Bullets Don't Care About Your Feelings

[Mike Lowry]

Hello and Welcome Back for another season of exchanging Bullets.
Plenty to flesh out from the offseason, and we all know activity will continue right up to the deadline, but I want to start with ideology. Maybe give a little insight into our thought process as an organization, which will make more sense out of how we are moving.
Last season we were forced to convince ourselves of what we already knew. In order to understand that we'll have to go back a little further. We made the deal to get Magic because we believe that at this point you can not win a title without: 1) a top 3 player in the league surrounded by a strong supporting cast, or 2) a collection of top 10 or top 15 players that is deep enough to overpower the greater player as a team.
The finals is a good example of that where you see Rivers, Hornacek, Barkley, and Wilkins knocking off Jordan, Mullin, Thomas, Chambers, and West. We have teams that serve as such superpowers that you can't beat them on the edges. You need power to match power. So we made a deal for THE Player who had up to that point been absolutely dominant in this league as an individual.
We really thought we would be able to flip him for a greater package than we sent out, but did not see that happen. Instead we watched a short-handed cast take a big step forward to close out the season which gave us mixed feelings.
We did not want to chalk up Magic as a complete loss, and we weren't seeing the return we wanted, so we were forced to compete and surround him with the best supporting cast we could. We felt like the support we got him was ample before we even hit UFA, and he turned around and spit in our faces. After our lawyers had to locate his contractual clause and drag him in with a re-sim, he took a big dive on us in camp. That asshole mailed it in from the very beginning, and we knew we had a problem on our hands.
At the end of the day we put up 57 wins and got bounced in the 2nd round. We saw it coming for 8 sims. There were NO Moral Victories! The end was just a chain of formalities that led us towards today.
In the offseason we got active early. First order was to get rid of that cancerous sack of HIV infested feces as quickly as possible. We got 2 birds when we were able to acquire our 91 pick back from the Spurs, and he's their problem now. You see by the immediate impact, not only is he continuing to decline, but he infected Jordan as well, but that's not our business. From that exchange, our business became Sean Elliot, who we LOVE, and Tim Legler, who I already cut.
We followed that move with a game changer that officially reset our roster. We had to send out Sleepy Floyd, who will have a tribute celebration every time he returns to our arena, and were happy to ship Byron Scott who was brought in to support Magic, but quickly followed suit by consistently underperforming. Together they got us the #3 pick which we were going to use on Tim Hardaway until we were offered a great package to move back 2 spots. We jumped at the opportunity to bring back Ken Norman along with the picks that became Tim Hardaway and Pervis Ellison. We liked Tim Hardaway A Lot, but couldn't pass on the return we ended up with for him. So he ended in Minnesota, and we're starting our season with Rod Strickland and Cadillac Anderson coming off our bench.
Next it was time to catch some side eyes and all the HATE from disgruntled GMs who weren't expecting us to cannon ball on free agency like we did. Going back to basic philosophy and General Principle, that's how you're supposed to operate if you have cap space in free agency! Just because we have no intention of competing for the ship this season, we weren't going to sit by and watch the contenders sign the best players to sweetheart deals that would position them well in the future.
With the exception of Kelly Tripucka, we resigned all of our own free agents to reasonable contracts, and then we moved them to teams that can use them.
The bigger story is probably the guys we brought in from all over the league. We first signed Charles Oakley and Michael Adams in RFA, but they were unceremoniously matched. Then we landed some bright futures in Spud Webb and Xavier McDaniel. They might stick with us, or they might have a cup of coffee, but they both have something to prove to this league. Finally we claimed Eric Leckner after his stellar camp, and John Battle who fits our culture well.
Long story - even longer, we're going to flip talent until we land generational talent. If you want some of what we're selling come with cash in hand and Her-Up. We don't want to hear about the deal we should have made after the deal we made. We shittin round here, not sittin on the pot.
Who needs clarification?

Oh Yeah,
Starting line-up is:

Wallace Bryant
Peter Verhoeven
Xavier McDaniel
Ricky Pierce
Spud Webb

First Question?

[Eazy P]

Do you plan on making more trades this season?

[JNR]

GWR: How does Rod Strickland feel after being traded for Tim Hardaway then being relegated to a bench role behind Webb?

[AngryBanana]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: a twofer for you.

1. Magic actually had a positive training camp this year, what are your thoughts on that?

2. I noticed you benched or outright deactivated players that could be starting for you. Can you give your thought on how that happened?


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[greepleairport]

You have a decent enough team to not tank, but you have a philosophy that doesn’t have much to do with winning this year, either. So? What’s your success going to be? Trades galore alone or anything else?


