RealGM

Every so often I will participate in the GM-a-Team competitions that go on over at the trade board. I'm always PHX and I always end up trying to compete with a team built around Nash.

Well, this time I blew it up. I'm going to post my roster page here - along with all of the trades so that you can see how I got here - and I would be interested in your feedback.

Moreso, I am VERY interested in your ideas on who I can draft with the three draft picks that I have acquired - PHX, DET, & MEM. They will be posting the draft order based on our current rosters, but those picks are definately 3 of the top 8. As such, I would like to put it to you guys to help with any advice that you may have regarding team fit, potential, etc. as it pertains to draft selections.

Finally, keep in mind that I have max cap space for one free agent.

Oh, and I'm going to amnestying Childress here shortly.

So, without further hesitation:

Phoenix Suns

eMail - jhinderland@yahoo.com
AIM - TBD

Salaries



Team



Roster

PG - Goran Dragic / Ronnie Price
SG - OJ Mayo / Will Bynum
SF - Markieff Morris / Josh Childress
PF - DeJuan Blair / Tyrus Thomas / Joey Dorsey
C - Robin Lopez / Lou Amundson / Hassan Whiteside / Dan Gadzuric

Draft Picks

2012 PHX 1st
2012 MEM 1st
2012 DET 1st
2012 NYK 2nd (top 55 protected) <
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2013 PHX 2nd
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2014 PHX 1st
2014 PHX 2nd

Rights

Victor Claver

Cash Balance = -1,325,000

Transactions

#27 - PHX/HOU - Marcin Gortat for Goran Dragic + Marcus Morris + Donatas Motiejunas (rights) + 2012 NYK 1st* + $3,000,000 cash
* top 5 protected for 4 years, if not conveyed at that point then 2015 & 2016 NYK 2nds

#31 - PHX/BOS - Steve Nash + Channing Frye for Ray Allen + Jermaine O'Neal + 2012 LAC 1st* + $1,500,000 cash
* top 10 protected for 4 years, unprotected in 2016

#33 - PHX/MIN - Jared Dudley + Jermaine O'Neal for Nikola Pekovic + Brad Miller + Wayne Ellington + 2012 CLE 1st* + $2,000,000 cash
* top 8 protected for 5 years

#93 - PHX/IND - Ray Allen + Grant Hill for Louis Amdundson + 2012 MEM 1st

#95 - PHX/NJN - Shannon Brown + Donatas Motiejunas + 2012 LAC 1st* for OJ Mayo + $500,000 cash
* top 10 protected for 4 years, unprotected in 2016

#107 - PHX/POR - Wayne Ellington + Nikola Pekovic + 2012 NYK 1st* for Kyle Korver + Cole Aldrich
* top 5 protected for 4 years, if not conveyed at that point then 2015 & 2016 NYK 2nds

Free Agent Signing - PHX signs Mickael Pietrus to a 2-year, $7,000,000 contract, the 2nd year of which is a team option.

#155 - PHX/BOS/POR - Kyle Korver + Cole Aldrich for Kirk Hinrich + Dan Gadzuric

#169 - PHX/HOU - Mickael Pietrus + $2,000,000 for Terrence Williams

#179 - PHX/DET - Kirk Hinrich + 2012 CLE 1st* for Ben Gordon + 2012 DET 1st
* top 8 protected for 5 years

# - PHX/NJN - Terrence Williams + Hakim Warrick + Marcus Morris for Tyrus Thomas + Ranaldo Balkman

# - PHX/LAC - 2013 PHX 1st for Marreese Speights

# - PHX/POR - Ben Gordon + $2,000,000 for Devin Harris + Matt Barnes

#219 - PHX/POR - Devin Harris + Matt Barnes for Mario Chalmers + Mickael Pietrus + Hassan Whiteside + Joey Dorsey + Rights to Victor Claver

#222 - PHX/DET - Mario Chalmers + Marreese Speights for Will Bynum and DeJuan Blair

Wow, that team might end up with the worst record in history. At least it would guarantee you a top four pick. Not even one current starter on the roster? Or does Tyrus Thomas start?

bwgood77 wrote:Wow, that team might end up with the worst record in history. At least it would guarantee you a top four pick. Not even one current starter on the roster? Or does Tyrus Thomas start?

1st - yes, it's called tanking.

2nd - I'm actually very happy with the roster and the contracts of the players on the team. Also, I think you'd be surprised with most of these guys on a per36 basis, if you took the time.

What the.....I don't even.....smh.

BringinDaRuckus wrote:What the.....I don't even.....smh.

Cute. I'd be curious as to what you think you could achieve in a full rebuild. I would think that three top 1st rounders and max cap room would be attractive to a rebuilding team. But I guess you're implying that I could have gotten more than that with our current roster.

Sun Scorched wrote:

bwgood77 wrote:Wow, that team might end up with the worst record in history. At least it would guarantee you a top four pick. Not even one current starter on the roster? Or does Tyrus Thomas start?

1st - yes, it's called tanking.

2nd - I'm actually very happy with the roster and the contracts of the players on the team. Also, I think you'd be surprised with most of these guys on a per36 basis, if you took the time.

Yes, it's obvious what you are doing...stockpiling picks and tanking. I like quite a few of the players, but first and foremost, we wouldn't really have anyone capable of running the team at the point. It is much like the team we have now, but without our 4-5 best players...a bunch of pretty good role players.

Markieff is probably starter quality (he definitely is for our current Suns team and has a great PER and PPP), but most of the other guys, while they do occasionally provide excitement, they are mostly players who are the 7th or 8th best on their current team.

Yes, unfortunately I take too much time looking at all the numbers and stats on a daily basis to try and find silver lining/upside/ideas/etc in this dismal Suns season.

However, if you were to add Anthony Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist and Perry Jones to the roster, things would look better.

I would never trade Gortat though...the guy is beginning to become a beast. We finally have an above avg center (who could end up top 5-7) we shouldn't trade him....remember, this draft has some talent, but it is still a crapshoot...trading Gortat for a roll of the dice with the lottery and a rookie is risky.

Anthony Davis is probably the only sure star at this point...then you have a handful of potential all stars.

I've seen people say we should trade Gortat for a draft pick and go after Howard, which is a nice idea if we knew we could get Howard, but chances of getting him are slim to none, so we would end up having given up a top 10 center (for efficiency this year he is much better than top 10 even) for a crapshoot rookie pick. Remember, we got Earl Clark at #9 and they said he had as much upside as anyone in the draft.

Well, you did a pretty good job blowing the team up. I like Mayo, Dragic, Blair and Kieff. If I were you, I'd start fielding offers for Fropez and Ty Thomas, especially if you could get another pick. You should definitely target Davis and MKG in the draft. With your other draft pick I'd suggest Beal. I think Mayo becomes a James Harden type role off the bench. If you get that later 1st from Fropez/Ty Thomas I'd personally go after Kendall Marshall for a unselfish point to lead these guys who can put the ball in the basket. If you don't want Marshall, sign a veteran distributing point. Also sign a guy like Camby in free agency and a back up small forward.

Distributing Point/Dragic
Beal/Mayo/Bynum
MKG/Free Agent 3
Davis/Kieff/Blair
Camby/Lou

That's just what I would do. I'd like to hear your plans since this is your team.

I like the strategy. You're obviously not winning a title or even necessarily making the Playoffs this year but it sounds like you know that and it's kind of the point.

On the current roster
...it may not even be quite as bad as some are making it sound. