Post by pedro el guapo on Mar 14, 2018 16:09:05 GMT
1. Now that the creation draft is over, what was your approach/strategy and how do you think it went?
Druce: Honestly I didn't have much of a strategy. I wanted to stay young but not too young. I've never really built a team around bigs so I wanted to give that a try. My Obama pick was made on a whim as I was laying in bed about to go to sleep. I think Knox could turn into a stud, and I wanted to get solid outside grades on the wing.
Duc: My approach was to take the best player available and not to worry about age or contract length. I wanted to just draft the best players and then figure it out later. It led to me taking some chances on good players with short term deals such as Jon Pierce. But I feel that it will pay off and lead to more wins.
Fason: I had a couple goals going into the draft. The first was I wanted to primarily draft players that Odin put into the class because I figured those were the players Odin would be care into while building the class. Outside of the for sure future lotto picks, and the high school kids that Odin specifically asked JHB to include, I figured that for the most part the rest of the players were used just to be filler so we could get to 400+. My other goal going in was that I wanted to build my team around perimeter players. I’m sure bigs will be much better this go around, but I’ll need to see teams built around bigs have consistent playoff success before I change how I value positions.
Billy King: My strategy was to try to make the playoffs. Not interested in being a lottery team with the new rules. My first two picks were actually both Odin "specials", I had heard him mention both GMJ and Catfish as elite players in the pool, and so I drafted the fuck out of them. Nothing else to see there. Later on I went for relative youth (age 22-26), while also looking for good scoring grades. I missed the boat on defense, it seems, but I'm not sure how reliable that grade is normally, let alone with all the changes.
Majic: Given that I was picking at the end of the 1st, my strategy was to try and take some younger guys and look to develop a couple of them into true stars over the coming seasons. I have my first round pick on a 1 year deal, so the first season will be important in determining his value and how to proceed. If Moore ends up being a really good player then I can resign him and move forward. If he is not a good player, his money comes off the cap quick and I can look to start a rebuild. Overall the prospects of a young team that I could work with seemed more enticing than trying to pick older guys and guess right.
Pete: I didn't really go into the draft with a specific strategy in mind, but I decided early on that I would look for players around 25 or older who had good established grades and guys on 1 year deals or in their 30s who otherwise would've gone higher. I also made a couple decisions early on to try and solidify my perimeter since I thought there was a larger tier of top quality bigs than perimeter players. And in a few instances I looked to pick up additional value by trading back when I felt like I might be reaching for a position or had enough players I liked that I was confident I could still grab one. Overall I'm happy with my draft, although I owe a ton to Fason for making my picks over the weekend when I was out of town.
2. Besides your own, whose draft do you like the most? Whose draft do you dislike the most?
I dislike Fecta's the most. I don't know how you pick that dude he picked #2 overall. Pete's draft drew praise from Odin so obviously that was a good one, other than that I really didn't pay much attention to what others were doing. I remember liking some picks JHB made.
The draft I like the most was Pete. He nailed his round 1 pick in Shuttlesworth, who I am still kicking myself over not picking him. He was able to get a lot of talent and should be the favorite for the year 1 title.
The drafts I didn’t like were the guys that swung big on really young guys, especially early. Drafts like Fecta and the like who went all on potential could come back to bite them. Taking a 19 year old and giving him 12.5 million a year could really hurt if the guy doesn’t pan out or takes longer to pan out.
Rockets look like far and away the best team, so I’ll say a couple different teams where I liked what they did. I liked the perimeter trio the Hawks took with their first three picks and then the bigs they got to rebound. I like what Eric has going with his big tandem and Jesse Epstein, he could be the clear favorite in the East if he trades for a star wing. I disliked the Celtics draft the most because of how the primes of the players on that roster don't match up. Also I think Rv could have done much better since he had 3 picks in the top 40.
I like #fectasdraft
I dislike #timpigsdraft
Its honestly hard to determine much based on the amount of guys picked and also the unknown, but both the Spurs nd Rockets look to have solid squads right away. Those 2 teams went older and will be pushing for a title pretty quickly. The drafts I personally disliked the most were the teams trading future firsts to move up in the draft. Celtics, Hawks, Knicks and Wolves all traded their first round picks the next 2 years. With so much unknown in the draft that seems like a big gamble. Factor in the unweighted lotto, the chances any pick could become a top lottery pick is high. Thats potentially a high price to pay.
