Hello,
And welcome back to me spewing more words at you in an attempt to entertain everyone, while also getting more points. As always, I like to try to center my articles on things that are relevant to what is going on in the league, something new or different, basing it on the general themes of what other GMs are saying, trying to get others involved in some way, and then also having both fun while writing it and fun for others to read. So while I had some free time today, I started thinking of ways to get those sweet points this season and achieve all of the above. To knock one thing off the list (themes from other GMs,) I noticed that one thing that was brought up in the Skype chat lately was that there is a large disparity between teams competing and those not. Then there is an even larger disparity between the championship capable teams and the just regular competing teams. I also know that another noted belief was that the Pistons are OP Thanos (meh, they are really one injury away from being brought down to earth I think and they may agree) and that the Pacers are on a TEAR right now. So I thought an interesting perspective could be to do a fantasy draft of sorts, since it is getting closer to the Fantasy Football season, to see if it is possible to construct a better team than those two within the confines of the salary cap restrictions. So… I need people to draft if that is the case to make it more interesting. That’s where my good friends of K100, JLMarines, and Super Dog come in. So I proposed that we do a fantasy basketball draft of the fantasy basketball players and see if we could create a team that could defeat one or both of the two conference leaders. The rules are as follows. 1. They are allowed to draft any player that is currently in PBSL (not the draft file player - as they are college players and are not paid to play - I guess there is no NIL when it comes to the fake world of SLOE 2048). 2. They are not allowed to draft from the Pacers or the Pistons. 3. They must follow the current salary cap implications for this season, where you can only draft players that are non vet-mins after hitting the tax cap when drafting players, which is $228,984,857. They must draft at least 10 players for their team. That is it. The idea is to draft the best team this year however, and to not look at it from the perspective that the team may be good five years from now. The only goal is to beat the Pistons and Pacers. The draft will be done in a snake style where the fourth pick will also have the fifth pick. They can also write a little blurb on each portion to describe why they picked the player that they did. The draft will go in the following order based on a randomizer:
SuperDog
K-100
AB
JLMarines
Now that we have our order for the first round, we are going to kick off with the first pick by SuperDog.
SD: Can we just put a 1 liner for me...
"And you thought Hayes wouldn't be SuperDog's first pick even on a mock mock draft. #neverlethayesgo
"K100: Lmao. Kings took Hayes #1 overall. Hooooooomer. The Kings have never made it past round 2 with one of the greatest natural talents the fake draft class has ever produced. Sad. Anyways, I see AngryBanana right behind me so to spite him I will take ANTONIO BLAKENEY. I like versatile players and Blakeney can slide anywhere in the backcourt depending how the rest of the draft goes. Plus sim AB will learn what it is like to play for someone with a championship pedigree because real AB aint about that life.
AB: lol, losers. Picking one guy that’s over the hill and one guy that’s still on the rise for your top picks? Pssshhh. Now is the time to pay for your players, so I’m going to go with someone that is going to be a true difference maker. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to pick from my top 2 and I went with Montoya. He can do everything on both sides of the ball and I can line him up anywhere and give teams fits. Totally worth the initial cap hit.
JLM: Look at my loser friends. Cavs have the last pick. These jerks try so hard to beat me. Anyways, with my first pick, I’ll take PG DARIUS GARLAND. Can’t win in this league without an elite PG. Garland averages more than 10 assists per game and a passing rating of 99. Garland is a legit superstar.
JLM: Pistons average more than 120 pts per game. It’s no secret I need a top scorer. For my 2nd pick, I’ll select SF SADDIQ BEY. Bey is one of the top scorers in the league with a ridiculous 100 attribute on 3ps. Bey will be scoring 3s all night long.
AB: Dang it. So close to getting my other top pick in Bey. Who would put Bey and Garland on a roster together that would never work. Anyways, that would have been game over for anyone I was facing having those two so let’s give them a chance. Well, I’ll move on to who is available. The next person on my list is Talen Horton-Tucker. Another super versatile player that does a lot of things well. Not only can he score, but his defensive skills place him as a premier defender. The only wish is that he was a little quicker, but beggars can’t be choosers and I know this guy is legit. These other three at the very least have already lost to me. Now is the long wait for my next pick for hopefully another player that the atrocious GMs miss on.
K100: Couple of good picks ahead of me so let me take a gamble since I think SuperDog will do something goofy again. I’ll select JOHNNY DAVIS. Davis has been nothing short of sensational in his sophomore season. He is a natural scorer who can also slide the SG/SF scale depending on the matchup. The Pacers and Pistons are two well-built defenses so I’ll have to attack them with playmakers and so far 2/2.
