The Grinch's Small Heart

[MexicanMamba]

HO HO HOw did we get to this point in this 61st season of sim league-ing? Every season there are moves that make (and break) each team’s fortunes and that is what I am here to dive into today. It is Santa vs. The Grinch, which moves were presents and which were coal, and which left crumbs much too small for other Who’s mouses? Let’s dig in!





ALPHA



JUICY JAMES GEBHART DIVISION



Boston Celtics



Santa: There are a couple of moves that could be placed here for the Celtics, as Charlie did a great job of identifying his weaknesses and attacking them to put the best team around his young superstar, Antonio Blakeney. I loved the addition of Cade Cunningham later in the off-season because it gave the team a legit defensive primary ballhandler which allowed Blakeney to get back to his most comfortable place on the wing. Still, the real gift of this off-season for the Celtics is the free agency acquisition of 4x (5th incoming?) Playoff MVP Gerry Folse. If the Pistons had played him full minutes through previous regular seasons Folse would likely be a multiple time league MVP already as well, so adding such a dynamic and versatile weapon was key for the Celtics. It has become tough to find true difference makers in the front court for teams and Charlie found his. He is so good that it hasn’t mattered which over-the-hill Center they have put next to him as wins continue to pile up.



Grinch: There are not any bad moves this season for the Celtics. They are #1 in the conference and have the 2nd best record in the entire league with 2 sims to go. If there is something they perhaps should have done? It would be finding a sturdier Center to put with Folse in the front court, but I also know that Charlie tried a few times to do so but couldn’t find the right move. Still, this is a championship roster, so, let it ride.





Utah Jazz



Santa: The continued health and dominance of defensive dynamo Les Kim. Probably should have traded him while Mr. Kim has/had max value, to be honest, but with a solid playoff run going, Kim has been amazing once again and this team would completely fall apart without him. Kim is certainly a prized gift this Christmas season.



Grinch: Inactivity. Well, besides trading with Doug E. Fresh, Gary has often left this roster to fend for itself. He added Thorpe (who doesn’t really give anything more than Krebs, who he traded in a package to get him) but then never adjusted his lineup. Hasn’t tried paying any taxes to get more help for Kim. Hasn’t trained Romero’s fouling, so he can’t stay on the court. Hasn’t taken real offers for Kim, Romero to try to fully rebuild. Stuck in stasis until Kim, Romero, Dixson hit free agency and he cannot re-sign them for lack of tax payment.





Sacramento Kings



Santa: Killian Hayes continuing to be a heavy hitter even at 35 years-old (and with an $88mil cap hit). This is a .500 team, but it is making another playoff push and Hayes is averaging 22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal per game with a PER and other efficiency ratings that rival most high-end players around the league. Father Time is undefeated, but Hayes is at least putting up a decent fight.



Grinch: The health of Matisse Thybulle has been the Kings’ biggest drawback this season from a push to a higher playoff seed. Thybulle was a nice get in free agency, but then got injured for a long stretch early in the season. Currently he has only played in 33 games (compared to Hayes playing 72) and who knows how many more wins his addition to the roster would have led to?





Brooklyn Nets



Santa: I could say Alex Caruso, since the Nets are staring at their first playoff run in 5 seasons but at 35-36, I don’t know if his addition has been as much of a gift as is it … holding on for dear life? Instead I will say the true gift for the Nets and their future success is the TC gods smiling down upon Kel’el Ware and popping him into the world of purple potentials. I don’t know if he will ever reach it, but he should be a great player in short order, especially if Ed trains his fouling some more. With Ron Harper and Alvarado alongside him, this roster can be good for a good stretch, even if it means another dip next season if they lose Caruso to free agency.



Grinch: Being too slow to the punch. Ed quickly nabbed Caruso, which was a great move, but then went radio silent for too long until picking up Moses Moody. I think Ed could have built a contending roster around Andrews, Caruso, Alvarado and Ware but he needed to be decisive in a timely manner and build the team early. Now, they are just hovering around .500 with one foot in youth and one in solid contention when its better to go all-in on one side or the other.





