I can not get all of my points through making you laugh at memes, so I decided to make you laugh with my horrible takes. I by no means am a man who should be listened to when it comes to team building. I have yet to win a championship in all of the years I have been doing this simulation, and usually follow my long term approach for building. Anywhoosle, I took a look at the teams in the Alpha conference who missed out on the playoffs before RFA offers and provide a brief description of their current situation and then one thing I would and would not do in their situation. I may get to the Omega, I may not, but who knows...
Nets:
Last Year’s Record: 43-39
Key Changes: Gary Alvardo (IN), Gary Payton II (IN), Fang Shou (OUT), Tex Harrison (OUT)
Last Year’s Record: 43-39
Key Changes: Gary Alvardo (IN), Gary Payton II (IN), Fang Shou (OUT), Tex Harrison (OUT)
The Nets went for an overhaul of their roster a bit. They sent out long time core Net player in Fang Shou after failing to make the playoffs. This is a player, while playing for the Nets have never made it out of the first round. Out with Shou and in with Alvardo and Payton II. While named after two players that were key cogs in their teams playoffs aspirations this season, I do not think these two will have the same impact. They may get playing time (if they have a good TC).
This team is suddenly in a position where they are looking to hopefully build for the future instead of trying to have another first round exit. If I was them I would work on trying to either move Kostas to get younger and build out his young players in paid training, or keep him and try to pump out another season of points from Kostas before moving him again next offseason. I would also try to sign Tex to a deal that could be an S&T situation. Maybe at a value a little bit above MLE in order to make sure you can both sign and move him for something. One thing I would not do is with the cap space he has sign Tex (or another older vet) to a large contract that will tie up the books and hold him in limbo between competing for a championship and rebuilding.
Rockets:
Last Year’s Record: 31-51
Key Changes: Jaxson Hayes (Out), Boyd Crosson (In)
Last Year’s Record: 31-51
Key Changes: Jaxson Hayes (Out), Boyd Crosson (In)
The Rockets are in an interesting position. They attempted to go all in recently siging players like Brendon Silva, hoping Alperen Sengun would take a jump as a high draft pick , and Alphonse Morelock as hopefully developing into a quality player as a #1 overall pick. Last season did not lead the team in that direction, and the team has not made the playoffs in five seasons. Brendon Silva is still a great player, but the development previously mentioned has not been as nice to the Rockets as it once was (maybe 78 just does better with older players – or Al Horford was the early signs of quality players sustaining long term success even after 30.)
The Rockets have about $46mm in cap space also putting them in an interesting situation. If they had some players to look at bringing back on bird right deals, I would be all for them trying to buyers in the UFA market. I think their best bet would be to spend some money on a solid player in RFA, maybe spend their cap space on a player like Luigi Leathers. Who the Rockets could benefit by adding and trying to develop, and even get immediate help from, at a price that may be too high for the Lakers to match given the other players they are looking to keep as well. One move I would not do is give up immediately on Silva and pull a full reset. If they are able to sing one quality player this offseason and work the books, they can go into next offseason with some cap space to add more players to go with a core of Silva, Suggs, and potentially one other player.
Pacers:
Last Year’s Record: 26-56
Key Changes: Patrick Williams (In), Arden Silva (Out), Cam Ron Fletcher (Out)
Last Year’s Record: 26-56
Key Changes: Patrick Williams (In), Arden Silva (Out), Cam Ron Fletcher (Out)
The Pacers were apart of the big moves already done this offseason, helping the Bucks break the walls down after a failed run at a championship. Acquiring Patrick Williams for two 1s, 10 points, and Fletcher is a hefty price but worth it if he is able to continue the offseason building around Williams. One step in the right direction would be seeing further growth from everyone’s favorite player Herb Jones. In his rookie year, he put up 16.4 points and 4.7 assists. This guy is going to be a problem for the league on day. Also having Daniel Gamez and Daishen Nix, two players he signed last year unexpectedly to me, are also adding up to a quality starting five if Jose Robbins takes another step. The biggest struggle Pauly will have moving forward is the cap and tax. He is already over the cap this season and we are not through RFA yet.
