Post by Majic on May 17, 2018 20:11:29 GMT
Welcome to another addition to the Round Table presented by Majic
So this RT is going to be have more of a focus on the players of Sim League along with some strategy talk. #FreeAdvice
But first I want to start out with an overall question on this season so far. What are some of your surprises on the season? Good, bad, and the ugly? Who looks better than you expected, worse?
Druce - The Rockets are certainly a surprise. I'm also surprised the Pacers are under .500 currently. Pistons and Magic kinda came out of nowhere. I think the Bucks are about a player or two away from breaking out. Suns are better than expected as well, which has a lot to do with Hakeem being a stud right off the bat.
JHB - Good - How good the Suns are. Never expected that team would be quite so good but that's also because I didn't expect Hakeem to be so elite. Scary thing is they could be even better with some upgrades at both forward spots.
Bad - How average the Rockets are. Think they could use big upgrades at the 2 and 5 to claw their way back among the elite.
Ugly - Eastern conference. We're not good at all and still within striking distance of the division lead.
Skrouse -
The Good: Hakeem is the obvious choice here, clear #1 pick but did anyone think he would come in as arguably the best big in the league? Not so sure. Yante Maten's 12 PPG increase in scoring must have ankly saying "That worked better than expected." He obv felt Maten's value was high with that max deal but that much of a jump in scoring seems like a pleasant surprise.
The Bad: Chuck seems like a slight disappointment, maybe he came into camp a little overweight like IRL and needs a vet to get him in line, or maybe he just needs some time to grow along with some points. Either way, 11.2 ppg seems low to me.
The Ugly: The Spurs decline, really shows how valuable a guy like Diaz was and how much it can hurt when you're unable to replace him.
Delap - All 3 Texas teams are massively underperforming. Houston is the biggest surprise of the 3, but all 3 should be in solid playoff contention, but all currently look like lottery teams instead. The Bucks look bad, too, especially given their great duo of bigs. Goes to show that you really need a well-rounded team in 5.0 to be a winner.
Detroit, Orlando, and Phoenix (to a lesser extent) really stick out as teams that are exceeding my expectations.
Fecta - Im surprised the Knicks are not at least top two in the conference. Firsto Picko is an absolute monster and the other big is elite too. I would think those two would be good enough with McCall to put them up there.
The Suns have been a surprise, well maybe not a surprise because of how good the Dream is, but quite the turnaround for them.
Majic - I would have to agree with Delap and say the Texas teams are surprising to me. Spurs lost alot but being one of the worst teams in the league is not what i expected. Houston being on the bubble of the playoff hunt is shocking. Beahm looked like a great signing but his volume just isnt there. The Pacers are a surprise in the east. Most people expected them to win the division and right now they are a bad sim away from being on the playoff bubble.
Now that we have that question out of the way, lets move on to ranking some players. Pound for Pound, who are your top 10 players in sim league right now? Give me a quick tidbit on what makes them great.
1. Collin Sexton
2. Hakeem Olajuwon
3. Firsto Picko
4. DeAndre Ayton
5. Stephon Templeton
6. Harry Gallatin
7. Dolph Schayes
8. Neon Boudeaux
9. Brain Winter
10. Yante Maten
All these guys are great players, and it's pretty difficult to order them 1-10, so that list is in no particular order just how they popped into my head
No particular order:
Dolph Schayes
Brain Winter
Jake Shuttlesworth
Jon Pierce
Hakeem Olajuwon
Butch McRae
Yante Maten
Collin Sexton
Neon Boudeaux
Barry Obama
I think these are the ten guys with the best all around games. There are a handful of guys with elite individual skills that deserve consideration (Firsto, Harry G, Mikan), but for my money give me someone with no true holes in their game (defense, handles, scoring efficiency) who does everything at a very high level without leaving weaknesses other teams can exploit.
All rankings based on PER and age, contracts were ignored. Top 3 are tier 1 IMO, 4-10 tier 2.
1. Firsto Picko
2. Neon Boudeaux
3. Hakeem Olajuwon
4. Dolph Schayes
5. Brain Winter
6. Collin Sexton
7. Jock Landale
8. Yante Maten
9. DeAndre Ayton
10. Cameron Reddish
1. Firsto Picko - putting up insane scoring, while being very competent defensively. The bright lights of New York suit him just fine. I mean... he's a freaking center with a 2.5:1 A:TO ratio. Insanity. If he could avoid his high foul rate, he'd be a perfect player.
2. Collin Sexton - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Left 4.0 as the best non-Heebs player and enters 5.0 as the best non-Firsto player.
