Season 65 Off-season Ranking & Review

[MexicanMamba]

Word count: 3,031

This past offseason I had the idea to sit down and write an article which ranked the teams which I felt best helped themselves this offseason. This doesn’t necessarily mean the team that did the most to win big in Season 65 (but probably), it could also include the teams that I thought did great work to set themselves up in future seasons as well. Since I obviously did not complete this article directly after the offseason, I do have the benefit of hindsight. However, what I am going to do is keep the initial ranking about just the offseason that I had already written and how I felt at that time but then add-in how I feel these moves worked in practice based on the season results in an update section.

And then add whatever else I might need to add to get to 3,000 words.

LET’S GO!

Season 65 Offseason Power Rankings

Honorable Mentions:

Bulls, Warriors

I want to bring these gentlemen up because sometimes it is staying the course that keeps someone in a winning position. Neither GMs went out and made big splashy plays, but they didn’t need to and will be two of the favorites in the league. Getting Kai Jones in Golden State is a massive “rich get richer” situation that adds even more size to a team that is already an embarrassment of riches in that department. Josh got some quality depth and/or trade pieces in free agency as well with some shrewd moves. I know that Josh would have loved to pull a few more moves off at the end, and the Ayo injury really stung, but it still was good work overall. Even bigger kudos for staying on top of such a stacked division and having a chance to steal the entire conference in the last sim depending on how these results go. While I put these other folks ahead of these two guys for just the offseason, there is no denying the work Jon and Josh put in to get in the positions they are in.



#9 CAVALIERS

A roster with a dynamite scorer like Raphael Gordon and a strong post presence like Chief Kickingstallionsims could use more help to take a franchise who has struggled mightily to a playoff push that is desperately needed. In came Karlo Pearson from the Lakers. Though he was Purple-Purple at the time of the deal, his age indicated that was likely to be short-lived and that was true. Still, it was a bold swing worth taking. The only thing I think the Cavs should have done was found a way to make the deal without sending out Tindall in it (which I put on the table). Drafting Devin Vassell was a great move for the future and I think Jonathan Isaac is going to be a star down the road. I envision a slightly lesser version of Ron Harper Jr. if all things go well. So, there’s some good for the present and future on this roster, which isn’t awful, however not choosing to go all-in on one direction or the other stops me from putting this team higher on the list.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

The Cavs are looking at the lotto again and I think it does stem from the concerns I had in the off-season. They needed to 1) Not choose to deal Tindall when acquiring Pearson. And 2) Move Marotta for another win-now piece to go after the playoffs. Well, they could have also just not traded for Karlo Pearson, obviously, but since they did, they needed to do MORE to help their cause. It will be interesting to see what they choose to do in the off-season because I imagine Gordon and Chief still have trade value and they could decline Pearson’s option now.



#8 PACERS

Here's one that will not have an in-season update because the plan has been consistent throughout. This offseason was completely built around having a ton of cap space to play with to build around MVP Herb Jones. While I don’t think it was an absolute home run, it looks to be as much help as Herb has ever gotten and should lead to a roster that will compete for the division and conference. The big adds were Saddiq Bey, Dong Bone, Ervin Armitage, Tony Parris and James Hernandez, who all have good size and skill to work around Herb’s all-around dominant game. There should be good position flex, which also plays to Herb’s strengths. As we see, it has worked. As of sim 11, the Pacers are sitting at 55 wins and slightly trailing the Bulls for the division lead. Next offseason could be even more of the same since there is currently only 5mil in salary dedicated to anyone.



#7 PISTONS

Doug made some moves this off-season that I felt really set him up for long-term success. Zike and Lomax are obviously one hell of a pair of players, but he was ready to do a bit of a reset and he was uniquely situated to trade two players for a great haul because of Zike’s ridiculously low salary. In came the youth that I already mentioned above. After TC I especially like Murphy, who would be a borderline superstar if he didn’t foul so much. I think it would be important to reset the tax burden as well the rest of the way, but while also keeping Schiff and Millsap on the roster, this might still be another division contender.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

In typical Doug fashion, the Pistons continued to tinker as the season began. Out went Millsap and in came a likely top 10 draft pick and Mikal Bridges. It was a weird, convoluted trade, but it made everyone a little more interesting and will likely be a deal at least one team wonders about later. Still a lot of flexibility for Doug in future seasons with Schiff’s final year declined and a combo of youth and skill sitting on the roster.