Probably due to how I approached the draft, most of the teams I like coming out of it were ones drafting for the present rather than the future. I thought the best drafts were from the Hawks, the Knicks, and the AARP Spurs. I also think Buster was very successful in what he set out to do, stockpiling 1sts for the next two years by trading back and still snagging some additional talent with a decent looking big duo who he can either build around or try to trade this season for more draft capital. Lakers should have the assets to make a lot of things happen once Buster is ready to make moves. I really disliked those who went for 18 and 19 year olds in the first round. If these players were coming in on rookie deals I would get it, but there were a lot of teams putting their trust in HeavyReign and are going to be stuck paying max level money for submax players out of the gates.
3. Which player fell further than you expected? Who was drafted way earlier than you expected?
Mikan fell further than I expected. Couldn't believe he was there at my first. Wendell Carter went way earlier than I expected. Now that I've shit on that pick I expect him to be a HOF player.
Jesus Shuttlesworth was the biggest shock to me in how far he fell. He had great starting grades and was on a 5 year deal ready to compete. Gerald Martin Johanssen is also someone I thought would go a little higher than the 1.23 he went. Finally, I know he went #5 but Dolph Schayes should have gone #1.
2 guys that I thought went too early were RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson. They could potentially be really good players but that early and that money isn’t something I would have been a big fan of.
So many players to consider with how the draft played out. The most shocking to me was Brain Winter falling to the second round, talking myself out of picking him twice will probably haunt me for the rest of 5.0. As far as players that went too high, I’ll say half the players under 21 years old that went in the first round. I didn't think the risk of taking a teenager that may need time and good TC luck to develop was worth passing on an elite player that was only a little bit older and had bird rights.
Wendell Carter going so early blew my mind. GMJ falling to me was nice, but his lack of Bird Right's make it not too much of a surprise. There's a few undrafted guys I'm surprised are still out there.
Jesus falling as far is he did was a bit surprising. He looked really solid and at only 26 and a 5 year contract, thats a potential all star locked up for a long time. The top 3 picks were still the biggest surprises to me. Seems that Sexton was picked for his 4.0 profile and the Bama bump, the other 2 are seemed like a reach as well. Only time will tell.
Dolph Schayes was the best looking player in the draft, so Ward getting him at 5 was a coup, but I was most surprised by how long Jon Pierce lasted. He just has a habit of getting overlooked in drafts, and much like in 4.0, he's going to make a lot of people feel very dumb for passing on him due to his age/contract. As far as a reach pick, I'll go with RV's back to back Wendell Carter/Sekou picks in the first round, if only because it cost him his next two firsts and he used both picks on guys who are probably not ready for prime time.
4. There's been some talk already about which division will be the strongest. Give your ranking from top to bottom. Did the draft change your opinion at all?
I think the Pacific is very strong, along with the west in general. The draft didn't really do much to change that thought. While I think the draft is fun, I'm not sure it'll make or break teams. FA is a crap shoot and the cream always rises to the top regarding trades and other roster moves.
I would rank the divisions; 1. Central 2. Midwest 3. Pacific 4. Atlantic
I don’t think my rankings change following the draft because of the uncertainty I still have as to how guys will play and the new file. I am largely basing my rankings on GM quality and skill that I have witnessed over my time in the sim league.
I think the divisions are pretty well-balanced when it comes to the GMs, every division has at least 3-4 strong GMs. Before the draft I probably would have gone: Central, Pacific, Midwest then Atlantic. With current teams I’ll go: Pacific, Midwest, Central then Atlantic. Pacific has the most teams capable of winning the division, Midwest has the best team then a couple other good teams. The Central has some good teams, but half the teams are too young. Knicks are the only team in the Atlantic that are set up to contend for a championship right now.
My rankings have not changed either before or after the draft. I think the Midwest and Central are clearly the divisions to beat. The Atlantic and Pacific have their good GM's as well, including eric, ward, kn, druce, fason, buster etc, but that's basically it for the "above average" GM rankings in those divisions. However, for the other two divisions it's easier to list the below average GMS. Sloutang? MJ? Andrew Luck? That's it. I'm glad I'm in the pussific.
I honestly think that every division is about equal at this time. Each division has a couple good GMs and a couple meh GMs. Without seeing any sims or even Pre-Season its impossible to say which teams will be good. I think its best to revisit this question in 5 sim years to see what each division looks like and how competitive they have become. Just believe that anything can happen coming out of a creation draft.
Going into the draft, I would've ranked the divisions from best to worst as Central, Pacific, Midwest, Atlantic. Looking at how the draft shook out, I would re-order it Midwest, Pacific, Central, Atlantic. I think there are gonna be multiple contenders out of the Midwest and I think the Grizz, Sonics and Clippers all had great drafts for this season as well. As Druce mentioned, I expect once teams start making moves we'll see the stronger GMs start to establish themselves regardless of how their draft went.
