Post by TimPig on Aug 27, 2020 20:05:55 GMT
Sophomore Ladder
This group was really bad, and I'm not sure many guys outside of these five will even make it past age 30 in the league. Even with only five players on this ladder, Delap was able to miss on 60% of them.
5. Rolando Blackman - Dallas Mavericks (RL: 3) In most years, I’m not sure Blackman makes the ladder as he’s so one-dimensional that I’m not sure he can ever be a key piece on a winning team. He’s a great scorer with the second best pts/tsa in the class at 1.192, which leaves him just outside the league’s top 10 overall. Turnovers are also very very good, but the absolutely TERRIBLE rebounding is something that’s really difficult to look past.
4. Larry Nance Sr. - Sacramento Kings (RL: UR) Fourth in the class in pts/tsa at 1.128, which puts him above league average overall. Defense is good at 2.6 bleals per 36 and turnovers are certainly playable. Rebounding is subpar at the moment but he entered the league with high potential and rebounding is a high growth category for a big. He also has *checks notes* +3 left in upgrades, so...yeah.
3. Mark Aguirre - Vancouver Grizzlies (RL: 1) Aguirre’s turnovers were expected to be the achilles heel when he was drafted, but they’ve been OK so far at 1.9 per 36. Scoring is just below average at 1.089 pts/tsa, but he is a good defender at 1.8 steals per 36 and has shooting guard eligibility. Over the long term, he looks like a solid third wing with his positional versatility and no major weaknesses, but also no major strengths.
2. Danny Ainge - Miami Heat (RL: HM) A truly elite scorer after receiving upgrades, Ainge is tied for 9th in the league with 1.198 pts/tsa, averages almost two steals per 36, and his 4.9 rebounds per 36 at shooting guard are playable. I hate the turnovers and that would normally drop him a few spots, but with the lack of real top-end talent in this class, there was no one to put in front of him and his great scoring.
1. Kelly Tripucka - Vancouver Grizzlies (RL: HM) Third in the class in pts/tsa and still well above league average at 1.135, Tripucka’s turnovers are somehow better than Blackman’s at 0.7 per 36, which are the best in the league for anyone receiving playing time. He’s a good rebounder at the shooting guard position as well with 6.1 per 36. In my mind, he’s unquestionably the best player in the class a year and a half into his career.
Five Best Hidden Gems
These are my five favorite “hidden gems,” and not in the sense of actual players “randomly” ;) selected to have hidden gem status by eric. These are five players that I think were, for the most part, forgotten by the majority of the league but due to creative upgrades and some unexpected natural growth, have flourished.
5. Shelden Williams (Orlando Magic): I went in on Skrouse after sim 2 for calling Williams a steal as he was shooting under 40% at the time, but the numbers have come around and he’s now at league average in efficiency, coupled with solid defense, excellent rebounding, and decent turnovers. He’s a bit older than some of these other guys, so any success he has will probably be short-lived as he looks to only have 3-4 solid years left. It’ll be interesting to see if Skrouse continues to play him and see if he can keep building on the numbers he’s posting this year.
4. Ben Simmons (Miami Heat): I’m not quite ready to crown Ben Simmons yet, but the season he’s having should have Kujo very excited. After Magic Johnson, Simmons is the best rebounding point guard in the league, besting Rondo by almost a full rebound per 36. His efficiency is way up this year, which is more likely an outlier than what we can expect going forward. The turnovers are playable, and his 1.5 bleals per game aren’t good, but they aren’t tragically bad either. Best of all, he still has +25 and a camp left to go. I could see those upgrades being put towards his handling or defense if he can continue to show that he’s not a complete trainwreck offensively as many predicted early in his career.
3. Derrick Rose (Dallas Mavericks): The second overall pick after Michael Beasley in the 2038 draft, Rose did not look very promising early on. High turnovers, poor efficiency, and lackluster rebounding were too many problems to fix. He had high potential coming out but didn’t seem to be capitalizing on that early on. After two seasons with the Magic, Skrouse sent him to the Grizz where Druce tried to turn him into a sort of reclamation project of his own but was unable to do so. Since joining the Mavs on a pretty team-friendly deal and having his upgrades reset to receive +25 handling, Rose looks like another Rondo type of player. The turnovers have dropped significantly since he received the handling upgrade, rebounding has improved naturally, and the defense is excellent. He’s not the scoring point guard we might have expected based on his real life counterpart, but he’s showing promise in other areas.
2. Rajon Rondo (Miami Heat): Rondo scared off most teams during the 2036 with a write-up that described a “pass-first” and “highly unselfish” floor general with a limited scoring acumen. He was also described as having high handling, but it wasn’t enough to offset the passing as he averaged over 3 turnovers per 36 in his only season as a starter for Mike’s Pistons. I’m not even entirely sure how Rondo ended up with the Heat/Bobcats before his rookie contract expired. Mike hasn’t made a trade in some time now and he didn’t decline his fourth year, but either way, Odin found him, went all in on his handling, and then re-signed him to an excellent deal paying him less than $2m per year for 7 years. He’s still an awful scorer, but he’s a great rebounder for the position, gets a ton of steals, and doesn’t turn it over much.
1. Rodney Carney (Atlanta Hawks): Carney was a Globetrotter, Spur, Oak, and Spur again before finally landing with the Hawks. It’s a little bit surprising that Ward, who loves himself a defensive guard, didn’t identify Carney and that it was instead JHB finding one of the league’s best D/R no-shoot wings. Finding great scoring shooting guards hasn’t been easy, so the exact opposite has become a very valuable piece in the league, where we see players like Michael Cooper, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Carney becoming more and more valuable. On a roster with plenty of scoring punch from the other four positions, Carney fits right in.
