6-on-6: Home Stretch of the Season Edition

[JNR]

Welcome! Today we've got six GMs together to talk about an array of questions concerning the end of the season and other interesting tidbits. Let's meet our panel!

The JNR, GM of the Timberwolves
Ballsohard, GM of the 76ers
Iamquailman, GM of the Bucks
Nick Malone, GM of the Pelicans
Eazy P, GM of the Spurs
RPF, GM of the Nets

Thanks for joining me on this journey, guys. Now let's get started!

1. Let's start off easy and personal. Are you happy with your season so far? Do you think that attitude can change over the next 20-something games?

The JNR: Absolutely not. I made my biggest mistake in years by initiating a rebuild while forgetting I didn't own my pick. I haven't valued draft picks in a long time since I have had consistently low draft picks in recent years. The season has been backbreaking, and hopefully I can crawl to a more respectable finish.

Bass O'Hard: I'd say so. Going into the season, the goal was to see what i had with these young guys and make the playoffs. That's almost a lock now, so now we've got our sights on the division. We will try to take care of business with a few injuries and hold off some of the other guys. Next will be advancing through the playoffs. I think making the playoffs was the soft goal but thats kind of transformed into trying to get beyond the second round.

IamQuailman: That's a good question. If you had asked me at the start of the season, you probably would have gotten a totally different answer than I will give you today. Going into TC, I felt really good about where this team was going to be. We had traded away some youth and assets for a couple homerun guys who could be "young vets" entering or having just entered their primes: Kanter and Saric. However, training camp, being the soul sucker it is, utterly demolished Dario Saric to the point he was still good, but far from as good as he had used to be. On top of that, we had "lost" a prospect in Paul O'Neil who we also had felt made Desean Hawkins more replaceable from last season. So that already had us in a darker place than we wanted to be from the start. We were already second-guessing moves we made, looking to make immediate changes and even flirting with the idea of tanking it out for one more season. Having made 1 big move in moving Saric back to the Magic for essentially the same pieces I sent him over for (swap Hawkins for Aciniega and subtract a couple picks from my pool of assets), we were hoping to see some turn around... and it finally looks like it's starting to show. Our young guys look great, and we we can potentially make a push for the playoffs. Our schedule looks somewhat light over the next couple sims... so we are hopeful about making the playoffs. Only thing that could really change my outlook this season is if we suffered a Broken Leg type injury on one of my key players.

Nick Malone: I'm satisfied with how my team has not wilted over. The development of Buddy Hield, James Pearsall, and even Ekbert Winkler has shown a bright outlook for the future of basketball in New Orleans. Ricky's been a great leader on the court and helping to get our young guys great open shots. I'm hopeful that our team can continue to challenge for a post season birth.

Eazy P: I am really happy with the way my season is going obviously for the wrong reason. My goal was lotto/rebuild and it's going as planned. Hopefully the lotto gods keep me in the top 3 if I end the season with the 3rd pick before the actual lotto. The only way my attitude changes if my team goes on a unnecessary win streak or even get to 20 wins. I trying to "trust the process."

RPF: Yeah I'm happy the way it's going now. I needed to freshen up my roster to get some interest back. It's easy to fall in a rut and just keeping the course. So change is a good thing.

2. What team in the East has the best chance of stopping the Bulls?

The JNR: I think the Sixers are balanced enough and smart enough to do the job. There is talent up and down the board to match with Chicago, and Ben Simmons' flexibility could end up being the difference. That being said, I'm not sure if any team will actually stop Chicago. I created a monster.

Bass O'Hard: This is an easy one, The Pistons. they have a mature team with their 2 best guys in their primes and the young guys starting to blossom. You can never count out an OP in a game. Take a look at the pistons with Davis and without. 1-5 to world beaters. You really can't talk enough about the advantage of an OP level guy on your team.

IamQuailman: First of all, what a breath of fresh air it is to say "best chance of stopping" any team not named the Hawks or Pistons. I'm super happy for Josh, despite him being a division rival. It's been great to watch him build his team and make some daring moves along the way. As for best change of stopping him, a healthy Pistons team could give him a lot of fits, but I think the Sixers have the length to really get under their skin.

Nick Malone: Maybe a healthy Pistons team? Maybe? The Knicks had a shot too before the Jokic injury but when you look at the Bulls, How do you cover Westbrook and Otto and Dennis Smith Jr? It's almost an impossible task that I don't think any team is really equipped to handle atm. I'd be shocked if we didn't end up with a Bulls-Nuggets finals.

Eazy P: That team in the East is always going to be the Piston. I said Piston because of the SLOE OP god Anthony Davis. As long as he's healthy they are almost a lock for the finals......well unless they face-off vs the Wiz again this post season. Either the Wiz have the formula to beat the Pistons or last year's Pistons team led by AD were under Lil B's Based God curse.

