right now throughout the whole draft process, I have to give an edge to the Orlando Magic. They picked up Jefferson two spots lower than I had him ranked and NOLa. really liked him a lot, then added Tyson Chandler with the next pick to pair Jefferson up with a board eater. The addition of Eddy Curry as a backup option on the frontcourt is solid, and I think once he develops his inside scoring he is going to be a legit threat each night when teams have to shift focus from Chandler to Curry. If that wasn't enough, the Magic then went and traped the wounded Philadelphia 76ers after they found out they had a negative bank balance from paying their high luxury tax and went and took the 02 and 04 pick from the 76ers for points. Big cheers to coltsguy for being aggressive this draft and taking everything he can get.

Will Maukie: Depends on what you define as "the draft". If you mean only by draft picks made, I would say the it's a toss-up between the Magic and Bucks. The Magic got a potential perennial 20ppg player in Richard Jefferson and an eventual defensive/rebounding anchor with Tyson Chandler. He has a trade pending the end of RFA for Eddy Curry, but I guess technically that doesn't equate to a draft move since it hasnt been processed yet. The Bucks flipped Shaq into Robert Horry, Manu Ginobuli, Troy Murphy, Chris Andersen, and Brendan Haywood. Only one of them has potential "star" being associated with them, but the rest are going to be solid role players (assuming TC doesn't dick them). I also think that the Nets got great value at #10 and #11 with Jamaal Tinsley and Gerald Wallace.

Chris Angel: There’s a lot of options here. I enjoy what the Magic did. I also think the Bucks did ok, after a questionable decision to rebuild after being ousted by the Hawks. But the real winner here is the Portland Trailbalzers, who’s team moves into title contention stage for years to come and all they had to do was sell essentially Troy Murphy, Hawywood, Anderson and Horry for the most dominant center in the game still well into his prime. I also want to note the Nets had a strong start to their rebuild.

[ballsohard]

Who was the biggest loser in the draft?

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Jean Baptiste Étienne: Hard to go against the team mentioned above with the Sixers. They got rid of two pretty horrendous contracts on older vets, but may have paid the ultimate price to move them, giving up a first overall pick for one, and potentially a lottery pick for the other. While they have Baron Davis and Rip Hamilton (for now) moving forward, it'll be interesting to see if the rebuild will stall without those two picks and how far they can go without them.

Chris Angel: How can you pick any other team but the 76ers? They’re gifted the #1 overall pick and have the most skilled big the league has seen this side of KG with a team full of smalls and flip that for Baron Davis, a small who’s shot 40% for his career, a probably late 20’s 2003 pick and an expiring Juwan Howard. Later they then trade 2 picks to get rid of a horrible contract THEY signed the year before, and they still don’t have enough points to pay the luxury tax. What a horrible period for the 76ers.

Generic Wolves Reporter: Anyone who traded out of the top 5 in a great draft. Sixers, Knicks -- what are you going for? You need to rebuild, and the point of rebuilds are acquiring young cornerstones. This draft had what you wanted, and you traded out of it. Strange moves.

Will Maukie: I gotta go with the 76ers. Turning #1 into a salary dump when #1 is Pau Gasol is not a smart move in my book. Let Pau develop, ride out Phills's contract (maybe even trade him in the final year when the salary is expiring), and get some more young depth to pair with Rip, Raef and Pau. Instead now he has Baron Davis (who is great, though) and Rip, both of which are going to get paid in two years, and a whole lotta nothing. On top of that, he has a trade locked up dumping Peeler with his 02 and 04 picks for a bag of dicks and some hot cash. So while he has cap space now, he's got 0 positive outlook for the future after moving 3 of the 4 picks to start this new millenium.

Clark Kent: Really tempted to say the Bucks because I hate the Troy Murphy pick that much. I also am not thrilled with Horry, Manu, and TROY MURPHY for Shaquille O Freaking Neal. I could also say the Sonics lost out on Gasol. But my biggest loser on the day has to go to the 76ers. I don't know, it just stinks to have to part with a #1 overall pick because you made a couple of dumb knee-jerk FA moves.

NOLa.'s #1 Fan: Well, I mentioned them in the last question. The Philadelphia 76ers are by far the biggest losers in this whole process. The addition of Baron Davis was nice, but they basically traded the #1 pick for cap relief and a guy the Grizzlies thought didn't have "it". The move isn't what makes me think they lost, because that trade could be acceptable in the eyes of some owners, but when the 76ers owner had to publicly claim he couldn't pay his luxury bill, shit hit the ceiling fan. NOLa. was amused, I'm guessing, because he's never seen this happen before. We all knew there were penalties for doing this, but we've never seen it. NOLa. felt the 76ers owner freaked out with his latest trade by sending both potential lottery picks in 02 and 04 to the Magic for cap relief. From what others were saying in the league, the 76ers could have dumped Peeler and give up less in the process. Who knows what the private messages were like, but once again the 76ers management has been publicly outed for not communicating with others effectively.

[ballsohard]

What did you consider the most questionable move in the draft?

