General Musings (GM)

[MexicanMamba]

Being the General Manager of the Los Angeles Clippers has been an interesting ride to this point.  Like the rest of you (I’ll assume), I was pulled into this league with very little understanding of what to do or how to do it.  Hell, I still can’t follow some of the easy directions and my wrist has the slap welts from Josh to prove it.  It can be a lot to swim through when you are first jumping on board and acclimating yourself to all the nuances of the game.  Training camps and free agency and depth charts and play style were some of it, but the primary issue that I felt I had to really get a grasp on was what constituted good value for assets since this is not like NBA 2K or Madden where you are trade talking with an easily manipulated computer system.  Instead you are discussing these matters with actual people who all have different goals and agendas … and in my case, had been doing it much longer and could (if they chose) attempt to take advantage of that.  It was and is a lot to process when you are getting started!
 
Over the past few days I read Josh’s article listing his 49 tips to success and it got me thinking about how many of those I have abided by since I started and how many I have just continually failed at or ignored.  I also wondered how much my mindset has changed regarding how to attack the different aspects of being a GM.  This article is not going to check off all 49-points Josh made and apply them to my time as a GM.  Instead I will only use the motivation of that article to do a run-down of some of the highs (and lows) that I have come across since I began and give some insight into where my head was at when I made, or didn’t make, certain moves.   One thing that I have seen mentioned in a couple articles and discussions lately is how much luck can play a part in all of this, and that is something that I can say that I have come face to face with several key times. 
 
SEASON ONE
2028
 
My first big decision came before I ever even started working as a GM.  I had to choose which team I would take over.  I am a Lakers fan in real life and looking back on it that is who I would choose if I got to do it all over again.  I liked the idea of a clean cap though and that albatross of a Giannis contract weighing the Lakers down at the time scared me off.  Of course, as we all know now, Giannis would retire shortly after and his contract wouldn’t matter anymore.  Luck started off not on my side.  The Clippers had a terrible record coming in, so I figured they would have a very high pick in the lottery, several young players already on the roster and the clean cap that I coveted and so, off I went to the OTHER L.A. team. 

The draft lottery was not kind to me (a trend you may recognize as this article moves on) and I fell to picking #5 that year, missing out on all of the truly top end prospects.  At #5 I would take the artist that would come to be known as Norrin Radd.  And you complainers of names can shove it!  The Silver Surfer was a great ball player on his home planet of Zenn-La!

Anyways, where was I? 

Radd would join current key players, Michael Garvin and Colby Lopez, and former lottery pick Chris Pallies on the roster.  While in 2032 all four of these players would make for positive additions to any roster, at that time they were all very much unknown, unproven and under-developed entities.  Since I was brand new I also was not exploring trade opportunities or attempting to spend a bunch of money in free agency.  With the guidance of Josh, I was accepting of the fact that this team would be awful and that it would not be the worst thing to simply tank and get another high pick and try to add an asset or two through taking on bad contracts that first season.  Truth be told, I was not confident in my understanding of this SIM world around me, so I was too afraid to make a huge leap that early in fear of being taken advantage of.  So, onward I went into the black hole of awfulness.

9-73 was the result and it was a very earned record.  By the end of that first season I knew a few things for certain.  1) I wanted to keep Michael Garvin around for the long haul.  He was not a great player that season by any stretch, but he had potential to develop into the kind of player I wanted.  And 2) Losing that spectacularly made the actual season of the league incredibly boring.  Still, I was not immediately in a rush to make sweeping changes and the idea of losing 70+ games again was a very real possibility. 
 
SEASON TWO
2029
 
Then the draft lottery was unkind to me again.  I dropped to #5 again.  King Kaldur’ahm was the result.  AND HE LEARNED HOW TO BALL IN THE GREAT CITY OF ATLANTIS FROM THE MIGHTY AQUAMAN SO YOU BE QUIET!

Ahem.

This is when I felt a shift in my priorities.  Even now I cannot say for certain if I think I pivoted too quickly, at least in terms of how my team could look or the flexibility I would have at this moment if I had just kept stacking assets until the time was completely ripe to make huge moves.  What I can say is that this turn in philosophy made everything much more fun.  I decided that I did not want to leave my future up to the whim of a number randomizer and that if I could make it happen, I wanted to build a team that could get to the playoffs and then continue to work to get a championship contender.

Enter: Jaren Jackson Jr.

JJJ was a Bucks restricted free agent.  Blue/Blue, defender, shot blocker, interior scorer.  I felt like he was the type of player who would look perfect as the defensive anchor behind Lopez and Garvin.  So, with cap space to spare, I offered the max contract that I could.  That may have been excessive as I think back on it now.  Jackson probably is not quite a max type, but I was annoyed by my draft luck and losing on top of not really having a full grasp on free agency values.  Still, I have no problems with what he ultimately gave me. 