RPF: If it weren't for the recent injuries I would have said the Knicks but I will say the 76ers. Scott has proven when given time to scout a team he can exploit matchups in favor.

3. What's your policy on trading with new GMs? Open season? Wait a year for them to get acclimated?

The JNR: This question wasn't created as a shot at anyone, but more a gauge of how other GMs think. I won't approach a newbie. I don't like looking like I'm trying to get one over on a new GM. I usually let them get acclimated for a season or two. I prefer not to have anyone question my motives, and optics matter to me.

Bass O'Hard: Years ago it was open season. Now i try and give a little space.. Usually a year or two, or when they say something cocky. That's when the gloves come off and we can get down to business. I think generally im trying to send balanced deals, but we have some very infamous cases where people claimed fair as well.

IamQuailman: Everyone has a different approach to this, and I tend to discuss trades with new GMs but try not to make a deal unless it is really beneficial for both. I like to also let them know that I am an open door for advice, opinions, and questions regarding not only trading but the league in general. I think trading with them is OK, so long as you aren't trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Trading is important in this league, and putting an embargo on trading with newbies early on takes away an important piece of learning to be a SLOE GM: SLOEconomics.

Nick Malone: Open season but look for the right deal that they'd be able to build something off of. I'm not saying the Clippers best bet would've been to hold onto Durant and try to trade him in the offseason off a super max but Dooley's always sorta been underappreciated. He's the clear get in this deal but you also have Kemba who I would've looked to move as well and if there wasn't an option to do so, hold onto them till another better deal opens up.

Eazy P: I wouldn't wait a year to trade with them. I would Not treat it as if it was open season and be like ooh fresh meat let me take advantage while their getting their feet wet but I would be fair because that what I would want in return.

RPF: I usually give them time for 2 reasons. First they have a lot of catching up to do with the schedules, rosters, salary, ect. And secondly this league is to have fun and if they are traped and feel like fresh meat chances are they aren't having fun and will leave.

4. This game is random, but its randomness seems to strike out at certain teams/GMs. Do you think anyone is snakebitten in this league? If so, who?

The JNR: There are a few people who have had consistent bad luck, like Logan of the Knicks and Scott. But I do think it happens to everyone. Some people are louder about it. Some people are more hindered by it. But this game is brutal. Training camp, broken legs -- this game strikes without mercy. Why are we doing this again?

Bass O'Hard: I think at this point, everyone's been bitten by the randomness of the game. Maybe not to their best guy, but to someone they had high hopes for. I think a better look as the teams that just cant get there. The Wizards ,Trailblazers and Timberwolves really shine to me now as teams that actively try and haven't gotten over the hump. I'm rooting for all of them if they're not playing me to get there though.

IamQuailman: That's a good question. I don't know if snakebitten is the right term, but it sure as hell feels like some GMs get it hit with a Lemony Snickets series of unfortunate events. One GM comes to mind in particular... Ryan (syndicate) always is poised for a post season push, just to get it derailed by injury and lack of depth. Then there are GMs that had a string of bad luck for seasons and have somewhat turned the page, like BallSoHard and Inner GI. Notorious for bad TCs, injuries, etc. Although recent success has somewhat undone the seasons of bad luck (although Logan may be having a minor setback in his luck this season...). Long story short, i think everyone goes through little peaks and valleys of luck, but we are too consumed with our own situations to notice (unless they are vocal about it).

Nick Malone: Maybe it is but inside that randomness is the random feeling that anyone can rebound out of it and the GM's that are capable enough to usually find deals that helps pass that fleeting snake bitten feeling. I do think this game likes to "even the odds" as much as it can but whenever one of us is feeling blue, there's always some sunshine out around the corner that probably presents itself in the form of a favorable deal.

Eazy P: There are a few Snakebitten GMs that I can think of off the top of my head. JNR and InnerGI. Inner has suffered for seem like his whole SLOE career with bad TCs and untimely season ending injuries. JNR the same well at least with the injury part seems like at least one of his key players in the post season gets hurt it may not be long but long enough to miss games in a particular series.

RPF: Oh yeah some gms are snakebitten, take Logan for example at first it was training camps and now it's injuries. He just can't seem to get in good favor with the SIM GAWDS.

5. Here's a fun question: when looking at championship contenders, what is the fewest PPG your leading scorer can score? We all know people win titles with 38PPG scorers, but what do you think is the lowest you can have while still fielding a championship team?

The JNR: I think a team can win with someone scoring as low as 21ppg, but there are two caveats: 1. the defense must be at least top 10, maybe top 5; 2. the second leading scorer needs to only be two or three ppg behind the leader. That sort of balanced team can win a championship, but you definitely can't have one single scorer in the low 20s.

