#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

After a season's hiatus, the liveblog is back, baby! Let's get to it!

ACTION: The Kings send Eric Gordon and the Nets' 2012 first round pick to the Bucks in exchange for O.J. Mayo

REACTION: Eric Gordon is awful. The Nets' 2012 first round pick won't help the Bucks for another couple of seasons, if at all. Like this move now for the Kings as they pick up another young piece who can shoot the three (which, after the Suns' championship, looks like be the direction the league is trending). For the Bucks, this looks like the canary in the mineshaft that they're blowing things up... which is odd because you'd think Mayo, who is all of 22 years old, would be a piece you'd want to keep if you're rebuilding.

Also, have I mentioned I love that we're seeing trades before the first pick is even on the board?

ACTION: The Bucks send the Nets' 2012 first and 5 points to the Pistons for the Bucks' 2011 first.

REACTION: The Pistons just got screwed. Any time a team wants to trade to get their own upcoming pick back it means they think that it will be a good pick (read: they're about to tank). Never, ever, trade a team their own pick back unless you're getting a superstar in return, because you're trading away a top-5 pick, guaranteed. Yet another indication the Bucks are blowing it up.

ACTION: The Jazz select Paul George with the #1 overall pick

REACTION: Since they already had Rubio, we knew they wouldn't pick John Wall. They might have flirted with the idea of Cousins, but George projects to be an outstanding scorer AND an outstanding perimeter defender. Again, with the Suns winning a championship on the strength of their three-point shooting, perimeter defenders are about to come at a premium and the fact that George is not just a 3-and-D guy but great just about everywhere makes him in my view an obvious #1 pick overall. The Jazz will have to hope they can come up with a big man somewhere else but their 1 through 3 rotation is looking really nice right about now.

ACTION: The Celtics select John Wall with the #2 overall pick.

REACTION: The thought here was the Celtics would take Cousins and link him into their chain of dominant bigs that went from Zo to Boozer. Guess not. Then again, maybe Conroy looked around the Eastern Conference and saw Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Jameer Nelson, Goran Dragic, and so on and decided he needed a point guard to stay with all these other teams, especially since there are a number of decent bigs in this year's free agent class but almost no point guards. It's not a bad pick, I just didn't expect it given Conroy's historical love of scoring big men.

ACTION: The Blazers send Nikola Pekovic, Tiago Splitter, and three picks to the Bucks for Ron Artest.

REACTION: And THERE'S the blow-up I suspected was coming. Pekovic is a serviceable big at best, and the #7 pick will net the Bucks an okay player... the other two picks are a crapshoot and the real value here is that the Bucks are going to get a high pick in next season's draft. Hate to say it but this is almost the textbook definition of a puupuu platter for a star player. The Blazers made out like bandits here.

ACTION: The Blazers send Blake Griffin, Antawn Jamison, and pick 18 to the Sonics for Steven Hunter, Courtney Lee, and Eddie Griffin

REACTION: Don't like this for the Blazers nearly as much. Yes, they dumped Jamison's big contract but it cost them a young superstar in Blake Griffin. Steven Hunter is a defensive beast but has maybe only a year or two before he starts to decline... and his contract is as big and fat as Jamison's. I think the Blazers are pushing "all in" now based on the fact Artest is 30 and while is decline is slow, it is happening. They couldn't wait for Blake to grow into his potential or Artest would have fallen out of his. I get why the Blazers did this, but they really should have demanded Rashard Lewis or Dwyane Wade for their second best (or you could argue best) young player (Griffin) instead of settling for the Sonic's third-best player in Steven Hunter. The Sonics get their next young superstar in Blake and add a forward who can bomb threes - the thing they lacked against the Suns despite last year's 66 wins. I have to say, I think the Sonics got the better of this deal.

ACTION: The Kings select Demarcus Cousins with the #3 pick.

REACTION: Not really a surprise here. Cousins gives the Kings a legitimate inside scoring threat to complement their stable of young guards. I felt Cousins could have gone at #1 or #2, but didn't think he's slip farther than #3. And he didn't. Solid pick who may end up as the ROY.

ACTION: The Mavericks select Hassan Whiteside with the #4 pick.

REACTION: Conventional wisdom says that when everyone else zigs, you should zag, and that's what the Mavs look like they're doing. While everyone else stockpiles perimeter talent, the Mavs add Hassan Whiteside - a guy who projects to be a dominant defender but poor offensive player - to give themselves a twin tower look with Brook Lopez (who has already established himself as an offensive force but is middling defensively). The Mavs might have gone for Gordon Hayward here but I think this makes the Mavs much more interesting going forward - they're clearly a team that's building from the inside out while most other teams are building outside in. If it works, they'll look like geniuses. Time will tell, I guess... but I think it will take a long time before Whiteside is ready so they'll need to be VERY patient. He definitely won't make an impact this season.

