#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Sim 5 deadline.

One relatively new GM and one brand new GM sit atop their divisions after 4 sims: LazyTitanSmash of the Dallas Mavericks and Jedihero of the Denver Nuggets, respectively. Neither will catch up to their conference's leader.

What are some things you would try doing if you were in their shoes?

(Note: If anyone says "activate Angel Reese" I will disqualify your unthoughtful answer. ...We should all know by now that Angel Reese's season is toast.)

Well, since I can't say "activate Angel Reese," here's what I would do if I were in LTS's shoes. I'd hit up the trade market for every team that made an MLE signing in the offseason, go get that player, and trade Caitlin Clark for that player, packaged with Hassan Hodges to match salary (and/or any combo of g/g bigs). This would be my starting point to look to upgrade, because aside from one obvious upgrade that shall not be named, the options have slimmed up quite a bit. Because of the strength of the Rockets and Lakers, this might not be a year to add talent, but a year to stay out of the tax and do the best you can anyway. Matching that Candice Parker deal really hamstrung his cap situation, because that's a contract that cannot be moved until next year.

So maybe you wait until next year and see what comes back for Candice and Caitlin packaged together. Because Dominitrix is going to have to get _paid_.

The Nuggets, on the other hand, are playing with house money. They could do nothing right now and enjoy a successful season right off the bat. Winning is fun!! But I think at least one thing that could be reviewed is moving Kofi Blaq Jr. to a team that is collecting assets and beef up on at least one better C or PF. Jody Kinsella and William Lindsey aren't dropping the ball or anything, but if winning is your game, you could take pieces like Kofi Blaq and maybe even Kinsella and use them to get a serious upgrade from a team looking to sell talent. And there are lots of teams doing just that.

I'll choose Jedi and the nuggets. The Mavs don't listen to anybody anyways. The Nuggets need to play Amos at the 2. Put him closer to the ball. They also need to increase his minutes. He needs to be averaging in the 36 minute range which means you probably need to select 40 minutes in the depth chart to account for blowouts in both giving and the receiving end. I'm glad to see he recently started playing Ford more, smart move.

Now the next step... Package Ford and Kofi to figure out a way to get EJ Liddell from the jazz, or Walker Kessler from the wizards, or Wemby from the bucks and the stewards. Nuggets need better bigs and if they got wemby oh baby. Idk if they can but man it would be awesome and they should try. But an upgrade is needed at the big with Patrick.

The Mavs should deactivate Angel Reese from her current state of activity. The Mavs should also trade for shot blockers. They will face off against a litany of giants on their journey to TitleTown and if they do not find a way to slow down these bigs, they will exit the playoffs prematurely. Mark my words. Thankfully, the solution is easier than you might think. Look at last season's Sultan of Swat Booker Davis wasting away in Sacramento. Or John Lowry in Cleveland. Maybe Woodrow Lucky in Toronto? Brian Loos in Boston. Or Gerald Bordeaux in Miami? These are all cost-effective options that can be had for mere points.

The Denver Nuggets are sitting pretty. The others made good suggestions if they want to swing for the fences so I'll suggest something tamer. Get rid of Cam Whitmore's contract. It is a terrible contract. Maybe swallow your pride and reach out to your best friends in Utah and trade a few points to get Paul Barry or grovel a little and swing for Joe Freitag.

I choose the Mavericks since I'm the only guy they listen too.

If I were going to push all in it would mean sending Caitlin Clark and Kaminga and contracts for a 29 year old superstar, or Angel Reese for win now purple.

Or get under the tax:
Cut all the vet mins and move Kaminga to get under the tax; or move Clark for a top 5 pick to get under the tax.


Here the actual plan as it stands now. Wait one more season. I'm sticking with my guys and waiting it out. Angel Reese will be called up next season. Should = Big Improvement. I'm going to train up Candace Parker to show the world her capability. Than Insure her. TC and Training should = Improvement for her. Dom TC should = Improvement. Scoot should have 1 more good TC = Improvement. Kaminga should have 1 more positive TC = Improvement.

Clark is trade value that don't hurt my cap space. Either cash her in for an area of need (next season) or hold on to her to replace Parker or Scoot in 4 years.

Poole will take a hit in TC but hopefully not to bad. If it's really bad ship him out with Caitlin Clark for a win now player.

Nuggets
I do know anything about the nuggets other than I pick them to win the conference (Before the Bulls trade), I really like Amen Thompson; and they need to do everything they can to minimize Justin Amos turnovers. He's great but he's a turnover machine. 10 motion offense? 6-6 PF? Something.

K-100 wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2024 8:51 pm The Mavs should deactivate Angel Reese from her current state of activity. The Mavs should also trade for shot blockers. They will face off against a litany of giants on their journey to TitleTown and if they do not find a way to slow down these bigs, they will exit the playoffs prematurely. Mark my words. Thankfully, the solution is easier than you might think. Look at last season's Sultan of Swat Booker Davis wasting away in Sacramento. Or John Lowry in Cleveland. Maybe Woodrow Lucky in Toronto? Brian Loos in Boston. Or Gerald Bordeaux in Miami? These are all cost-effective options that can be had for mere points.

