The Compliment Sandwich

[MexicanMamba]

Word count: 3100+


I have written an article in this format before, but it has been over 2 years since I did so I figured now is a good time to go back to the well. We have had plenty of turnover in that time, so there’s new folks to discuss. Let’s see what kind of deliciously yummy goodness we can create with this COMPLIMENT SANDWICH!


ALPHA

Juicy James Gebhart Division




NETS

Compliment: Sometimes Ed isn’t as aggressive in the trade market as he probably should be, but in recent seasons he threw that caution to the wind and landed Saddiq Bey and created a team that made a Finals. Ultimately, it did not lead to a championship, but it was good to see him go out and try his hardest to make it happen.

Criticism: This past off-season was a bit of a strange one for him. It was definitely time to shed salary and do a tax reset, which he did when he pulled a fast one on the Jazz in dumping Alex Caruso. However, he would then add a bunch more salary to the books and get back over the tax anyways. There’s still time to fix that as we aren’t at the trade deadline but its possible it ends in another tax bill.

Compliment: Bringing back Ron Harper Jr. was probably a difficult decision due to the tax implications but also the right move. While I did say the taxes are an issue directly above, there are other moves to be made to cut costs if needed. Harper and Alvarado give Ed a nice 1-2 punch to create a new build around.


TIMBERWOLVES


Compliment: Since his hiatus, Raby has put together solid rosters that have been able to squeak playoff appearances out even though there were some dead weight contracts needing to be worked around. Those young player of his are blooming, including the highest future rating player in the entire league, and there is a chance that the Wolves are a conference/league favorite very soon.

Criticism: The downside is, that for Raby to pull off the full turnaround he will likely have to get more engaged than he currently has been. He has a few young pieces that could be used to put more talent around Xue/Durrenberger, but will he be aggressive enough to hunting down that talent? We will see!

Compliment: Putting Ross Finch into a situation to succeed has been one of the fun subplots of this current season. Raby has played him in the starting 5 and off the bench in a 6th man role, showing a willingness to experiment. Currently he’s sitting at 18 PPG while shooting 54% from the field and a 18.6 PER. Raby showing his eye for talent is still holding strong.



KINGS


Compliment: SuperDog has made some very nice picks in the draft in recent seasons. Curtis Rakes at 13th, Gary Rockwell at 7th, Chance Parent at #19, Allie Quiglie at #12. TC didn’t do Rockwell any favors this off-season but that isn’t the fault of the GM. Soon, some of the Kings high-priced players will drop off and leave room for these youngsters to thrive and cap space to build around them.

Criticism: Inactivity. This is a roster that begs for a trade block bump to see if teams out there feel like they could use Chris Throckmorton, Matisse Thybulle and Angelo Romero so that they can clear the books and get assets to help with a full Rockwell build.

Compliment: Being part of the friend group who likes to rib each other at every turn. It keeps that corner of the league lively.



CELTICS


Compliment: It was time to go out and hunt down a new home for Antonio Blakeney and Charlie went and got that done. Antonio Gates has a lot more developing to do before he can even be a functioning player on the court, but as long as Charlie is willing to be patient then he made a good choice for the AB replacement.

HOWEVER …

Criticism: I think the only reason that it was time to find Blakeney a new home is because of some mismanagement by Charlie after his championship. First, he should have just ran it back with that roster and likely would have been a back-to-back champ. Since he did not though, I was not in agreement on the players that he chose to tear down to acquire. Making it worse is that Bridges got worked over in TC after his huge extension making it very difficult to get out from under. Charlie is good enough to rebound from those mistakes, but still sure he has a couple of things he’d do differently in hindsight.

Compliment: Taking a chance at Saul King in free agency was a nice move. He bounced back in TC and now he has a 25-year-old Center on a great contract to either pair with Antonio Gates or use as a trade chip and with his salary he would be insanely easy to move. Asset accumulation is important.



SPURS


Compliment: Carlos has built up one of the most impressive group of young players in the league (Either 1 or 2 in this regard, in my opinion). He has 5 high-level young players under 25 and then there’s Brandon Ingram at 26. Kirkland has the potential to be the league’s best player one day.

Criticism: Carlos has maybe had some misevaluation of how good some of his recent rosters could actually be by aiming for a playoff spot. Some questionable free agency bids, giving him no real shot at adding the targeted players, hasn’t helped that situation.

Compliment: Carlos is always willing to tinker with his lineups and gameplannng, even when his team is out of contention, which makes playing against him interesting no matter what. In fact, his young roster has played my Lakers relatively tough in most of our meetings so far this season.



PELICANS


Compliment: Chad is just now getting reacquainted with the game, but one positive is that he did not immediately move into sending out any of his collection of young talent, which rivals the Spurs as the best youthful group. By doing so, he had TC bump more talent into the blue and now he can pounce as soon as this coming off-season and build a championship contender if he so chooses.

Criticism: Can’t really have one at this point since it’s so new.