ACTION: The Pacers trade the #6 pick to the Kings for C Timofey Mozgov

REACTION: Mozgov became expendable just as soon as the Kings drafted Cousins. Moz provides the Pacers with a much-needed defensive anchor and may be slightly better than what they could have gotten at pick #6. The difference is they'll have to pay him a couple of years sooner. For the Kings, they can put off paydays another couple of seasons and try to get some free agents to sign with them. I'll put off final judgement on this trade until I see who gets picked at #6.

WigNosy wrote:ACTION: The Bucks send the Nets' 2012 first and 5 points to the Pistons for the Bucks' 2011 first.

REACTION: The Pistons just got screwed. Any time a team wants to trade to get their own upcoming pick back it means they think that it will be a good pick (read: they're about to tank). Never, ever, trade a team their own pick back unless you're getting a superstar in return, because you're trading away a top-5 pick, guaranteed. Yet another indication the Bucks are blowing it up.

or I wouldn't tank for another season. If he kept it, he wouldn't have a good pick. trust me.

ACTION: The Bulls select SF Gordon Hayward with pick #5.

REACTION: This pick took forever to come in. Rumor has it the stewards were discussing potentially trading out of this pick and that explains some of it - getting three people to agree on anything would be painfully slow. The pick of Hayward probably means Ginobili will be put up on the trading block soon. The Bulls have a nice young 1-2-3 with Young, Harden, and Hayward and with Millsap's RFA rights being exercised, so now all they need to do is find a 5 in free agency.

ACTION: The Kings select C Greg Monroe with pick #6

REACTION: Well, now we have proper context for the Mozgov trade. Moz projects as a slightly better defender, Monroe projects to have a much better offensive game. I think this portends the Kings trying to move Cousins to PF and playing a twin towers lineup. The sooner Monroe gets his offensive game up to speed, the sooner the Kings will be a tough matchup for most teams. Thought the Kings might have tried to get a pure PG like Greivis Vasquez here but they must feel comfortable with Tyreke Evans and DJ Augustine.

ACTION: The Magic trade the #11 and #23 picks to the Pistons for the #8 pick.

REACTION: The guess here is the Pistons are looking for a PG but don't have a strong preference for who they draft - and with Vasquez, Smith, Lin, and Bledsoe all on the board they are willing to gamble that the next 4 picks won't all be PGs (especially since the Magic already have Dragic) and they'll get a guy they like AND get some added depth with pick 23. The Magic, meanwhile, clearly have their eyes on a particular player - probably a big man - they don't feel will be around at #11 and don't feel the #23 will help them that much (and they're probably right). I actually like this for both squads given where they are right now in their builds - the Pistons have established most of their core and need to add some depth while the Magic are still assembling their core.

WigNosy wrote:ACTION: The Celtics select John Wall with the #2 overall pick.

REACTION: The thought here was the Celtics would take Cousins and link him into their chain of dominant bigs that went from Zo to Boozer. Guess not. Then again, maybe Conroy looked around the Eastern Conference and saw Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Jameer Nelson, Goran Dragic, and so on and decided he needed a point guard to stay with all these other teams, especially since there are a number of decent bigs in this year's free agent class but almost no point guards. It's not a bad pick, I just didn't expect it given Conroy's historical love of scoring big men.

I really wasn't expecting this pick regardless...then I really wasn't expecting to be able to choose between the two Kentucky products. Once I had the #2 pick I was secretly hoping Wall would drop to me, so that's what I went with. Not having a PG since Tim Hardaway in 1998, made me appreciate the position a lot more. It was really hard not to pick Boogie though.

I'm fairly happy with the early offseason transition so far for my team. I've turned Mozgov and Gordon into:

Demarcus Cousins
Greg Monroe
OJ Mayo

I'd say thats a great start to the early stages of the offseason.

Sent from my SM-S765C using Tapatalk

ACTION: The Bucks select PF Derrick Favors with pick #7

REACTION: The Bucks look like they're hoarding solid-if-unspectacular bigs by adding Favors to Pekovic and Gortat. Since they already have plenty of PGs, I'm guessing they would have preferred to grab a wing player here but didn't feel comfortable with any of the wings on the board - which is understandable, it's looking like kind of a weak year for wings. One of these wings will have a great TC at some point and become solid but rolling the dice and hoping you guess right isn't as advisable as taking a safe, solid player like Favors. I bet the team annoyed the most by this pick is the Magic, who also have plenty of depth at PG and were probably hoping Favors would fall to them. The board is getting pretty sparse on bigs now, and I would expect after the Magic pick at 8 we'll see a run on PGs through the rest of the lotto.