The Denver Nuggets are sitting pretty. The others made good suggestions if they want to swing for the fences so I'll suggest something tamer. Get rid of Cam Whitmore's contract. It is a terrible contract. Maybe swallow your pride and reach out to your best friends in Utah and trade a few points to get Paul Barry or grovel a little and swing for Joe Freitag.

I like the idea of a shot blocker. I need one bad. Maybe a G/G, vet min, Defense, and Shot blocking big.

If I'm the Mavericks, I'm not sure what I do, but I really need to be careful with tax over the next several seasons. Getting under the tax now may be a good idea in the long run, but there aren't that many ways to do it. They mention cutting all their vet mins and trading Clark or Kuminga, but losing Kuminga leaves them with a real big man vacuum, and the Clark route leaves them with 9 players, so a couple of injuries, and they're right back over the apron. Still, depending on how things are going by midseason, that might be a solid idea if they want to gamble a bird in the hand against a couple in the bush (and hopefully a tax reset).

If they don't reset, the Mavs gotta manage that bank. As it stands, Johnson's gonna have to come back on a max deal, and if they don't get under the tax this season, that's going to be year two with a bill at least $100mm over and year three of the repeater tax, when the cost jumps significantly, with Scoot, Poole, and Kuminga. They'll get a lot of wins and have a few years for a title shot window, but it could easily land them in tax jail where they could lose an important piece if they're not careful. Still, the situation is navigable without tax jail given the abundance of points that are available on the market. I'd say they're probably safe though as long as they don't overspend on training AND insurance when high tax bills loom.

As for the Nuggets, I'm probably not making any big moves right now. I'd let it coast with this team and focus on what works and what doesn't depth chart wise before making any big moves. One thing I might suggest is putting Colton Johnson on the block. He's a b/b vet min which will fetch an easy return on the open market, and he's not playing many minutes with the Nuggets and isn't putting up stats that you can't find elsewhere. To get a big max guy, you're going to need to lose a lot of guys you're getting good usage out of because the big contracts on the Nugs are Joseph Ford and Andrew Patrick, and if you lose both plus Blaq or Kinsella, you gotta figure out how to fill minutes across three positions.

Overall, I don't go spending like a contender yet. The Nuggets only hold 1 win against a team that's over .500, and that was a 1 point game, and if it wasn't for a ridiculous 4 games in a row against the tanking Raptors, the Nuggets themselves would be a .500 team. I know there are a lot of calls for upgrades with Blaq or Kinsella, and those aren't wholly bad ideas, but I think there's plenty of time to suss out the right deal at the right time, and I think the right time might even be next offseason...plenty of cap space available to add on some star power before resigning Amen and hopefully Patrick for a deep dive into year one of the tax.

It really depends on how serious they are with the idea of competing now. Of the two, the Mavericks have the better chance of making a Finals run - but the fact that they're still sitting Reese makes me think that they're not especially concerned about going for it all. There's no real reason not to at least see what she can do. As such, I'd just ride this season out and start calculating how deep into the tax I'll be next season and if I can afford it. The answers to those questions will affect how I approach both re-signing Kuminga and trading Parker. Parker could be traded for cap relief and value-priced (or rookie contract) bigs to help ease the pain of retaining Kuminga, or she can be used to go all-in and get Kuminga another star at PF. But, if LTS doesn't want to wait to start working on his post problem, then swapping Clark for a rookie contract big would be the obvious play. Imagine if Brimah or Lindsey had been drafted instead of Clark (obviously not at #5 though).

For the Nuggets, it also makes sense to wait, though I'm not as convinced that it'll turn out as good for them as it would for the Mavs. Unlike the Mavs, the Nuggets aren't really a serious contender, and they won't be favorites next season unless moves are made. The Alpha Division has at least 4 strong teams that aren't going anywhere next season, so the Nuggets will definitely remain in the mix, but not be favored by any means. This is a problem, because Amen Thompson is gonna get paid, and Andrew Patrick, while not deserving of a major deal, is kind of a must-retain player. It's asking a lot of Kinsella and Lindsey to anchor the post in their second year on a team aiming to be a title contender. And don't get cocky with that Amos signing and think that the freed-up cap will be the answer. FA can be a risky market. Given that stars tend to sign first, it's entirely possible that you come away with Amen and nothing else, meaning you'd have to be active before UFA to get the added talent you need...which also might have the side effect of pushing that bill up further.

Jedihero is about to be a new GM deep in the tax with a team that doesn't really validate paying that much, and that's not a good position to be in. As such, I'd ask around to see if there's anything that could be done to better the situation. I'd take a go through my roster and mark each player as either a "keeper" or "expendable." Anyone who ends up in the "expendable" category would then go on the block in an effort to either create a team I'm happy paying for, or to better my prospects while still remaining affordable. There's no need to make any quick decisions, but it's important to for Jedihero to understand exactly what he's about to get himself into so that he can make informed decisions on how he wants to proceed. The bad part about landing a p/p like Amos in free agency is that it hard-locks you into choosing one of two options - either you're trying to contend, or you're looking to trade because you can't.

