Holiday and Trade Deadline Edition of 5X5
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:25 am
5X5
1) What is your general philosophy on making a trade?Scott: I think the two words that define my philosophy are transparency and patience. In the past, i tried to get a ton of deals and tried to get over on people. Now, i'm very clear on what i want and what i'm willing to give away. The gulf between the negotiation give and take has definitely gotten smaller. Over time, i got a reputation as a one sided trader, and sometimes people just believe what they hear. So a lot of that is just adapting. The other thing i'll say in terms of valuation philosophy is that i think it really matters where a team is in their build.
Doug: In this league, very rarely will a trade block bump result in someone messaging you (unless I'm messaging you about your bump on your block). So you need to be a little more proactive. I will waste way more time than I should looking through rosters and coming up with potential trade ideas and then message other GMs to inquire. Some subscribe to the "never make your best offer first" mentality when making that offer after an inquiry, but I agree to a point then I disagree. A "best offer" is really subjective and any offer can always be topped by another (in theory). That said, I think a strong 1st offer can really help push a trade in the right direction. It shows you are serious about the offer you are making and actually causes the other GM to consider it. Now in terms of logic behind trading and the philosophy with that, it depends on where I'm at in my build. Am I rebuilding or am I competing? Former is always about asset collection. Building a strong asset collection is much needed as it allows you to make more moves as you get closer to competing.
Ryan:At any given time, I have a goal for my team. Whether it's lowering my cap, getting younger, getting better at any cost, balancing my roster, improving defense or offense, building my point bank, etc. So I try and look for teams who have the opposite goals to start from there. For instance, several seasons ago, I traded an all-star Dwyane Wade for Rajon Rondo. It was a tough decision to give up an all-star, but my roster wasn't balanced to the point I thought I could win another ring, and I decided to rebuild. All the good trades I've been a part of have felt pain on both sides. If you're not giving up something, then why would the other team want to trade with you? No one on my team is ever untouchable, but it's important to understand when I care about a player for an emotional reason or see subjective value the market may not, it's those players that are often harder to move, and letting that get in the way of a deal that could put you over the top is a detriment to I think a lot of GMs. Also, I think in general there are two types of philosophies, those GMs that want to make the playoffs every year, and those that are gunning for rings (and then that one feline GM that doesn't have to choose) I've always been the latter type. I may be in the thick of it, but I always want to find that next piece to get me closer to that ring.
Eazy: My general philosophy is trying to make a trade that benefits both teams needs. Try to get fair value for both parties without annoying the GM I am trading with. Give the other GM time to make a decision on if they want to make the deal or not. If a trade doesn't go thru turn to Nick because he has a itchy trading trigger finger.
Ed: NOT GET TRAPED.
2) As we near the middle of the season, which team needs to make a trade and why?
Ed: The Bulls and the reason is they have too much talent for that record. Biyombo and Oladipo are wasting their primes with a record of 11-24. If they are going to tank, trade them in for assets but if they are going to try to compete trade in some younger guys for win now guys.
Eazy: The Rockets need to make a trade. Not to make a run cause the East is Stacked and I believe the champ will come out of the East this season. They need to make a move to get younger. The best players on his team are in their 30's and in the leauge 30 isn't the new 20 unless you are TMac, Love. KD or AD. He need to start a youth movement there in Houston. Don't need 78 threatening to quit again.
Ryan: One of the second-tier Eastern Conference teams (Bobcats/76ers/Pistons) needs to make a run at a difference-maker or kind of drop out of it. That conference is so crowded that you have to REALLY like your matchups going into the playoffs, or you're just kidding yourself. I wish the Sixers had a big expiring contract, because they're probably the team most ripe for a trade to go all-in but they'll have a problem matching salary for sure. All these teams have that problem in one form or another.
Doug: Pre-Season favorite to win the West, the Trailblazers now sit 2nd in their division, 10 back from the Timberwolves. Granted the door may be open now since the Wolves are a M*A*S*H unit nowadays. Rose is struggling a bit this year, and I think part of that is sharing a back court with a ball-dominant guard like McCullom. It may be something to consider in shopping McCullom to an older competing team for a defensive 2 and some wing depth. One team comes to mind in particular (KU hmu if you want to hear my idea... spoiler alert, it's not me LOL)
Scott: Man, i'd say me, but so i'm not talking about myself i'll say the Rockets. When you look at their team, you can see the end is near. They have a 34 year old Bosh, a 32 year old Al Horford, a 31 year old Ty Lawson and a 30 Year old Thad Young. There is no future for this team, they may as well sell out and send all their points and this year's pick to bolster their lineup to make a run in a cat piss weak Western Conference.
3) By now, most teams have a general feel for whether they’ll make the post season or head towards the lotto. Which team has surprised you most to this point and which team has been a vast disappointment?
Ryan: I know this is a boring answer, but I actually think this season has fallen roughly how it was expected to. I'm sure most people would pick the Nets or the Cavs, but after getting Weakbrook and Bron (respectively) I think those teams were both reasonably expected to win a lot of games. I guess maybe the most surprising would be the Pacers, who I think are really playing over their heads in terms of talent. The most disappointing? Maybe the Thunder? I don't know, 3 b/b players in the weak-ass West and you're sitting outside the playoff picture...that's pretty disappointing.