3. Brandon Griner - Dominant two-way big that stays out of foul trouble.
4. Cam Reddish - Despite slumping on FG% and 3p% thus far in 2002, Cam is still the best defensive and offensive wing in the league.
5. Yante Maten – close on Cam’s heels for best SF (both offensively and defensively)
6. Harry Gallatin – a newfound 3pt shot vaults Harry onto the list for this season. His age means this might be the last year at a peak, but for now, he’s very very good.
7. DJ Rony – best defensive big in the league, doesn’t hurt you offensively, either.
8. Hakeem – A real dreamboat, will probably be #1 on the list by the end of his rookie deal.
9. Brain Winter - after 4.0 being so dominated by PGs, Brain is the only other PG in the league (outside of Sexton) that I would call 'elite' right now.
10. Neon Boudeaux - The Faux Shaq is better than the real deal. Scores in bunches, rebounds and blocks well, sorta avoids foul trouble.
1. Firsto Picko. Scores 40 a game.
2. Brain Winter. Maybe the only truly elite PG in sim and looks like a 4.0 PG
3. Neon Bordeaux. Regardless of his eligibilty in college, he is an absolute freak putting up almost 40 a game.
4. Cameron Reddish. Best wing in 5.0.
5. Hakeem. Only a rookie but top 5 in scoring, good rebounder and a great defender.
6. Yante Maten. Putting up 32 a game with more than 3 bleals and 10 boards. Freak.
7. Deandre Ayton. I cant believe I didnt pick this guy in creation. Im a moron
8. Dolph Schayes. Great scoring big.
9. Colin Sexton. Having a bit of a "down year" but still elite.
10. Harry Galitian. Best rebounder in the league and a great scorer.
in no particular order:
Collin Sexton - not much needs to be said, he is a monster at a vital position
Hakeem - just a beast right out of the gate, scary to think what he could become
Neon - just a scoring beast
Cam Reddish - super small drop off from last year, but still great and only 21
Dolph - just an elite scoring big
Deandre Ayton - all around elite big, does everything you would want
Yante - really hoped to snag him in FA last year, just so great
Brain Winter - vital position and the best all around
Firsto - that scoring is just unreal
Malcolm Moore - total homer pick, but the guy is an elite defender and very efficient
Ok now lets break down the conferences. Lets have your All-Star starting lineup and 3 subs for the East.
C - Picko
PF - Schayes
SF - Elvis Delle Donne
SG - Miles Bridges
PG - Quincy McCall
Bench
1 - Ayton
2- Luke Maye
3- Jock Landale
Firsto Picko
Dolph Schayes
Elvis Delle Donne
Daniel Taurasi
Quincy McCall
Benji Hammon
DeAndre Ayton
Jackie Moon
C: Firsto Picko
PF: Dolph Schayes
SF: Luke Maye
SG: Miles Bridges
PG: Benji Hammon
6: Elvis Delle Donne
7: Jock Landale
8: Zion Williamson
C: Firsto
PF: Dolph Schayes
SF: Luke Maye
SG: Bridges
PG: Benji Hammon
Bench: Ayton, Quincy McCall, Delle Donne
1. Cecil Exum
2. Drazen Petrovic
3. RJ Barrett
4. Shareef O'Neal
5. Austin Wiley (maybe Firsto Picko)
B. Trevon Duval
B. Alonzo Trier
B. Otis Thorpe
C - Picko
PF - Schayes
SF - Ayton
SG - Miles Bridges
PG - Quincy McCall
Bench
1 - Elvis Delle Donne
2- Luke Maye
3- Jock Landale
How about the West? Who are your all-star starters from the west? Who are your 3 subs?
C- Boudeaux
PF - Maten
SF - Cameron Reddish
SG - Sexton
PG - Brain
Bench - Templeton, Gallatin, Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Neon Boudeaux
Yante Maten
Jake Shuttlesworth
Brain Winter
Jon Pierce
Collin Sexton
Gary Bossert
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
PF: Yante Maten
SF: Cameron Reddish
SG: Gary Bossert
PG: Brain Winter
6: Neon Boudeaux
7: Collin Sexton
8: Jon Pierce
C: Neon
PF: Yante
SF: Reddish
SG: Bossert
PG: Sexton
Bench: Hakeem, Winter, Jake Shuttlesworth
1. Brain Winter
2. Gary Bossert
3. Cameron Reddish
4. Hakeem
5. Neon
1. Sexton
2. Ayton
3. Maten
C- Neon Boudeaux
PF - Yante Maten
SF - Cameron Reddish
SG - Sexton
PG - Brain
Bench -
Gary Bossart
Gallatin
Olajuwon
Now lets focus on younger players, who are your top 5 under 25 stars in the league besides Sexton?
