Post by TimPig on Jun 8, 2018 23:31:02 GMT
Dallas Mavericks 2002 Record: 44-38; 5th in the Midwest
Key Additions: Al Harrington, Austin Luke
Key Losses: Kostas Antetokounmpo
Analysis: Things are looking up in Dallas, where Delap has put together one of the league’s more formidable rosters after acquiring Neon Boudeaux from their hapless division rival San Antonio last season for a number of first round picks. One mistake that MJ made in hindsight was not acquiring the Mavs’ 2003 first, which, after the injury to Neon, ended up being a lottery pick that turned into Al Harrington, who leaves the Mavericks with three nice youngsters in Cameron Reddish, Killian Tillie, and Harrington, not to mention Neon, who is still elite but significantly older than the rest of this group. Reddish, Neon, and Harrington are all locked up for the foreseeable future and the Mavs have plenty of hard cap space to resign Tillie this summer.
With four strong players, the obvious weakness is at point guard where the newly signed Austin Luke will not be the solution (sorry, Delap). Handed the starting reins in Chicago last season, Luke wilted under the pressure and had by far his worst season as a pro. This team will be in much better shape if Luke or his competition, Kayson Williams, can put up respectable numbers. The depth on this team is also lacking and, without tons of assets to trade after acquiring Neon, it’ll be tough to add to what’s already here.
2003 Record Prediction: 56-26
Denver Nuggets2002 Record: 19-63; 7th in the MIdwest
Key Additions: Grayson Allen, Luka Doncic, Chris Chiozza, Rafer Alston
Key Losses: Dwight McGhee, Michael Porter Jr., Buck Johnson
Analysis: The Nuggets were one of the league’s more active teams this season, where new GM Mike was finally able to make some moves to give this team some hope. Gone are essentially the team’s top three forwards in McGhee, Porter Jr., and Johnson. Johnson, the only holdover from the brief Nilo era, busted hard after being a high lottery pick. McGhee is a veteran who didn’t have a place on this young and up-and-coming roster, and Porter Jr. is someone I think was given up on far too early. He signed with the Pacers on an MLE this offseason and put up some solid numbers and at only 23 with +25 left, has a shot to develop into a pretty darn good player.
But enough about what the Nuggets lost, they also added a ton this offseason. I think Mike made some wise moves in signing a few of the not quite max-worthy guys in Allen, Doncic, and Chiozza. Two of those guys likely surround MJ, who should see some improvement in year two, in the Nuggets’ backcourt, while one can act as a super-sub who eventually becomes good trade bait. I think Doncic was also written off too early and with some investment in turnover reduction, can be a pretty solid wing in this league. The team has holes up front, but not everything can be fixed in one offseason. This is a squad that could end up outside of the lottery, which may be the worst thing that could happen to Mike. He needs to find a good big in the draft to really set himself up for future success.
I think this team would have a much better record if they weren’t in such a tough division.
2003 Record Prediction: 35-47
Houston Rockets2002 Record: 53-29; 3rd in the Midwest
Key Additions: None
Key Losses: George Kok, Bones McKinney
Analysis: The excellent work that Pete did in the Creation Draft surprisingly hasn’t earned him a title, though he’s been close every year. Unfortunately, the Jazz and Suns have both caught up and continued to add pieces while the Rockets are becoming more and more dependent on that Creation Draft core group of guys. Pete sent Harry Gallatin to Germany to squeak another elite year out of him, while Brain Winter shoulders more and more of the load for this team. In my mind, Jesus Shuttlesworth has been a disappointment, averaging less than 20 points per game in two of his three seasons while shooting about 46%.
I also think Guy Beahm hasn’t developed in the way that was expected. He signed a max contract based on his potential and while he’s been good, he has yet to solidify himself as a number one option, perhaps because Houston has Gallatin and Winter standing in his way. This team felt like a shoo-in to go deep in the playoffs in each of the first three years, but at this point I could see them losing in the first round. They were third in their division last year and I could see them dropping to fourth behind the Mavs.
Losing George Kok up front will hurt a bit but I think he can be easily replaced. In my mind, the bigger offseason loss is Bones McKinney, who had already proven himself an effective depth piece and may have been someone Pete could've invested in as the team eventually is forced to transition away from Gallatin.
2003 Record Prediction: 50-32
Minnesota Timberwolves2002 Record: 48-34; 4th in the Midwest
Key Additions: Tank Selvy, Kostas Antetokounmpo
Key Losses: Anfernee Simons
Analysis: Is this the last we’ll see of Collin Sexton at point guard in TMBSL 5.0? The software really, really wants him to lose his point guard eligibility, and to date Ian has been able to counter that, but if history repeats itself and Sexton’s handles drop again, he’ll be stuck at shooting guard for the rest of his career.