This group was really bad, and I'm not sure many guys outside of these five will even make it past age 30 in the league. Even with only five players on this ladder, Delap was able to miss on 60% of them.
5. Rolando Blackman - Dallas Mavericks (RL: 3) In most years, I’m not sure Blackman makes the ladder as he’s so one-dimensional that I’m not sure he can ever be a key piece on a winning team. He’s a great scorer with the second best pts/tsa in the class at 1.192, which leaves him just outside the league’s top 10 overall. Turnovers are also very very good, but the absolutely TERRIBLE rebounding is something that’s really difficult to look past.
4. Larry Nance Sr. - Sacramento Kings (RL: UR) Fourth in the class in pts/tsa at 1.128, which puts him above league average overall. Defense is good at 2.6 bleals per 36 and turnovers are certainly playable. Rebounding is subpar at the moment but he entered the league with high potential and rebounding is a high growth category for a big. He also has *checks notes* +3 left in upgrades, so...yeah.
3. Mark Aguirre - Vancouver Grizzlies (RL: 1) Aguirre’s turnovers were expected to be the achilles heel when he was drafted, but they’ve been OK so far at 1.9 per 36. Scoring is just below average at 1.089 pts/tsa, but he is a good defender at 1.8 steals per 36 and has shooting guard eligibility. Over the long term, he looks like a solid third wing with his positional versatility and no major weaknesses, but also no major strengths.
2. Danny Ainge - Miami Heat (RL: HM) A truly elite scorer after receiving upgrades, Ainge is tied for 9th in the league with 1.198 pts/tsa, averages almost two steals per 36, and his 4.9 rebounds per 36 at shooting guard are playable. I hate the turnovers and that would normally drop him a few spots, but with the lack of real top-end talent in this class, there was no one to put in front of him and his great scoring.
1. Kelly Tripucka - Vancouver Grizzlies (RL: HM) Third in the class in pts/tsa and still well above league average at 1.135, Tripucka’s turnovers are somehow better than Blackman’s at 0.7 per 36, which are the best in the league for anyone receiving playing time. He’s a good rebounder at the shooting guard position as well with 6.1 per 36. In my mind, he’s unquestionably the best player in the class a year and a half into his career.
Five Best Hidden Gems
These are my five favorite “hidden gems,” and not in the sense of actual players “randomly” ;) selected to have hidden gem status by eric. These are five players that I think were, for the most part, forgotten by the majority of the league but due to creative upgrades and some unexpected natural growth, have flourished.
5. Shelden Williams (Orlando Magic): I went in on Skrouse after sim 2 for calling Williams a steal as he was shooting under 40% at the time, but the numbers have come around and he’s now at league average in efficiency, coupled with solid defense, excellent rebounding, and decent turnovers. He’s a bit older than some of these other guys, so any success he has will probably be short-lived as he looks to only have 3-4 solid years left. It’ll be interesting to see if Skrouse continues to play him and see if he can keep building on the numbers he’s posting this year.
4. Ben Simmons (Miami Heat): I’m not quite ready to crown Ben Simmons yet, but the season he’s having should have Kujo very excited. After Magic Johnson, Simmons is the best rebounding point guard in the league, besting Rondo by almost a full rebound per 36. His efficiency is way up this year, which is more likely an outlier than what we can expect going forward. The turnovers are playable, and his 1.5 bleals per game aren’t good, but they aren’t tragically bad either. Best of all, he still has +25 and a camp left to go. I could see those upgrades being put towards his handling or defense if he can continue to show that he’s not a complete trainwreck offensively as many predicted early in his career.
3. Derrick Rose (Dallas Mavericks): The second overall pick after Michael Beasley in the 2038 draft, Rose did not look very promising early on. High turnovers, poor efficiency, and lackluster rebounding were too many problems to fix. He had high potential coming out but didn’t seem to be capitalizing on that early on. After two seasons with the Magic, Skrouse sent him to the Grizz where Druce tried to turn him into a sort of reclamation project of his own but was unable to do so. Since joining the Mavs on a pretty team-friendly deal and having his upgrades reset to receive +25 handling, Rose looks like another Rondo type of player. The turnovers have dropped significantly since he received the handling upgrade, rebounding has improved naturally, and the defense is excellent. He’s not the scoring point guard we might have expected based on his real life counterpart, but he’s showing promise in other areas.
2. Rajon Rondo (Miami Heat): Rondo scared off most teams during the 2036 with a write-up that described a “pass-first” and “highly unselfish” floor general with a limited scoring acumen. He was also described as having high handling, but it wasn’t enough to offset the passing as he averaged over 3 turnovers per 36 in his only season as a starter for Mike’s Pistons. I’m not even entirely sure how Rondo ended up with the Heat/Bobcats before his rookie contract expired. Mike hasn’t made a trade in some time now and he didn’t decline his fourth year, but either way, Odin found him, went all in on his handling, and then re-signed him to an excellent deal paying him less than $2m per year for 7 years. He’s still an awful scorer, but he’s a great rebounder for the position, gets a ton of steals, and doesn’t turn it over much.
1. Rodney Carney (Atlanta Hawks): Carney was a Globetrotter, Spur, Oak, and Spur again before finally landing with the Hawks. It’s a little bit surprising that Ward, who loves himself a defensive guard, didn’t identify Carney and that it was instead JHB finding one of the league’s best D/R no-shoot wings. Finding great scoring shooting guards hasn’t been easy, so the exact opposite has become a very valuable piece in the league, where we see players like Michael Cooper, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Carney becoming more and more valuable. On a roster with plenty of scoring punch from the other four positions, Carney fits right in.