Reddish, Olajuwon, Ayton, Bridges, Zion Williamson
Hakeem Olajuwon
Cam Reddish
Peyton Gragg
Luke Maye
DeAndre Ayton
Excluding 25 yr olds... drops a few easy picks
1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. DeAndre Ayton
3. Cameron Reddish
4. Simisola Shittu
5. Peyton Gragg (fuck me...)
1. Reddish
2. Hakeem
3. Zion
4. Ayton
5. Bridges
99a. Romeo
99b. RJ
1. RJ Barrett *editors note:
2. Cameron Reddish
3. Deandre Ayton
4.Hakeem
5. Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Hakeem
Peyton Gragg
Deandre Ayton
Bridges
Name 3 players that are most poised to break through and become a superstar and why you think they are.
I have no idea - *editors note:
LiAngelo Ball - super biased pick but I think he will be really good once he gets some points into his inside scoring and another couple TC's
Deng Adel - another super biased pick but I also think he will be really good once he gets some points into his scoring, especially with his high blocks for a wing
Trendon Watford - he looks like he's about one or two more TC's from really arriving, but I've always like him
Same as my top 3 under 25. They are all so young but already so good. I see multiple MVPs in their future. And I'm not giving away any sleepers
1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. DeAndre Ayton
3. Cameron Reddish
- Grayson Allen - SG - Boston Celtics: The darling of the Free Agency Retrospective, Grayson is putting up an impressive stat line so far in 2002 and hasn't had any upgrades at all. Give that fool some bonus points and GMs will be tripping all over themselves to get to him.
- Aljami Durham - PG - Washington Bullets: if he can keep the TOs down, Aljami can thrive and be a top tier PG in the league. Still has +17 that can be allocated to the cause.
- LiAngelo Ball - SG - Atlanta Hawks: Similar to Grayson... LiAngelo is on a cheap deal and has +25 left. He is already scoring at a good clip and is only 23, leaving a few more TCs of good growth potential.
1. RJ Barrett. Pedigree, attitude, grit, work ethic, team culture.
2. Cecil Exum. ''
3. Shareef Oneal. "
-Isaac Bonga - you can call it a homer pick but I love the look of him. Good grades, still young and some room left for growth
-RJ Barrett - every season he has gotten better and should only improve. another good TC and he could really blow up
-Grayson Allen - I dont think he is talked about enough given his production. thats likely to change as he is headed for FA this offseason
Now lets move to a couple fun strategy questions:
What do you draft based on? How do you compare players at the same position?
My strategy in the draft varies year by year. Sometimes I look for the best grades available, other times I'm more position focused. As far as comparing players, there are a lot of variables that actually determine how good a player is so a lot of the time its gut feeling.
I haven't drafted yet in 5.0 in the first round so I'm not really sure what my strategy would be. I drafted more on potential with 20's because he seemed to really stick to those grades. With Odin my strategy would probably be BPA by grade in the big board formula with a slight slant for need.
I simply compare all grades, focus mostly on scoring, defense and potential. Tie breakers would come down to size and age, but for the rookie draft age only really matters to me if they're under 20 due to the height increase eligibility.
The Dr. Delap's Draft Diagnosis is the only way to draft. I typically think of the 2/3 attributes most important for any particular position and make the choices based on those and completely ignore the other 2/3 attributes.
With Odin I just use a random number generator and pick the player associated with that. Just as good as any other strategy. For players of the same position I will look less at potential and more at starting grades, especially scoring grades.
I like to use all of the resources at my disposal, however I am not the best drafter so far in 5.0. I typically pay most attention to the grades and the write up. I thought Odins combine might be helpful, but Leon Wood looks horrendous after having been listed as a top shooter. Really it seems to be alot of unknown at the moment
What is your strategy when it comes to offering free agents? Players you have birds on but aren’t max players?
I don't have a set strategy for this. Often times I just toss out random numbers for guys that fall in line with my teams cap situation going forward
Find players who show at least average skills in most non-growth categories and categories I wouldn't want to invest in (usage rate, rebounding, high rate of FTA to FGA, solid ast/to, good FT%, higher defense grade and good block/steal rates) and could project to be much better with a few good TC's and some points dumped into scoring grades.
Focus on big fish FA day 1 along with resigning my core guys. Day 2 I adjust for assclowns that don't take my money. Day 3 is usually when MLE/LLE comes into play unless I was already over the cap and days 4-5 are mostly Min offers trying to fill out the roster.