#6 TIMBERWOLVES

One of my favorite off-seasons, for sure. Things should be fairly simple when you have two players the caliber of Xue Huo and The German, Lenz Durrenberger. Last season, the Wolves pushed my Lakers to game 7 in a wild playoff series. This season, I expect them to win the division and quite possibly the conference. Trading for Thurman James, a perfect complementary player to the two superstars, was a shrewd move and there’s solid depth in place after the draft and free agency. I think the Wolves are primed to take off.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

Not quite right, was I? To be fair, I don’t think most of us can crack what has happened in Minnesota this season. Still a playoff team and playing fairly well to close the season (as of sim 11, when I am writing this part), but something has been missing all season. Until recent sims, they had been not only trailing the Lakers, but the Raptors as well, which makes no sense to me. I think the Wolves will still be a tough out in the playoffs, but there is no sugar coating that it has been a disappointing season to this point.



#5 CELTICS

The key to a lot of this team’s present and future is the development of Antonio Gates, who can be fantastic but it sure taking his sweet time getting to the point of being a functional starter in this league. With the plan being to surround Gates with proper talent and the right pieces to obtain more talent, Charlie made a number of interesting deals to get placed on this list. First was kicking the Kings in the shin by shipping out Quincy Johnson on them for the #10 pick in the draft. Quincy is nothing more than a serviceable starter on a good team and a fun scorer on a bad one, so getting #10 for him is a steal. With that pick came a rookie point guard who quickly was brought up to blue potential. With his already owned #11 pick he drafted Hershal Gilmore, an interesting wing prospect, and dealt him to me for a developed starting Center in Thomas Walker. TC then showed Saul King more love and the Celtics could be an interesting roster to watch, if Gates blows up and Mikal Bridges can pull his weight.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

An early surge out of sim 1 gave the Celtics some brief false hope. However, once they quickly came back down to Earth, Charlie made another shrewd move by shipping out Mikal Bridges and bringing back Brittney Griner, Rodger Holifield and Jerry Bryant as well as a mid-1st. Thomas Walker has been his best player this season and with continuity after those trades, cohesion has led the Celtics to a relatively strong finish, with reason to be optimistic in the coming offseason. It will still rest on Gates’ ability to grow, but there’s definitely things to feel excited about.



#4 NUGGETS

There will be no in-season update for this one because Panda continued his same path from the off-season until now. It isn’t a good team, but it’s a talented roster. The TC Gods smiled down on MVP candidate Johnny Davis, catapulting him into the All-Purple World and giving him the color that matches how he already played. Amen Thompson is not full blue yet, but is showing his skills (18-6-5 averages) and a taste of what is to come from him. While Baker did get shipped out, Kevin Cross has a ton of potential (as either a player or a trade asset) and there’s a number of intriguing green potentials sitting in Denver to spice deals up in the future as well (Russ Coles is averaging over 17 points as a starting yellow-green Center). Joseph Ford plays like a solid bench player and he was a new addition when Thurman James got shipped to Minnesota. Panda has the talent (Davis, Amen, Patrick) to build on, a fresh tax reset, a likely top-10 draft pick, and other assets to use. The 66 offseason could be a massive one in Denver.




#3 LAKERS

After a few seasons in a row of feeling like it was my time to win another championship (or 2 or 3) and continuing to come up short, I came into this offseason with three objectives in mind. 1. I needed to trade some pieces away so that I could reset my tax situation. 2. Rebuild my asset collection. 3. Showcase Safi (and Banchero to a lesser extent) to the fullest. I succeeded in where I wanted to go. In fact, I would have been happy to sell even more pieces but that didn’t quite work out. Instead, I brought in Primo Spears for Karlo, Gilmore for Walker and then shifted Alleman out for Leroy Johnston and Luke Hancock. Sending out so much talent meant much more for Safi to take control of and I assumed his numbers would climb, especially since I wanted to test him at other positions besides point guard. Going into the season, my tax situation still needed some love and care, but I figured that would be an easy fix when it came down to it. Going into the season I felt I accomplished my goals while also giving me enough juice to fight for the division, though I anticipated losing the division and definitely the conference.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

I was right and wrong. Safi has been fully unleashed without others taking up so many touches and playing multiple positions, specifically in the front court. I added even more young talent through trades (Gradey Dick and flipping Hancock for Darrell Gupton). The surprise was how good the team has remained. I never expected to be given a great chance at the 1 seed in the conference because I thought the Timberwolves would even beat me in the division. It’s been one of my favorite seasons overall, even though I don’t expect it to end in a title.