5. There have been a lot of new changes made for 5.0, perhaps none bigger than the new rookie draft lottery set-up. What are your thoughts on the unweighted, 8-seed inclusive lottery?
Good players can be had all over the draft and I think every commish likes to bust a surefire top 3 pick every once in a while, so I don't think it'll be a big issue.
I like this idea much more than most it would appear. I like that we are curbing tanking in really the only way we can since finances and attendance don’t matter. Not having 7 teams trying to be as bad as possible will make the league better overall. We also made it so teams still are trying to battle and get that 8th seed. I just like that odin is willing to try anything and willing to change to make the league better.
Tanking was pretty worn out by the end of 4.0 that I was in favor of switching to the wheel just for something different in 5.0. I’m a fan of the unweighted lotto because it was time for a change and means picks could have much more value in the trade market. I do expect there will be some eventual tweaks because playoff teams will start tanking for the eighth seed during the second half of the season. And once a team wins a title and gets a top 3 pick, people will get pissed.
I think it'll be fun, but I think it will end up causing a lot of GMs to "check out" once their team gets poor and there is little hope of fixing it. I'm down, though. Especially with Odin being willing to change things that don't work.
I love 90% of the changes that 5.0 is looking to implement and I think Odin has done a terrific job. I am on record that I never really thought tanking was a big problem for the league, so I am less excited about the lottery change than most. I would have personally liked a system with weighted tiers. Something like bottom 5 get same odds, then the next 5 have same odds etc etc. Its going to be interesting to see how it affects things. I think we could see playoff teams tanking to try tank down to the 8th seed if they dont feel their team is good enough to win it all.
I was on #teamwheel but since that isn't happening I think the unweighted lotto is the next best thing. I'm all for any system that doesn't punish bad teams for having good players, and I think the possibility of any pick from 1-15 jumping around in value means that every team's picks holds value now, because a few injuries could land any team in the range for #1 pick. I am curious to see the long-term effects to the trade market once GMs have a better understanding of how they should value picks, and the first outrage when someone (Buster) ends up with something like 3 picks in the top 5.
6. SCs and RCs are no more, and the Lab now reigns supreme. Do you like the reworked player upgrade system?
Yes. Only being able to +3 or +5 seemed to restricted. Change is what the league needs to stay fresh.
I like the new system because it is very straight forward and easy to understand. This will help new gms as they come into the league and they won’t be overwhelmed by the upgrade system and will take more advantage of it.
I like it, simply because it is something different and I'm eager to see how people use their upgrades with the new caps and position eligibility rules.
SCs and RCs and all that stuff was one of the more convoluted part of 4.0 that I had to pick up when joining. The lab is simpler, cleaner, and does all the same things. Love it.
I think The Lab is a huge upgrade over the previous system. Being able to add individual points however you want allows for so much more customization on players. I also think the caps will be a huge plus for the league long term.
I am a fan of the skill lab, I like being able to spread the wealth to as many players as we want within the overall points cap, and the ability to focus on training specific skills if we want to really grow one trait in particular.
7. There are several other changes, including the G-League, new positional eligibility requirements and attribute caps for certain positions. What are you most excited about, and what are your thoughts on the overall impact of the league?
I'm excited about it all. I think G League could be really cool. Attribute caps have been needed for a while. I think these changes have injected new life into the league. I hope sim results reflect the changes that have been put in place. We've been trying to figure out how to make bigs more of a factor for a long time.
I’m excited about all 3 of the changes you mentioned. First with G-league the ability to see 2nd rounders and late 1st rounders actually play will be great. In the past these guys would just sit on the bench and maybe get minutes in preseason but you never really knew what you had in these players. Getting the opportunity to see these players and what they actually can do, will be awesome. As for the eligibility requirements and the attribute caps I really like that we are attempting to fix some of the flaws in the software and we are attempting to limit the ways it can be exploited.
I think the new position eligibility rules and caps were much needed because it got out of hand with people exploiting flaws with the software. I haven’t looked too much into G League, it seems like a cool idea. I just worry that it’s too much added work for a commish and will lead to them burning out quicker.
I think everyone is excited about the G League. You guys ready for me to talk about the [ELITE] numbers CC will be putting up on those compududes?
Overall I think the changes are going to be very beneficial for the league. The position changes and attribute caps hopefully create a league where you can with with different types of teams. G League should be a huge positive and I am really excited about it. Having the ability to develop younger players while still having a competitive team will be fun. I think it has the chance to create a far more competitive league and potentially make FA less important. If teams have the ability to keep young talent and see how good they are, it hopefully leads to the league being filled with more talent.