This past offseason I think was maybe my best FA period. Retained all 4 of my starters that were FA, none had birds and i was even able to upgrade my bench.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you know a guy is a talent, keep him, especially if you are hard-capped anyway. If you are under the soft-cap, you may want to wait a few days and be aggressive in sniping other guys in the 6-8m range. Ward has used this strategy to perfection on multiple occasions in 4.0 and churned his roster on a yearly basis with upper-level, but not quite MAX-level, talent.
I think in 5.0 past performance means even more than 5.0. So im looking at players who have actually done something instead of looking at potential as much.
I have really just tried to leverage my cap space based on what others have. obviously the maxes are easy but I typically like to offer higher 1 year contracts to sign the player. This give me long term cap flexibility.
Rank the top 5 most valuable trade chips in the league as we speak (you can include draft picks).
Sexton, Olajuwon, Ayton, Reddish, Maten
Hakeem Olajuwon
Collin Sexton
Cam Reddish
Yante Maten
Neon Boudeaux (mainly because he's the most valuable piece likely to be traded soon)
Mostly all young players that are locked up for at least 4 years or the signing team has a distinct advantage to sign long-term, and then Neon who I think is the most likely big piece to move soon.
Has to all be players, draft picks hold so much less value as 1-15 have the same odds for #1. It's like a box of chocolates, never know what you're gonna get.
1. Hakeem
2. Sexton
3. Firsto
4. Reddish
5. Jordan (He's a rook and is meh so far but that name simply carries so much weight he's bound to pull a king's ransom at this stage)
1a. Sexton
1b. Firsto
1c. Hakeem
1d. Reddish
All 4 are Top 10 players in the league and are under the age of 26 (3 of the them are under 23). They are all going to be on decent contracts for the foreseeable future, too, as neither Sexton nor Reddish nor Firsto will be capable of earning the giant MAX this off-season due to years of experience. I would think a haul of 5+ 1sts plus many bucks would be necessary for any GM to even halfway entertain an offer for these guys.
5. Brandon Griner
Possibly the best player in the league right now, good contract for the next 2 years. The next contract after that could be ugly though. Get him/her while the getting is good.
1. Hakeem
2. RJ Barrett
3. Firsto Pick0
4. Brain Winter
5. Ayton
Hakeem
Firsto
Sexton
Cam Redish
Neon
the first 4 are young players, signed longer term and are all elite. They are the cornerstone guys to have on your team. Neon is the biggest trade chip that I think has the chance to move. There has been little major trade activity so it will be fun to watch and see what happens. The return that MJ gets for Neon might set the market moving forward, at least in the short term.
And last but not least:
When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?
I'm not sure this has ever happened
All the time at work when I was in warehouse work. I would often help packing orders if I wanted to expedite the process of finishing up work at the end of the night. I would always log in as a temp because at that point in the day I tended to let detail elude me and just threw shit in boxes. Our temp error rates were high, I don't think I ever cared to determine if that was my fault or the actual temps.
This is a very difficult question to answer... I honestly cannot think of anything. This is the best I got and it kinda fits.
I had a friends with benefits thing going with a girl that was dating a mutual friend of my core group of friends, I was not friends with the BF, we just hung out in the same group. I thought he was actually a douche bag. First time I hooked up with Stephanie was actually in his dorm, though not his room. He split a dorm with guys from the same group of friends, and we would all just chill there between classes and before intramural games. One day I was there and we were all chilling, then he and my buddies left for class and she stayed behind and we got to talking/flirting. A few weeks later she dumped him. We kept it going on and off for like 6 months, never turned into anything more and she eventually started dating another guy and that was that. No one ever found out.
Nice try.
Im really bad at keeping secrets like this, so everyone always finds out.
When I was working landscaping in college, there were a few instances where I either ran into a house, or ran something valuable over. I would move as quickly as possible to make it look like I didn't do it and move on. Somehow it never got back that me, or my company, had anything to do with it. And we cut some pretty nice yards
What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?
When I dislocated my knee in softball
One time I rolled down a hill and had a stump cut my leg to the bone while trying to play a prank on someone after dark at scout camp. 19 stitches.
Broker my hand punching a padded wall, Bill Gramatica style, was embarrassing. Went from acting tough to almost crying in like 3 seconds.
I don't know that I've ever really injured myself in a stupid way. I did shock myself pretty good when I was trying to fix something in a saltwater fish tank once and neglected to cut the power off of the heater in the tank. Nothing major though.
Walking home drunk wearing flip flops I caught the front edge of the shoe on a sidewalk and absolutely shredded my foot.
When I was in 6th grade, we were in Columbus for a hockey tournament. Me and some of my teammates were messing around in the hotel gym, I hopped on the treadmill. One of my teammates turned the speed up to 10MPH. Needless to say chubby Majic could not keep up with that speed and went flying off the back into the wall. Broke my ankle in 2 places. Was terrible.
