Post by Buster 5000 on Nov 3, 2014 21:14:16 GMT -6
Stock Up :like:
Charlotte Hornets
We'll start with the most obvious offseason winner, the Charlotte Hornets. Coming off an 18 win season the Hornets picked up Oscar Schmidt with the 6th pick in the draft to team up with last years [HASH]4 pick Lenny Wilkens, giving rv a solid core to build around. Then free agency struck. The Hornets managed to team up former college teammates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins coming off their rookie contracts to go with fellow free agent SG Evan Turner. Now with a projected starting lineup of Wall - Turner - Howell - Coleman - Cousins to go with a bench consisting of vet Pete Maravich and youngsters Lenny Wilkins and Oscar Schmidt, the extremely youthful Hornets have nowhere to go but up. This team should easily win 50+ this year in the East and improve more and more each of the following years with their young squad. Look for these guys to be serious title contenders in a couple seasons.
Boston Celtics
With a little lotto luck dump started his offseason off a great note and landed the [HASH]1 pick in the draft 3009 TMBSL Rookie Draft. With that selection dump and the C's took Clyde "The Glide" Drextler, who IMO was the right pick at 1. Time will tell if Drexler was indeed the right selection, but regardless having the first overall pick on your roster heading into TC is always a good thing for your stock. The Celtics also hit on some luck in free agency when the Jazz and Thunder lost their young cornerstones, exponentially raising the value of their picks in the 3010 draft (owned by dump's C's). Although the Thunder took a hit with the Cousins loss, their pick shouldn't net dump much more than a mid-teens pick at best. The Jazz pick on the other hand should land the C's an added lotto selection on top of what should be another top 5 pick for the boys from Beantown. Expect this to be a very young and promising roster a season from now.
New York Knicks
After sitting vacant for the past few seasons, the New York Knicks finally found a General Manager late in the 3008 season in Notre Dame fan SPL. With a bare roster, all of his future picks, and the [HASH]2 and [HASH]7 picks in this years draft, SPL couldn't have came into a much better situation for a new GM trying to learn the ropes. With the [HASH]2 pick he made the no-brainer selection in Ralph Sampson, then at the 7th position in the draft he took arguably the best looking PG prospect in the draft in Derek Harper. With a very nice core to build around SPL could've called it an offseason and tanked for the 3010 campaign. Instead he went out and signed SF Bobby Jones, SG Lance Stephenson, C Dick Mumma, and brought back PF Richard "Dick" Washington. Now heading into the 3010 season the Knicks look like a legit contending team with plenty of pieces in place to make a move for a superstar caliber player.
Milwaukee Bucks
With the best forward combo in the league locked up long term in Charles Barkley and Champ Godbolt, Trofie and the Milwaukee bucks were no doubt one of the Eastern Conference favorites heading into 3010. Looking to make a splash heading into free agency, Trofie threw maxes and every decent looking available player and their dod. Trofie ended up landing SG Jamaal Wilkes as well and his miniature pinscher Tiffany. After the signing the Bucks then decided to accept Lionel Hollins' contract offer, suring up their PG spot for the immediate future. With his starting back court locked up, Milwaukee then went out and signed SF Scott May and C Rich Kelly on day 3 of free agency to help sure up and already stout front line. With the added depth and a full season of Barkley, the Bucks should be the team to beat in the Central Division heading into 3010. That said, don't expect Trofie to sit on his hands as he'll surely be looking to make a deal or two to get younger and improve his teams future as he always seems to.
Stock Down :dislike:
Utah Jazz
The worst offseason undoubtedly goes to the Utah Jazz, who probably had the worst offseason as a team since Dirt and the Clippers lost the league's best player in Magic Johnson. Losing a potential superstar player like John Wall is always a kick in the nuts. Losing a potential superstar like John Wall as well as an All-Star caliber SG like Jamaal Wilkes is a kick in the nuts as well as a punch to the mouth. Losing a potential superstar like John Wall, an All-Star caliber SG like Jamaal Wilkes, all while not owning your pick for the next three years? Well that just fucking sucks. Throw in the retirement of starting center Artis Gilmore and the Utah Jazz are a shell of their title contending, 61 win 3009 squad. With the Celtics and Kings currently not interested in taking on players for picks, John Drew and Neon Boudeaux will be left to try and shoulder the load for the foreseeable future. Whether or not 20x4 and the Kings hold on to the Utah 3011 and 3012 picks or send them back for Drew and Boudeaux will be the thing to watch for the Jazz.
Oklahoma City Thunder
JHB's GM style is a lot like playing with fire. He very rarely owns any of his picks, he's not afraid to roll the dice on expiring players, and one wrong move and his title contending team could turn into a middle of the road has-been a stud big man away from relevant. After going up 3-0 in the finals JHB's Thunder squad could taste the champagne, only to suffer maybe the most gut-wrenching series loss - losing 4 straight games to Magic Johnson and the Orlando Magic. A finals loss stings bad enough, but a finals loss like that I can't imagine. Throw in the loss of Cousins and the Thunder have had an absolute nightmare of a week. Luckily for JHB, his core of Williamson - Piatkowski/English - Adamson - DeBernardi - Eaton is still very solid and with the addition of a 18-20 PPG big they could be right back in the mix in the Midwest. The question is with the lack of draft picks and young players do the Thunder have the pieces at their disposal to make this move?
Philadelphia 76ers
Much like their real life counterpart, the sim league 76ers make it obvious they're looking to tank and tank hard. The Sixers sent the [HASH]2 overall pick in the 3009 draft to the Knicks in a controversial trade for a couple of future picks. They then elected to sign the likes of Gam-Zish Tibernes, Neetnum Nagdorus, Ulaakees Galmuseeth, among others over offering guys like Wall, Cousins, and Bledsoe, much to the dismay of sim Sixer fans everywhere. It's clear the team from the city of brotherly love has a vision, but as of right now their stock is clearly down. The dedication to the tank is admirable and Fason will surely be glad when his 4-5 year tanking campaign is over. Let's just hope for his sake he can land a couple of cornerstone pieces who won't jet for browner pastures ala His Airness. Look for these guys to start making some positive moves 2-3 years from now.
Golden State Warriors
Not much to say about this team. They have a decent looking core around star shooting guard Michael Jordan and could very well be only a piece away from being a serious title threat, but instead of sending out free agency offers or looking to improve via trade devine would rather do nothing and respond to trade offers sent his way with "lol". As long and he's the GM don't expect much from this franchise. [HASH]bringbackClown