Really excited for these new changes. We'd been talking about capping blocks for a long time in 4.0 so I'm not surprised to see that was adopted here, and it sounds from the test sims like it may be successful in improving the value for offensive bigs. But I really love some of these other changes that I didn't expect, like the G-League or some of the new free agency resigning deals. These kinds of changes will really help keep the league fresh for those of us who've been at it for years.
8. 5.0 has been hot out of the gates with bad blood. Now is your chance to call out another GM in the league for their bullshit.
I don't have a lot of animosity towards anyone yet. I'm sure a feud or two will heat up here soon. I do hope fason stops acting like a douche, which it seems as though he has.
With Ian back in league I’d just like to say Cool it with the condescending dickhead shtick.
Majic has been coming for me for a little while, but there is no bad blood from my end. I just like poking fun at him for being a dummy since he’s one of the most opinionated people in the league, has very little self-awareness and gets offended so easily. If he followed the rules of the league (ie FA bids) filtered some of his shouts or wasn’t as sensitive then I wouldn’t have anything to tease him about.
I'll actually use this question to apologize for rubbing most people the wrong way if I have. Most everything I say is intended to be humorous (my sense of humor is just more miss than hit). If I'm doing some egregiously stupid (or against the rules) it's most likely in ignorance than purposeful problem-creating.
Lets be honest, theres really only 1 trash GM and he resides in the Pacific Northwest. Fecta is an embarrassment to the league his teams will likely be the worst of the worst every year. Plus his podcast presence is terrible. #TeamTimpig
Dump is coming back to sim league in the Wizards Jordan stage of his career. Larry Bird ain't walking through that door!
9. TimPig and Fecta had a very mysterious falling out which they refused to talk about on the podcast. Speculate wildly about what caused the rift in their friendship.
Fecta might be making an RW turn here. He just went to africa, does weird shit like not eating meat. TimPig and Majic jerk each other off with their beer league hockey stats. Tim has Rachel and Majic, and Fecta has African orphans and his GF so I think they're both just focused on other areas.
I believe that Fecta walked in on Timpig pounding off and it really has led to some questions and concerns the two of them have in their releationship. The really weird part is that Tim was using an AARP magazine to get him finished.
Fecta was in love with Rachel and is now jealous that Tim is dating her.
Legal problems involving some type of person they know renting from the other person and some type of property/financial damage that has gone unpaid. Also fecta boinked fecta.
Please see my answer to question 8. Timpig is a great man and a pleasure to have in this league. Fecta is a weasel and needs to be fired. #TeamTimpig #FireFecta
I'm not one to gossip, but I heard that Tim's landlord is actually Fecta's mom. Tim was running behind on rent and Mrs. Fecta came to collect. Tim being the deadbeat that he is didn't have the money, but offered some carnal rewards in exchange. There's just one problem, Fecta's mom doesn't eat meat either!!! After some finagling, Tim is able to get her to agree on the condition that he can secure a date for her w/ the lovely Rachel. Rachel and Mrs. Fecta had such a great time together that she kicked Tim to the curb, and now Tim blames Fecta for his mom stealing his girlfriend. But you didn't hear it from me.
10. We have zero evidence of how these players will actually perform, but give me your favorite for each conference and your champ in year 1, and your favorite team for year 3.
I think Pete is the favorite for year one just based on commish comments. I'd like to think I'll be in the running by year 3, especially if Mikan re-signs. Maybe Fecta if he gets some TC love.
My favorites for year 1;
East – Hawks, Knicks, Globetrotters
West – Rockets, Spurs, Sonics
Finals – Rockets vs. Globetrotters with the Rockets taking the title.
My favorite team for year 3 is Milwaukee, they have some really good and interesting young pieces and I trust Trofie’s ability as a GM to finish the rest
Atlantic – Knicks, Central – Hawks, Midwest – Rockets, Pacific – Sonics, Champ – Rockets, Best in 3 Years - Pacers
Champion: Pete
ATL: Eric
CEN: Dump
MW: Pete
PAC: BK
I'm gonna be hopeful and say I win it this year!
3 years from now? Who knows. It's a crapshoot. Ian has a chance to be a very nice team by then if Sexton gets the right kinda TC love. No TC this year makes that seem less likely, though.
I will go with Rocket from the West and Globetrotters from the East. Rockets win it all. Best in 3 years I have no clue. I will say the Blazers for fun
Year 1 favorite: rather than sandbag, I'll trust that Odin wasn't trolling and say the Rockets are the team to beat in the West. Out East, give me the Knicks. I'll take the Rockets to win the damn thing. Favorite for year 3 is probably Buster. I have no idea if he'll be able to pick up great players with all those firsts but either way he's in the best position to take advantage of teams that aren't as close as they think and teams that start to decline quickly.
