Post by Braz on Dec 21, 2023 9:15:23 GMT -8
1000 words on the off-season – By Braz
I need camps and have been pumping out material for the league. Enjoy this one as I discuss the offseason so far. I spoke about a few sections with out going too deep on pre to leave that for someone else.
Draft night fun
We saw unanimous top prospect Tim Duncan be selected within minutes of the lottery closing down by the Raptors. Huge moment for them since they came away with 0 players in creation draft yet tried to stay active. Duncan too little surprise took the league by storm in pre. Not many other shooters on that team but he came out with an incredible 25/12 with solid stocks with out camps. He is already a top 5 big. Past that Tmac looks like an early bust but I am sure he will turn it around although this looks pretty bleak from Philly. In other news some are stunned as Billups fell to pick 5 and looks pretty sharp. Other early read good picks from pre season include scoring savant Ricky Davis with great % and scoring increases in TC, Scott Pollard looking like one of the leagues best young defensive bigs, A guy like Bobby Jackson on the hornets looks real good but isn’t getting as much love as he should! Who else? Let’s pivot to another guy who was not drafted but is 18! I have to mention free agent rookie Ed Smith looking like an actual BALLER. He could have been a top 5 pick.
Pick Return Trades
This offseason we saw two big deals to return picks to their former GM to tank. The first fresh out of the draft we saw Nanz looking to build more long term around Kobe vs forcing a reset. He sent away the 9th pick in the draft Tim Thomas for his own two firsts right after the draft ended. Those picks were looking to be lotto with out a big TC and we also did not know about Big Booger Smith at that time. Now Braz sits happily with an SF who looks to be above average floor and does not have to root against Kobe Bryant. The other had the Hornets trading young stud Antonio McDyess to Philadelphia for his own 98 and 99 firsts, Rockets 99 and Philly’s 2000 pick (the first 00 pick to be dealt). At first I liked this trade for Philly considering they roll the Dice and acquire talent but after clear reasoning from some GMs on the trade thread it seems Sargo pulled one over the Mouse here. Why did Mouse need to add the rockets pick and his own pick some ask? Well I agree. If you look at the previous trade two picks back for Dice would have been acceptable. Marty’s team looks good but maybe he will want to tank around Webber by ’99 and the sixers look bleak so even though its his CY pick its still an asset he won’t have then. All in all we love trades. Do more of em.
Free Agency
Some solid guys joined this latest FA including former star Drazen Petrovic, Ed “Booger” Smith, Birdman and some other dude whos name I forget. Before we get into them I want to call out a top singing of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. He had such a good pre with 24 ppg that he immediately puts JR in a great position to improve YoY. Will he move Kidd, prob not but Rauf brings some big game. Drazen came into the league at 33 with A- outside. He can still take camps but part of you has to wonder since he only did 13 and not say 20 ppg in pre is he even the star we thought he could be? Seems more like an old vet at this point. Maybe Braz can get a pick for him and if hes pumped with scoring camps will be useful for a season or 2. Ed Smith looks like a gem. Dude scores efficiently and his TOs were not bad. Nanz paid the max price but no different then having a late first rounder in the creation draft. After moving his first round pick in TT he must be happy to get another young star to play with Kobe free of charge! Birdman is on a one year deal but shows some promise for his age to be a defensive lock down type guy. I wonder if he resigns or potentially gets paid off potential this coming off season, for now hes a Knick! Other solid signings at a high level include Griz signing Charles Oakley, Wizards signing Bo Outlaw, and the Cavs with Bison Dele. Lastly on FA we saw the Sixers spend unnecessary money on guys who won’t fetch much on the market, especially when no one has fillers. Mouse said he wanted to build some continuity and be over the min cap. I guess that’s fine but next time save your cap and give 1 year deals to be a player in the big 1999 FA.
A Champion Changes Teams
Celtics Sign Greg Minor- Who would have thought this guy would get his own write up and potentially be the most important free agent of this first class? Well think about it the Spurs matched up with Boston in the last finals where Minor proved to be a valued starter. In 1996, our leagues first year Minor shot 46% from the floor and 88% from the stripe. He did nearly 15 per game with solid boards at the SF role. Boston managed to snag him with an 8 million dollar deal. Now that we know Scottie can play SG this addition send Dan Majerle to the bench and thrusts plus defender Minor into the Boston SF role next to the league’s best defender in Scottie. Pre does not always tell the full story but Boston looked sharp at 9-4 with a massive 12 point differential where the Spurs still looked great but are missing Greg’s presence with Dell Curry now in that role as they went 8-6 with a 6 point differential.