Bass O'Hard: I'm going to have to go with 25 per game. I think having a balanced team is nice, but having one guy you know is going to get buckets is extremely big. It opens it up for everyone else because in the playoffs teams are going to force their best defenders on that guy. It allows the other guys to really free up and help out the squad.

IamQuailman: I think that really depends on the surrounding pieces. We saw that with the Sixers last season. So many good players lowered the overall potential PPG for each of them. On my team specifically, I think McNary could be a superstar scorer, but as I saw this season he took a hit in production when I didn't have a PG to really get him the ball. Small, Booker, and Kanter all are players that can put the ball in the basket, too. So each of those guys would be taking shots away from my #1. But I think McNary, if he progresses next season could possibly average maybe 19-21ppg with the surrounding cast. That said, I don't think we are anywhere close yet to a championship contender. But who knows.

Nick Malone: I would have to imagine that if a team doesn't have an alpha scorer that there has to be multiple guys that can and should score over 20 ppg. Multiple options to score makes it easier from what I've found to move the basketball and continue to play within offensive rhythm and make the other team try to play catch up.

Eazy P: Depending on the makeup of the team I would say at least 24 ppg. You also need some good roll players and good defense. I think the year I won it Westbrook may have averaged 24 ppg but he also did other things well too. It was enough to win the title along with help from other guys on the team.

RPF: I would have to say 26PPG but the supporting cast would have to average close to that as well to make up for them not such a dominate scorer.

6. Okay we've bounced around a bit so far, so let's bring it home with a set of generic questions. In order of importance from least to most: Who's your MVP? Who wins the East? Who wins the West? Who wins the title? Who wins GMOY?

The JNR: Why did I even ask this? So boring. Anyway: Anthony Davis. Bulls. Kings. Kings. Garbageman.

Bass O'Hard: MVP has to be AD. As mentioned above, 1-5 without the guy, top 2 record in the league with.
East: bulls
West: Nuggets
Title: Bulls
GMOY: garbageman

IamQuailman: I think Davis, despite the injury, will win MVP; he's far to good to not get it. No one else is even close. The East goes to the Bulls. They are having a fantastic year and have put together a stellar two-way squad. Going to be VERY hard to beat. The Nuggets will win the West (barring injury). This team is struggling now after the KD trade, but will be a beast once they figure it out. Matchup Nightmare for everyone. I will give the edge to the Bulls on this one, because WE THE EAST. GMOY once again has so many potential candidates: from NOLa to garbageman to syndicate to 78 to Inner (before injuries derailed the season). Even Scott and Suns who were competing for titles last year man significant changes and are still in contention. But I'm gonna go with the Garbageman.

Nick Malone: MVP in the East probably is AD even with the injury. West = Nuggets. East = Bulls. Title = Bulls. GMOY = Ryan.

Eazy P: My MVP is AD of course dude can do it all on both sides of the ball

I think the Bulls win the East. I like the makeup of that squad. It won't be easy but they will be representing the east in the finals.

The West representative before the all star IMO was the Kings but KD being traded to the Nuggets made them the favorites but Nuggets have been having bad playoff luck lately with injuries at the wrong time but if they are healthy and injury free they will win the West.

As of now at this point of the season I see The winner of the SLOE championship being the Chicago Bulls

My GMOY at this moment would have to be the Bulls GM garbageman that Otto Porter trade has made his team better and his team is unbeaten at home which is crazy this late in the season.

RPF: MVP - Anthony Davis, as mush as I don't want to say that but he's the leading scorer, 2nd in rebounds, FG % and blocks. He is even 20th in steals, yeah he is pretty good.
Eastern Conference Champ - Chicago Bulls are too good and too strong not to pick
Western Conference Champ - Sacramento Kings, that's right I picked the Kings
SLOE Champs - Chicago Bulls, like I said before they are just the complete package
GMOY - Garbageman should win this hands down


Great job, everyone! It was fun to have this spirited conversation. Good luck for the rest of the season!

[IamQuailman]

I love how Nick swapped the order of the East and West in order of importance. Thanks Nick

[NickMalone77]

I love how Nick swapped the order of the East and West in order of importance. Thanks Nick

I mean, East does come before the West... If that’s what you prioritize towards then good for you. Lol. I hope we both make the playoffs.

[Inner_GI]

Fantastic article guys. A really great read and good questions.

Also, I appreciate the support here. This season sucked but at least it got some recognition for being a good roster.


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[ballsohard]

The JNR, GM of the Timberwolves
Ballsohard, GM of the 76ers
Iamquailman, GM of the Bucks
Nick Malone, GM of the Pelicans
Eazy P, GM of the Spurs
RPF, GM of the Nets

Can all claim 5 points