Druce: Honestly I didn't have much of a strategy. I wanted to stay young but not too young. I've never really built a team around bigs so I wanted to give that a try. My Obama pick was made on a whim as I was laying in bed about to go to sleep. I think Knox could turn into a stud, and I wanted to get solid outside grades on the wing.
Duc: My approach was to take the best player available and not to worry about age or contract length. I wanted to just draft the best players and then figure it out later. It led to me taking some chances on good players with short term deals such as Jon Pierce. But I feel that it will pay off and lead to more wins.
Fason: I had a couple goals going into the draft. The first was I wanted to primarily draft players that Odin put into the class because I figured those were the players Odin would be care into while building the class. Outside of the for sure future lotto picks, and the high school kids that Odin specifically asked JHB to include, I figured that for the most part the rest of the players were used just to be filler so we could get to 400+. My other goal going in was that I wanted to build my team around perimeter players. I’m sure bigs will be much better this go around, but I’ll need to see teams built around bigs have consistent playoff success before I change how I value positions.
Billy King: My strategy was to try to make the playoffs. Not interested in being a lottery team with the new rules. My first two picks were actually both Odin "specials", I had heard him mention both GMJ and Catfish as elite players in the pool, and so I drafted the fuck out of them. Nothing else to see there. Later on I went for relative youth (age 22-26), while also looking for good scoring grades. I missed the boat on defense, it seems, but I'm not sure how reliable that grade is normally, let alone with all the changes.
Majic: Given that I was picking at the end of the 1st, my strategy was to try and take some younger guys and look to develop a couple of them into true stars over the coming seasons. I have my first round pick on a 1 year deal, so the first season will be important in determining his value and how to proceed. If Moore ends up being a really good player then I can resign him and move forward. If he is not a good player, his money comes off the cap quick and I can look to start a rebuild. Overall the prospects of a young team that I could work with seemed more enticing than trying to pick older guys and guess right.
Pete: I didn't really go into the draft with a specific strategy in mind, but I decided early on that I would look for players around 25 or older who had good established grades and guys on 1 year deals or in their 30s who otherwise would've gone higher. I also made a couple decisions early on to try and solidify my perimeter since I thought there was a larger tier of top quality bigs than perimeter players. And in a few instances I looked to pick up additional value by trading back when I felt like I might be reaching for a position or had enough players I liked that I was confident I could still grab one. Overall I'm happy with my draft, although I owe a ton to Fason for making my picks over the weekend when I was out of town.
2. Besides your own, whose draft do you like the most? Whose draft do you dislike the most?
I dislike Fecta's the most. I don't know how you pick that dude he picked #2 overall. Pete's draft drew praise from Odin so obviously that was a good one, other than that I really didn't pay much attention to what others were doing. I remember liking some picks JHB made.
The draft I like the most was Pete. He nailed his round 1 pick in Shuttlesworth, who I am still kicking myself over not picking him. He was able to get a lot of talent and should be the favorite for the year 1 title.
The drafts I didn’t like were the guys that swung big on really young guys, especially early. Drafts like Fecta and the like who went all on potential could come back to bite them. Taking a 19 year old and giving him 12.5 million a year could really hurt if the guy doesn’t pan out or takes longer to pan out.
Rockets look like far and away the best team, so I’ll say a couple different teams where I liked what they did. I liked the perimeter trio the Hawks took with their first three picks and then the bigs they got to rebound. I like what Eric has going with his big tandem and Jesse Epstein, he could be the clear favorite in the East if he trades for a star wing. I disliked the Celtics draft the most because of how the primes of the players on that roster don't match up. Also I think Rv could have done much better since he had 3 picks in the top 40.
I like #fectasdraft
I dislike #timpigsdraft
Its honestly hard to determine much based on the amount of guys picked and also the unknown, but both the Spurs nd Rockets look to have solid squads right away. Those 2 teams went older and will be pushing for a title pretty quickly. The drafts I personally disliked the most were the teams trading future firsts to move up in the draft. Celtics, Hawks, Knicks and Wolves all traded their first round picks the next 2 years. With so much unknown in the draft that seems like a big gamble. Factor in the unweighted lotto, the chances any pick could become a top lottery pick is high. Thats potentially a high price to pay.
Probably due to how I approached the draft, most of the teams I like coming out of it were ones drafting for the present rather than the future. I thought the best drafts were from the Hawks, the Knicks, and the AARP Spurs. I also think Buster was very successful in what he set out to do, stockpiling 1sts for the next two years by trading back and still snagging some additional talent with a decent looking big duo who he can either build around or try to trade this season for more draft capital. Lakers should have the assets to make a lot of things happen once Buster is ready to make moves. I really disliked those who went for 18 and 19 year olds in the first round. If these players were coming in on rookie deals I would get it, but there were a lot of teams putting their trust in HeavyReign and are going to be stuck paying max level money for submax players out of the gates.
