One Thing Every Team Should Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving Offseasaon

[garbageman]

One Thing Every Team Should Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving Offseasaon

The PBSL offseason is the most exciting and integral time of the year, and it’s one of the easiest to screw up. Whether it’s forgetting to resign one of your better players, overbidding on someone far too old for a four year contract, or failing to alphabetize your players, everybody has had an offseason where something goes wrong, and the best laid plans are laid to waste like unfinished leftovers.

Despite all that, each team had at worst a silver lining to enjoy this offseason, and the best and luckiest had their fill of success such that a few GMs out there are surely loosening their belt buckle a few holes. So grab a second helping of stuffing and stuff yourself silly with the latest PBSL content as I take you through one thing each team’s general manager has to be thankful for this Thanksgiving offseason.


Milwaukee Bucks

Coming off a ho-hum year where the Bucks hovered at around .500 and fell short of making the playoffs despite having multiple time Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, Kel’el Ware, and a freshly purple potential trained Ebbe Clauer, the Bucks can thank their lucky stars that Ware accepted his super-max in lieu of wanting to play for a better team. With Ware back, they have a shot at getting back to the postseason, even if they were unable to fill a longtime gaping need at point guard. If Ware walks, the Bucks absolutely have to get rid of Wembanyama. Now they can keep their frontcourt together and still work this build.


Toronto Raptors

If I were the Toronto Raptors, I’d be most thankful that Angelo Romero came back on a vet min. As the Raps begin their journey into the tax, they could be headed for some hard times. The Ridenhour contract will prove costlier by the year, and with one triple digit season guaranteed, that extra place will probably scare off suitors for a dump. Just ask the guy who invented charging 99 cents on things instead of the full dollar.

With the Romero max, the Raptors were able to get 10 points and a nice sophomore prospect for Jordan Poole while still being able to get Clarence Martin to be a serviceable SG replacement. Romero on a min is key to keeping this team competitive, and with additions like Jericho Sims and Allie Quigley, the Raptors get one more shot (if they want it) before they have to solve the Ridenhour conundrum.


Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons should be thanking their lucky stars that Lauri Markkanen is 6’10”


Boston Celtics

I expect the Celtics to be a little disappointed this offseason because after cashing in some chips to get RHJ, the Celtics weren’t able to follow it up with much in UFA. While they secured some decent role-players, it’s probably not enough to maximize Harper Jr’s expiring year. They should, however, be thankful that Gates is still growing towards his prime because with players like Griner and Benfield costing 70mm while they’re not fully cooked either, the window isn’t closing on them anytime soon. If the RHJ experiment doesn’t work out, maybe they can get a return for RHJ that’s less than what they paid for, but better than either player they sent to Brooklyn.

Too bad the Suns probably won’t answer calls. (Nor do they have the salary).


Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets earned the franchises first title in a pretty dominant Finals against a strong Lakers, and while they should be thankful they won it before the Lakers skyrocketed back into the tax with a much beefier team, that’s not what I’m going to go with here. Instead, I think they should be thankful that they get to run it back. They get James Northrup back on a nice deal and they added some decent depth in Khalifa Diop and to a lesser extent, Joseph Greaves, thus snatching away two of my bird rights guys. They even got Darrin Alston and Evan Mobley back…two bird rights guys of the Rockets own for anyone keeping tabs for next offseason.


Los Angeles Lakers

For a team that’s always the best, LAL has had a tough stretch. Injuries, tough outs in the Finals, and just sheer luck have prevented what should have been a dynasty team from even being a one-asty. It’s still hard to feel too bad for a team with so much purple on its roster page (and not just the team colors). LA is still a veritable free agent destination as MLE got them Leroy Johnston and a mere min netted them Gerald Dixson. They should be thankful that Roberto’s not commissioner anymore because even though you don’t have to do the work (and Roberto did a fantastic job keeping up with the league for so long, so I can feel a little bad about his playoff misfortune), you get to keep all the knowledge you gained from steering the ship. When your job requires you to run every aspect of the game, you have no choice but to have an edge on how things generally go in each phase of the season.


Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been knocking at the door for a few seasons now with Xue Huo just reaching his prime and Lenz Durrenberger still scoring at a very high clip. Undoubtedly, the move they can be most thankful for this year is signing Saul King in UFA. King is exactly the type of player that the T-Wolves need...one who will let a boy named Xue and his friend Lenz handle the offensive duties while he can focus on the gritty things he does best: cleaning the glass and playing defense. He’ll make a formidable pair with Robert Sandoval, and while their offense will probably avoid having much of an inside focus, they’ll cover the couple of things that their two main stars don’t do.


Washington Wizards

The silver lining may be hard to see in the nation’s capital, and on top of that, the Washington Wizards had the most unfortunate and undeserved offseason of any team. It’s the offseason’s version of a broken leg: the rejected supermax. With their heavy investment in Remy Martin all for naught, the Wizards didn’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves and made moves to start to turn their luck around. With Bow coming back after not signing in round 1 and a Ross Finch trade that netted them a solid return, the Wiz have pieces they can move around and a direction to go. I won’t patronize them with anything to be thankful for, though I do have more faith in xist to get back on track than those fools on the Hill.


