#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Welcome everyone to the 2019 Golden State Warriors Preseason Press Conference!

It's great to be back, and I look forward to an excellent season and future for both this team and league. Coming back after a 2-year hiatus, this team wasn't in the best position in the world, but it certainly wasn"t in the worst. Despite trading our own lottery pick, we wound up with an even higher pick at #7, but we'll get to that in a bit.

The first thing we did was look for a new home for Rudy Gobert. Rudy has been the face of the franchise these past 2 seasons, and he was instrumental to a historically good 2016 team. We thank him for all his contributions and wish him the best in Charlotte. Speaking of Charlotte, in our deal with them, we acquired an excellent young forward. To be honest, the biggest drawback is his name so we just won't call him by name. We are very excited about his on-the-court play, and we think in the playoffs, he'll be an excellent weapon who has the ability to play the 1-3.

In the draft, we were ecstatic when new pick Tua Tagovailoa fell into our laps. Tua was named after a legend who I'm sure LSU fans will come to know very well in the coming years. Tua boasts the scoring prowess, athleticism, and all-around game to be an important building block on our team for years to come. We feel with Tua and our young forward manning our wings, we'll be an elite all-around team in the coming years. With all that said, Tua is quite raw so we anticipate IR'ing him for a year to keep his years of service lower and put him in the best position to succeed once we decide he's ready to play.

Besides that, our offseason was pretty standard. We signed Charlie Kuntz to a 3 year deal where we hope to see him develop. We signed LeBron James and Reggie Jackson, both of whom were suggested rentals when searching for living in the area. We watched Beau Agustin, Dexter Aguilar, and Tua Tagovailoa develop in camp, and we're excited about what the future holds for this team.

As for this year, we anticipate Agustin and Tua spending their seasons on IR to keep them fresh while they develop. We hope both can come in next year and be contributors. Our focal points will be our new young forward, Brian Stark, and Dexter Aguilar. We won't be making the playoffs, but I don't anticipate us being a complete cellar dweller. I think we're looking at the 6-10 pick this year, and that should add to a great core and make us dangerous next year.

On a media note, we hope to contribute a few podcasts this year and hopefully get some new guests/topics.

With all that said, we'll open the floor to questions.

The two year absence certainly hurt this team, but you built this team several seasons ago to ensure the Warriors wouldn't be the absolute worse. What's the next step? Are you going to rebuild after this season with a fresh new start in the offseason, or do you think you have the guys you want to build around right now?

I don't have a real question, I just wanted to speak for the league when I say we're glad you're back. Are you excited to get going again?

NOLa. wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:08 am The two year absence certainly hurt this team, but you built this team several seasons ago to ensure the Warriors wouldn't be the absolute worse. What's the next step? Are you going to rebuild after this season with a fresh new start in the offseason, or do you think you have the guys you want to build around right now?

I honestly don't know what the next step is. I've always been a believer in simply assembling the best pieces together and not having an absolute strategy. I like to have the team with the most trade value in the league. So, ideally I can rebuild with some young pieces. But knowing myself, if a star becomes available after this season, I may have to jump at it. The goal is to be in the playoffs wreaking havoc again hopefully next year, but definitely the year after.

JNR wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:12 am I don't have a real question, I just wanted to speak for the league when I say we're glad you're back. Are you excited to get going again?

Thanks so much. Honestly, when I took the time off, I didn't really miss gameplanning and trading. I really missed the people: doing podcasts, reading articles, and listening to all the banter. I'm excited to get back into it. I think having a rebuilding year this upcoming year is good since I'm still working on finding a job after college. My hope is to do a couple podcasts and once I accept an offer, to fully get back in.

What do you think of the completely revamped rules that went into effect this season regarding a higher tax apron and MLE Contracts?

What role do yo use Lebron having this year, and how is the team taking to his spot on this roster?

How is LeBron reacting to being the "old man" on such a young team?

Do you envision Tua more of a SG or more of a SF due to his quickness?

garbageman wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:34 am What do you think of the completely revamped rules that went into effect this season regarding a higher tax apron and MLE Contracts?

I like the new changes. I think the MLE is something we've talked about for a while now so to get something set is incredibly nice. I think it going hand-in-hand with the new luxury tax works out perfectly. I think it adds a new dimension to our league, and I'm always all for something that makes the game a bit more strategic.

logpmess wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 10:52 am What role do yo use Lebron having this year, and how is the team taking to his spot on this roster?

LeBron has an incredibly important role of sitting down and looking pretty until someone trades for him. As stated before, we have a contingent deal for LeBron lined up so as long as those contingencies are met, LeBron will be competing for a championship elsewhere this season come day 60.

WigNosy wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:52 am How is LeBron reacting to being the "old man" on such a young team?

He's been excellent. He knew coming to Golden State meant he could both get paid the most and compete for a championship. We offered him the most money in exchange for a second year team option, and he will get traded come day 60 to a new team where he'll be able to compete for that elusive title.

78# wrote: Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:03 am Do you envision Tua more of a SG or more of a SF due to his quickness?

We like Tua mainly at the SF, but we also like his versatility to move around the 2/3. It will come down to matchups and where Lavar will need to play. We have a bit of time to figure it out though so we'll be mulling over this carefully.