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NOLa.'s #1 Fan: My good friend NOLa. thinks this is a tough one, because the top 3 picks in the draft got traded, either before or after the selection. Never been seen or done before in history of sim league for such a deep draft. I think the most questionable is the Sonics trading Areans, but that's because of the selection of the word "questionable". The 76ers giving up their #1 pick and the Knicks giving up their #3 pick weren't questionable, it was a plain bad move on both parts. The Sonics trade is risky for both the Sonics and Kings. Both teams are gambling with big stars on their team. What if the Sonics can't right the ship in time for 03? What if the Kings can't put together a full team in the next few seasons? A lot of "ifs" here.

Chris Angel: I’ve got to go with the SuperSonics trading for the #3 pick and mortgaging their 03 draft to take a guy they clearly didn’t believe in. Behind closed doors there was a deal worked out I hear, but the Sonics GM didn’t know it had so many dependencies (that fell through) which lead to this which give him some leeway. What compounded the issue is the trade afterwards. Ultimately though, the responsibility falls on the GM. I know he regrets the offseason so far, but on the bright side, I think he drafted an Elton Brand level big in Zach Randolph, which is why I don’t think they lost the draft.

Generic Wolves Reporter: I don't care if you're getting rid of a bad contract, or taking back a good young point guard. Pau Gasol is a star in the making. You could always get rid of the contracts after. You don't leave Pau on the table.

Will Maukie: There were a lot of head scratching moves during this draft, but I think the Sonics-Kings trade is the qualifier for Most Questionable. With the future uncertain, Darth moved essentially Michael Redd and his future 03 1st (I think there was another pick, but I can't remember which) for #3 overall. They looked primed to have an amazing core, with lots of options available... but then when #1 was traded to the Grizzlies and Pau was selected first, Darth's draft plan got a little fudged, sending the organization into an internal debate of Keep or Move Gilbert, who he took at #2. Gilbert and Randolph would be a good young core to build around, but the fact that his 03 1st had been moved meant his timetable for improvement was a lot shorter than expected. Thus he moved Gilbert (18y/o) for a dominant big man in Camby (27 y/o). I love Camby and think he's a great player to build around as your front court anchor, but Camby and Zbo are on slightly different timetables in regards to development. Camby is a win-now guy; Z-bo is a win-in-4-to-6-years guy. If Darth shore up some more players to help him compete over the next couple of seasons while Z-bo develops, this could all work out, and Darth builds through the draft for 2004 and onward... but we will have to wait and see how it all pans out.

Clark Kent: I already expressed my hate for the Troy Murphy pick but that wasn't even close to my biggest head scratcher. The Hornets trading Rasheed Wallace for Vladimir Radmanovic still makes me shudder thinking about it.

Jean Baptiste Étienne: I'm cheating a bit here, but the top three picks in the draft all moving before or after getting picked. It'll be awhile before we know if these are mistakes or not, but all three teams could've used an infusion of talent. The Sonics may have saved the most face by snagging Marcus Camby, but these three players/deals are ones that will be the most interesting stories from this draft to watch going forward.

[ballsohard]

Who do you have pegged as the best young team after the draft?

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Jean Baptiste Étienne: (Sigh) Its the Magic again... Young guys that could potentially be good? Check. Your own pick when you'll probably be bad? Check. Cap Space? Check. And finally, another potential lottery pick beside your own? Check. Hopefully it doesn't fall off the rails in training camp...

Clark Kent, Daily Planet : I've crapped enough on the Bucks here but have to give them props for having a young talented squad. The Magic are also in consideration after their amazing draft, but do they count as a young team after trading for that Peeler contract??? The true pick has to be the Grizzlies. That young core could be frightening.

Will Maukie: Best young team... that's difficult, because there are alot of teams have really set themselves up for a positive future (at least until TC comes and tears all of our heart out). The Magic have a lot of potential. The Bucks are acquiring alot of young assets (and are looking to continue). The Kings have Gilbert Arenas (only Gilbert... so if 1 man is a team, then that's a damn good team). The Nets are sneakily building up a athletic roster with Gerald Wallace and Corey Magette. The Pistons also have a nice little core with Tony Parker and James Posey. If I had to go with one though, I'm going to say the Magic, because their party is just getting started.

NOLa.'s #1 Fan: Ooooh hard one here. NOLa. told me he was split on this one. He really likes the Bucks roster, but with Jalen on the team, the direction isn't clear just yet. Are they competing now or later? Did Quail let the more opportune time to trade Rose during the draft? NOLa.'s winner of the draft Orlando Magic gets another victory and slurp here. Going forward with Miller, Jefferson, Chandler, Curry, and a nice stockpile of good picks, the future looks bright for the Los Angeles Lakers when coltsguy trades all his assets to his farmer.

Chris Angel: I think the Bucks and Magic have legitimate claim to this, but the team being overlooked is the Kings. Although I don’t like the fit of Mcgrady and Arenas, it’s really hard to argue with their top-level talent. This is going to be an interesting team to watch going forth.