Phoenix Suns

I’m glad to see the Phoenix Suns competing again. Sure, they had some difficult offseason decisions to make, but on the other end of the Ross Finch trade, they’ve got a competitive team with a shot. And it would be a much different story if Darrell Hackney and Darius Garland didn’t come back for sub-max contracts. They did get lucky that no wildcard teams went too crazy (and the ones that did couldn’t snatch Garland because the Suns were prepared to offer longer contracts with more guaranteed money), so they should be thankful that they can run the team back with more cohesion and a little more depth.


Orlando Magic

The Magic by all accounts had a frustrating offseason. Last season they gambled on some expiring contracts in Chauncey Banks and Eddie Cruce, and it wasn’t enough to thrust them into a tough playoff picture. This season, they missed out on Banks in RFA and they missed out on both in UFA. While they were able to secure a solid point guard in Jordan Poole in a trade with the Raptors, this upgrade alone isn’t making their division or conference any easier. The Magic should be thankful that the trade deadline is 8 sims away, and boy do they love to trade. Expect them to be active in trade talks this season.


Indiana Pacers

Last season, the Pacers nabbed Harold Schiff on a massive one year contract, and it didn’t get them out of round one of the playoffs, even with a team strong enough to miss the division lead due to tiebreakers. This season, the offseason acquisitions are more muted. Every season, they should be thankful for Herb Jones. Herbert is such a good player that no matter what they do, they have a solid chance to make the playoffs with him on their roster. He can score, pass, and rebound, and if any PBSL player could average a triple double, it’s this one, on this team, without a dominant rebounder like Schiff to eat up the boards.


New Orleans Pelicans

After some all-in moves that led to a tax bill only a smidge too high to pay off coupled with offseason timing coinciding with a dream vacation, the Pelicans didn’t do too much in free agency other than update their block and hope the trade offers came rolling in, and while they didn’t at first, the Pelicans were able to get their pick back for Lomax and then churn Blakeney for points to get out of the tax and a blue potential rookie contract player in Tony Lee. They probably could’ve gotten more for Lomax if they didn’t worry about their pick. After all, once money’s thrown in the pot, it’s not your money any more unless you win the hand. But Chad might not have made any moves without his pick, and that probably would’ve been a worse look for the future of the Pelicans. In short, the Pellies are lucky that the Trailblazers were present enough to hop on a great offer or they would’ve had to somehow cobble together the best season they could with very few assets in order to do their best to spite a team that ended up with their draft pick.


San Antonio Spurs

It was a mostly foregone conclusion that the Spurs would retain Alvarado. They were simply too good of a team last season to lose him. However, due to cap limitations and bidding decisions, free agency was quiet in San Antonio Spurs. Luckily, Training Camp is just around the corner, and they have plenty to be thankful for historically with TC.


Brooklyn Nets

Despite getting out of the tax, the Nets opted not to throw their cap space around and head into training camp with one of the lowest payrolls (121 million under the cap) and one of the greenest teams there is. They can be thankful for the RHJ trade as the Celtics gave them a really strong offer while other teams weren’t so eager to keep their offers as strong after multiple seasons of being unable to strike a deal. Primo Spears and Supreme Cook give the Nets two reasons to be thankful and a future starting lineup that could be incredibly strong if their five blue potential rookie contract players reach their full potentials. Unfortunately, Ed can probably only insure three of them, so he’s gonna have to choose wisely (or pump out some thick articles in less than 24 hours). Still, any 3 of these guys could be a trio that you could build a team around, so it’s a good problem to have.


Atlanta Hawks

After doing the hokey pokey and going way into the tax before pulling almost all the way out, the Hawks had a relatively quiet offseason. They should be thankful for the same three reasons they should have been thankful in seasons past: Phil Smith, Justin Amos, and Daniel Johnson. But with Justin Amos’ contract year looming, the Hawks should be not only thankful, but also full of urgency to make a move to improve. If they wait until next season, it’ll be too late to get a good return for Zepeda, and if they fail to improve this season, there will be more teams that have a shot at stealing Justin Amos next offseason. One reason to be thankful, though, is that a lot of the strongest teams this season will have to move some serious salary before next season’s UFA to have the cap space to throw a max at Justin Amos.


Charlotte Bobcats

Looking at this roster, I’m not sure what the Bobcats should be thankful for. They’ve got the two best y/b rookie contract point guards in the league. They can figure out which one they want to go with going forward and get a huge return for the other. They don’t have their pick, so that’s probably fueling another generation of Lakers dominance, but luckily for the Bobcats, there are a whole bunch of expert GMs who would offer great advice if he came to them in order to help the Bobcats become relevant again and cockblock the Lakers’ future prospects in the process.

Or he could be thankful for chaos or something.


Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs can be thankful for second chances this season as they nearly followed a Jonathan Isaac supermax with a whole lot of nothing. However, every former notable Cavs player, despite plenty of interest from the league, was still available in UFA round 2, and to the Cavs’ credit, they got the negotiations done to retain Raphael Gordon and Karlo Pearson (and Jason Marotta). None of those three is really good enough to hold onto as the same Cavs roster last season couldn’t crack the playoffs. However, to lose them for nothing without a chance to turn them into future assets would have been a shame.