Compliment: And just like above, I don’t think I have another one yet. Stay tuned.



JAZZ


Compliment: Winning 6 games with this roster is pretty impressive at this point.

Criticism: I don’t know what the hell he was thinking taking on the Caruso contract without getting anything back for it. And not counting points. And just not doing anything.

Compliment: Naming someone BOOGER.



De’Aaron Fox Division



PACERS


Compliment: Building the entire team around Herb Jones has been fantastic because Herb Jones just might be the best individual talent in the league currently. I’m sure Pauly has gotten a number of offers for him recently but has held on, as he should. Herb has currently led the Pacers to the 3rd seed and 3rd best win percentage in the conference.

Criticism: Though he is still playing at a solid level for a 35-year-old, the He Hor contract is an eyesore and I felt that way the moment I input that bid a few seasons ago. That money could be used in much better ways and at this point, it is only hurting the prime Herb Jones seasons. I am guessing Pauly will decline the upcoming team option and try his luck in free agency.

Compliment: Besides He Hor, Pauly has been great at budget signings of high-quality players. Les Kim, Ronald Shaw, Chris Bow and Immanuel Quickley are all talented pieces to his roster puzzle making minimum money or close to it.


SUNS


Compliment: Nate has created his best build to this point in his sim league career and it is one that can take him through multiple seasons with championship opportunities due to the skill and age of the players involved. The obvious highlight being the Blakeney trade which saw him swap a purple potential project for a top-5 player in the league.

Criticism: Stop panicking about being 1 of 3 teams with single digit losses after 5 sims

Compliment: Most everyone can pinpoint the players that should be taken at the top of the draft, but Nate has had a knack for locking in on the best talent in the middle of the draft and going after them. Doesn’t always get in position to draft them, but he’s talked to me about a number of players who he liked at green or yellow potential, and are now playing quality basketball.



BUCKS


Compliment: Trading Bey at the height of his powers for Kel’el Ware was a great move and put the roster in position to have the best front court in the league in short order. Or until the Pistons put theirs together.

Criticism: Free agency strategy needs a lot of work and Nick just hasn’t engaged with the game enough to really get his footing. Too bad too cause I think he can be good at it.

Compliment: Keep on highlighting Wemby every chance that you get.



MAVERICKS


Compliment: Titan is eager and active, which are two of the crucial components to learning and thriving in this game. With those two things it will just take more trial and error to build up his own methods for building winning rosters.

Criticism: From what I have noticed, player evaluation, particularly in trade discussions, still needs to be fine tuned if he wants to create a successful franchise. If you have good veteran players but are only trying to trade them for GREAT player returns, you aren’t likely to get anywhere with your roster building. Same will go for undervaluing your youth when trading for stars.

Compliment: Kuminga, Henderson, Parker is a nice trio of young players to build around, though Parker might be further behind in development and could be used to trade for a player on the other two’s timeline. Regardless, it’s great to have the ammunition that they have and have another high lotto pick incoming. A quick turnaround could be on the horizon.



OMEGA


Boban Division



BULLS


Compliment: Very few GMs, if any, roster build/churn as well as Josh does. After falling into a playoff spot last season due to the awful state of the bottom of the league, Josh churned this off-season and has now built the 2nd best record in the league to this point. Getting Jarrett was good, grabbing Dirks was great and put them with the natural development of McClung and Ayo and Josh’s usual good free agency periods and you have a winner.

Criticism: Not much, but he probably has overpaid a few of his free agents that he was bringing back the past few free agency periods, driving his salary up. Nothing wildly egregious but I am guessing he could have gotten Malik Osborne for a bigger bargain than $26mil per season, for instance.

Compliment: We’ll see if he cashes any in at the trade deadline, but a big positive for Josh is how often he puts chunk salaries into his winning roster makeup to make it easier to trade for upgrades where he needs them.



HEAT


Compliment: This GM has been completely unafraid to go big, even if it means he has to go home quick. It is easy in this game to talk yourself out of making moves out of caution or fear and that isn’t the case here. At 26-10, and after a terrible season previously, he is seeing the fruits of such labor.

Criticism: Going to have to be more mindful of the financial side of the game in the future because tough decisions and rough roads are likely upcoming.

Compliment: Patience is a virtue and you have it. After disappointment last season, it would have been easy to try to move off so many of these current players but the Heat held firm and like Ted Lasso, believed in believe. Maybe they can be this season’s version of the Warriors and shock the world at the end.



RAPTORS


Compliment: Identifying problem areas in the roster and going out and filling them. This off-season it was identifying the Point Guard spot and then going out and grabbing Jordan Poole (and immediately seeing him go blue).

Criticism: While I do believe you are successful building around the margins, this roster is not going to get much better without adding top of the line talent to complement guys like Looney, Poole, Liddell. Without high-end rookie contract talent, you will have to get creative to find those players and to this point that hasn’t happened yet. Time to start thinking outside the bun.

