Thunder Pre-Season Presser 2033-2034

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:11 pm

Hey all, I hope everyone had a fun off-season, however short it was. I know that in the year 2033 we are currently dealing with the effects of having the "coronials". Since they are now turning 13, going to high school, doing the dumb challenges such as "lick the light bulb" challenge, but you know... there is still a chance they could turn it around. Anyways, I have to go from here and pick up my second cousin from his second stint in Leavenworth Penitentiary for tax evasion so I unfortunately do not have a lot of time.

So last season was quite the roller coaster. We came out the gates a little slow. It took me a few sims to figure out how to properly integrate the new players into our team, but once we got the ball rolling, man... We won about 27 games in a row, then IT happened. Pete went down roughly 7 mins into a game and the outlook for our season changed dramatically. I would like to thank Ronald Small for the outstanding performances he put in at the one last year, but Pete was so crucial to what we had built here. We went on to win the division and be a one seed in the conference. We thought Pete might have gotten some post season love, especially after winning the PBSL All-Star game MVP and putting up the best numbers to date. However the judges ignored his whole season after going down with the broken leg. JJ, who we traded for in the summer was everything we could have imagined and more. That guy is so much more than Boban's number two. He is a first year HOFer in his own right with the season he had last year. So anyways... we got to the playoffs and faced an unlikely tough competition in the Mavs. They beat us in game 7 and we are happy for the Raptors who won the championship.

The plan going into this off-season was to either blow everything up or bring the band back for another try at the championship. We decided the latter. In RFA we got back Hord for a pretty good deal, its more than what we offered but not out of the park price we expected to match. We brought back Nate on what we think is a team friendly deal, and Basil Gardens (while hit in TC) was brought back for a decent price. We also were fortunate to hit on some UFAs that we did not expect to sign. First and foremost Joshua Mitchell. We have high hopes for Mitchell to go along side William Jackson in the future once Pete, Nate and JJ are no longer the Alpha's of this team. We also signed JR Johnson to a vet min to be further depth at the Guard position, because we realized last year how thin we were. I am hoping that between Waters, Gardens, Johnson and Mitchell we have some quality depth on the wings this year to compliment our three headed monster in the paint.

Anyways, to end it all up. TC was hard on us. I knew we were going to get hit considering how old my key pieces are. JJ went B/B and Pete is even more of a shell of who he was last year (have I mentioned how sad I am about Pete's leg injury yet?) However, I think JJ is still a top 5 player and Pete a top 5 PG. William Jackson I think will become a lights out scorer this year as well. Im looking at a record similar to last year, even though our division has somehow gotten harder. And to hopefully be the 1 seed again. Our end goal is also pretty simple.

https://youtu.be/KWVQ7PgfGjk?t=83

Starting lineup will probably start out with
Pete
William
JJ
Hord
Nate.

Any questions?

Keepit100 · Post by **Keepit100** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:35 pm

Alex Sayuck - Laser Eye Basketball Magazine

You have some decisions to make next offseason about PF - all three of your players right now are set to hit the market. Any predictions on whether you see Lyle or McKnight separating themselves from the pack or do you see Minter as a possible long-term solution?

MexicanMamba · Post by **MexicanMamba** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:50 pm

You brought up your acquisition of Joshua Mitchell. Can you go more into detail as to what attracted you to him? And what aspects of his game do you hope to improve the most before he can be fully counted on?

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garbageman · Post by **garbageman** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:59 pm

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: If you could do the Mavs series all over again, would you have done anything differently? I know you were sans Pete, but the Thunder still looked better on paper.

NOLa. · Post by **NOLa.** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:53 pm

Your top guys may have lost their color purple but your team looks just as good as last years team. Due to the unfortunate Pete injury, do you feel this season is a sort of vengeance tour for your Thunder team? That was a hell of a win streak you had so I can only imagine how ready the team is to top that.

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AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:31 pm

Keepit100 wrote:Alex Sayuck - Laser Eye Basketball Magazine

You have some decisions to make next offseason about PF - all three of your players right now are set to hit the market. Any predictions on whether you see Lyle or McKnight separating themselves from the pack or do you see Minter as a possible long-term solution?

Honestly, I don’t know if Lyle or McKnight figure into my long term plans at all. I expected McKnight to be better by now, but his currents/pots are nothing more than bench player material I think. Lyle is also another late first rounder that did not project.

I think that Hord and Minter might be a pretty good team for the next few years if done right.

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AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:39 pm

MexicanMamba wrote:You brought up your acquisition of Joshua Mitchell. Can you go more into detail as to what attracted you to him? And what aspects of his game do you hope to improve the most before he can be fully counted on?

