S62 Purple and Gold Pre-season Press Conference

[MexicanMamba]

StarDate: 2051.62



We’re still here.



The hell are we still doing here!?



At this point sim league will survive a nuclear holocaust and it is time we just accept it.



So, grab a drink, grab a snack, put on your radiation protection suits and join me for yet another preseason press conference!



The 2050 season for these Los Angeles Lakers was a bit of a strange one. Going into last season I had every intention of taking a step back and resetting my tax situation so that I could fully capitalize on the brief cap space that I would have during this off-season. Then the season started, and I was winning. A lot. I was also beating a lot of the other top teams in the league while doing it. I was very tempted to just keep the train going and figure out my devil deals with the tax man later on. Ultimately, I stayed true to the course I was already headed. I dealt Ronny Asher and Dario Beaton for future considerations and got under the tax apron. I still won 58 games but the drop-off from the beginning of the season was considerable and ended with me losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs to MVP Saddiq Bey and my cousin’s Bucks … the 2nd straight season losing to that team. I now hate them. Family reunions won’t be fun for a little bit either.



Let me take a moment to congratulate the Boston Celtics on grabbing a championship too. Their GM is a hard-working one and has been at it far longer than I have so it was great seeing everything fall into place for his first championship. Doesn’t have to be the only one either as long as Antonio Blakeney is around either, but that’s for a future conversation. This is just a congratulations!



Now, headed into the off-season for this 62nd season, I admit that I was feeling really good about my chances of putting a juggernaut together. While Charles Alleman and Karlo Pearson were both set for unrestricted free agency, I had no fear of them leaving, which left me with a nice chunk of free agency change to add in high-end veterans and a bounty of youthful assets and points to make it all happen. Unfortunately, I was not able to go out and grab a superstar in this market like I had hoped. Just weren’t that many made available, especially not while I had the cap space ready to go. Fortunately, I was able to re-sign Pearson and Alleman, AND traded for Toni Gauss and Bam Adebayo before that happened.



Look, neither of those guys are #1 (or #2 options) but Gauss is a guy I have coveted since he was very young. In fact, when I traded Zeke Nnaji to the Mavericks many seasons ago, we initially talked Gauss for Nnaji but “settled” on Karlo and I’m thrilled that worked out too. They have been loving reconnecting through this off-season! The rest of free agency was also very fruitful. Sharpshooter David Lomas decided to re-join us after starting the back half of the season for us and on a very friendly deal. Then we were able to add champion and defensive dynamo Frank Daily with our MLE. We had Daily with us many seasons ago when he was still developing, so it has been great getting back in-step with him.



Training camp was another success for us. The obvious story is that Safi Fino-A-Laself has again taken another leap forward in his development and is certain to take aim at the crown of being the best player in the league. He will be the engine that makes this thing go and he isn’t backing down from that role or challenge. All our veterans have challenged and pushed each other, with Karlo really stepping further into his leadership role on the defensive side of the court and he and Bam Adebayo are really gelling well over there. Our youngsters are certainly feeding off the energy provided by the quality veterans too. We see Thomas Walker and Gregory Jackson filling valuable bench roles this season and Saul King, Jeffrey Troutman have a chance to carve out a little something as well depending on how things shake out. We are thrilled with the continued progress of Mac McClung but he was very raw coming into the league and to our team and still isn’t likely to see much playing time this season behind Lomas, Jackson and Daily having the ability to play the back court as well.



We see ourselves as a championship team. In fact, this season will be a failure if it doesn’t end with one. However, that does not mean we are the only ones that should feel that way. The Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies are definitely going to be a PROBLEM this season and The AB-led Celtics will have a hand in how things shake out. There are also a few teams out there that can be incredibly difficult as they are or with one more big swing. The Nets have a killer starting 5, the Magic’s front court is going to give everyone issues and the Nuggets, while needing more frontcourt scoring, can explode if those younger stars finally peak.



With the challenges I am expecting, I will continue to keep my eyes open for more deals to make to get better right now. So, if you’re reading this and you are selling a quality player, I am likely interested as long as I can match said player’s salary. I have the assets to make it work! Come give me a shout!



I’d drop a starting rotation that I have in mind but that’s a gimme question for someone that will pop in here if they wish to ask it, so I’ll let you guys handle that.



So … drop em and I’ll answer em!

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[greepleairport]

In chats, you have maintained humbly that there are many other strong contenders, while I have maintained you are next to win a 'ship. Preseason confirmed your predictions, not mine. How will the regular season play out? My prediction or yours? Why won't you beat the Bulls? Or Celtics? Or Grizz?

[MexicanMamba]

In chats, you have maintained humbly that there are many other strong contenders, while I have maintained you are next to win a 'ship. Preseason confirmed your predictions, not mine. How will the regular season play out? My prediction or yours? Why won't you beat the Bulls? Or Celtics? Or Grizz?

Well, I will first say that I do not believe that preseason is indicative of how this roster will perform when these games matter. Eyebrow raising, for sure, but not troubling yet.

But!

Yes, there has not been a moment this off-season where I've felt I was the easy favorite. Josh and K are both former champions who have great collections of talent that are either similar or even stronger than they were last season when they met up in the conference finals. I have great respect for Josh's GM ability and Montoya and Garland specifically, among his players. K100 may be the most difficult GM to gameplan against, especially when he's got a top level roster. Charlie has Blakeney and enough interesting pieces around him to make things intriguing.

