#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Alright, let's get this over with.

Last season was step 1 in our retooling process. And...it was an interesting one. We started off with a 7-0 record and didn't really slow down from there, though we did fall back to Earth. Trades were common, as Payne and Romeo ended up getting traded as expected, and even one of the guys who we got in return for Romeo, Russ Caraballo, was later traded. One key deal we made was bringing in Douglas Harris and Kevin Stephan from New York. More on that later. Kidd, Cuomo, and Cucone all had career years, as Kidd made his ASG debut, Cuomo was 1st team All-Defense, and Cucone averaged a double-double in points and assists for the first time in his career. We finished the season with 51 wins, which not only set a new milestone for us with 8 straight postseason appearances, but it also marked our 7th straight season of at least 50 wins, which is by far the best streak of prolonged success in franchise history. Despite the return of the familiar 1st Round loss, if last season was intended to be a test of how a team led by our new core would perform, it was passed with flying colors. Due to that, I'd have to call last season a success.

This offseason, however, was not. First was the draft, and though I didn't really expect to have the opportunity to trade up, I also didn't expect the draft to be so bad. We came out of it with Orville Gardner, Jerry Roebuck, and Lawerence Brunette, but as of now, only Roebuck is likely to stick around. We later traded Don Sanchez for to Milwaukee for Brister, the guy we originally wanted to jump in for (we settled for Gardner). That was a mistake. Free Agency was one of our worst ever, as we ended up bringing back Charles Giguere as our only FA signing. We're really glad to get Giggity back, but we honestly were hoping for more. Posner didn't like the fact that retaining him wasn't our top priority and signed with Houston, and no one accepted our MLE offers. On the plus side, we're in no danger whatsoever of paying luxury tax this season. On the negative side, we had to rely on internal growth to fill our SG hole, and well.......

......TC was one of the biggest mixed bags I've ever seen as a GM. Overall, we were behind only the clearly steroid-using Phoenix Suns in terms of total gains, according to reports. Kidd went nuclear, O'Neal's started to show signs of becoming a superstar, Cucone clearly intends to continue building on his back-to-back breakout seasons, Kevin Stephan expanded his game on both ends, and Wizard Kelly might actually play this season. However, all that came with a price. Brister is dead. Gardner is dead. Manor and Haberman seem uninterested in the concept of effort. Joseph put in work, but only to mask the fact that he's simply not going to be as good as scouts once predicted. Brunette's okay.

So as for this season, I don't know. I think Kidd/Cucone/O'Neal/Cuomo will definitely drag this team into competitiveness, but we have so many holes everywhere else that another 50-win season seems unlikely, let alone a playoff win, or even spot. Fortunately, nothing critical hinges on this season's results, so we can take a mulligan easy. That doesn't mean I'll be happy with it though. So, all I can say is sit back and enjoy the ride y'all.

Questions?

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: With Kidd's growth in Training Camp and none of the rookie contract players on your team really taking a step forward, are you more inclined to retool around your competitive pieces and try to take on your juggernaut division? Either way, what is that plan looking like?

garbageman wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 10:09 pm Sham Smith, Bulls.com: With Kidd's growth in Training Camp and none of the rookie contract players on your team really taking a step forward, are you more inclined to retool around your competitive pieces and try to take on your juggernaut division? Either way, what is that plan looking like?

This season will be the final "transition" season. It's actually been the plan from the beginning, but this TC has sealed it. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there are many options to capitalize on my core's rapid growth now, but we have already finalized our plan on how to return to Finals contention in the near future.

Shareef O'Neal has always been extremely productive on the court, but he's always struggled with foul trouble. This preseason, he showed flashes of what he could be if he could stay on the court, scoring 28 points per game on an incredible 65% TS%. Are there any plans to help keep him on the court longer each game, or is he not viewed as someone who needs to be gameplanned around?

Bowtothebill23 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 1:49 am Shareef O'Neal has always been extremely productive on the court, but he's always struggled with foul trouble. This preseason, he showed flashes of what he could be if he could stay on the court, scoring 28 points per game on an incredible 65% TS%. Are there any plans to help keep him on the court longer each game, or is he not viewed as someone who needs to be gameplanned around?

We've always been very satisfied with whatever Shareef gives us, as he's so productive and reliable that he's always able to make the most out of whatever amount of time he's out on the court. We currently have no plans to help improve his foul awareness (we're really just hoping that he smartens up as he ages), but with our team identity shifting from defense to offense, we are looking at trying new defensive schemes that will hopefully keep Shareef out of harm's way.

You've stated that you will begin to focus on offense over defense as your team's backbone, but what style of offense do you see your team being most efficient playing? Though its tough to pull a lot from preseason results, it seems the 3 ball may need some work.

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Who do you plan to roll out as the 5th starter at least start to season?

Kidd reminds me of Tracy McGrady in his prime days, very similar attributes and athleticism. He's currently playing SF but has the thought cross your mind to try him at PG and move Cucone to SG?

MexicanMamba wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 3:50 am You've stated that you will begin to focus on offense over defense as your team's backbone, but what style of offense do you see your team being most efficient playing? Though its tough to pull a lot from preseason results, it seems the 3 ball may need some work.

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Given that most of my team are very skilled interior scorers, and the fact that we've had that as a focus for quite some time, I don't see any reason why we should stray from an inside-focused gameplan.

Keepit100 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 8:00 am Who do you plan to roll out as the 5th starter at least start to season?

Charles Giguere at either the 2 or the 3. I really hate to lose the spark he gives off the bench, but Haberman just hasn't shown me that he's a worthy starter yet.

NOLa. wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 9:15 am Kidd reminds me of Tracy McGrady in his prime days, very similar attributes and athleticism. He's currently playing SF but has the thought cross your mind to try him at PG and move Cucone to SG?

High praise indeed. It's crossed my mind a few times, and I believe I tried it once, in the final year of the Brooks era. It didn't quite go as I'd hoped, though Kidd was younger then, and he and Phil never really seemed to be on the same page.

Cucone's been so good lately that I'm hesitant to change things up to that degree, honestly. Kidd isn't quite as athletic as legends like T-Mac and Rose, and he's definitely not as speedy, making it a bit hard for me to imagine him as a full-time PG. Plus I'd hate to let his PSD go to waste, it's hard to even find good defenders these days, let alone versatile ones. It's very likely that you'll see Kidd at both SF and SG this season, though.

Cucone has emerged as top-PG in the league. What do you think is his ceiling and how many seasons away is he from that? Will he lead the league in assists this year?

greepleairport wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 2:45 pm Cucone has emerged as top-PG in the league. What do you think is his ceiling and how many seasons away is he from that? Will he lead the league in assists this year?

We really, really love Cucone and are so glad that we didn't end up trading him early on. I actually think he's pretty close to his ceiling now, an elite slash-n-pass PG who can also defend. Once he hits his prime about two seasons from now, I'm expecting a consistent 20/10 from him. I don't think he'll lead the league in assists, given that his 3 biggest rivals for that honor (Silky, Ja, and BDJ) all have multiple All-NBA guys to dish it off to. He'll put up a fight though