So this RT is going to be have more of a focus on the players of Sim League along with some strategy talk. #FreeAdvice
But first I want to start out with an overall question on this season so far. What are some of your surprises on the season? Good, bad, and the ugly? Who looks better than you expected, worse?
Druce - The Rockets are certainly a surprise. I'm also surprised the Pacers are under .500 currently. Pistons and Magic kinda came out of nowhere. I think the Bucks are about a player or two away from breaking out. Suns are better than expected as well, which has a lot to do with Hakeem being a stud right off the bat.
JHB - Good - How good the Suns are. Never expected that team would be quite so good but that's also because I didn't expect Hakeem to be so elite. Scary thing is they could be even better with some upgrades at both forward spots.
Bad - How average the Rockets are. Think they could use big upgrades at the 2 and 5 to claw their way back among the elite.
Ugly - Eastern conference. We're not good at all and still within striking distance of the division lead.
Skrouse -
The Good: Hakeem is the obvious choice here, clear #1 pick but did anyone think he would come in as arguably the best big in the league? Not so sure. Yante Maten's 12 PPG increase in scoring must have ankly saying "That worked better than expected." He obv felt Maten's value was high with that max deal but that much of a jump in scoring seems like a pleasant surprise.
The Bad: Chuck seems like a slight disappointment, maybe he came into camp a little overweight like IRL and needs a vet to get him in line, or maybe he just needs some time to grow along with some points. Either way, 11.2 ppg seems low to me.
The Ugly: The Spurs decline, really shows how valuable a guy like Diaz was and how much it can hurt when you're unable to replace him.
Delap - All 3 Texas teams are massively underperforming. Houston is the biggest surprise of the 3, but all 3 should be in solid playoff contention, but all currently look like lottery teams instead. The Bucks look bad, too, especially given their great duo of bigs. Goes to show that you really need a well-rounded team in 5.0 to be a winner.
Detroit, Orlando, and Phoenix (to a lesser extent) really stick out as teams that are exceeding my expectations.
Fecta - Im surprised the Knicks are not at least top two in the conference. Firsto Picko is an absolute monster and the other big is elite too. I would think those two would be good enough with McCall to put them up there.
The Suns have been a surprise, well maybe not a surprise because of how good the Dream is, but quite the turnaround for them.
Majic - I would have to agree with Delap and say the Texas teams are surprising to me. Spurs lost alot but being one of the worst teams in the league is not what i expected. Houston being on the bubble of the playoff hunt is shocking. Beahm looked like a great signing but his volume just isnt there. The Pacers are a surprise in the east. Most people expected them to win the division and right now they are a bad sim away from being on the playoff bubble.
Now that we have that question out of the way, lets move on to ranking some players. Pound for Pound, who are your top 10 players in sim league right now? Give me a quick tidbit on what makes them great.
1. Collin Sexton
2. Hakeem Olajuwon
3. Firsto Picko
4. DeAndre Ayton
5. Stephon Templeton
6. Harry Gallatin
7. Dolph Schayes
8. Neon Boudeaux
9. Brain Winter
10. Yante Maten
All these guys are great players, and it's pretty difficult to order them 1-10, so that list is in no particular order just how they popped into my head
No particular order:
Dolph Schayes
Brain Winter
Jake Shuttlesworth
Jon Pierce
Hakeem Olajuwon
Butch McRae
Yante Maten
Collin Sexton
Neon Boudeaux
Barry Obama
I think these are the ten guys with the best all around games. There are a handful of guys with elite individual skills that deserve consideration (Firsto, Harry G, Mikan), but for my money give me someone with no true holes in their game (defense, handles, scoring efficiency) who does everything at a very high level without leaving weaknesses other teams can exploit.
All rankings based on PER and age, contracts were ignored. Top 3 are tier 1 IMO, 4-10 tier 2.
1. Firsto Picko
2. Neon Boudeaux
3. Hakeem Olajuwon
4. Dolph Schayes
5. Brain Winter
6. Collin Sexton
7. Jock Landale
8. Yante Maten
9. DeAndre Ayton
10. Cameron Reddish
1. Firsto Picko - putting up insane scoring, while being very competent defensively. The bright lights of New York suit him just fine. I mean... he's a freaking center with a 2.5:1 A:TO ratio. Insanity. If he could avoid his high foul rate, he'd be a perfect player.
2. Collin Sexton - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Left 4.0 as the best non-Heebs player and enters 5.0 as the best non-Firsto player.
3. Brandon Griner - Dominant two-way big that stays out of foul trouble.
4. Cam Reddish - Despite slumping on FG% and 3p% thus far in 2002, Cam is still the best defensive and offensive wing in the league.