3. Which player fell further than you expected? Who was drafted way earlier than you expected?
Mikan fell further than I expected. Couldn't believe he was there at my first. Wendell Carter went way earlier than I expected. Now that I've shit on that pick I expect him to be a HOF player.
Jesus Shuttlesworth was the biggest shock to me in how far he fell. He had great starting grades and was on a 5 year deal ready to compete. Gerald Martin Johanssen is also someone I thought would go a little higher than the 1.23 he went. Finally, I know he went #5 but Dolph Schayes should have gone #1.
2 guys that I thought went too early were RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson. They could potentially be really good players but that early and that money isn’t something I would have been a big fan of.
So many players to consider with how the draft played out. The most shocking to me was Brain Winter falling to the second round, talking myself out of picking him twice will probably haunt me for the rest of 5.0. As far as players that went too high, I’ll say half the players under 21 years old that went in the first round. I didn't think the risk of taking a teenager that may need time and good TC luck to develop was worth passing on an elite player that was only a little bit older and had bird rights.
Wendell Carter going so early blew my mind. GMJ falling to me was nice, but his lack of Bird Right's make it not too much of a surprise. There's a few undrafted guys I'm surprised are still out there.
Jesus falling as far is he did was a bit surprising. He looked really solid and at only 26 and a 5 year contract, thats a potential all star locked up for a long time. The top 3 picks were still the biggest surprises to me. Seems that Sexton was picked for his 4.0 profile and the Bama bump, the other 2 are seemed like a reach as well. Only time will tell.
Dolph Schayes was the best looking player in the draft, so Ward getting him at 5 was a coup, but I was most surprised by how long Jon Pierce lasted. He just has a habit of getting overlooked in drafts, and much like in 4.0, he's going to make a lot of people feel very dumb for passing on him due to his age/contract. As far as a reach pick, I'll go with RV's back to back Wendell Carter/Sekou picks in the first round, if only because it cost him his next two firsts and he used both picks on guys who are probably not ready for prime time.
4. There's been some talk already about which division will be the strongest. Give your ranking from top to bottom. Did the draft change your opinion at all?
I think the Pacific is very strong, along with the west in general. The draft didn't really do much to change that thought. While I think the draft is fun, I'm not sure it'll make or break teams. FA is a crap shoot and the cream always rises to the top regarding trades and other roster moves.
I would rank the divisions; 1. Central 2. Midwest 3. Pacific 4. Atlantic
I don’t think my rankings change following the draft because of the uncertainty I still have as to how guys will play and the new file. I am largely basing my rankings on GM quality and skill that I have witnessed over my time in the sim league.
I think the divisions are pretty well-balanced when it comes to the GMs, every division has at least 3-4 strong GMs. Before the draft I probably would have gone: Central, Pacific, Midwest then Atlantic. With current teams I’ll go: Pacific, Midwest, Central then Atlantic. Pacific has the most teams capable of winning the division, Midwest has the best team then a couple other good teams. The Central has some good teams, but half the teams are too young. Knicks are the only team in the Atlantic that are set up to contend for a championship right now.
My rankings have not changed either before or after the draft. I think the Midwest and Central are clearly the divisions to beat. The Atlantic and Pacific have their good GM's as well, including eric, ward, kn, druce, fason, buster etc, but that's basically it for the "above average" GM rankings in those divisions. However, for the other two divisions it's easier to list the below average GMS. Sloutang? MJ? Andrew Luck? That's it. I'm glad I'm in the pussific.
I honestly think that every division is about equal at this time. Each division has a couple good GMs and a couple meh GMs. Without seeing any sims or even Pre-Season its impossible to say which teams will be good. I think its best to revisit this question in 5 sim years to see what each division looks like and how competitive they have become. Just believe that anything can happen coming out of a creation draft.
Going into the draft, I would've ranked the divisions from best to worst as Central, Pacific, Midwest, Atlantic. Looking at how the draft shook out, I would re-order it Midwest, Pacific, Central, Atlantic. I think there are gonna be multiple contenders out of the Midwest and I think the Grizz, Sonics and Clippers all had great drafts for this season as well. As Druce mentioned, I expect once teams start making moves we'll see the stronger GMs start to establish themselves regardless of how their draft went.
5. There have been a lot of new changes made for 5.0, perhaps none bigger than the new rookie draft lottery set-up. What are your thoughts on the unweighted, 8-seed inclusive lottery?