Golden State Warriors

With the rebuild in full swing in its second season, the Warriors grabbed Harold Schiff and Owen Blakeslee in free agency, and they enter the season with plenty of cap space to continue rebuilding efforts. While these were solid moves, it’s a long article, and it’s hard to say that these are things the Warriors should be most thankful for. So I guess I’ll just say they can remain thankful for repeat because having a pair of championships directly preceding a rebuild can really allow the Warriors to be more patient than they otherwise would have been.


Memphis Grizzlies

One thing I admire about the Memphis Grizzlies is their ability to have fun while they’re in tax jail. They don’t seem to be in an urgent rush to get out, but they’re chipping away towards what should be approaching the end of their latest stint, and their offseason acquisitions through the trade market include a couple of fun players in E.J. Liddell and Mikal Bridges. The league and the Grizzlies can be mutually thankful that the Memphis GM brings a unique sense of fun to how he plays the game. It’s unconventional, but it’s worked on a couple of occasions.


Portland Trailblazers

Despite missing out on UFA round 1, the Trailblazers thrust themselves in the contention conversation by obtaining Ned Lomax for a pick that otherwise would’ve been held hostage. It’s an easy decision. Keep a middle of the road pick or swap it for a surefire baller in Ned Lomax so the Pelicans can tank without feeling like they gave away something good. Hopefully, they don’t rest on their gratitude and follow it up with a training camp where they successfully insure their players and some more moves to fill out a roster that could be a strong force if they rounded it out a bit more.


Miami Heat

Using the LoCo method, the Heat managed to grab 30 quick points off of their number 1 pick luck, so in essence they traded the number 1 pick for those points, Breanna Stewart, JR Smith Jr., and pick 5 (Trayce Jackson-Davis). They should be thanking the lotto gods for that strong return, especially since they stopped churning back once they hit pick 5. There’s still a long way to go before the Heat are out of tax jail, but this was a good start.


Denver Nuggets

Russ Coles on a long term contract? Ousmane Dieng on MLE? Kyle Kuric and Dong Bone on mins? These moves seem alright now, but I’m not sure how they hold up after training camp. They outperformed the Pacers in the playoffs as the underdog before running head first into the purple-bricked wall that was the Los Angeles Lakers, and I don’t think the new faces on their roster are going to be enough to get much further in a conference whose superpower teams are getting stronger.

So they should be thankful that I’ve reverse cursed them, and a Warriors-like run could ensue--unless that reversed the reverse curse. I don’t know how this shit works. Reverse curses aren’t the only thing.


Sacramento Kings

After losing Quincy Jones and Allie Quigley (who I thought would be a King for life), the Kings had a rough offseason. More like Woodrow UNLucky, am I right? In any case, the acquisition of Kai Jones when the Lakers might have stolen back a b/b Center for free makes them cult heroes across the league now that the Lakers starting C is whoever dies least between Andy Elliot and Jed Randell: at least until the Lake show cashes in their assets for someone that’ll just crush the hearts of their competitors. But enough about that purple team, the Kings should be thankful that the deadlines are all posted on the forums. In fact, all the rules and regulations are. The more you know, I guess.


Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs gave up a lot to move up from pick 3 to pick 2, and it’s a move that could pay off handsomely. Isaiah Stewart is going to be a bona-fide stud in this league, and on a team with Dominitrix Johnson and Scoot Henderson, Stewart’s one of those rare players that heads into his rookie season ready to play with the big dogs. They should be thankful that the Bobcats wanted a second PG because the Mavericks are a point guard hungry team and would’ve almost definitely preferred Herman Cambell, who will take several more seasons to develop. Beef Stew could make Quincy Johnson a redundancy, and combine QJ’s salary with Candice Parker, and I’m sure that Dallas’ search for a point guard could be fruitful. Hell, they could probably find one playing in a neighboring state!


Chicago Bulls

I have a lot to be thankful for this offseason, and I’m thankful that it takes the edge off of being commissioner again. Obviously, landing Remy Martin over a supermax offer is the obvious move here, but as much as being commissioner can be a pain in the ass, I’m thankful that there are at least 20 other GMs who are still actively playing this game in some way or another, because playing the game is fun enough to make the effort worthwhile. Even if sometimes doing the work--or hell, sometimes dealing with GMs--makes me grumpy and snarky sometimes, I'm sincerely thankful for every one of y'all who is here to participate and make the game more fun and interesting and challenging.


Utah Jazz

Instead of saying what the Jazz are grateful for, I’d like to express my gratitude that the Jazz paid their tax and even sent in some UFA Rd 1 bids that proved to me that Gary has a better idea of what he’s doing than he lets on (although, that pick swap with the Nets is the kind of thing that makes me want to delete the end of the previous sentence). Gary’s a unique guy with a heart of gold who makes the league more entertaining through his articles and general presence, and it’s awesome to have him around, but it’s even more awesome when he’s also playing the game we’re all here to play.

[greepleairport]

3300+ words, +10pts
great read as always el capitan