5. Yante Maten – close on Cam’s heels for best SF (both offensively and defensively)
6. Harry Gallatin – a newfound 3pt shot vaults Harry onto the list for this season. His age means this might be the last year at a peak, but for now, he’s very very good.
7. DJ Rony – best defensive big in the league, doesn’t hurt you offensively, either.
8. Hakeem – A real dreamboat, will probably be #1 on the list by the end of his rookie deal.
9. Brain Winter - after 4.0 being so dominated by PGs, Brain is the only other PG in the league (outside of Sexton) that I would call 'elite' right now.
10. Neon Boudeaux - The Faux Shaq is better than the real deal. Scores in bunches, rebounds and blocks well, sorta avoids foul trouble.
1. Firsto Picko. Scores 40 a game.
2. Brain Winter. Maybe the only truly elite PG in sim and looks like a 4.0 PG
3. Neon Bordeaux. Regardless of his eligibilty in college, he is an absolute freak putting up almost 40 a game.
4. Cameron Reddish. Best wing in 5.0.
5. Hakeem. Only a rookie but top 5 in scoring, good rebounder and a great defender.
6. Yante Maten. Putting up 32 a game with more than 3 bleals and 10 boards. Freak.
7. Deandre Ayton. I cant believe I didnt pick this guy in creation. Im a moron
8. Dolph Schayes. Great scoring big.
9. Colin Sexton. Having a bit of a "down year" but still elite.
10. Harry Galitian. Best rebounder in the league and a great scorer.
in no particular order:
Collin Sexton - not much needs to be said, he is a monster at a vital position
Hakeem - just a beast right out of the gate, scary to think what he could become
Neon - just a scoring beast
Cam Reddish - super small drop off from last year, but still great and only 21
Dolph - just an elite scoring big
Deandre Ayton - all around elite big, does everything you would want
Yante - really hoped to snag him in FA last year, just so great
Brain Winter - vital position and the best all around
Firsto - that scoring is just unreal
Malcolm Moore - total homer pick, but the guy is an elite defender and very efficient
Ok now lets break down the conferences. Lets have your All-Star starting lineup and 3 subs for the East.
C - Picko
PF - Schayes
SF - Elvis Delle Donne
SG - Miles Bridges
PG - Quincy McCall
Bench
1 - Ayton
2- Luke Maye
3- Jock Landale
Firsto Picko
Dolph Schayes
Elvis Delle Donne
Daniel Taurasi
Quincy McCall
Benji Hammon
DeAndre Ayton
Jackie Moon
C: Firsto Picko
PF: Dolph Schayes
SF: Luke Maye
SG: Miles Bridges
PG: Benji Hammon
6: Elvis Delle Donne
7: Jock Landale
8: Zion Williamson
C: Firsto
PF: Dolph Schayes
SF: Luke Maye
SG: Bridges
PG: Benji Hammon
Bench: Ayton, Quincy McCall, Delle Donne
1. Cecil Exum
2. Drazen Petrovic
3. RJ Barrett
4. Shareef O'Neal
5. Austin Wiley (maybe Firsto Picko)
B. Trevon Duval
B. Alonzo Trier
B. Otis Thorpe
C - Picko
PF - Schayes
SF - Ayton
SG - Miles Bridges
PG - Quincy McCall
Bench
1 - Elvis Delle Donne
2- Luke Maye
3- Jock Landale
How about the West? Who are your all-star starters from the west? Who are your 3 subs?
C- Boudeaux
PF - Maten
SF - Cameron Reddish
SG - Sexton
PG - Brain
Bench - Templeton, Gallatin, Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Neon Boudeaux
Yante Maten
Jake Shuttlesworth
Brain Winter
Jon Pierce
Collin Sexton
Gary Bossert
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
PF: Yante Maten
SF: Cameron Reddish
SG: Gary Bossert
PG: Brain Winter
6: Neon Boudeaux
7: Collin Sexton
8: Jon Pierce
C: Neon
PF: Yante
SF: Reddish
SG: Bossert
PG: Sexton
Bench: Hakeem, Winter, Jake Shuttlesworth
1. Brain Winter
2. Gary Bossert
3. Cameron Reddish
4. Hakeem
5. Neon
1. Sexton
2. Ayton
3. Maten
C- Neon Boudeaux
PF - Yante Maten
SF - Cameron Reddish
SG - Sexton
PG - Brain
Bench -
Gary Bossart
Gallatin
Olajuwon
Now lets focus on younger players, who are your top 5 under 25 stars in the league besides Sexton?