That RFA bid morphed into the Bucks offering Jackson in a trade by pairing him with Joffery Baratheon, who was a top-level passing PG.  Those trade discussions took on several forms, so I do not recall all of the variations that were tossed out there.  I do know that there was an offer of Cam Reddish being included on their end and then 1st round picks on my end, but I was focused at that time to hold onto my picks.  Which is humorous to me now since I have been so loose with my picks since that time, which I probably will not change until I know I cannot compete at all and just blow it up for tankapalooza 2.0. 

Ultimately it came out to Norrin Radd, King Kaldur’ahm, Chris Pallies for Joffery Baratheon, Jaren Jackson Jr. and William Caine.  There were probably some points split too but that part I do not remember.  The Bucks gained young pieces to assist in a rebuild and I gained ready-made players and held onto my draft picks to add future players as well if needed.  I was happy with the move and even looking back, I feel like it was a net positive for me.  I obviously had some attachment to my renamed players, and I liked Pallies but he was coming up on RFA and I did not see myself wanting to break the bank to keep him.  And since he has bounced around since then and has not gotten much more production since then as he did his final season with me, I feel better.  It sparked more of an interest in the league for me, so that was priority #1. 
Of course, the season does not go quite as planned.  The team started solid but unspectacular which led me to trading for Joe Futrell from the Lakers, who was an effective scoring big man who I felt was the right kind of player to put next to Jackson Jr.  I traded for him in particular because he was on the final year of his rookie deal so I would be able to re-sign him and go over the cap to do so in the off-season.  This move could not make any impact however, even though Futrell averaged 20-8 on the year, because Jaren Jackson would go on to miss 30 games, Baratheon missed 17 games and Colby Lopez missed 16.  The result was a 30-52 record and a big miss after my first big swing.  Though this could have been disheartening, I knew the injuries were a killer, so I was able to talk myself up.  If anything, I was only upset that I did not lose more games to give me yet another chance to be disappointed by a draft lottery spot. 
 
SEASON THREE
2030
 
“Run it Back!” was my motto going into the season.  Joffery Baratheon, Michael Garvin, Colby Lopez, Joe Futrell, Jaren Jackson Jr.  I believed this was a playoff team though not even close to a championship team with Chicago and Orlando around, especially since I was in Orlando’s division.  I still had another top 10 pick, which was used on PF Kaleb Wesson.  I re-signed (overpaid) Joe Futrell starting at $20mil per season during RFA.  A hard lesson I’ve had to learn is it so rarely worth paying G/G players that kind of money because there are so many roaming around the open market at all times.  I’d learn it especially the following off-season due to this deal.  Most of this season was unremarkable if I remember correctly.  Very few injuries, some decent development of the young players, no major acquisitions.  I felt like it was cruise control mode, though I kept active.  I earned an 18-win jump, moving up to 48 wins and a 5 seed in the playoffs where I got matched up with the Timberwolves where I dropped a hard fought 7 game series.  Disappointing but not at all surprising and most importantly, I was excited about the prospect of what I could do next to take a step forward. 
 
And that’s that. 
 
SEASON FOUR
2031
 
This was the first season where I had some real contract issues to deal with that made the next step murkier.  Michael Garvin was coming up on RFA and Joffery Baratheon was an UFA.  Garvin I knew I was not letting go, even if he got offered a big deal by someone else (which he did).  Baratheon was the wild card because he was stepping into his 30’s and as we all learn, that is when our players’ potentials and attributes can become more unpredictable during training camp.  I had a number in my mind and offered a 4-Year deal starting at $15mil per season.  I did genuinely feel I had a good shot at keeping him, but the Nets offered $20mil per season and gone was my Point Guard. 
The rest of this off-season did not go much better.  I misjudged the UFA market, something I continue to do, if I am completely honest.  After losing Baratheon, the only “major” piece I was able to bring in was F. Cole Medina who was a good ball handling/passing Y/Y PG but, still, Y/Y.  I also did not have a draft pick after the Joe Futrell trade, so that was lacking.  To compound all of that, training camp broke Joe Futrell down to a Y/G $20Mil per year contractual anchor.  I moved quick to trade that deal to the Kings for a future 1st round pick, already trying to clear the books some for the 2032 off-season.  Losing a future pick is always a gamble as you cannot guarantee your team will be competitive by then.  Still, I had my eyes on the future UFA period. 

Losses in free agency, misses in free agency, no draft pick to get excited about and a bad training camp had me going into the season with incredibly low expectations.  As a few articles as the season started proved, I was not the only one with a negative outlook on my season prospects.  I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and let it fire. 

Wins started coming.  More than I would have guessed would.  When I saw that I had a real shot at making SOME noise in the playoffs, I made a few smaller trades mid-season to add depth like Julio De La Rosa and Nazir Little.  They were player for a small handful of points types of trades, which I find myself often open to doing.  I stay fast and loose with both pick and points trading, which perhaps I will need to look at in the future, but I would hate for a good deal to crumble over 2 points or a 1st round pick which I don’t expect to be a top 3 pick. 