Pauly should look to add some players he had last season on deals that are slightly above the vet min based on pre bird right deals. Players like Kim Lewis, Dennis Wolfgang, and Arden Silva. Where if the team falls apart and he is unable to trade them he can lower his tax bill with a small cap holdover. One thing that would not be good is spending the MLE on a Center or Point Guard who is on the wrong side of 30 who may tank in training camp. While he can not predict that, carrying the cap of a player who will not be a key cog will be disastrous for a team not that deep and in a tough conference.
Trailblazers:
Last Year’s Record: 6-76
Key Changes: Peyton Siva (In), Caleb Byars (In) Chris Largent (In)
Last Year’s Record: 6-76
Key Changes: Peyton Siva (In), Caleb Byars (In) Chris Largent (In)
The Blazers were pretty checked out last season if I remember correctly. Hoenstly, if I was in their situation I would have also been the same way. Put in “recommend” or “same” for my roster three times a week, and wait for the lottery balls to drop. The only thing I would have maybe done differently is mess with game plans to see what best suits my best player in Kuric. Also, maybe moving one of my low cost players for a point or two to build up my bank. AJ finally decided to be active, to trade away the #2 pick to the Nuggets for Peyton Siva and two other picks. Now the Blazers have a few quality players to build around and a fairly young team all around to experiment with.
The first thing I would do if I am the Blazers is to continue being active. The Blazers have a lot of cap space that they can try to take a home run swing in UFA. They also can look to combine two of their guards (maybe even with the Bucks pick next season that is suddenly more appealing) for one player that they like to help even out their roster a bit long term and to avoid having a player get hit by the sim gods in TC. The one thing I would not do is go back into hibernation after trading. Even if they swing and miss in the Free Agent market, I would want to mess with the game plans to see if these players will play well together and if Kuric is truly a player to build around.
Nets:
Last Year’s Record: 43-39
Key Changes: Gary Alvardo (IN), Gary Payton II (IN), Fang Shou (OUT), Tex Harrison (OUT)
Bulls:
Last Year’s Record: 43-39
Key Changes: Tallon Horton Tucker (Out), Michael Sneed (Out), Terrance Lewis-Weeks (In)
Last Year’s Record: 43-39
Key Changes: Tallon Horton Tucker (Out), Michael Sneed (Out), Terrance Lewis-Weeks (In)
Nope… not doing it. I am not going to give advice to the Bulls. They know what they are doing, or they at least know what they want to do and are already doing it. Next team!
Pelicans:
Last Year’s Record: 30-52, missed playoffs
Key Changes: James Wiseman (Out), Myke Henry (Out), Jerold Harrison (Out), EJ Liddell (In)
Last Year’s Record: 30-52, missed playoffs
Key Changes: James Wiseman (Out), Myke Henry (Out), Jerold Harrison (Out), EJ Liddell (In)
Looking at last years team I am surprised that they did not have a better record or even flirted with potential playoffs. I guess the Pelicans and the Bulls are a prime example of the differences between the Alpha and Omega divisions. The Pels probably would have been a 5 seed in the Omega and maybe even fought for the Maravich crown. This team is retaining a lot of it’s young players from last season, who hopefully make a jump (looking at you Lomax) and help the Pelicans make another step forward and hopefully get Tua to his first playoffs.
If I was the Pelicans, first off I would be happy with the development of this team since I took over, with Tua being pretty active in his three seasons taking the helm of the Pelicans. With the books for the Pelicans looking good for a few seasons before paying out on his rookie contracts, I would take this opportunity to try to make a splash in UFA and either sign or trade for a veteran forward who can play primarily Center. Going after someone like Mitchell Robinson or Douglas Haun. I would also maybe even consider bringing back Wiseman to a similar one year deal at the same amount he was making last year and hope he fights of father time for another year. I do not know that there is much that Tua can do wrong right now, to prevent his team from progressing. The worst thing he could maybe do is pull a vanishing act for TC and not insure his players.