Reddish, Olajuwon, Ayton, Bridges, Zion Williamson
Hakeem Olajuwon
Cam Reddish
Peyton Gragg
Luke Maye
DeAndre Ayton
Excluding 25 yr olds... drops a few easy picks
1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. DeAndre Ayton
3. Cameron Reddish
4. Simisola Shittu
5. Peyton Gragg (fuck me...)
1. Reddish
2. Hakeem
3. Zion
4. Ayton
5. Bridges
99a. Romeo
99b. RJ
1. RJ Barrett *editors note:
2. Cameron Reddish
3. Deandre Ayton
4.Hakeem
5. Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Hakeem
Peyton Gragg
Deandre Ayton
Bridges
Name 3 players that are most poised to break through and become a superstar and why you think they are.
I have no idea - *editors note:
LiAngelo Ball - super biased pick but I think he will be really good once he gets some points into his inside scoring and another couple TC's
Deng Adel - another super biased pick but I also think he will be really good once he gets some points into his scoring, especially with his high blocks for a wing
Trendon Watford - he looks like he's about one or two more TC's from really arriving, but I've always like him
Same as my top 3 under 25. They are all so young but already so good. I see multiple MVPs in their future. And I'm not giving away any sleepers
1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. DeAndre Ayton
3. Cameron Reddish
- Grayson Allen - SG - Boston Celtics: The darling of the Free Agency Retrospective, Grayson is putting up an impressive stat line so far in 2002 and hasn't had any upgrades at all. Give that fool some bonus points and GMs will be tripping all over themselves to get to him.
- Aljami Durham - PG - Washington Bullets: if he can keep the TOs down, Aljami can thrive and be a top tier PG in the league. Still has +17 that can be allocated to the cause.
- LiAngelo Ball - SG - Atlanta Hawks: Similar to Grayson... LiAngelo is on a cheap deal and has +25 left. He is already scoring at a good clip and is only 23, leaving a few more TCs of good growth potential.
1. RJ Barrett. Pedigree, attitude, grit, work ethic, team culture.
2. Cecil Exum. ''
3. Shareef Oneal. "
-Isaac Bonga - you can call it a homer pick but I love the look of him. Good grades, still young and some room left for growth
-RJ Barrett - every season he has gotten better and should only improve. another good TC and he could really blow up
-Grayson Allen - I dont think he is talked about enough given his production. thats likely to change as he is headed for FA this offseason
Now lets move to a couple fun strategy questions:
What do you draft based on? How do you compare players at the same position?
My strategy in the draft varies year by year. Sometimes I look for the best grades available, other times I'm more position focused. As far as comparing players, there are a lot of variables that actually determine how good a player is so a lot of the time its gut feeling.
I haven't drafted yet in 5.0 in the first round so I'm not really sure what my strategy would be. I drafted more on potential with 20's because he seemed to really stick to those grades. With Odin my strategy would probably be BPA by grade in the big board formula with a slight slant for need.
I simply compare all grades, focus mostly on scoring, defense and potential. Tie breakers would come down to size and age, but for the rookie draft age only really matters to me if they're under 20 due to the height increase eligibility.
The Dr. Delap's Draft Diagnosis is the only way to draft. I typically think of the 2/3 attributes most important for any particular position and make the choices based on those and completely ignore the other 2/3 attributes.
With Odin I just use a random number generator and pick the player associated with that. Just as good as any other strategy. For players of the same position I will look less at potential and more at starting grades, especially scoring grades.
I like to use all of the resources at my disposal, however I am not the best drafter so far in 5.0. I typically pay most attention to the grades and the write up. I thought Odins combine might be helpful, but Leon Wood looks horrendous after having been listed as a top shooter. Really it seems to be alot of unknown at the moment
What is your strategy when it comes to offering free agents? Players you have birds on but aren’t max players?
I don't have a set strategy for this. Often times I just toss out random numbers for guys that fall in line with my teams cap situation going forward
Find players who show at least average skills in most non-growth categories and categories I wouldn't want to invest in (usage rate, rebounding, high rate of FTA to FGA, solid ast/to, good FT%, higher defense grade and good block/steal rates) and could project to be much better with a few good TC's and some points dumped into scoring grades.
Focus on big fish FA day 1 along with resigning my core guys. Day 2 I adjust for assclowns that don't take my money. Day 3 is usually when MLE/LLE comes into play unless I was already over the cap and days 4-5 are mostly Min offers trying to fill out the roster.
This past offseason I think was maybe my best FA period. Retained all 4 of my starters that were FA, none had birds and i was even able to upgrade my bench.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you know a guy is a talent, keep him, especially if you are hard-capped anyway. If you are under the soft-cap, you may want to wait a few days and be aggressive in sniping other guys in the 6-8m range. Ward has used this strategy to perfection on multiple occasions in 4.0 and churned his roster on a yearly basis with upper-level, but not quite MAX-level, talent.