53 wins later and I was in a familiar spot.  5 seed in the playoffs.  Then playoff wins rattled off in succession as I took a 3-0 lead.  I must admit it, I was already considering how the hell I would alter my roster to try to attack the juggernaut that was Orlando Magic.  I felt confident.  Certain in those ‘winning a playoff series’ points coming to my bank account.  Then my smirk turned upside down with each of the next 4 consecutive losses hitting me in the stomach.  I had not even lost 4 straight at any time during the regular season!  Game 7 loss again, but this one stung a lot more than the previous one. 
 
SEASON FIVE
2032
 
Here I am, up to present day.  Everyone knows exactly how wild this off-season was.  I, like many others, saw that the two monsters of the hardwood began disbanding their rosters and it reinvigorated me.  I knew I had to get my hands on at least one of these players that were going out.  I had Patrick Edmunds (Chicago) and Ernie Acuna (Orlando) offered to me first, but after the disappointing way in which my season ended, I had a bigger plan in mind.  The first name I personally reached out about was Josh Jackson but by then a deal was already in place to send him out to OKC, though none of the details had come out yet.  So, I inquired about the big man, Boban Marjanovic. 

I was not certain I would get any traction on this type of deal but I had to ask.  It was not a prolonged discussion at all and the deal came together quickly.  I love Jaren Jackson but I knew moving him was the right move if it meant upgrading to a former champion, all-star and MVP.  I was undoubtedly excited about the move.  Leading up to that big trade, I also brought back Joffery Baratheon for a few points and another G/G big man.  I understood that he was getting old and had a pretty decent sized contract but I am in All-In mode so I was willing to take that money on for that price. 

Unfortunately my UFA, and I did still have $14mil in cap space to toy with, was yet another swing and a miss and I was unable to bring in any depth that I expect to be very impactful.  I did add Andrew Wiggins in a trade for Kaleb Wesson (essentially) which made me happy enough at that time.

Leading into any free agency though was of course the contraction draft.  I was hoping to get myself into a good position to draft a positive piece to my roster puzzle but ended up out of reach of the pieces I earmarked as essential.  I loved the idea of adding AC Williams and Clifton Cage, but not at their $40+ Mil price tags.  The tax man scared me off when I thought I had a chance at getting a couple of good pieces in free agency.  I didn’t so now I wonder if I should have taken AC or Cage as they were guaranteed players and tax bill be damned!  I tried my best to move up in the contraction draft, especially once Kirkendall started to drop but I couldn’t quite get there. 

The worst part of the off-season, really the only part that was truly disappointing, was just how epically awful my training camp was.  Wiggins and Baratheon immediately took nose dives to G/G after starting B/B and as a number of people, me included, have joked, Boban dropped off the purple pedestal.  I won’t lie, it took some wind out of my damn sails.  I went from thinking I had a shot to just feeling like I was just hoping I had enough to make it interesting for the best teams. 

I have continued to probe the trade market to see if there is one more deal left in me this season to really attack this season but have so far been unable to find anything.  I’ll continue to do so, especially after seeing Boban Marjanovic putting up ridiculous numbers in SIM 1 and wanting to give him at least a little more help. 
 
FROM NOW ON …
 
I still expect this season to be fun and exciting.  I have started to get more active in things like the meme posts, interacting with other members in comments on posts and this is my 2nd article this season so far.  I sat and listened to Horns and Fangs last night as I had re-runs of Parks and Rec in the background as I tried to fall asleep last night.  I enjoy all of this and it all stemmed from the league feeling like it opened up to everyone.  I still have plenty to learn and adjust to.  I still screw free agency up, forget to link my bank roll when I do trainings, and have no idea how to manually put training camp together.  I have enjoyed writing this though to see how far I have come.  Going from a mindset of being okay with being terrible and collecting assets to just go all-in and see how much you can win.  The challenges are vastly different, but it is fun to try digging yourself in AND out of those situations. 

My very basic rule for my personal enjoyment:  If you’re bad, be really goddamn terrible.  If you’re going to be good, do everything in your power to be GREAT. 
 
Oh, and try to have some fun. 
 
In closing, my lines of communication are always open.  Let’s talk some trade!
 
Except for you, Greeple.  Go away. 




Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[NOLa.]

The draft lottery was not kind to me (a trend you may recognize as this article moves on)

Great read MM, always like reading through other guys' thoughts on the league and their thinking on their moves.

[greepleairport]

The worst part of the off-season, really the only part that was truly disappointing, was just how epically awful my training camp was.  Wiggins and Baratheon immediately took nose dives to G/G after starting B/B and as a number of people, me included, have joked, Boban dropped off the purple pedestal.

Boban's colors dropped but his skillset is still top notch. He's no fake blue/blue (looking at you Lino, Brookins).
 

In closing, my lines of communication are always open.  Let’s talk some trade!
 
Except for you, Greeple.  Go away. 

No YOU go away.

[MexicanMamba]

[greepleairport]

[false9]

3923 words= 10 points