#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Can't blame it on injuries.

All new teams struggle out of the gate or at least get a footing when you first enter the league.

What happens when your team is a constant turnstile in terms of players coming in and out of Charlotte?

What excuses do you have left to give
A lot has transpired since the offseason started. Well, I guess you can say the offseason started when the team hit the high mark of LAST Season when they came out of the gate at 10-5 to start the year... And then it all went down hill. It didn't matter what veterans were brought in to try and stop the leaking civ. It didn't matter what coaching adjustments were made. The team started at 10-5 and only won 24 more games the rest of the way and let a possible playoff birth slip by the wayside to the Chicago Bulls. All the props to them for turning their season around while ours fell down the drain.

So what was there to be done? When the eventual champion was crowned, we ended up with the 10th pick in the draft after losing a tiebreaker with the Cleveland Cavaliers and selected a young Center from Yugoslavia with a ton of accomplishments from European Basketball in Vlade Divac. We hope that the culture and values of winning basketball crossed over the Atlantic Ocean to here in Charlotte and that he can be a building block for us for the long-term future with Hersey Hawkins. We had a lot of teams call about the # 10 pick and made some enticing offers to make us consider but we needed a future building block at the 5 and we're satisfied with how Vlade's been able to acclimate to America and grow within the community. He's a big hit.

Moving on from the draft, we had some holes on the roster that needed to be addressed and plenty of cap space to operate with. We threw out some offers to some pretty big fish during the FA pool and landed a few options that could provide us with plenty of depth as the season goes on. We're happy we brought back James Donaldson, Carey Scurry, & Darwin Cook, from last years team and added a bunch of fresh veteran faces like Frank Johnson, Steve Johnson (in a trade with Washington), & Brad Davis, in a trade with the Knicks. Speaking of that trade with the Knicks, we acquired Johnny Dawkins for what we hoped would be a future piece to build around Hawkins & Vlade with room to grow. We gave up a future draft asset to acquire him and Johnny Dawkins is still attempting to get comfortable here in Charlotte. He didn't respond to camp as much as we hoped and in fact, most of the team treated Training Camp like it was a vacation.

We'll address these issues and more in the coming days but we're hopeful that James Donaldson will be a good mentor to Vlade while he's here to give him the time to develop here in SLOE. Hersey Hawkins will still be one of the leaders of this team going forward and with the addition of Craig Hodges, his shooting should help us most nights have a distinct advantage from 3 to help this squad expand it's offensive game. We'll open the floor to questions from the media and hopefully some eternal optimism for the season ahead.

What is the identity of your team? Also will you be more patient before making trades this season?

Eazy P wrote: Sat May 23, 2026 8:55 pm What is the identity of your team? Also will you be more patient before making trades this season?

The identity is that we are going to shoot the heck out of the ball on a night to night basis with Hodges & Hersey. We are going to try to grab as many rebounds as possible with Donaldson and we are going to do what we can to win as much as we can on and off the court. A lot of this team will be as strong as the next man up. We’ll still be looking to make moves to improve the team and notably try to improve the power forward position if there’s something to be made but we also acknowledge that we are limited in what we can send out because of the Dawkins trade. We’ll see what we can do.

Picks Emmington of the SLOE Gazette,

Do you think the lack of a superstar player should be sign to take things slow as your new franchise gets acclimated to the league? Or do you think there's a possible trade to land you a superstar talent to help get this team into the playoffs?

How do you measure success this season?

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: If this team played last years team, who would win?

What were the best and worst trades you made last season, and how do those deals guide you on the trade market this season?


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BigDaddyd8720 wrote: Sat May 23, 2026 10:33 pm Picks Emmington of the SLOE Gazette,

Do you think the lack of a superstar player should be sign to take things slow as your new franchise gets acclimated to the league? Or do you think there's a possible trade to land you a superstar talent to help get this team into the playoffs?

We’ll always keep our options open but I think the lack of success coming out of training camp kind’a carved out what we could do as the season progresses. I think it would be hasty to trade either Vlade or Hersey for a proven star player for a playoff run that won’t go very far. I think we are a star or two away though (along with some maturity and seasoning) from potentially competing.

Mike Lowry wrote: Sat May 23, 2026 11:56 pm How do you measure success this season?

By the growth of Hersey possibly taking that next step in his game along with the growth of Vlade. If they have successful years, hopefully that can lead to more wins.

AngryBanana wrote: Sun May 24, 2026 11:23 am Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: If this team played last years team, who would win?

Last years team had more collective talent but the desire to win was lacking after that hot start. It would be a real testament of skill and talent.

greepleairport wrote: Sun May 24, 2026 4:41 pm What were the best and worst trades you made last season, and how do those deals guide you on the trade market this season?


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Best deal was probably the Larry Nance deal last year. I thought it gave our squad at the time a legit star that put us on the map and it gave us an All Star and an attraction that people came to see to provide enough of a threat so teams weren’t instantly hounding Hersey as soon as the season started.

Worst deal was probably the one we just made with the Knicks. We think Johnny still has a future in Charlotte and can definitely be a long term piece for us with Herswy & Vlade but we gave up a premium first round pick in the 92 draft just to move off of Moore’s contract and for Dawkins to show up ill prepared for TC was a major disappointment.

I think your power forward spot is the most interested. Steve Johnson took a little bit of a slide in training camp, but he contributed greatly to you in preseason with over 20 points per game. Is he locked in to that starting role or do you see some potential with Vlade or even an undersized Walter Berry grabbing that spot from him during the season?

logpmess wrote: Mon May 25, 2026 12:32 pm I think your power forward spot is the most interested. Steve Johnson took a little bit of a slide in training camp, but he contributed greatly to you in preseason with over 20 points per game. Is he locked in to that starting role or do you see some potential with Vlade or even an undersized Walter Berry grabbing that spot from him during the season?

I think it could really be matchup dependent. When we acquired Johnson, we had hoped that he would seize command of the starting spot at 4 but he treated TC more like a chore instead of a mission. Walter Berry has the speed of a 3 and shooting touch that Johnson doesn’t have and Johnson is a bigger body that’d be better suited to grab some rebounds. Vlade has the size and speed of a traditional 5 but some matchups may see him play at the 4 with Donaldson depending on how things go throughout the course of a game.

Steve Duin, the Oregonian...

We know you GMs have egos as much as the athletes... how has the Bullets' wheeling and dealing affected you? Do you feel like you have to compete with them - perhaps out-trade them - to live up to your reputation? How about "Max Malone?" Do you feel external pressure to compete as a GM off the floor, and do you think your players on the floor feel that pressure?