I think in 5.0 past performance means even more than 5.0. So im looking at players who have actually done something instead of looking at potential as much.
I have really just tried to leverage my cap space based on what others have. obviously the maxes are easy but I typically like to offer higher 1 year contracts to sign the player. This give me long term cap flexibility.
Rank the top 5 most valuable trade chips in the league as we speak (you can include draft picks).
Sexton, Olajuwon, Ayton, Reddish, Maten
Hakeem Olajuwon
Collin Sexton
Cam Reddish
Yante Maten
Neon Boudeaux (mainly because he's the most valuable piece likely to be traded soon)
Mostly all young players that are locked up for at least 4 years or the signing team has a distinct advantage to sign long-term, and then Neon who I think is the most likely big piece to move soon.
Has to all be players, draft picks hold so much less value as 1-15 have the same odds for #1. It's like a box of chocolates, never know what you're gonna get.
1. Hakeem
2. Sexton
3. Firsto
4. Reddish
5. Jordan (He's a rook and is meh so far but that name simply carries so much weight he's bound to pull a king's ransom at this stage)
1a. Sexton
1b. Firsto
1c. Hakeem
1d. Reddish
All 4 are Top 10 players in the league and are under the age of 26 (3 of the them are under 23). They are all going to be on decent contracts for the foreseeable future, too, as neither Sexton nor Reddish nor Firsto will be capable of earning the giant MAX this off-season due to years of experience. I would think a haul of 5+ 1sts plus many bucks would be necessary for any GM to even halfway entertain an offer for these guys.
5. Brandon Griner
Possibly the best player in the league right now, good contract for the next 2 years. The next contract after that could be ugly though. Get him/her while the getting is good.
1. Hakeem
2. RJ Barrett
3. Firsto Pick0
4. Brain Winter
5. Ayton
Hakeem
Firsto
Sexton
Cam Redish
Neon
the first 4 are young players, signed longer term and are all elite. They are the cornerstone guys to have on your team. Neon is the biggest trade chip that I think has the chance to move. There has been little major trade activity so it will be fun to watch and see what happens. The return that MJ gets for Neon might set the market moving forward, at least in the short term.
And last but not least:
When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?
I'm not sure this has ever happened
All the time at work when I was in warehouse work. I would often help packing orders if I wanted to expedite the process of finishing up work at the end of the night. I would always log in as a temp because at that point in the day I tended to let detail elude me and just threw shit in boxes. Our temp error rates were high, I don't think I ever cared to determine if that was my fault or the actual temps.
This is a very difficult question to answer... I honestly cannot think of anything. This is the best I got and it kinda fits.
I had a friends with benefits thing going with a girl that was dating a mutual friend of my core group of friends, I was not friends with the BF, we just hung out in the same group. I thought he was actually a douche bag. First time I hooked up with Stephanie was actually in his dorm, though not his room. He split a dorm with guys from the same group of friends, and we would all just chill there between classes and before intramural games. One day I was there and we were all chilling, then he and my buddies left for class and she stayed behind and we got to talking/flirting. A few weeks later she dumped him. We kept it going on and off for like 6 months, never turned into anything more and she eventually started dating another guy and that was that. No one ever found out.
Nice try.
Im really bad at keeping secrets like this, so everyone always finds out.
When I was working landscaping in college, there were a few instances where I either ran into a house, or ran something valuable over. I would move as quickly as possible to make it look like I didn't do it and move on. Somehow it never got back that me, or my company, had anything to do with it. And we cut some pretty nice yards
What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?
When I dislocated my knee in softball
One time I rolled down a hill and had a stump cut my leg to the bone while trying to play a prank on someone after dark at scout camp. 19 stitches.
Broker my hand punching a padded wall, Bill Gramatica style, was embarrassing. Went from acting tough to almost crying in like 3 seconds.
I don't know that I've ever really injured myself in a stupid way. I did shock myself pretty good when I was trying to fix something in a saltwater fish tank once and neglected to cut the power off of the heater in the tank. Nothing major though.
Walking home drunk wearing flip flops I caught the front edge of the shoe on a sidewalk and absolutely shredded my foot.
When I was in 6th grade, we were in Columbus for a hockey tournament. Me and some of my teammates were messing around in the hotel gym, I hopped on the treadmill. One of my teammates turned the speed up to 10MPH. Needless to say chubby Majic could not keep up with that speed and went flying off the back into the wall. Broke my ankle in 2 places. Was terrible.