Generic Wolves Reporter: Almost has to be the Magic by default, right? They're the team that has a starting 5 full of babies. Jones, Miller, Jefferson, Chandler, Curry -- none of these guys are once-in-a-generation talents, but they're all going to grow together. And they could always package one of the young ones to land a star and try to contend.

[ballsohard]

And now we're going to introduce a new section called SOUNDING OFF, where we let out 5 on 5 guest say something to an opposing GM uncensored and as anonymious as you can be from picking from guys:

You have the opportunity to shake the shit out of one GM, this is your chance. I want you to call out one GM and shake the shit out of them asking them what they're doing.

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Anon User #1: The Syndicate I choose you!
I’m going to sit you down. We have all the people who care about you in the room and it’s not your birthday. There are tissues and a psychologist sitting down. You’re probably starting to think this is an intervention. Relax, IT Fryeing IS. What in the literal Frye are you doing? I’m going to describe a process and I want you to blink twice if I’m getting close. Throwing shit at the wall. I can hear you blinking rapidly. Let’s start with the draft. Where you trade for a pick, and have no clue who to pick. You spend a couple of hours and take Eddie Curry. Only to trade him to Coltsguys to which you trade anyone that has talent. I’m going to mention you don’t have your pick next year nor the talent to acquire it as well. So what will you be left to do? Overbid on aging guys so you don’t give away a top pick. Sound familiar? It does because this is literally what happened last season as well, BREAK THE TREND MAN. Admit you have a problem!

Anon User #2: I'd like to shake and bake Quailman.
I love the rebuild, the acquiring of assets, the wheeling and dealing and watching the parts start to fit and come together. But the Bucks also had 2 top-10 players in the league on one team, and with how people were handing away talent this offseason (and how the East is a vacuum of suck), the Shaq/Jalen Bucks could have EASILY competed again for the division and the conference. Quail could've EASILY stayed the course, but he decided on a whim to message kucoach about Shaq. From that point forward, it was a giant downward rebuild spiral. I think he has a problem. WTF was he thinking? But then I look at the stuff he got and it's not all bad. But lord knows if the Bucks will even see a talent like Shaq in a Bucks roster again.

Anon User #3: Darth Vegito.
WHY DID YOU TRADE GILBERT ARENAS? MARCUS CAMBY IS GOOD BUT HE'S BETTER ON A CONTENDER. HE'S GOING TO GROW OLD AND FAT AND PROBABLY WILL GET A HERNIA FROM CARRYING YOUR TEAM OF SCRUBS AND BABIES.

Anon User #4: Snuglife
Why did you do this? Everything. Look around you man. The fuk is going on in your head when you trade the #3 pick for Redd and a pick, then trade for Eddie Jones, THEN trade away Terry presumably. You don't have your 02 pick, I get that since that was a major mistake on your part for not having it in a previous season. But this shit with Quail and Tray now, the league did not respond well to your #OpenNegotiations. There's a line in the sand, some gray in between the black and white, and you smudged it. General managers talk, and after that stunt you pulled where you outed another team's deal on the forum of a trade block? Jesus. I.... I mean Quail, has every right to be pissed at you. And what's going on with Tray's deal that was left standing in the Finalized Trades forum for two hours before the deadline? It's not a trade killer, but now you have to wait at least two more days before this trade can be processed. None of this looks good, like your team.

Anon User #5:The Miami Heat and logpmess.
Sometimes, things don't break the right way for a team. Sometimes, it's time to break things up. For the Heat, that should have probably started last season. They should've traded away Delk (in RFA) and Payton for something, anything really, to get the next era in Heat basketball started, and instead they look like they're going to go out with a whimper, eventually. Maybe. They'll go into next season with most of the same mediocre roster, except they added a mediocre talent like Shandon Anderson, who was a joke of the season last year. Maybe Pryz and Des Mason can start to develop and help lead a youth movement, but those seem like long odds. Seeing as how cash-strapped and top heavy the team is, hopefully the move helps them push into the playoffs, but it's pretty bleak in South Beach.

Anon User #6: Nick Malone
I feel like I am in the same position every year where I am asking what the hell he is up to. I gave him a top 3 vote for GMOY last season because of the team he put together and now I have no clue where this team stands. And I'm not so sure he does either.

[Inner_GI]

Suns not mentioned. I'm disappointed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JNR]

I wrote a paragraph about you and then deleted it and put ____________ instead.

[coltsguy510]

That was incredible!

[coltsguy510]

Me after reading this:

[Soundwave]

Shit, we created a monster.

[NOLa.]

I want to retract all Magic statements and substitute Knicks as my winner

[IamQuailman]

Soundwave hates white people

[Soundwave]

Soundwave hates white people

I like Knigs

[Soundwave]

I think he drafted an Elton Brand level big

As my boy Tyrion says, GUESS AGAIN.

[TrayWithAnA]

I think he drafted an Elton Brand level big

As my boy Tyrion says, GUESS AGAIN.

Great episode

[IamQuailman]

To Balls, NOLa, Soundwave, Loco, JNR, and Quail: AWARDED 5 POINTS! THANKS FOR YOU CONTRIBUTION (even if you hate my rebuild)

[NOLa.]

Fawking right