Good players can be had all over the draft and I think every commish likes to bust a surefire top 3 pick every once in a while, so I don't think it'll be a big issue.
I like this idea much more than most it would appear. I like that we are curbing tanking in really the only way we can since finances and attendance don’t matter. Not having 7 teams trying to be as bad as possible will make the league better overall. We also made it so teams still are trying to battle and get that 8th seed. I just like that odin is willing to try anything and willing to change to make the league better.
Tanking was pretty worn out by the end of 4.0 that I was in favor of switching to the wheel just for something different in 5.0. I’m a fan of the unweighted lotto because it was time for a change and means picks could have much more value in the trade market. I do expect there will be some eventual tweaks because playoff teams will start tanking for the eighth seed during the second half of the season. And once a team wins a title and gets a top 3 pick, people will get pissed.
I think it'll be fun, but I think it will end up causing a lot of GMs to "check out" once their team gets poor and there is little hope of fixing it. I'm down, though. Especially with Odin being willing to change things that don't work.
I love 90% of the changes that 5.0 is looking to implement and I think Odin has done a terrific job. I am on record that I never really thought tanking was a big problem for the league, so I am less excited about the lottery change than most. I would have personally liked a system with weighted tiers. Something like bottom 5 get same odds, then the next 5 have same odds etc etc. Its going to be interesting to see how it affects things. I think we could see playoff teams tanking to try tank down to the 8th seed if they dont feel their team is good enough to win it all.
I was on #teamwheel but since that isn't happening I think the unweighted lotto is the next best thing. I'm all for any system that doesn't punish bad teams for having good players, and I think the possibility of any pick from 1-15 jumping around in value means that every team's picks holds value now, because a few injuries could land any team in the range for #1 pick. I am curious to see the long-term effects to the trade market once GMs have a better understanding of how they should value picks, and the first outrage when someone (Buster) ends up with something like 3 picks in the top 5.
6. SCs and RCs are no more, and the Lab now reigns supreme. Do you like the reworked player upgrade system?
Yes. Only being able to +3 or +5 seemed to restricted. Change is what the league needs to stay fresh.
I like the new system because it is very straight forward and easy to understand. This will help new gms as they come into the league and they won’t be overwhelmed by the upgrade system and will take more advantage of it.
I like it, simply because it is something different and I'm eager to see how people use their upgrades with the new caps and position eligibility rules.
SCs and RCs and all that stuff was one of the more convoluted part of 4.0 that I had to pick up when joining. The lab is simpler, cleaner, and does all the same things. Love it.
I think The Lab is a huge upgrade over the previous system. Being able to add individual points however you want allows for so much more customization on players. I also think the caps will be a huge plus for the league long term.
I am a fan of the skill lab, I like being able to spread the wealth to as many players as we want within the overall points cap, and the ability to focus on training specific skills if we want to really grow one trait in particular.
7. There are several other changes, including the G-League, new positional eligibility requirements and attribute caps for certain positions. What are you most excited about, and what are your thoughts on the overall impact of the league?
I'm excited about it all. I think G League could be really cool. Attribute caps have been needed for a while. I think these changes have injected new life into the league. I hope sim results reflect the changes that have been put in place. We've been trying to figure out how to make bigs more of a factor for a long time.
I’m excited about all 3 of the changes you mentioned. First with G-league the ability to see 2nd rounders and late 1st rounders actually play will be great. In the past these guys would just sit on the bench and maybe get minutes in preseason but you never really knew what you had in these players. Getting the opportunity to see these players and what they actually can do, will be awesome. As for the eligibility requirements and the attribute caps I really like that we are attempting to fix some of the flaws in the software and we are attempting to limit the ways it can be exploited.
I think the new position eligibility rules and caps were much needed because it got out of hand with people exploiting flaws with the software. I haven’t looked too much into G League, it seems like a cool idea. I just worry that it’s too much added work for a commish and will lead to them burning out quicker.
I think everyone is excited about the G League. You guys ready for me to talk about the [ELITE] numbers CC will be putting up on those compududes?
Overall I think the changes are going to be very beneficial for the league. The position changes and attribute caps hopefully create a league where you can with with different types of teams. G League should be a huge positive and I am really excited about it. Having the ability to develop younger players while still having a competitive team will be fun. I think it has the chance to create a far more competitive league and potentially make FA less important. If teams have the ability to keep young talent and see how good they are, it hopefully leads to the league being filled with more talent.