#2 ROCKETS

Likely a popular pick for any list such as this, but it is well deserved. The first thing to mention is obvious. 78 simply being engaged and active since getting his tax situation cleared up has been a great thing for the franchise and the league as a whole. We want/need more teams to get this type of kick in the rear to get their teams some forward momentum. The big roster catch for this offseason Rockets team is also obvious. DeJuan Baker coming over from Denver was a great move for both franchises and has completely reinvigorated the Rockets. It wasn’t cheap, as it cost the Rockets a future 1st round pick, 10 points, a nice role-player (or spot starter as he currently is in Denver) and a great athletic prospect in rookie Kevin Cross. Still, I think the price was worth it for a player that fills a role that most teams would kill to have filled: A legit, pass first point guard. In free agency, the Rockets added some very solid pieces including Gerry Folse and Douglas Haun that should give them a formidable starting lineup and a good shot at leading this division once all the dust settles.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

There’s good and not-as-good here for the Rockets. The good is that Baker has been as advertised and has led to the Rockets having a commanding division lead for the first time in ages for this franchise. Also, getting Darrin Alston in free agency was one of the biggest steals in the league based on his production. Adding Tony Tindall, a 3-point shooter with size and athleticism for points was also a good move to solidify the lineup. The not-as-good? While getting Northrup is a nice addition for this season and next, the in-season deal with the Heat also cost them (in my opinion) entirely too much and losing Gerry Folse in that deal made it not worth it in the end. I think, at best, they went laterally in this deal and if you are trading an asset like Forbes, you need to go forward. Still, they kept that commanding lead regardless of the huge moves the Pelicans made to catch them.




#1 PELICANS

Chad knows himself well, openly stating that to enjoy this game of ours he has to be winning big. To attempt to accomplish this goal, he was unafraid to go big or go home and connected with Doug to make a massive deal leading into the season. It cost a pretty penny to get it done, but seeing someone willing to go absolutely all-in to get back to winning is a good thing for the league. Trey Murphy, Britney Griner, Bernardo Carrasco is a lot to trade away, however in return the Pelicans were able to add Ned Lomax, an MVP caliber big fella, and Zike, one of the best pure point guards in our game. Getting Tony Hinshaw was simply icing on the cake. A successful free agency period, grabbing Lewis-Weeks and Richie Cuevas, made these types of huge trades feel viable as well. The Pels will be positioned to win the division if everything goes right.

IN-SEASON UPDATE:

The Pelicans have NOT won the division, with the Rockets running away with it. I imagine that all of the trades did not help the team’s cohesion, which likely was a big reason why the team never completely gelled during the season. Adding Darrell Hackney from Portland and Antonio Blakeney from the Suns in-season, however, means that this is a team that no one will WANT to face once the playoffs start up and I look forward to seeing how they fare against the defending champs and the Rockets in 7-game series.




If nothing else, this article should show what most of us should already know: The offseason is not only the most fun time in the league, but it also the most important time to build whatever it is that you choose to build. It also shows that not every plan is going to work out how you think it will. Sometimes, you will end the season disappointed that your moves didn’t pan out. All you can do in that situation is try to learn from any mistakes that you made and grow. Also, as in my case, you get pleasantly surprised by how well things work out. Regardless, you take all of it in stride and try to do what you think is best. Town Hall #12 made me want to add some of this at the bottom of this article as well. No matter how your moves work out, don’t let them discourage you from continuing to make big swings at success in this league. If you play this game from a place of timidness or fear, you aren’t likely to ever get the rewards out of it that you are hoping for. If you look out and are ONLY planning to make moves if “THE BEST DEAL EVER!” comes into your lap, you are going to miss out on a bunch of smaller, good deals that would have had you in a good position as well.

As someone said in the Town Hall replies … No matter what, only one team can win it all every season. So, why not go out swinging if it isn’t you? What I promise is that it will never be you if you don’t take any swings at all. So, I hope Raby stays aggressive. I hope the Cavaliers keep looking for smart ways to take chances at a playoff run. I beg Lazy Titan not to let Scoot Henderson’s prime get away from him and be wasted because they are hesitant to pull the trigger on getting him help. Do the work, have fun, and go make other teams have to match the moves that you make to keep up instead of the other way around.

Now I’ll close this article out now because I have hit my limits and I agreed to do a podcast later tonight as well, so I am sure I will have more (approximately 2 hours worth) to share about this lovely, dumb ass game of ours at that time.

MAMBA OUT!

[greepleairport]

10pts, always love your work mamba


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