New Orleans Pelicans



Santa: Free agency was a friend to the city of New Orleans by bringing them Andy Elliott, a rising youngster that seems to be the perfect complementary player to star Ned Lomax. Elliott is only 24 years-old and on a 4-year deal, none of which eclipse $29mil in any season. On the season (and he has not come close to reaching his potential yet) he has averages of 14 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.3 blocks and decent efficiency numbers. Once he fully blooms, it should be a strong foundation in the Pelicans front court.



Grinch: Lack of aggression. I think this team would have been far better off being even worse than they were, which would have meant trading away Kispert and Johnston for more young pieces for the next rebuild around Lomax. Adam is not a mover and shaker on the level that some of us are and mostly is just along for the ride but picking and choosing certain moves. He’s not in a terrible place as a franchise but being more aggressive could have a lot more juice for him going forward.





San Antonio Spurs



Santa: This is an easy one! Larry Williams in free agency. Carlos takes advantage of the Hawks being MIA (for about 137 seasons now, right?) and nabbed a star in bloom. It was yet another great move towards re-shaping the next version of the Spurs that will terrorize the league.



Grinch: Spurs are purposely tanking, so there probably wasn’t a bad move to make since it has been working and he is in position for a top 5 pick. I think I would have let Hernandez walk in RFA, but that is a minor thing and nothing that likely made any major difference in wins/losses this season.





Minnesota Timberwolves



Until there is a GM here, probably is nothing to talk about.





DE’AARON FOX DIVISION





Milwaukee Bucks



Santa: Depth. The Bucks last season were strong at the top but had very little useful depth behind the big 3. This off-season, that issue was rectified without having to shell out crazy amounts of money. Osborne bloomed in TC and was brought back on a solid deal, Williams, Pardo were brought back on the cheap and Barnes, Holt were both brought in with MLE money. THT’s hit due to a broken leg may make a championship tough to pull, but if they fail it won’t be issues with a new GM failing.





Grinch: THT’s fragile bones. Without him for a huge portion of the season the Bucks have the 2 seed in the conference with an outside shot at still pulling #1. Unfortunately, I think THT’s injury and loss of purple means that he lost out on an opportunity to get the 1 seed in the conference and perhaps the entire league. In a title chase with several worthy competitors, it is a big deal.





Los Angeles Lakers



Santa: Youthful Blues. Not the sad song kind of blues either. I have a plan in mind and the ability to acquire so much young talent to offer up in the off-season makes that plan much easier to execute.



Grinch: I don’t regret pulling the team apart, but I got rid of a lot of talent this off-season and season, even as I saw I was still in contention for the 1 seed. Would I be a legit title contender again with Bone, He Hor, Asher and Beaton? Very, very likely. However, I’d be no shoe-in and the tax ramifications of that would be WILD. I see a smarter, longer path to title chasing after this season. Still, it’s a great “WHAT IF”.





Indiana Pacers



Santa: The giver of gifts himself is the Pacers’ best present this Christmas … He Hor! I know from experience just how much his presence can open up an offense and he is doing it again in Indiana. They could very well pass my Lakers in the standings by the end of the final 2 sims and that would be a direct result of He Hor’s addition.



Grinch: Free Agency. With He Hor, this team could be a strong contender. A problem they have is there is so little behind their starting lineup. Free agency brought so little back to them in this regard that it isn’t difficult to wonder how good they could have been if free agency was more helpful than it ended up being.





Phoenix Suns



Santa: Antonio Gates can be a super-duper-duper star in a few seasons time, especially with the aid of some trainings. Nate saw it in him even as a green potential youngster in the draft and was rewarded with a fruitful TC immediately, turning him into a player with Montoya-lite ability.