K100: With my 3rd pick, I’ll complete my backcourt with the reigning MVP, LUGUENTZ DORT. Yall are sleeping let this man fall to me. I’ll probably slot Dort at the 1 and play AB and Davis at the 2 and 3 respectively. This backcourt can score in buckets. Try to slow down this team. You cannot.
AB: alright, so as Super Doug named him, Safi Fino-holy-moly, was going to be my next pick. I need to pivot quick. Let’s go with someone cheaper this round since I have been hitting the cap hard. Let’s also get a guard since my past two picks were bigger guys. Oh, I would also love if he could shoot. What idiots. There is a stud out there somehow not picked yet that will make this team great. Herb come on down!!!! Shit, he is on the Pacers, ummmmmm I’m dumb, and whoever made these rules are dumb. Ok, Lenz Durrenberger you’re my guy. Hopefully I can get a big with this next pick.
JLM: Defense wins championship. For my third pick, I’ll select C TONY PARRIS. Parris leads the league in blocks per game. Parris averages 4.5 blocks per game. Parris will definitely be a problem for my opponent's offense.
JLM: Continuing with my defense strategy, with my fourth pick, I’ll select C HAROLD SCHIFF. Schiff is a top rebounder for both offense and defense. Schiff averages more than 8 rebounds per game. To make matters worse for my opponents, Schiff is a top blocker in the league too.
AB: alright, I should be able to get one of the two bigs I want… nope fouled again by JLM. Oh hey, you know what… there are no Cavs on anyones team yet and our four teams should be represented in some way on this list. Also, because we are roasting JLM about his team in the chat, I’ll go Geronimo.
K100: What’s better than having the reigning MVP on your fake, fake roster? Having the reigning MVP AND Defensive Player of the Year on your roster. I now select LES KIM. A former Sixer, Les Kim has blossomed over the past several seasons to be a 2-way monster, especially with his shot blocking prowess. I have a ton of scoring in the backcourt and defense in the front. I like it.
K100: Let’s get more shot blockers, shall we? I will choose CHIEF KICKINGSTALLIONSIMS. Chief K has a bit of a fouling problem right now but is downright efficient when he is on the court. Maybe he can injure someone on the other squad?
AB: this is where the previous picks get hazy to me because I thought we went almost a whole day without picks since my phone didn’t show any. It was my phone signal, and they all had been waiting on me for about 5-9 hours. Ok. Cool.
I see a video of Dwight Howard get sent in our chat and then it hits me, I need a big! Not just any big, but a burly one who doesn’t foul. Also, they need a cool name that is an alliteration. Luigi Leathers.JLM: Oh boy. This team is going to be ridiculously good. With my 5th pick, I’ll select PF NED LOMAX. Lomax is another top rebounder and blocker. And, can play the Center position too. Lomax has an attribute of 100 for STR, Lomax will make sure Killian Hayes retires. Sorry Superdog, your team is no match. Cry me a river Superdog.
JLM: With my 6th pick, I’ll select SG TONI GUASS. Guass, another top scorer in the league. Averages more than 26 pts per game. Guass is so quick, my opponents will have a hard time keeping up with Guass.
AB: did I mention how I wanted a big with a name that is an alliteration? Tony Throckmorton your next!
K100: I’ll continue adding to my bigs with another unique talent, GREG BROWN. A former Piston and Pacer, I’m sure both GMs appreciated Brown’s versatility both in the paint and as a distributor. With a lot of good scorers on the team it is helpful to have someone like Brown find the open man quickly and often for the easy bucket.
K100: Brooklyn sure is hoarding a ton of young, cheap talent these days. I’ll need to borrow some as I spent lavishly early in this draft but I think one of his players routinely goes unnoticed. Until now. I will continue adding to my Bigs collection with the unheralded BRIAN LOOS. He can score, he can rebound, he can swipe passes, and he can swat shots. He will get his pretty penny in RFA, but for now I consider him a bargain bin dandy.
AB: Ok. Let’s get another shooter, preferably someone who can defend decently and will put in FTs with the second team. Also, preferably a rookie deal to save some cap. I’d also like to get one of the real life Pels players name on this team since I couldn’t get Herb. TM3!
JLM: In this league you are an injury away from disaster. You can’t have enough PGs on your roster. With my 7th pick, I’ll select underrated PG TEDDY DIZON. Dizon doesn't get the attention he deserves because he doesn't score a lot of points. However, Dizon is no chump. Dizon has elite HND and PAS attributes. He's one of the leaders in assists per game. Dizon takes control of the game. It’s a shame Dizon plays for a sorry ass team like the 76ers. If he was with the Cavs, he would have been a green player.