ACTION: The Magic select PG Grievis Vasquez with pick #8

REACTION: Maybe the run on PGs is starting early? At first I was surprised by this pick since the Magic already have Goran Dragic and Shaun Livingston but as I look at it, I think the Magic may try running a small-ball lineup with Livingston at the SF spot and Dragic at SG. I'm not sure the Magic needed to move up from #11 to get Vasquez but maybe they gambled Favors would be available and lost. Definitely puts the Magic on my radar to watch and see how their team jells - or doesn't - this season, though. I don't know if they'll be good but they'll be interesting.

WigNosy wrote:ACTION: The Magic select PG Grievis Vasquez with pick #8

REACTION: Maybe the run on PGs is starting early? At first I was surprised by this pick since the Magic already have Goran Dragic and Shaun Livingston but as I look at it, I think the Magic may try running a small-ball lineup with Livingston at the SF spot and Dragic at SG. I'm not sure the Magic needed to move up from #11 to get Vasquez but maybe they gambled Favors would be available and lost. Definitely puts the Magic on my radar to watch and see how their team jells - or doesn't - this season, though. I don't know if they'll be good but they'll be interesting.

Damn, you hit the nail on the head with everything. I certainly won't have a big backcourt, but Dragic is 6'3, Vasquez is 6'6, and Livingston is 6'7 so I'm hoping it works out size wise.

ACTION: The Grizzlies select PG Eric Bledsoe with pick #9

REACTION: Yup, definitely feels like the start of a run on Point Guards. Bledsoe looks like the best defensive prospect left on the board at PG though his offense projects as a little iffy. He's a lot more athletic than Ish Smith though, so that must be what sold VanMemphis on taking him. He's still really raw though and the Grizzlies will have to wait a couple of years at least before they start seeing dividends here, which is kind of depressing for a top ten pick.

ACTION: The Nuggets select SG Evan Turner with pick #10.

REACTION: Well, that was a short-lived run on Point Guards. Turner looks like an enigmatic player - bad athleticism but average scoring, average perimeter defense but good defensive rebounding and jump shooting. Maybe he could make a career out of being a mismatch at 3? Not sure how the Nuggets are going to use him, but they're still a long ways from being a contender anyway. I'll probably have forgotten about this pick by the time... SQUIRREL!

ACTION: The Pistons select Jeremy Lin at pick #11.

REACTION: The Pistons' trade out of the #8 spot pays off. Lin is pretty athletic for a point guard, projects to have a nice passing and defensive game, and may even score a bit. In other words, he's a slightly worse pure point than Vasquez, the guy they would up giving up, but is a much better defender. The Pistons have needed a good point since trading away Tony Parker and Lin may not blow anyone away, but he's going to be serviceable at worst for the Pistons. Especially given that this could have been the guy they were eyeing at #8 anyway, I like what the Pistons have done so far.

ACTION: The 76ers select Larry Sanders at #12.

REACTION: Sanders looks like a younger, crappier version of Tyson Chandler, who could become a great interior defender, rebounder, and shot blocker, but lacks Chandler's scoring touch (such as it is). Will the 76ers try to go twin towers or will they try to dangle one of these guys as trade bait to get a scoring-oriented forward? I'm going to guess the answer is they try to play both and put a stifling defensive unit on the floor - we know Scott's always been a fan of defense. One thing this almost guarantees is that Soundwave, who picks next, won't get yet another big (we know of Wave's long-time affinity for big men) so what the Raptors do next is anyone's guess.

ACTION: The Raptors select SF Al-Farouq Aminu with pick #13.

REACTION: Another guy with a bit of an odd skill set, Aminu projects as a defensive rebounder, high-steals guy, and three-point shooter. He might actually fit in with the Raptors - they have scoring from Bynum and DeRozan and could use Aminu's ability to stretch the floor to open space for both of them. It's too bad Aminu doesn't project better as a defender or he'd be an awesome glue guy. As it is, he'll be just a nice glue guy.

ACTION: The Houston Rockets select SG Lance Stephenson with pick #13.

REACTION: Another guy with a bit of an odd skill set, Stephenson projects as a... sorry, I was confused because I thought the Raptors had the 13th pick. I'm not sure when the Rockets invented a time machine but clearly the Rockets have an ingenious plan to Kobe in it and send him back to before TC destroyed him.