#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

So. Last season was a helluva rollercoaster, huh? What began as another lotto watch season ended up turning into a playoff chase. Of course, it ended like most of our playoff "runs" do. It was fun for the 5 games it lasted though.



Strangely absent from our run was the consensus #1, pick, Julio De La Rosa. That's because our plan to stuff him with minutes backfired when the jerk broke himself, thus taking him out of the equation for most of the season. Surely that won't come back to bite us, right?

Coming into this season, there were several ways we could go. We could try to build upon last season's surprise playoff berth, or we could reshuffle the deck a bit. We tried both, but ultimately "reshuffling the deck" won out. Our roster wasn't quite as young as a team in our position should be, so to that end, MCW was shipped off to our good friends in Sac-town for Tyron Ferris and Lawrence Arbogast. Thanks for the memories, MCW. We also sent Ben McLemore away, for sweet, sweet cap space, which we promptly spent.



Enter Deron Williams and Kyle Lowry.



Yes, despite being Deron being 15 years older than De La Rosa and Kyle being 9 years older than Webb, we thought some trade bai...er, "veteran presence" was necessary. Yes, even young teams need veterans to show them the way. So for that reason, and definitely not for trading reasons, we're very happy to have them. To play. For us. Not to trade. Play. Yup.



Anyway, speaking of Webb, we'd like to congratulate him on being one of the few Wizards who actually made quality improvements during TC. Julio also made some strides, but I have a feeling that this "reaching his potential" thing could take a while...



So to end this, DC fans can expect another crazy ride; sorry Kuntz, forgot you were on my team last season; screw you Boyd Cox, you bet on yourself and now you're in Utah on another one-year min deal; welcome Joe Williams, hope you make it to the end of your rookie contract.



Questions?

GWR: What's your goals for this season? Playoff appearance? Experience for the young guys?

Experience for the young guys. Only one has a legit shot at starting Day 1 (two if you count Lawrence as young), but I plan on giving all of them quite a bit of bench minutes.

Predict your next great playoff run

Oh, this is a good one: I predict that a few savvy trades and an impactful FA signing will vault us back into "unconventional contender" status. This will probably happen during next offseason. We'll take the league by storm, then lose in the second round, in 7, to a team we probably should've beaten. It'll probably be to you or - ugh - Soundwave, thus further delaying the great Wiz/Hawks showdown the league's been waiting for since 2001.

With the big name additions you've made, will Bryon Odell find himself in a reduced role?

Well, we hope that Deron and Kyle will help teach these guys how to score by spreading the ball around. Byron Odell probably won't be starting, but that's not because we've lost faith in him, it's because we want to have a 7'4" C, a 7'1" PF, and a 7' SF come off the bench and wreak havoc.

With the RCT rule struck down, how much playing time will we see Julio de la Rosa getting this year?

He'll get a fair amount of floor time. He's still pretty far away from being a legitimate starter, so his minutes will be handed out accordingly.

What's your favorite gif and why?

Also WHAT IS GOING ON WITH PHOTOBUCKET!?

Never fails to get a chuckle from me. As for Photobucket, here's some links:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... jP&ampcf=1

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... SvhyXdTaua

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... ro&ampcf=1