The T-Wolves made some nice under-the-radar moves this offseason in resigning Mountain Dew Camacho at power forward and snagging the aging but still effective Tank Selvy to play shooting guard. A starting five of those two, Sexton, Leonard Leslie, and Chalky Studebaker could get this team to the Conference Finals, and they have some nice depth in DJ Rony (who may start over Mountain Dew), Gregor Clegane, and Kostas Antetokounmpo, but after a nice preseason it would’ve been nice to have Anfernee Simons sticking around to back up at the guard positions.
Another strong team in the Midwest, which looks like the toughest division in the league.
2003 Record Prediction: 49-33
Phoenix Suns2002 Record: 62-20; 2nd in the MIdwest
Key Additions: Walter Hardaway
Key Losses: Jan Michael Vincent, Chandler Chandler, Christopher Robin
Analysis: It’s amazing (not really) what adding Hakeem Olajuwon and Butch McRae to a roster can do, as the Suns won 26 more games in 2002 than they did in 2001. Olajuwon, Max Zaslofsky, and power forward Alex Reese all improved in training camp and McRae still has some gas left in the tank. Phoenix lost some good depth amongst their forwards with the departures of three effective players, but Marvin Bagley is still around and should be a good enough third big that depth up front won’t be an issue.
The big question mark here is at small forward, where Andy’s next experiment is Walter Hardaway. None of Shu Shuvington, Isaiah Wilkins, or Kelan Martin were the answer last year, and it’s now LLE-recipient Hardaway’s job to lose. That may not be the worst decision, however, as Odin once posted a cyptic link in Discord to a draft from a previous iteration of TMBSL and later hinted that we were all stupid for not taking the player he picked in that draft who was none other than Hardaway. I grabbed him on LLEs a couple of times but had too much cap space to do so this offseason, so a potential project player slipped through my fingertips. If he does end up being a serviceable starter, I think this team could do a lot of damage in the postseason.
2003 Record Prediction: 60-22
San Antonio Spurs2002 Record: 24-58; 6th in the MIdwest
Key Additions: Jason Williams, Jaren Jackson Jr., Terrence Catchings
Key Losses: Kenny George
Analysis: The Midwest is sure to be a bloodbath but teams should receive a nice break when they play the struggling Spurs (sorry, MJ). A Creation Draft that focused on older players didn’t result in a championship and when a couple of those guys left and Neon Boudeaux was all that remained, he was sold for future assets.
The Spurs start the rebuilding process this offseason after adding Jason Williams in the draft and a couple of other players who didn’t pan out for their previous teams in Jaren Jackson Jr. and Terrence Catchings. Neither will light the league up, but after preseason they may be enough to keep this team in some of their games. I think Williams was a semi-controversial draft pick but, in my opinion, should’ve been the first point guard off the board. I had him over Mike Bibby and had the first six picks played out how I expected, he would’ve been in serious consideration to hear his name called by the Bulls.
Augusto Binelli has actually been developing nicely at center, where he was drafted at 19 years old with C+ D- C- C C D grades which have improved over two training camps to B- D- C- B- B B. He’s still only 21, so perhaps between him, Williams, Jackson, and all of the picks he got for Neon MJ can find a piece that makes the future a bit brighter.
2003 Record Prediction: 13-69
Utah Jazz2002 Record: 63-19; 1st in the Midwest
Key Additions: Troy Brown
Key Losses: Kevin Nash
Analysis: Ankly returned to TMBSL with a bang, resurrecting a Jazz franchise that had been abandoned midway through the 2001 season. Adding Yante Maten, Sam Bowie, and Mustapha Heron to Gary Bossert took this team to the next level where they were able to eek out first place over some other elite teams.
The hole remains at point guard, where Hassani Gravett will have a chance to assume the starting role as a combo guard who received all of 0 minutes last season. He had a strong preseason, however, and looks like he can be enough of an improvement over Ulaakees Galmuseeth to make a difference in this team’s fortunes.
Maten excelled at small forward last season but Ank is toying with his depth chart to start the year in an effort to get Heron, who went +2 in his scoring grades during training camp, into the lineup. Maten will move to power forward and Heron, a natural shooting guard, will start the year at small forward as all-leaguer Gary Bossert maintains a firm grip on the shooting guard spot.
This team also has some of the best depth in the league with Bol Bol, Chuck Person, and Troy Brown all being capable of starting for multiple teams and able to back up all five positions.
2003 Record Prediction: 64-18
