#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

I can’t believe it - I have a reason to NPBSL again!

We had a tremendous offseason in Golden State after throwing in the towel during the 89 preseason. Hell, probably the 89 offseason honestly. Our seats have been empty in the Oakland Arena, and our fans bored as hell.

Being ass, even to get a #1 pick, sucks after a while.



Anyway, there’s nothing to get too cute or clever about this year, because we actually put a team together this offseason, with Tisdale’s growth, Kemp’s outstanding TC, Gary Payton on board, adding Jay Vincent via trade (thanks Nick), and big free agency signings in Clark Kellogg and (gasp!) Isiah Freaking Thomas.

Holy smokes what a steal Thomas was! We’re so stoked to have him in Oakland, teaching Gary Payton the ways of the game before handing the reins over to him as our starting PG. GP has a lot of growing to do, and doing it alongside Thomas is a dream come true.

Steve Johnson rounds things out for us after that and then we pretty much suck, so I’m not sure how good we’ll do this season. There’s a lot of holes in our game because half of our core is still pretty raw (Kemp/Payton), but we have a bright future and a two-way timeline.

Do we go all in on one timeline over another? The future vs. the present? That’s just a great problem to have, and we’ll see what happens.

Based on the preseason, shoring up our defense is something we need to do pretty badly. Our bigs are pretty small, and pretty mid defensively. Our guards’ D is okay, but the wings leave something to be desired too. Also this game doesn’t seem to give much of a shit about perimeter D yet, so my guards’ D feels somewhat irrelevant.





A successful season in Golden State this year is definitely a winning record, and hopefully a playoff run. Maybe a playoff entrance. Coming off an 11 win season, I think that would be a pretty huge feat, but I think we have the team to do it!

We’ve got a 7 man roster this year, and it’s going to look something like this

C Wayman
PF Kemp
SF Kellogg
SG Payton
PG isaiah
6th Vincent
7th Johnson

And with that, who’s got the first question??

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Do you feel like this team can openly compete amongst the best in the West, given the offseason signings and trades? Or is this team another season or two away from truly competing at the highest level?

Isiah had a ridiculously great preseason. Do you feel it will translate to the regular season now that he doesn't have ball dominant guys around him like he's had his entire career?

Rumor has it there have been some INTERESTING talks this off-season. With the emergence of Isiah in pre-season as an absolutely uncorked bottle now that he has the keys to the kingdom away from the MJs, does this make Gary payton a little more expendable if the RIGHT offer comes along?

You're one of the better closing GMs in the league as far as rounding out talent to support your stars.
Do you have you're eyes set on some role players that can add meaningful depth?
What kind of players are the best compliments to your new found strength?

NickMalone77 wrote:Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Do you feel like this team can openly compete amongst the best in the West, given the offseason signings and trades? Or is this team another season or two away from truly competing at the highest level?

I think we’re a tough matchup for most any team this season, but I still see us as top 5 in the west, not top two or three. Kemp and Payton have much growth to do, but boy does having Kellogg and Isiah help! With these guys we’re definitely at least a problem.


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Eazy P wrote:Isiah had a ridiculously great preseason. Do you feel it will translate to the regular season now that he doesn't have ball dominant guys around him like he's had his entire career?

I think his preseason numbers were tough to be, and I do think hell come back to earth a bit. Still, 20+ ppg and 10+ assists are reasonable goals for Thomas, and I think hell do it. Highest scoring season of his career, no doubt about it. He’ll compete for buckets with other guys but won’t be outdone either.


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IamQuailman wrote:Rumor has it there have been some INTERESTING talks this off-season. With the emergence of Isiah in pre-season as an absolutely uncorked bottle now that he has the keys to the kingdom away from the MJs, does this make Gary payton a little more expendable if the RIGHT offer comes along?

We can’t rule out any possibility. We’re thrilled to have Gary Payton, but a talent as raw as his must be evaluated against the rest of the team. If he’s not contributing enough to a winning timeline we would have to explore options, but I can’t stress enough how happy we are with GP!


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Mike Lowry wrote:You're one of the better closing GMs in the league as far as rounding out talent to support your stars.
Do you have you're eyes set on some role players that can add meaningful depth?
What kind of players are the best compliments to your new found strength?

I think if we had a domineering big we could be title contenders right now, so I’m definitely on the lookout for a banger center. That said, playing small in big positions went pretty well for us this first sim.

I’ll put it this way- we know who we want. We don’t think there’s a deal to be had. Yet.


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Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

Talk about the Jay Vincent acquisition - some feel you got him for pennies on the dollar - what was your vision for him fitting with the team when you brought him in?

WigNosy wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2026 1:53 pm Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

Talk about the Jay Vincent acquisition - some feel you got him for pennies on the dollar - what was your vision for him fitting with the team when you brought him in?

Man, I LOVE getting a Jay Vincent question. Look, this guy might be lowkey the best player on our team right now. Why did people sleep on him when Charlotte put him on the block? I have no idea. It took us a little bit to come down to the right deal to move him, but for his contract and his output he was absolutely a slam dunk of an acquisition.

Honestly, more bluntly, when we saw Vincent on the block and thought we could acquire him for 'pennies,' we realized we were sick and freaking tired of being a bad team. It was truly Jay Vincent's availability for a great price that forced us to push our chips in to compete. He is absolutely the #1 contender for 6th man of the year and it's bizarre to me that no one saw this coming. Dude is a total badass. Like, what?!!!??! What was anyone else thinking when Nick said he could be had for less than you might expect?!