Really excited for these new changes. We'd been talking about capping blocks for a long time in 4.0 so I'm not surprised to see that was adopted here, and it sounds from the test sims like it may be successful in improving the value for offensive bigs. But I really love some of these other changes that I didn't expect, like the G-League or some of the new free agency resigning deals. These kinds of changes will really help keep the league fresh for those of us who've been at it for years.
8. 5.0 has been hot out of the gates with bad blood. Now is your chance to call out another GM in the league for their bullshit.
I don't have a lot of animosity towards anyone yet. I'm sure a feud or two will heat up here soon. I do hope fason stops acting like a douche, which it seems as though he has.
With Ian back in league I’d just like to say Cool it with the condescending dickhead shtick.
Majic has been coming for me for a little while, but there is no bad blood from my end. I just like poking fun at him for being a dummy since he’s one of the most opinionated people in the league, has very little self-awareness and gets offended so easily. If he followed the rules of the league (ie FA bids) filtered some of his shouts or wasn’t as sensitive then I wouldn’t have anything to tease him about.
I'll actually use this question to apologize for rubbing most people the wrong way if I have. Most everything I say is intended to be humorous (my sense of humor is just more miss than hit). If I'm doing some egregiously stupid (or against the rules) it's most likely in ignorance than purposeful problem-creating.
Lets be honest, theres really only 1 trash GM and he resides in the Pacific Northwest. Fecta is an embarrassment to the league his teams will likely be the worst of the worst every year. Plus his podcast presence is terrible. #TeamTimpig
Dump is coming back to sim league in the Wizards Jordan stage of his career. Larry Bird ain't walking through that door!
9. TimPig and Fecta had a very mysterious falling out which they refused to talk about on the podcast. Speculate wildly about what caused the rift in their friendship.
Fecta might be making an RW turn here. He just went to africa, does weird shit like not eating meat. TimPig and Majic jerk each other off with their beer league hockey stats. Tim has Rachel and Majic, and Fecta has African orphans and his GF so I think they're both just focused on other areas.
I believe that Fecta walked in on Timpig pounding off and it really has led to some questions and concerns the two of them have in their releationship. The really weird part is that Tim was using an AARP magazine to get him finished.
Fecta was in love with Rachel and is now jealous that Tim is dating her.
Legal problems involving some type of person they know renting from the other person and some type of property/financial damage that has gone unpaid. Also fecta boinked fecta.
Please see my answer to question 8. Timpig is a great man and a pleasure to have in this league. Fecta is a weasel and needs to be fired. #TeamTimpig #FireFecta
I'm not one to gossip, but I heard that Tim's landlord is actually Fecta's mom. Tim was running behind on rent and Mrs. Fecta came to collect. Tim being the deadbeat that he is didn't have the money, but offered some carnal rewards in exchange. There's just one problem, Fecta's mom doesn't eat meat either!!! After some finagling, Tim is able to get her to agree on the condition that he can secure a date for her w/ the lovely Rachel. Rachel and Mrs. Fecta had such a great time together that she kicked Tim to the curb, and now Tim blames Fecta for his mom stealing his girlfriend. But you didn't hear it from me.
10. We have zero evidence of how these players will actually perform, but give me your favorite for each conference and your champ in year 1, and your favorite team for year 3.
I think Pete is the favorite for year one just based on commish comments. I'd like to think I'll be in the running by year 3, especially if Mikan re-signs. Maybe Fecta if he gets some TC love.
My favorites for year 1;
East – Hawks, Knicks, Globetrotters
West – Rockets, Spurs, Sonics
Finals – Rockets vs. Globetrotters with the Rockets taking the title.
My favorite team for year 3 is Milwaukee, they have some really good and interesting young pieces and I trust Trofie’s ability as a GM to finish the rest
Atlantic – Knicks, Central – Hawks, Midwest – Rockets, Pacific – Sonics, Champ – Rockets, Best in 3 Years - Pacers
Champion: Pete
ATL: Eric
CEN: Dump
MW: Pete
PAC: BK
I'm gonna be hopeful and say I win it this year!
3 years from now? Who knows. It's a crapshoot. Ian has a chance to be a very nice team by then if Sexton gets the right kinda TC love. No TC this year makes that seem less likely, though.
I will go with Rocket from the West and Globetrotters from the East. Rockets win it all. Best in 3 years I have no clue. I will say the Blazers for fun
Year 1 favorite: rather than sandbag, I'll trust that Odin wasn't trolling and say the Rockets are the team to beat in the West. Out East, give me the Knicks. I'll take the Rockets to win the damn thing. Favorite for year 3 is probably Buster. I have no idea if he'll be able to pick up great players with all those firsts but either way he's in the best position to take advantage of teams that aren't as close as they think and teams that start to decline quickly.