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[jlmarines]

Justin Bieber, Teremana.com: Unfortunately preseason did not go well, based on preseason results, are you concerned you only won 2 games?

[IamQuailman]

What's the purpose of getting your pick back if you have a relatively talented team? That pick was the centerpiece of your Magic trade, and could perhaps be not well positioned in a very BLAH draft class. I really want to know what your teams direction is

[Mike Lowry]

Do you plan on making more trades this season?

Many Many!
I'll be happy if I move 12 out of 15 on my roster.

[Mike Lowry]

GWR: How does Rod Strickland feel after being traded for Tim Hardaway then being relegated to a bench role behind Webb?

Rod Strickland is by far my most valued player on my roster, and I think he understands that.
He made some big strides in camp, but he came into the league very green.
Even with his elevation and Spud calling it in, they are very comparable talents at this point.
Rod has more bounce and less speed, while Spud is the better scoring threat.
As long as he keeps his head down, works hard, and takes direction, he'll find a starting role in no time.

[Mike Lowry]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: a twofer for you.

1. Magic actually had a positive training camp this year, what are your thoughts on that?

2. I noticed you benched or outright deactivated players that could be starting for you. Can you give your thought on how that happened?

-10 Qkn, -6 Jmp
I don't see that as a positive camp, but maybe we're looking at different metrics.
And he sucked the soul out of Michael Jordan just to remain relevant.
If you live long enough to see Lebron James in 35 years you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Currently, my rotation is based on opportunity.
These guys have the best chance to prove to the league what they can offer a team on day 60.
Some of the guys on the bench have already proven their worth and don't need to show off.
I'm sure they'll get offers more valuable than the guys auditioning, but I know who's where on the value meter.

[Mike Lowry]

You have a decent enough team to not tank, but you have a philosophy that doesn’t have much to do with winning this year, either. So? What’s your success going to be? Trades galore alone or anything else?

Success for this organization will ALWAYS be a Championship!
We've done most everything else besides win one and that's all that matters.
With that in mind, we're not interested in building a Conference Champion contender.
We know that we need centerpiece or two as a foundation for our team that will separate us from others.
Until we find that, the pieces will continue to churn.

[Mike Lowry]

Justin Bieber, Teremana.com: Unfortunately preseason did not go well, based on preseason results, are you concerned you only won 2 games?

My team is not in a position worry about win counting.
These guys know that they need to work on developing into reliable professionals or they'll be off this roster.
They saw Tim Legler have a cup of coffee and head to the Washington Generals auditions.
This training ground will become a Mecca for talent development and great careers, no matter how many dehydrated bodies fall by the wayside.

[Mike Lowry]

What's the purpose of getting your pick back if you have a relatively talented team? That pick was the centerpiece of your Magic trade, and could perhaps be not well positioned in a very BLAH draft class. I really want to know what your teams direction is

At the time I got my pick back my roster was Magic, Sleepy, and Scott.
If you expected me to find out what they could materialize into in the next three seasons, you're an idiot.
But I know you know better, I just saw you trade Barkley before he took a dive.
Aside from them, we had bird rights to a bunch of other old men that we did leverage for some points and younger bodies.
Clearing house was more about turning pages than anything else.
We picked Sean Elliott with the Jazz pick and the pick we returned was our 91.
You can track what we get for it and let us know if it makes more sense then.
If you had a better package I didn't know about it, and I put out a last call for Magic.
Sounds like you're bitter about me taking the best offer I received, and I don't think I can help you understand that if you don't already.
Our team is seeking a game changing talent to build our future around.
We'll turn over as many stones as we need to in order to find diamonds.

[WigNosy]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian...

I know GMs have egos and the competitive juices flow with you just like they do with athletes... have you seen the return of Nick Malone as a challenge to your wheeler-dealer reputation, and do you measure your season's success by whether or not you or Nick was the trade hub of the league for the season?

[Mike Lowry]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian...

I know GMs have egos and the competitive juices flow with you just like they do with athletes... have you seen the return of Nick Malone as a challenge to your wheeler-dealer reputation, and do you measure your season's success by whether or not you or Nick was the trade hub of the league for the season?

My Ego is only connected to the Championship.
I love having Nick back in the league, and I enjoy watching him operate.
Seems like he shot his wad a little early and will need a few seasons to really recover from it.
I don't imagine him being able to make as many moves this season as I already have, and I just started.
I just hope he can turn his season around, because it's probably one of the worst feelings to watch someone else using your lottery pick.