Grinch: Not finding a home for Nix earlier. Nix is a great player and unfortunately kept this roster afloat in the playoff race because of how bad the bottom of the conference is. The Suns wanted to be AWFUL for draft position purposes, but Nix wouldn’t allow it. Nix needed to be gone in the off-season to maximize this. Now it looks worse because the top of this upcoming draft looks so strong.





Dallas Mavericks



Santa: It was a big overpay but I do like Richie Cuevas a lot as a player and he has been really, really good so far in Dallas. He’s a big-time scorer and rebounder for his position that would be a solid 2nd option and terrific 3rd option.



Grinch: I don’t like the Chris Throckmorton addition AT ALL. He adds so little to a roster that is searching for great players still, that it feels like he is just a cap space eater. Still, with the use of hindsight, the worst move is now probably trading for He Hor. Initially it looked like a good deal and a fair price, but they were not successful in making the right moves around He Hor and so they ended up trading him for even less value. Now? Giving up a young blue potential rookie contract (who ended up popping in TC) and a possible lotto pick in the future looks bad.





Portland Trailblazers



Santa: It’s a two-fer here. Drafting AJ Blaze and trading for Amen Thompson. Moses Moody is a strong player but this roster is all about the tear down right now to accumulate young assets. Getting both of these kids in one off-season, to go along with Hoyt Timmerman and Quincy Johnson, is a hell of a starting point.



Grinch: While I understood his thought process, Jalen Warley making $47mil per year is too rich for my blood, considering I don’t believe he will ever live up to that contract. He’s a decent player making good player money. Still, perhaps he can be a strong salary matching piece in short order for a much bigger piece since he is staring at yet another top 3 pick in a loaded draft.





Seattle Super Sonics



I can’t wait to drop them from the league again!





OMEGA



BOBAN DIVISION





Santa: Mikal Bridges for Charles Jarrett. In a very win-win move, the Bulls were able to get a younger, cheaper (for now) version of his player to keep him as a front-runner in the championship chase as well as save a good chunk of change during tax season.



Grinch: There’s no awful deals here, but I know he would love to have not had to complete the Harrison for Ho You Fat deal. When it was agreed upon, it was a smart deal for both sides, however Josh did not anticipate winning Zaire Wade who already gives everything that Harrison provides. Still, if a title comes to Chicago, I highly doubt Josh will care about this move at all.





Orlando Magic



Santa: There’s only one move of any significance this off-season and that was the addition of Kyle Kuric in free agency. The team is now on pace for 55 wins or so (and currently riding a 9-game win streak) and Kuric is no small part in that, though he is clearly the 3rd best player on the roster.



Grinch: There are no bad moves here as they did not make many moves. I can’t even fault them for not having more depth because there weren’t many avenues available to the Magic to do such a thing. It’s a solid season for a new GM, though there are some tough decisions on the horizon.





Toronto Raptors



Santa: The real biggest gift for Toronto is having a new GM who is getting involved immediately. On the court, Dario Beaton was a nice get in a trade as a strong 3 & D player on a very team friendly contract. Ultimately, this roster MIGHT need to be torn down quickly, but only if Mobley fetches the proper return for his talent. For now though, I think its usually positive when a new GM can get a taste of team success early as it is best for keeping motivations higher.



Grinch: Low-ball offers for Mobley in the off-season. Granted, I do not know what the offers were so I am only going by what was said in the pre-season presser, but the best course for the future health of the franchise would have been being able to get a great asset or two for Mobley and re-tool. That would have allowed them to keep Saul King as well to go full blue youth. Without great offers though, the Raptors get to try their hand in the playoffs instead … if they don’t lose the final spot in the last sims.





Miami Heat



Santa: A Kai Jones sized present was like me waking up and unwrapping the Nintendo 64 many moons ago. A great toy with a lot of life and replayability! So far it has not led to as many wins as I am sure that they hoped, but even if a rebuild is upcoming, Kai will have much higher trade market than Luigi Leathers and Raiquan Gray.