Nothing is going to come easy at the top this season and I think its going to be a lot of fun to watch play out.

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[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Now that you've gone all in after a tax reset, how long is your championship window with Safi and Karlo?

[MexicanMamba]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Now that you've gone all in after a tax reset, how long is your championship window with Safi and Karlo?

I dont see the Safi/Karlo pairing to go on an extraordinary amount of time. I don't think I have it in me to be as reckless with my taxes as Scott was or K100 has been. I certainly want to be able to re-sign Safi to his supermax in a few seasons. So, I think its a couple more season window before starting to maneuver to get the finances under control and finding a new way to attack things.

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[LazyTitanSmash]

What is the biggest threat to your upcoming dynasty run?

[MexicanMamba]

What is the biggest threat to your upcoming dynasty run?

Ha I think others are calling it a potential dynasty way more than I will. I've gotta win ONE championship first before even thinking about some run of them. However, besides the other great teams and GMs in the league being the answer here, it'll be my refusal to go too deep into taxes or my inability to really flip my young assets for pieces to put me over the top.

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[AngryBanana]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: What's your starting 5?

[MexicanMamba]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: What's your starting 5?

That's none of your damn business, thank you for staying out of my personal affairs.

- Ace Ventura

(Charles Alleman, Bam Adebayo, Toni Gauss, Karlo Pearson, Safi)

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[K-100]

You have a handful of prospects from the 2049 draft class (next season's RFA class). Which of those players do you see making the biggest impact on the team this season?

[MexicanMamba]

You have a handful of prospects from the 2049 draft class (next season's RFA class). Which of those players do you see making the biggest impact on the team this season?

Didn't really notice honestly, but yes, I have:

#1
#5
#6
#14

All from the same class. Thankfully they still have another season after this one while being cost controlled!

Regarding their contributions this season, it probably goes like this:

Thomas Walker
Gregory Jackson
Saul King
Mac McClung

McClung and King are likely going the redshirt route once again as they have the highest ceilings but no role to fill on a championship roster since they are so raw. Jackson will get end of rotation minutes on the wing but nothing substantial. Walker will likely get the biggest run of this group. He's the most developed since he can score inside and block shots. Alleman only plays roughly 30 minutes per game and Bam isn't an offensive threat, so, Walker has opportunity to make an impact.

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[jlmarines]

In chats, you have maintained humbly that there are many other strong contenders, while I have maintained you are next to win a 'ship. Preseason confirmed your predictions, not mine. How will the regular season play out? My prediction or yours? Why won't you beat the Bulls? Or Celtics? Or Grizz?

Well, I will first say that I do not believe that preseason is indicative of how this roster will perform when these games matter. Eyebrow raising, for sure, but not troubling yet.

But!

Yes, there has not been a moment this off-season where I've felt I was the easy favorite. Josh and K are both former champions who have great collections of talent that are either similar or even stronger than they were last season when they met up in the conference finals. I have great respect for Josh's GM ability and Montoya and Garland specifically, among his players. K100 may be the most difficult GM to gameplan against, especially when he's got a top level roster. Charlie has Blakeney and enough interesting pieces around him to make things intriguing.

Nothing is going to come easy at the top this season and I think its going to be a lot of fun to watch play out.

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Justin Bieber, Teremana.com: You mention Preseason is eyebrow raising. Based on preseason results, was there any weakness in your roster that was revealed and maybe you didn't realize?

[MexicanMamba]

In chats, you have maintained humbly that there are many other strong contenders, while I have maintained you are next to win a 'ship. Preseason confirmed your predictions, not mine. How will the regular season play out? My prediction or yours? Why won't you beat the Bulls? Or Celtics? Or Grizz?

Well, I will first say that I do not believe that preseason is indicative of how this roster will perform when these games matter. Eyebrow raising, for sure, but not troubling yet.

But!

Yes, there has not been a moment this off-season where I've felt I was the easy favorite. Josh and K are both former champions who have great collections of talent that are either similar or even stronger than they were last season when they met up in the conference finals. I have great respect for Josh's GM ability and Montoya and Garland specifically, among his players. K100 may be the most difficult GM to gameplan against, especially when he's got a top level roster. Charlie has Blakeney and enough interesting pieces around him to make things intriguing.

Nothing is going to come easy at the top this season and I think its going to be a lot of fun to watch play out.

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Justin Bieber, Teremana.com: You mention Preseason is eyebrow raising. Based on preseason results, was there any weakness in your roster that was revealed and maybe you didn't realize?

The most glaring problem in the preseason was the inefficiency and inability to score. So, I'd say that is an issue I never saw coming. However, I am pretty confident that that isn't going to sustain in-season. This preseason we were bottom 10 in every important offensive category. Last season, with the same or better players, we were top 6 in just about everything on that side.

Look at the 3 point shooting alone. Safi, Gauss, Pearson all shot 30% or under from deep. That will never continue when these games count.

I'm mildly concerned about the defense too but with better offense comes less good looks on your defense.

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[Eazy P]

Will Mac make debut this season?

[MexicanMamba]

Will Mac make debut this season?

Not if he stays in Los Angeles the entire season

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