S88 Town Hall 1

[Mike Lowry]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?
What do you think would make the headlines?
How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5, 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Deadline for Sim 1.

[Darth Vegito]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?
What do you think would make the headlines?
How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?

The draft was very deep. Nothing surprising during the draft. Players went about where they were supposed to. RFA was also fairly boring as it was mostly matches. Which was also expected. Unrestricted free agency is where things got fun. A bunch of players switched teams and then they didn't. The daunted RESIM hit the league and the universe fell back into place. The first sim felt like we entered a SimLeague-Multiverse where no players wanted 5 year supermaxes. It was very odd and unlike anything I've seen. Sure it happens from time to time but not on the scale it was about to. But then Resim happened and Cap was able to put the Stones back where they belonged....or did he?

We also are looking at a currently botched trade for Clyde Drexler that is holding the league hostage. The trade between the Nuggets and Lakers is still sitting unprocessed after league wide commentary on how bad of a trade it is. And make no mistake it IS a terrible trade. Drexler in entering his prime and one of the best players in the league hands down. 4 1st round picks sound great for someone of Drex's caliber but those picks....Blazers, Bucks, Pistons, and Lakers. What are the odds any of those will be Lotto picks? 5% chance they are bad lotto picks? So we are talking a generational talent for a poopoo platter of greens. It's currently being "re-worked" but honestly it should be scrapped until later in the season. There's no reason to rush to trade this guy. Better deals WILL arise. Just be patient and wait for a haul that's worth D-Rex.

[WigNosy]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?
What do you think would make the headlines?
How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?

I think the most exciting development in the off-season was the addition of the expansion Hornets. Expansion drafts are rare, teams made some interesting decisions, and Nick's willingness to wheel and deal most of the talent he received in the expansion draft meant that there was a lot of player movement that I think we would have been less likely to see had there been no expansion. I don't know that I'm surprised by that - Nick has always had the reputation of being ready to trade at the drop of a hat - but it was definitely a breath of fresh air.

I think the draft being as deep as it was made for an interesting off-season. We didn't see a lot of trades into the draft, but my sources tell me it wasn't for lack of trying. Teams wanted to trade into the draft but the price was often too high - and perhaps teams were depleted from the expansion draft. What surprised me most was the huge influx of guards into the league; we've been dominated by big men pretty much since the league's inception and you have to wonder when a team without a traditional big man will rise up.

The big shift since the Spurs won, I think, was unrestricted free agency. Even with a re-sim, we saw a lot of players take their talents to new locations. Whereas four off-seasons ago, we were going into a UFA period with just a handful of names, all of which were still young and worthy of max contracts, I have to think this was the season where we start to see UFA classes that have a ton of talent right now, but whose age (coming off four-year extensions) makes teams hesitate at pulling the trigger on a four-year maximum deal... you're now paying huge deals for players that will degrade over time rather than players that will improve over time. Will teams continue to pay premium money to yank players off other teams? I think that remains to be seen and it probably depends a lot on how successful this year's big UFA player switches are - if a lot of players/teams falter, I think we'll see teams pull back on big offers... but if teams that made splashy signings succeed, you'd better bet UFA is going to see even more teams angling to swipe stars.

[greepleairport]

I think the biggest story of the offseason is the expansion and the return of Nick. I think we all moved on so quickly from that because, now that he’s back? It feels like he never left. I’ve already had at least 4 or 5 separate trade talks with Nick, and even though we haven’t closed any deals yet, I’ve enjoyed all the talks. Great GM to have back in the mix.

The elephant in the room is the Clyde drexler trade, probably clouding up most other sim league goings-on.

Hot take: it’s not the worst deal I’ve ever seen.

Clyde has been eyed as one of the best players in the league, but




Dude still has not cracked 20ppg. It’s not like the nuggets have been a team full of superstars who are driving drexlers numbers down, either. Drafted the second season after the nuggets were any good (they won the title, props to them), the nuggets have only had one winning season with Drexler on the team, which ended in a 1st round exit in the playoffs. And their record was 42-40.

Drex looks like a guy that should make any shitty team competitive, but I don’t even think the nuggets have been that shitty of a team. So what exactly does Clyde bring to the table…??? I dunno man. Unrealized potential. Hopes and dreams. A mirage of good returns. Maybe the best trade piece the new PBSL has ever seen.

Me? I think the nuggets would be lucky to get the full 15 points for Fraud Drexler.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NY_Magic_Garrett]

What did you see that caught you by surprise?

• Oh what did I see that caught my surprise? Ill tell you what caught me by surprise. Was Buck F&%$ Williams walking aways from 3 million plus dollars to go play for the team that I traded my 1st round pick to.....twice. Caught by surprise but a good lesson for still a new player of this game. Banked way to hard on him accepting.

What do you think would make the headlines?

• I wont say the Buck Betrayal again. I think the Hornets moves and opening day roster compared to their expansion draft roster would make some headlines. Will be interesting to see if it translates, but for an expansion team to come in and find a way to be active and build a better inaugural roster would be an interesting storyline.

How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?

• So much high value talent movement. Wilkins to Bucks, Buck to the Trailblazers, I think we became more top heavy as a leage but the road did not get easier for Spurs dynasty stans.

[logpmess]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?
The Lakers being a landing spot for free agents. It seemed like after the Magic trade, the Lakers were going to be on a long term rebuild. But with a few lottery picks and some high level free agent signings, I could see them competing for the division.