I think the Mavericks should look to trade Caitlin Clark for another player in the frontcourt to give Dominitrix Johnson some relief. The Mavericks are building a great team but I think they might have an excess of riches with their prospect pool so it is time to cash out and make a run. I think the Nuggets should train William Lindsey either in PSD or BLK. I think Lindsey fits a big need for the Nuggets in the paint but they will need more defense when the playoffs start and training either trait is not too much of an investment.

Man... I really don't like @Greeple for this one. Between the guy who just does his own thing and the other being the Mavericks, I don't know how I can add anything of note.

In all seriousness, I will start out by saying that the fact that these two guys are both leading their division, while I am trailing hard in mine means that they maybe are doing a better job then me this season at PBSL life, however lets see if I can try to add something of context for this glorious one point addition to my bank.

Nuggets: First and foremost, they should have retained Morelock. I told them so many times during the offseason that this was a thing they should have done and they would not listen. Now they are reaping what they sowed. Amos is great, but Morelock would have looked real great next to him playing PF. As others have pointed out Kinsella and Lindsey are doing fine, but someone that is a difference maker down low would have really helped expand this teams ability to win games. I think they missed their window of trying to get Phil Smith. If they were really wanting to go all in that may have been an option (sending something like picks, and a few younger blue pot players may have worked). However, as far as moving forward, looking for a Morelock player to play downlow may be the move. Maybe that is Wemby? I dont know, I think that is a great addition and the guy will more then play well throughout the contract. However, it is a question of if that fits their timeline of their core. They are going to throw money at Thompson and Patrick this upcoming offseason. Can they support four players potentially getting at, or near, max money? So players like that are not the answer either. While the contract is not that much longer then a one year player like Walker, I think Saul King may be a good option to pick up. Send off maybe Kofi Blaq, points, and a pick and hope that King accepts that player option OR hope that you can get him on a quality deal since he is over 30.

Mavs: I think for them they should look to get their eventual Poole replacement. Because even if you look at this team with Poole in it, they still struggle in some regards with the defensive side. They are doing well in assists, but their perimeter defense could use some improvement. They are near last in the steal diff and has effected their turnover diff as well. Maybe they can use Caitlan Clark to get another PG that is maybe on the cusp of being a good facilitator (because trading on the open market for a young PG is hard). Clark equally is just too bad at hnd and pas to do anything of note in that regard moving forward. Maybe they can try to swipe Delmar Bricker from the Blazers for some rebuilding parts (clark, picks, points).

In the Nuggets case I would pray to the sim gawds to play the Raptors 4 games in row row every sim from here on out like they did last sim lol. JK

If I were both GMs I would not get comfortable with the regular season success. Championships are won by how you game plan in the post season. If a potential playoff opponent is scheduled during a specific sim, I would try some different things with my DC to see what work vs said team. A lot of times you can't really gauge how good your team really is cause of the amount of bad/tanking teams that are in the league. Sometimes coasting, going same can win you a title but most times it's the little things you find out during those regular season sims that could eventually be the difference between being just a regular season or a league champ. I think I got off the subject a bit but good to both GMs in their quest for a championship.

I’m still new to all of this so I’m not really sure what either GM should do to better than team.

Except for if I were the Nuggets GM, I’d get in a Time Machine, go back to the point when my mom was riding on top of my dad, take her off, and put her on top of different man so they could produce a GM that would have held on to Morelock. Even I know that’s a bad move.

Plus they did get to play the Raptors 4 times in a row. Must be nice. I wish I could play the Bobcats 4 times in a row. Then I could be competing for a playoff spot this season

The Mavericks look good to me. Maybe figure out a way to improve defensively and turn the ball over less and they could be competing with the lakers and rockets for best record in the league.


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BigDaddyd8720 wrote:I’m still new to all of this so I’m not really sure what either GM should do to better than team.

Except for if I were the Nuggets GM, I’d get in a Time Machine, go back to the point when my mom was riding on top of my dad, take her off, and put her on top of different man so they could produce a GM that would have held on to Morelock. Even I know that’s a bad move.

Plus they did get to play the Raptors 4 times in a row. Must be nice. I wish I could play the Bobcats 4 times in a row. Then I could be competing for a playoff spot this season

The Mavericks look good to me. Maybe figure out a way to improve defensively and turn the ball over less and they could be competing with the lakers and rockets for best record in the league.


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I'm not expecting points, but why are the Nuggets having a Christmas day game and a New Year's Day game? Are they some high TV viewership team?

great stuff folks

+1 pt to

@AngryBanana @BigDaddyd8720 @Eazy P @pennpanther1 @Xist2Inspire @garbageman @LazyTitanSmash @K-100 @Black Superman @greepleairport