JLM: With the 8th pick, I’ll select another big man, C LYMAN BRADLEY. Don’t need another Center but he’s available and too good to pass on. Bradley is great on defense and a great rebounder. My defense will be so good, opponents will struggle to score points.
AB: I think at this point is when I just stopped caring as much about the players picked… or the point where I don’t care as much about writing. It may be both. So after updating everyone’s rosters and salary ( no idea who Lyman Bradley plays for still) I went with Arthur Scruggs.
K100: It’s time to find more deep discounts. And that brings me to the land of Milwaukee. Another stretch big? You know it. He was discovered in Philly and enjoyed a TC boost to make him a capable 3PT shooter too. I will select REGINALD FULFORD. I am not sure how teams are going to defend the offensive versatility this lineup presents but that is not my concern. I just need to find playing time for all these unicorns.
K100: I do not need to repeat myself. I like unicorns. I like THURMAN JAMES.
AB: so I see Anas get picked, and kinda forgot I could pick him. I’m dumb. He’s my player. I play him every sim. Oh well. I’ll go Dario Beaton.
JLM: With my 9th pick, I’ll be looking for depth on the defense side. I’ll select PF JEFFREY JACKSON. Jackson PSD attribute is 89. His PRD is 80. Those are elite ratings for defense. Very hard to find players who are elite for both PSD and PRD. There’s no question my team is well balanced with great scorers and great defensive players.
JLM: For my last pick, I’ll select PG DAVID LOMAS. Lomas provides great depth for the guard positions. He can play both PG and SG. Lomas can also shoot 3’s. I can see Lomas coming in late in the fourth quarter and shoot 3s. Kinda like the real Steve Kerr. I think my team has the best shot in defeating the Pistons. Well balanced team.
AB: ok. Last pick… let’s make this a solid pick of a legend of the game that is on a vet min deal that can maybe help with garbage minutes, also for good measure let’s get another player with an alliteration- Ronnie Reynolds! Shit. I should have gotten Cassius Winston, oh well.
K100: LOLZ, I have $12M and change left over for 1 last pick. Let me choose someone from the lowly Cavs to round out this All-Star team. Let’s see. The Cavs GM jlmarines offered some ridiculous contracts this offseason but my favorite one was the $12M contract for the soon to be y/y Chadwick Dangerfield. He then only plays Chadwick 3-4 minutes per game. GM of the Year material right there.
Jokes aside. I need someone to play a few min off the bench to spell Dort. Save me CHADWICK DANGERFIELD.
Ok. So this completes the draft portion of the article. It was a very fun experienced where I felt that the texts between us alone could have made for a funny article - cue K100 calling me out for picking a Pacer with a GI Joe cartoon meme. Anyways, the rosters look something like this:
Super Dog:
1-1 Killian Hayes
2-4 Mitchell Robinson
3-1 Safi
4-4 Jericho Sims
5-1. Xue Huo
6-4 Bam Adebayo
7-1 Clarence Martin
8-4 Anas Mahmoud
9-1 Raphael Gordon
10-4 Danny Campbell
K100:
1-2 Antonio Blakeney
2-3 Johnny David
3-2 Dort
4-3 Les Kim
5-2 Chief Kickingstallionsims
6-3 Greg Brown
7-2 Brian Loos
8-3 Reginald Fulford
9-2 Thurman James
10-3 C. Dangerfield
AB:
1-3 Montoya
2-2 THT
3-3 Lenz Timbs
4-2 GDR
5-3 Luigi Leathers
6-2 Tony Throckmorton
7-3 TMIII
8-2 Arthur Scruggs
9-3 Dario Beaton
10-2 Ronnie Reynolds
JLM:
1-4 Garland
2-1 Bey
3-4 Tony Parris
4-1 Harold Scif
5-4 Ned Lomax
6-1 Toni Guass
7-4 Teddy Dizon
8-1 Lyman Bradley
9-4 Jeff Jackson
10-1 David Lomas
The most surprising part to me had to be the fact that no one had got near the cap, with the closest team being about $10mm away. I thought for sure we would have resorted to cap min picks out of necessity at the end. They all look pretty solid to me, especially my team, to take on the Pacers or Pistons. However we shall wait to see, and that will come from part two of this article. Until then, drop a comment if you think that any one team did better, or worse, and if you think they would beat the conference leaders.
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