What do you think would make the headlines?
The obvious headline is the Drexler trade falling through. From the initial post of the trade to the absolute bashing of the trade through Discord to other people saying they will offer more if the Nuggets back out to now it is not longer happening until possibly day 60. It made for an exciting start to the season.

How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?
The Spurs are going to be a favorite to win the league as long as they have Jordan with some pieces around him. They have four of five starting spots solidified. They will be top of the league for seasons to come. What we did see is some other teams solidifying their attempts at competing for a title. The Lakers and Trailblazers both landed high end free agents and will be pushing for the top of the West.

[K-100]

What did you see that caught you by surprise?
The number of purples in the league. The talent in the league is getting better every season and as we say goodbye to the titans of the creation draft, we are entering a league that will soon be dominated from the wings.

What do you think would make the headlines?
The Drexler trade and then no-trade was the most interesting part of the offseason. As talks continue, I'm sure more folks will throw their best offer now and it will be a buyers market for Denver.

How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?
The Spurs frontcourt was wiped out so they are no longer the well-balanced machine from last year. They are still the champs but I think more teams will have a chance to beat them in the paint so their run at a repeat will be more challenging this season.

[Jedihero]

What did you see that caught you by surprise?
It was fun seeing the expansion draft going into the new season, interesting to see how that will shake up the league

What do you think would make the headlines?
uhhh Clyde is going somewhere? Maybe? We will see, but I've been chatting a lot recently.

How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?
A quick lookover the league it looks to me like we have alot of competing teams, I feel like usually we only get 2-3 who truly compete but we might have a fun season this year with all the new purps and gotta see who ends up with Clyde.

[NickMalone77]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?
What do you think would make the headlines?
How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned?

From my own perceptive, I think the difference in terms of contracts and amount of salary being at the current level of 1988-89 and being at the last level when I previously left the game was what caught me by surprise. The last time I left, scrubs and second rounders were making millions of dollars and now the richest contract currently belongs to Bernard King. Quite a surreal change of pace but a welcomed change of pace. It helped adjust my bids a bit and while I only signed one guy in FA due to the roster size and amount of cap I had at my disposal, it was good to get my feet wet again in that respect.

I know everyone is bandied about the Clyde Drexler and almost transaction. I’m never going to publicly blast another GM for how they want to craft their team the best they see it but I think that move could’ve been a way for the Nuggets to strike early for the next draft ahead. Lakers get a talented player for a bunch of potential lotto tickets in quantity. I think the move that kinda fell under the radar that is really going to benefit both clubs this season was the Xavier McDaniel for Spud Webb swap between the Jazz & Cavs. I think the Cavs traded from a surplus to get a guy they really needed that can be a young defensive and rebounding presence in McDaniel in exchange for a talented point guard that they didn’t need two of and one getting less minutes in the bench. Webb now allows the Jazz to move Ainge to the 2 guard spot and allows a real floor general (while being my size) to run the show. A real plus + move for both teams.

Since the Spurs got crowned? The league got a facelift. They’re always going to be at the top of the class with the Bucks but this game is changing and it moves fast if you allow it. I think they see the draft as another monster piece that can slide next to Jordan & or Mullin and create the next Spurs dynasty but I just don’t see that being a reality. This league will always present new challengers in some capacity. Some see the runway path for a title or a rebuild but it’s always developing, I think there’s a real chance that we get a new champion next year and the teams to watch out for would be the Bullets, Lakers, Bucks, & Celtics.

[jlmarines]

What did you see that caught you by surprise?
I had money on my side. I was offering crazy amount of money, however a lot of UFA decided to take less money and signed with other teams.

What do you think would make the headlines?
Sounds like Drexler trade was a big deal. Instead of repeating the same stuff, the trade between the Cavs and Jazz is a big deal. I need to score more points and Jazz needed a PG badly. It will be interesting who got the best deal. Time well tell.

How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?
I see purple. The Spurs are still a team to watch. However, there are many purple players in this league. I'm not sure if the Spurs have the depth to compete with other teams. The Spurs are one injury away for his team to collapse. Will see if the Spurs can maintain a healthy team.

[Mike Lowry]

Give us your take on what you saw in the offseason.
What did you see that caught you by surprise?

The two things that I saw that really caught me by surprise were UFA and the Drexler scare.
I mean that trade really came out of nowhere for me.
Y'all know I reach out about every player with some value, so I was absolutely amazed by that move being made without Drexler being shopped to the public.
The UFA was even crazier than that!
I immediately agreed with Chad about being blown away by how many players turned down super max money.
Especially the fact that Magic was one of them.
Totally banked the whole trajectory of my franchise on building around him.
Had the resim and rebalanced the universe, but there was still major moves across the league.
Also seeing such bad contracts for role players and so much money being available to spend right now is surprising.


What do you think would make the headlines?
I have to say that Nick's return was the highlight of the offseason for me.
I really enjoy him in the mix because of his level of engagement and his willingness to trade.
I think he has been very effective in building a decent contender out of his expansion roster.


How has the landscape shifted since the Spurs were crowned Champs?

The Spurs refused to overspend on their front court and opened the door to contention.
The Bucks and Celtics look good and the Rockets are for real.
It should be interesting this season.

[Mike Lowry]

@Darth Vegito
@WigNosy
@greepleairport
@NY_Magic_Garrett
@logpmess
@K-100
@Jedihero
@NickMalone77
@jlmarines
@Mike Lowry

+1 point