Post by Braz on Dec 6, 2023 6:01:51 GMT -8
Wow it finally happened after more than 3 years of real life and 70+ seasons of BBS, we restarted. A new league is born and here is the first article! I am going to dive into the recent draft and look at some of the top teams to start the league. Most of these teams are those who traded futures for more picks. Let’s see who stands a chance at the first title. These are who I think the top teams are. I listed them but idk if it is a true power ranking given I did not see the guys sim together yet.
Memphis Grizzlies
Perhaps my favorite to win the title is the big 3 of Memphis/Vancouver. The Grizzlies are fierce paring together David Robertson, The Mailman and sharp shooting stud Reggie Miller. In the test sim Miller was 28 ppg D Rob 24/12 with major blocks and Malone a 30/10 PF. Teams will have major problems scoring with this roster. They may lack depth currently but I think Rick Fox is the perfect role player for this team and the combo of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf/ Mark Price will be fine as long as he camps the crap out of one or both.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics took the winning route but at a discount per league trade average. Somehow they managed to select at 17/18 with out moving the second round pick giving them one of the better big 3s in the league. A combo of Pippen and Hakeem back to back should be a formidable duo as Hakeem to me at 34 was a top 3 player on the file. Btw love to see DBW get his guy he left off with from last league. Pippen who is a bit younger checks all the boxes- Volume, Defense, Stocks, Boards, FG%. Since they did not have to move their second round pick the Celtics were able to secure 20 point per game PG Mookie Blaylock. Given his additional defense I have a feeling the Celtics with the right DC can come out of the east. They had a good later pick with sg scorer Dan Majerle and vet Detlef Schrempf as well. Finally Boston will be good in a league.
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs led by GM Kobe surprised most when he took a 33 year old MJ at pick 5 but if his goal is to win who better to select? Maybe Kobe should have traded down to the mid teens picked up an asset given his next trade up but he was able to pair a version of MJ who put up some incredible stats (32.3 ppg, 7.1 rebs with A+ defense) with a trade up for Mutumbo who is the best big man defender on the file. It appeared that the trade up actually cost him some mid level depth as he was not able to secure a great PG as he desired or a great 3. However, I generally do like the Jim M pick given his blocks in the test sim but not so much for his roster construction. Jeff Mcginnis has high inside for a PG and good defense while his SF has good defense as well. They say defense wins championships but given how some of the other teams look I guess we shall see if that is true.
(sorry about the size but pic above was too good to not include)
Miami Heat
Eddy gets his dream to manage the heat and he starts off with a bang selecting their own stud in Alonso Mourning. Later on he trades to the back of the first to have a formidable big man due of Ewing and Zo. I like this approach a lot since Zo is 26 and Ewing is much older. It allows him to compete in the short term while also having a longer term franchise player. In the third they selected Brandon who has a bit of a TO issue but still is a solid PG and was able to round out the roster with some vets who have a little left in the tank like Nique and Ricky Pierce in addition to an earlier pick of Jim Jackson. Team looks very nice overall.
(the above pic hints at the future)
Houston Rockets
Houston had a pretty damn good draft blending youth and vets so let’s see if a DC comes properly together. They kicked it off with Chris Webber who at 23 is already doing 23/11.4 with stocks. Camp those blocks and you have a top 5 player who is also under 25. Marty was aggressive enough to get back into the draft to get stud scorer and former warrior Mitch Richmond. That one two punch is up there with the best in the league. They also have the right guy to facilitate with old man John Stockton who at 34 plays stellar defense, put up nearly 20 per game and has great letter ratings. Downlow with Webber they have vet Arvydas Sabonis who at 7’3 doenst look like a star of days past but still a good player for a deflated file. The Rockets also managed to fill out the roster with good depth like stocks man Derrick Mckay, sharp shooter Dale Ellis and strong man Charles Oakley. What will Marty do to flame himself out this time? Not sure but so far hes been a good league member after repenting his sins.
Sacramento Kings
I would be a miss to not mention the team with the best player on the file and that to me is Shaq. Stool paired Shaq with Sir Charles Barkley and later added solid players Chris Mullen and Rod Strickland. I do not think they will be certain title contenders, however, I do think given they have Shaq they will make the playoffs for the duration of his tenure. Similar to real life perhaps Stool should offer Shaq ownership for the work he will do with that franchise.
Dallas Mavericks
Starting off with Grant Hill is one of the best things you can do in these drafts. He is a perfect blend of win now skill and future stud as well as a great rebounder at his position. Unlike some others Dallas did not trade back into the second but what he did do is manage his assets to get back into the second and the 4th to fill out his team. He was quoted saying he likes the players but not the roster and that is due to LJ/Hill being the same position. But who is a better trader than Habes? I personally love LJ and his boards especially in such an early file. It should be noted in the test sim Smits was also a big time scorer. Kenny Smith, Smits, Ostertag and Byron Russell leaves them in a good spot to play around with DCs and potentially shift some guys in trades.
(Grant Hill, like Harold, looks good in a suit)
Golden State Warriors
I got a feeling CC was just going BPA and will be a major player on the trade market coming out of the draft. With the last pick of the draft he went two stud vets which was prob the right thing to do. He has the Glove, Spreewell, Clyde and some decent but not great big men. I really do not know what is plan is and maybe he should have traded down more. Anyway Spree himself is a pretty good start for a younger team and in a league where PG seems to be at very high demand will he be in a good position to deal either Glove for another star or Kenny Smith?
Orlando Magic
The Magic are an interesting team that started off with the top pick in what looked like a rebuild around Kobe Bryant. However, once his good friend Nanz approached him with the biggest deal in the creation draft the Magic locked into AI as their franchise player and were left with a litter of assets to put together a formidable roster. They were able to allow AI to control the flow of the game and scoring putting him next to facilitating/defensive PG Mark Jackson and sharp shooter Glen Rice. Downlow they have 4-5 solid bigs in Seikaly, Coleman, Laettner and of course the great Dennis Rodman! Might actually be a fun team who still has assets left to traded.
New Jersey Nets
The Nets took an interesting approach going with a young big to start and then vets while trading all their picks. Greeme is good with Dcs so I wouldn’t be too surprised if he made playoffs but at the same time I do not think he is a top 4 team out east like he says. I do love both of his PGs in KJ and Tim Hardaway but one will have to go to the SG role or be traded. Greeme is good at reading the board and told me he will take a second PG since he will likely be able to get superior value to his pick later, sneaky bastard. He made pretty good mid to late round picks so should be fun to watch, for him at least.
Further consideration:
Suns
Wizards
Cavs
Thunder
Jazz (I guess bc he traded his picks)
did we break up?!
