#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Fans had packed the Charlotte Coliseum in anticipation of unveiling not only the new uniforms for the season ahead but also, many of the newest Hornets joining last seasons crew of Zach Randolph and Richard Jefferson. Many had doubted the young Hornets finishing last season with a record over .500, and much less thinking they would be able to make the playoffs. Jermaine O'Neal had a career year last season and dominated the opposition during the first round of the post season against the Indiana Pacers and stepped up in a losing effort against Ben Wallace and the Atlanta Hawks. There was much to be excited about in the season ahead.



With the cap to spend, the Hornets said goodbye to notable mid-season acquisitions in Tony Delk, Rasho Nesterovic and Trajan Langdon, leaving spots to be filled in the backcourt and to find depth behind the front court as well. The Hornets entered the draft with the #24th pick in the first round thanks to an earlier trade with the Washington Wizards. While this draft was deep, having a pick in the 20's wouldn't be sufficient to satisfy the needs of the club. GM Nick Malone called up his good friends in Milwaukee and struck up a deal to move up 10 spots in the draft while parting with Leandro Barbosa to select Ben Gordon. While it was a difficult decision to deal Barbosa, the Hornets struggled mightily scoring the basketball on a nightly basis and liked Gordon's propensity to score almost at will while attending UConn. The Hornets also dialed up Washington again to re-enter the draft by acquiring the last pick in the first round for a few points to select rebounding specialist and Kardashian spouse, Kris Humphries. Both have bought into the system and had successful camps.
With the draft over, the Hornets were quick to address their needs in the back court by signing veteran All star guards, Allen Iverson and Nick Van Exel. Both known for their scoring abilities and finding the open man to create shots, these two signings were to team friendly deals that won't overburden the cap into 07 or 08 and can help to continue to give Richard Jefferson and ZBo opportunities to score and grow as NBA players and leaders. Nick has widely been regarded as a top 5 point guard since coming into the league and AI has always been the most talented player on his team in less than ideal situations. Here, he won't be asked to do everything like usual when he's playing with players that want to win as bad as he does. After the first round of free agency, the Hornets addressed a lot of their depth issues by bringing back a familiar face in Robert Pack. Pack was the designated started last season but will be designed to be the first guard off the bench. The Hornets went back to Cleveland and signed the underrated Antoine Walker to another team friendly three year deal who will be looked upon to play behind Richard Jefferson and Zach Randolph when they need a rest. They also signed Maurice Taylor and traded for defender Center, Loren Woods. Amongst these flurry of moves there was plenty of reasons to be excited and to keep buzzing about the season ahead in hopes of taking another step forward. The GM walked to the stage.

Nick Malone: Who's excited for some basketball?

Dr. Rocker, Cleveland Rocker: There is no doubt you can win more than half your games this season with the talent Cleveland let go. Hell, Cleveland almost did. Cleveland. The place in Ohio.

Winning half the games doesn't matter; winning in the playoffs does. Injuries aside, who don't you fear in the East in the playoffs?

42PhD wrote:Dr. Rocker, Cleveland Rocker: There is no doubt you can win more than half your games this season with the talent Cleveland let go. Hell, Cleveland almost did. Cleveland. The place in Ohio.

Winning half the games doesn't matter; winning in the playoffs does. Injuries aside, who don't you fear in the East in the playoffs?

Nick Malone: I think we still have a ways to go to prove ourselves. I think we achieved a lot of great things last season and played over our heads but we still made it to the second round. A lot of teams in the East improved a great deal during the offseason and I think the Atlantic got a great dosage of talent like Keith Van Horn moving to Orlando and Shaq remaining in Washington. I also wouldn't count out the powers of the Celtics or 76ers.

I think this team is more than capable of great things. Maybe even fight for our first division crown isn't out of the question. I think the East is wide open this year more so than usual but is there a team we fear? Hell No. I think we got something special going here in Charlotte in the season ahead and we thank the Cleveland organization for always keeping the negotiating line open and wish them much luck in their own adventures ahead.

Generic Wolves Reporter: with Van Exel, Pack, and AI, you seem to have the guard position well covered. Do you think Ben Gordon will get much experience this year, or will he simply have a great viewing experience from the bench?

JNR wrote:Generic Wolves Reporter: with Van Exel, Pack, and AI, you seem to have the guard position well covered. Do you think Ben Gordon will get much experience this year, or will he simply have a great viewing experience from the bench?

Nick Malone: Great question GWR. Even with the signings of those guards, I think you can expect a healthy dose of minutes for all 4 of those guys your mentioned. Trading up to get Big Ben was important to me and I think the more playing time and ability for these rookies to play on the court will make them feel more comfortable going forward. Pack and Gordon will be the first two guards off the bench and the hope is that the veteran prowess of AI, Van Exel, and Pack, can all give Ben a great base and foundation to learn the ins and outs as well. But I wold expect them all to get a healthy amount of time together and in different units.

Some people describe your GM style as frenetic in terms of the deals your hand out and the trades you make. How would you respond to that criticism?

ballsohard wrote:Some people describe your GM style as frenetic in terms of the deals your hand out and the trades you make. How would you respond to that criticism?

Nick Malone: Frenetic would be a good way to describe it because I'm always constantly looking on ways to improve the team. Some players don't work out, some do but I feel like we have one of our strongest teams in years and hopefully the talent we've assembled will yield to more successful results because we always want our sights to be set higher than the season before it. I love the mix of talent we have.

Random Reporter: This has been hands-down the biggest offseason haul ever for the city of Charlotte. Does this mark an official shift in focus from "rebuilding" to "contending?" Does your team now have their sights set firmly on a division title?

With the additions of Iverson and Humphries; I would expect tons of media coverage on your team both from the pop culture and sports world. Are concerned about this spotlight on your team or do you see it as a positive?

Xist2Inspire wrote:Random Reporter: This has been hands-down the biggest offseason haul ever for the city of Charlotte. Does this mark an official shift in focus from "rebuilding" to "contending?" Does your team now have their sights set firmly on a division title?

Nick Malone: Going in, we had 5 players known to be on the roster and about 27 million to spend to fill out the rest of the team. After RFA didn't work out in our favor, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We signed guys to team friendly deals without going too overboard and using up most of our cap for this season and if it doesn't work out, we will have more than enough cap next year as well to retoole. But I think with our depth we have the ability to make it out of the always difficult Central division and fight for our first division crown.

aburns211 wrote:With the additions of Iverson and Humphries; I would expect tons of media coverage on your team both from the pop culture and sports world. Are concerned about this spotlight on your team or do you see it as a positive?

Nick Malone: Considering our attendance track record history, a little celebrity power wouldn't be the worse thing in the world. We also recognize the talents of both AI and Kris and are quite excited to see how they both impact our team going forward. Playing together and scoring the basketball will be one of our primary goals and hopefully the fans can come out and continue to support our brand of basketball.

Your team looks pretty damn good. What will you do this year to Frye that up?

Brian Windhorst wrote:Your team looks pretty damn good. What will you do this year to WIG that up?

Nick Malone: Thanks for the compliment but as far as wigging it up goes, depending on how this team does, we may look to make a deal around mid season that could wreck our trajectory. But we really like how this team could shake out.