#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Good morning and thank you for joining us and welcome to tax hell.



The Davis/Keitt/O'Connor years are nearly over.

Last season saw AD start to look like merely a really good player instead of the greatest of all time. We thought that Keitt and O'Connor, being in their prime, would be ready to shoulder a lot more of the load, but that didn't quite happen to the extent we hoped it would. Keitt's scoring went up, but his assist rate dropped, his 3P% dropped, and his fouls jumped. O'Connor's scoring dropped off slightly, while his rebounding and assists got better. We missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons and had a losing record for the first time in as many seasons.

We wish we could have kept AD for his entire career, but with a trip to tax hell on the way, we believed that if we weren't making the playoffs it was better to shorten our stay in tax hell, so we traded him to the Suns. We wish him well in his future endevors.

While we would have liked to keep Keitt with the team, we declined his team option to create cap space which will be used to take on bad contracts to get us out of tax hell. We wish Keitt well in his future endevors.

James O'Connor and Randy Abney have their bags packed and are ready to go. We're ready, willing and able to trade them so we can start the rebuilding process.

Expect this season to go badly. Probably the next few as well. We'll bide our time, take on some bad contracts and retool to get ourselves out of this mess. Pencil us in for last place in our division for a while.

Our starting lineup will be O'Connor, Abney and 3 other warm bodies until we can find homes for O'Connor and Abney, then we'll start 5 warm bodies.

With that, I'll open the floor to questions and trade offers.

Which type of asset will you be prioritizing in your initial rebuild between cash flow to knock down your tax responsibilities or draft picks to add future talent?

Dr. AnDre, CBS: With the loss of Anthony Davis, how do you foresee that impacting the team's chemistry? Do you feel as i his presence will be greatly missed, and if so, how will that impact the team's record heading forward?

MexicanMamba wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 9:37 am Which type of asset will you be prioritizing in your initial rebuild between cash flow to knock down your tax responsibilities or draft picks to add future talent?

Ideally both. If we had to pick one, tax debt comes first. We don't have our pick next year, so building a new nucleus will have to wait.

digiskunk wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 9:51 am Dr. AnDre, CBS: With the loss of Anthony Davis, how do you foresee that impacting the team's chemistry? Do you feel as i his presence will be greatly missed, and if so, how will that impact the team's record heading forward?

A once-in-a-lifetime player is gone. We know that player morale is close to rock bottom. We'll get to rock bottom when O'Connor and Abney are traded.

GWR: You've enjoyed great fortune as a manager of the best player in history. Is any part of you a little excited for a new challenge of rebuilding?

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Now that you're on the dark side of the tax moon, would you have done anything differently in your last five seasons as GM?

JNR wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:35 am GWR: You've enjoyed great fortune as a manager of the best player in history. Is any part of you a little excited for a new challenge of rebuilding?

I'm very excited for a rebuild. After years and years of frankensteining a team around AD, I'll be able to start over from scratch, which I've been looking forward to since joining the league. I'll be able to experiment with roster builds a bit in the next few seasons since there will be no expectations for the team. It will be fun.

When the dust settles, who will be the primary option for the team?

garbageman wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:45 am Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Now that you're on the dark side of the tax moon, would you have done anything differently in your last five seasons as GM?

There are a couple of transactions I would take back, with the benefit of hindsight: Aaron Pastor was signed in 2027 for $10 million/year and promptly went y/y, I gave up a first each for Monte Palmer and Lorenzo Fults who promptly went y/y. I don't think changing any of those wins us an extra playoff series though. Ultimately, the last 3 seasons have been putting off the inevitable rebuild. We saw the writing on the wall during last season and decided to try to minimize our salary situation.

false9 wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 12:22 pm When the dust settles, who will be the primary option for the team?

This season, probably O'Connor until he's traded. After that it'll be whoever we pick up with bad contract from another team.

There is a lot of pessimistic optimism, if you will, looking and moving forward. Sounds like last place will be a welcome sigh of relief. Once you get out of tax hell, will you start moving fast or play the long game to get back to title contention?

greepleairport wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 4:26 pm There is a lot of pessimistic optimism, if you will, looking and moving forward. Sounds like last place will be a welcome sigh of relief. Once you get out of tax hell, will you start moving fast or play the long game to get back to title contention?

We are playing the long game. If we hurry, we'll be right back where we are now, but with bigger tax debt.

In terms of a potential return for Abney and/or O'Connor, are you more interested in draft picks or interesting project players that you can potentially build around?

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Do you plan on keeping track of AD throughout the year, creeper style? Also, do you plan on bringing him back at some point at a cheaper rate to have him finish his career where it began?


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Who do you envision playing at the 1 this year for the Pistons between Rusk and Jester?

Keepit100 wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 11:20 am In terms of a potential return for Abney and/or O'Connor, are you more interested in draft picks or interesting project players that you can potentially build around?

Strictly draft picks.

AngryBanana wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 11:38 am Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Do you plan on keeping track of AD throughout the year, creeper style? Also, do you plan on bringing him back at some point at a cheaper rate to have him finish his career where it began?


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We keep track of longtime Pistons. We'll always cheer for Keitt and Davis, and we'll follow them throughout the rest of their careers.

NickMalone77 wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 1:07 pm Who do you envision playing at the 1 this year for the Pistons between Rusk and Jester?

I believe Rusk will start at point.

Random Reporter: You mentioned before that it would take some time to find a new nucleus, yet you have a 24-year-old 7'1" center on a rookie deal who you seem determined to ship out. Why is Randy Abney not seen as a part of your team's future?