Compliment: That being said, as someone who has had trade conversations with them before, Penn has been careful not to simply give talent away. The Mobley deal looks awful now, but TC did that, not the deal itself. I will assume that offers have come in over the seasons for Looney and Honeycutt and maybe Poole now. Sticking to your guns as a new GM is important (to a point) and so far, you’ve done that. Pick your spots wisely.


CAVALIERS


Compliment: Mid-range free agency contracts have treated the Cavs well in recent seasons. Chief Kickingstallionsims, Tony Tindall, Cade Cunningham are all free agency deals that are completely understandable and do not limit the ability to build more or move those contracts. Raph Gordon is making more than those guys but at $56mil, is kind of a steal as well and still easily tradeable if asset accumulation becomes priority.

Criticism: Not committing to a certain kind of build is eating this franchise alive. If you want to be bad, be BAD and trade that win-now talent when they are at their peak to get maximum return. If you want to be good? Start putting those young pieces on the block and see what kind of players are out there for you. Right now you’re playing in a weird middle ground and it obviously isn’t working.

Compliment: Keep on keeping those picks like you have been until you’re ready to go ALL-IN.



HAWKS


Compliment: Last season was a great surprise and the Hawks built a fun roster to make it all work.

Criticism: They did almost nothing to capitalize on that progress and now this season is showing how hard things can fall apart without a GM having their finger on the pulse of their roster. Even if being bad is the goal now, then players like Diallo, Phil Smith, and Kalin Lucas should probably be on the block to at least take the temperature of what they could get in return.

Compliment: The start of a nice asset build is there with guys like Daniel Johnson and Sanford Benefield.



MAGIC


Compliment: Nick has dove head-first back into this game from the moment that he decided to re-join us and it has been fun to see. Trade blocks, pressers, trades, free agency, group chats … he’s doing it all and has been a great re-addition to the league’s quality of life.

Criticism: Nothing awful, but he probably could have gotten slightly better returns for his power couple combo of Dirks and Schiff, but that’s me being completely unaware of what trade talks he was involved with. Maybe I just love both of those players and think they could’ve gotten more.

Compliment: Saying what I did above, Nick has so much flexibility moving forward and has some solid young players to build around or trade around when he sees fit.



Folse Hope Division



WARRIORS


Compliment: I have loved watching Jon’s dedication to working Fabian Hub up to where he is now. He’s having fun and I’m enjoying watching it … even if he stole my championship last season!

Criticism: I honestly don’t think I have much to nitpick here right now. Jon and I have spoken about things we disagree on that he’s done in the past, but he’s making a lot of good choices right now. Maybe he shoudn’t have traded Canfield for Warley this off-season? I understood the swing he took, but I’d rather have had the cheaper option.

Compliment: You won the championship, man. Good job. And thanks for continuing to count these damn media points.




PISTONS


Compliment: Lauri Markkanen’s development is no accident due to the time, points, effort that Doug is putting into him and he will be a fun player to follow over these upcoming Detroit seasons.

Criticism: Build a better defense next time.

Compliment: That damn front court you have built is a beautiful thing to watch and I hate you for it.



NUGGETS

Compliment: Being the fluffy, beautiful Panda that all of sim league loves. Oh, and dumping Montoya’s contract to finally do a tax reset was smart too, yeah?

Criticism: Got to start building that point bank up so you can train yourself some players.

Compliment: Getting Amen Thompson for Charles Jarrett was a nice move for a team that needed a reset. Thompson isn’t developing very quickly, but he could be very fun soon.



GRIZZLIES


Compliment: This season has been great and surprising for a tax hell’d roster and K100 continues to show that he is one of the best, most creative GMs in our game.

Criticism: Beating me in that Finals. I don’t like you. I hate you. And 6-foot-tall Centers.

Compliment: No one grinds points for tax bill payoff quite like K100, even when I think he’s not doing enough, next thing I know he’s paying that monstrosity off. Hopefully the Heat are paying attention.



WIZARDS

Compliment: As usual, X’s consistency is sim-inspiring. Even in a down season with very little talent on-board, the Wizards are on the cusp of the playoff race.

Criticism: I do think X could be more aggressive at times to turn good into great.

Compliment: X is one of the easiest GMs to talk trades with and that is something that I always appreciate.



ROCKETS

Compliment: 78 … You’re my homie!

Nah, that’s all I have for now.



BOBCATS


Compliment: Look, Varga has made a metric Frye-ton of head scratching moves over the years but recently I have seen him make more and more trades that I find to be very smart, and it has been good to see.

Criticism: My brother in Zeus, you have to work on your approach to free agency bidding.

Compliment: Honestly? Never stop being you, man. Most of us don’t agree or understand your methods, but that is what makes you interesting and fun to be in the league with.



Alright, enjoy your sandwiches and keep looking forward to SIM DAY!

[greepleairport]

3100+ words, +10pts

I love this series, Mamba. One of my favorite recurring Mambarticles.