Ed: The Grizzlies have surprised me in a good way. We all know that Louie is running from the tax man BUT he is not only winning right now but might be the favorite to come out of the west. I love to see him evade the tax man this season and win it all.
The bend the knee Bucks have really disappointed me. I thought GM Quailman would right tooth and nail against AD and the Pistons but instead he put his tail in between his legs and and shipped everyone out of town. Such a beta move.
Scott: Really the Pacers have been a big time surprise. 1 Blue player and the rest of the line-up if filled with over performing greens. Steph Curry, Reggie Jackson, Derozen, Boogie and Dedmon are all on great contracts. The only disappointment is that Deron isn't on this tun to me.
In terms of the biggest disappointment, it's got to be the Heat. They trade for CP3 and Rudy Gay, sign Greg Oden and can only come up with 5 wins in the first half of the season. With that they're 32 million over the cap are are in bad shape as a franchise. I'm sure he can make up for it if we have a good draft, but times are dark in Miami.
Doug: Honestly, the Mavericks have been a nice surprise this season. Many wrote them off as a "fast out the gate but will slow down" team, but they have been very steady and solid, having recovered from their off-season accounting snafu. Disappointment... I am going to say the Magic. After their big time spending spree in the off-season, I was shocked to see them struggle a bit, especially since they basically ran back their team from last year with the addition of DJ. I'm sure this is a bit due to the Harden injury that has sidelined him, but even without Harden, the team has a lot of great players to make this work out.
Eazy: My surprise team is the Mavs. Even with the moves they made this off season I thought they would be around .500 but they are looking good and once Wilson Chandler is back they should be a lock for the playoffs in the west.
My disappointing team is the Lakers. Been a disappointment for a while. Had a boat load of talent and didn't make a attempt to resign them. Ownership was absent for the most important part of the season, The off season. Then after it was all said and done left the team and left them in a hole. Once a talented team is now average.
4) Of the Top 50 prospects, which player do you think is most primed to succeed at the next level and which is destined to fall?
Eazy: I don't think you can really judge based off of the college file who's gonna succeed or not cause once the official draft file is released the top 50 can change depending if they stay in school or declare for the draft. Plus I don't follow the prospects cause I don't have my pick LOL. I'll maybe take a look at them once they hit the official draft file lol.
Ed: Terrence Preciado will be an elite scorer if he reaches his potentials, athleticism is there and with small TC bump he will be a terror to defend.
Jorge Haynes smells like Tharon Mayes 2.0. he will never reach his potential but have pretty colors to overvalue his play.
Scott: I think Ty Perez is destined to be the best of the group without TC bumps. He's 7'2, which i'm not sure if you've heard, but the college file doesn't produce big players. Along with size, he's pretty strong and he does everything you'd want of a center: Score inside, rebounds, defends, 100 PF rating and protects the rim. The downside i see is average athleticism. The good news is with training you can take that jump to 50-60 without a ton of points going out.
Ryan: Well we all know that I hate the college players in general, so I'll start negative. #4 on the top 50 list, Carl Johnson has absolutely 0 chance of succeeding at the next level unless he unleashes his inner Usain Bolt or Doug becomes commish again and you can train him to grow. At 6'9" with 26 QKN, what position can he play? He can't rebound, and because of his high A inside game, he's gonna chuck a LOT of shots without shooting a high percentage because he can't jump, has no JMP, FT, or 3P game. He's really miserable. If he doesn't improve a TON between now and draft time, I don't see how he's picked in the first round.
Most primed to succeed? Is it cheating to pick that #1 guy? He has everything you'd want in a rookie Center. Outside of him, Jose Carney looks real good as well.
Looking further down-ballot, I love the look of Alvin Briseno, with the exception that the kid is going to turn the ball over like it's going out of style.
Doug: I'm going to take a small stab at this question, as I haven't looked at the Top 50 prospects deeply. I think Damion Williams could be a good player. Has the athleticism and skillset to play the 2/3 in the shorter NBA these days. I just hope the draft is at least 10 deep
]5) What was your favorite part of the holiday season?
Ed: Seeing my daughter just have so much fun with all the boxes and bag people put the actual gifts in lol
Eazy: My favorite part of the holiday season is spending time with family. You only live once and tomorrow isn't promised. I feel spending time with family shouldn't be reserved for the holidays only but I think this time of the year is great for family bonding, enjoying these moments with people you love and eating some good food too.
Doug: My favorite part of the holiday season is the lead-up to Christmas. The decorations everywhere. The smell of the Christmas tree. The feel of it all. Although, as a new-ish (18 month old) dad, Christmas morning took a new twist for me, as it was pretty awesome to see my son genuinely excited to see the presents he got. Last year he was only like 5 months old and could barely sit up, not to mention had no idea what was going on. This year was a lot more fun because he was just soaking it in.
Scott: I think it's being around family and friends. Throughout the year we spend so much time in the rat race and not having time for each other, but the holidays you have no excuse. All those weekends where you're doing something w your friends, doing housewor, yardwork, etc gets out of the way for what's really important.
Ryan: I liked the break to a certain extent, and it was nice to spend some time with extended family, but I like getting back in the swing of things with work, sim league, and the like. Break was too long!
Thanks to Ryan, Ed, Eazy, Doug, and Scott for answering all the questions.