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Mitchell is a player with great pedigree. He has some great currents to go along with some good potentials. I think he could project more as a combo guard. I honestly saw a little bit of Pete in him too. A large guard who can play good D and is pretty quick. I honesty did not expect to get him. I threw the MLE at him expecting him to sign a four year deal somewhere. Miss 100% of the shots you don’t take I guess. The unfortunate part of my current situation is that I only have so many points to go around. So I think he’s going to enjoy the natural progression.

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AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:40 pm

garbageman wrote:Sham Smith, Bulls.com: If you could do the Mavs series all over again, would you have done anything differently? I know you were sans Pete, but the Thunder still looked better on paper.

Honestly, I’m not sure. I think I should have just trusted my Gameplan and not tinkered for game 7. The stinker tinker for Game 7 was probably a bad idea.

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AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:43 pm

NOLa. wrote:Your top guys may have lost their color purple but your team looks just as good as last years team. Due to the unfortunate Pete injury, do you feel this season is a sort of vengeance tour for your Thunder team? That was a hell of a win streak you had so I can only imagine how ready the team is to top that.

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Firstly, like I said before, I think the depth of my guards will help in the event of another catastrophic injury. I do hope that we run it back like last year but better because I have a better idea of how to play these guys. Here’s to #PetesRevengeTour

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greepleairport · Post by **greepleairport** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:54 pm

Greeple here, live from the airport:

Do you expect the Raptors to be your main conference rivals again, or any other teams on your mind that might take that spot? Why?

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:07 pm

Raptors. They are defending champs with all of their core pieces back. Hopefully this “kumquat” can repay the favor next year.

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Post by **IamQuailman** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 11:51 am

You made some kind remarks towards the Raptors just now. Have the fences been mended between the two of your or do you still consider that franchise a bitter rival?

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:12 pm

IamQuailman wrote:You made some kind remarks towards the Raptors just now. Have the fences been mended between the two of your or do you still consider that franchise a bitter rival?

I’ve been nothing but a professional in regards to the “light” weight team from the north. However, we have not mended fences, in fact its not a fence at all but a border between us. I plan on asking the president to actually make the border laws stricter with Canada, because I’m sure the thugs on that team probably have a few felony warrants out.

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Post by **IamQuailman** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 1:05 pm

AngryBanana wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:12 pm
IamQuailman wrote:You made some kind remarks towards the Raptors just now. Have the fences been mended between the two of your or do you still consider that franchise a bitter rival?
I’ve been nothing but a professional in regards to the “light” weight team from the north. However, we have not mended fences, in fact its not a fence at all but a border between us. I plan on asking the president to actually make the border laws stricter with Canada, because I’m sure the thugs on that team probably have a few felony warrants out.

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Follow up question: did you mean to say Slugs?

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 1:07 pm

IamQuailman wrote:
AngryBanana wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:12 pm
IamQuailman wrote:You made some kind remarks towards the Raptors just now. Have the fences been mended between the two of your or do you still consider that franchise a bitter rival?
I’ve been nothing but a professional in regards to the “light” weight team from the north. However, we have not mended fences, in fact its not a fence at all but a border between us. I plan on asking the president to actually make the border laws stricter with Canada, because I’m sure the thugs on that team probably have a few felony warrants out.

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Follow up question: did you mean to say Slugs?

I did say slugs...

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false9 · Post by **false9** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:09 pm

Facing a repeater tax and a large bill, are you worried about your own stay in Leavenworth Penitentiary for tax evasion?

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:40 pm

I’ve got enough now to pay the tax in full this year. So I will be doing my part to keep the bank account as full as possible past this year. I’m not worried for this year as much as I am for next. As long as the team keeps winning too, that will help keep the points up.

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logpmess · Post by **logpmess** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:05 pm

Looking at your upcoming salaries for the upcoming season, is there a plan in place to flip anybody on your team? With your solid core of guys in their prime, it seems like flipping a couple of them for future assets would allow you to let the young guys get a chance. Which of your young back ups are you most intrigued by?

AngryBanana · Post by **AngryBanana** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:08 pm

logpmess wrote:Looking at your upcoming salaries for the upcoming season, is there a plan in place to flip anybody on your team? With your solid core of guys in their prime, it seems like flipping a couple of them for future assets would allow you to let the young guys get a chance. Which of your young back ups are you most intrigued by?

It’s a little complicated. I’m fully in on both trying to go the distance this season, but also trading away people if I don’t play well.

William Jackson is a great player and I’m excited about who he could be. However, I think Waters has some interesting potential that I want to look at some more.

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