Grinch: Awkward fitting pieces. There’s no true ball handler on this roster. Bates has finally turned into a proper scorer and Jones definitely is, but there’s no true 3rd banana as Quickley is an overpaid roleplayer, Poole isn’t ready and Diallo is still figuring things out.





Cleveland Cavaliers



Santa: While I don’t think the contract or player truly matched up with what the Cavs need to be, Larry Canfield is not overpaid and should be a very friendly contract through the duration of it. If nothing else, he can be a solid trade piece for a contender.



Grinch: I hate the Giles contract and as opposed to Canfield; I think this one will age poorly, rapidly. On top of that, they put points into his old ass when those points will be lost after the next TC again since athleticism is often the first thing to go.





Atlanta Hawks



Krampus is coming instead





FOLSE HOPE DIVISION





Washington Wizards



Santa: Frank Daily was a good pick-up for a title run, which was also the case for Detroit when they nabbed him up a few seasons ago. He is not getting to shine as much here, but generally no one does in the Wizards system. I think his impact will be felt most in the tournament.





Grinch: Inaction at the trade deadline. I think letting the Grizzlies grab Nix instead of offering Adkison and more points was a mistake (he may not even have looked at the option) and I think Nix’s addition to this roster could have put them over the top. If not Nix, just doing something positive with Adkison’s contract could have really spiced up the Wizards’ chances.





Golden State Warriors



Santa: Toni Gauss and Lu Dort in one swoop was a great move for a contending team. And a contender they are. But …



Grinch: Kyle Kuric. You know what you did!





Memphis Grizzlies



Santa: There were a few great moves this off-season made by K100 but as mentioned above, I really liked adding Daishen Nix to this roster. No one is going to be excited to play this team in the playoffs now.



Grinch: There isn’t much to poke at with the Grizzlies this season, honestly, but I think there were better uses of resources than Myke Henry but he’s a solid player still so that would be nitpicky.





Denver Nuggets



Santa: Using cap space to take on Charles Jarrett to put with Johnny Davis and DeJuan Baker was a great move. With a couple more tweaks (and positive TCs) this can be a championship level roster.



Grinch: Not being able to swap Booker and/or Looney for a more win-now piece. There were avenues to upgrading this roster, but no deal was found. The off-season now looks a bit strange with both of those young big men hitting RFA at the same time.





Charlotte Bobcats



Santa: Even if they’re low 1sts, grabbing a couple picks for the upcoming draft was smart business since their pick belongs to Detroit. Unfortunately, that’s about the only positive addition I can come up with for the Bobcats this season.



Grinch: I genuinely have no idea what the thought process was behind the Kai Jones deal. Even if Leather hadn’t have gotten hurt, with Leonardo already in the fold, what was the point of trading a great player for two solid players at the same position? At least try getting players that go at different spots. However, the better move would have been to find a complete rebuild package for him instead because this roster is desperately in need of youthful impact players. OR if you were gonna make this deal all along, why was it pushed back past Day 60? Doing it then could have at least allowed the Bobcats to turn around and trade Gray and/or Leather for more at the deadline. Just confusing all around but Varga marches to the beat of his own drum. Or maybe some completely unrelated musical instrument.





Detroit Pistons



Santa: Doug coming back after a 47 second retirement and helping them rebuild! YAY!



Grinch: Losing the GM who won 4 straight championships!





Houston Rockets



Santa: A Top 5 pick in the next draft?



Grinch: This franchise is hurting. In a lot of ways. I can’t count them all. Or I won’t. Cause I’ve already went over 3,000 words.





MERRY CHRISTMAS, PBSL!



Sent from my SM-F711U using Tapatalk

[greepleairport]

3250+ words, +10pts

[greepleairport]

Had to hurry up and finish this now that you've got another article out. Most prolific PBSL writer ever. I dug this one and its timely concept. Ho ho ho-umbug, good sir.