#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Welcome everyone to this year's Miami Heat preseason presser. We will use our typical format of recapping last season, discussing the offseason, and looking ahead to last year.

Coming off of an Eastern Conference Championship year, we were hopeful to keep our momentum and represent the east in the finals again. The regular season went as expected. We locked in the third seed in the East and took care of the Nets in the first round. However, our starting Small Forward Lebron James got injured in that series. We were subsequently swept from the playoffs by the 76ers.

Our main goal this offseason was to solidify the point guard position while also getting depth for our team. We drafted Alex Len to be a backup big for the future. In RFA, we saw our starting point guard from the previous year get a manageable offer that we matched. Also, our 4 year backup at small forward got a reasonable deal. We matched both of the offers and had our team established. We were not active in FA because we are happy with the team that we acquired. Training camp saw no big changes except Serge Ibaka took a drop in most of his statistics.

This season going forward, we have some pretty set goals. Goal one is to win the Atlantic. Since I have started in this league, we have never won a division title. Step two is to get to the Eastern Conference Championship. We have probably the best team in our Conference in the Hawks, so we know that winning this game is going to be tough, so we have to first set our goal to get there. If we are able to get past the east, our goals adjust to winning the championship. We were one missed shot away two season ago, and we hope that this year can be different.

The floor is now open to any questions.

What gives the Heat a better chance of winning your division title or the ECC than in years past?

garbageman wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:37 pm What gives the Heat a better chance of winning your division title or the ECC than in years past?

The dismantling of the powerhouse 76ers will give us a better shot at the division. Although, it was really a reboot rather than a dismantling. If we get to the ECF, we know that it will be a hard series no matter who we play, so we hope that the cohesion of our team having played together for so many years will be the factor that sways the round our way.

A lot of teams were surprised to see you match both the Brandon Jennings contract and the Omri Casspi contract in RFA given your already huge salary commitments. Can you explain your thinking on those matches?

WigNosy wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:14 pm A lot of teams were surprised to see you match both the Brandon Jennings contract and the Omri Casspi contract in RFA given your already huge salary commitments. Can you explain your thinking on those matches?

Jennings was a no brainer. We had his rights and with our cap situation, there was no way we would find a suitable replacement for what he brings to this team in free agency. Casspi we were back and forth on, but as far as locking up a suitable backup for Lebron, we thought the price was right. We didn't want to go year by year with backups when we have good chemistry with this team already.

Speaking of your cap situation; you have been the only GM in the history of sim league to go 40 m over the cap. You seem completely undeterred by the luxury tax in general, can you talk about your cap management or lack there of and why you've gone in such an extreme direction in comparison to the rest league with your cap management ?

ballsohard wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:31 pm Speaking of your cap situation; you have been the only GM in the history of sim league to go 40 m over the cap. You seem completely undeterred by the luxury tax in general, can you talk about your cap management or lack there of and why you've gone in such an extreme direction in comparison to the rest league with your cap management ?

We found a core of guys that when healthy can compete for a championship. We don't participate in this league to shoot for second round exits from the playoffs. We realize what we currently have does not come often for GMs like myself, so if that means going into the luxury tax, we see it as a worthwhile gamble. We do have our eye on the tax bill and a plan in place with it going forward, but we do not plan to divulge the specifics.

Do you feel that Miami can handle such a high salary team or are you looking at bigger markets to help with your supply side economics?


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78# wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:06 pm Do you feel that Miami can handle such a high salary team or are you looking at bigger markets to help with your supply side economics?


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We've made a promise to this city. Although it is not the biggest of markets, I feel the fans deserve the commitment that they give to us. Don't expect this team to go anywhere.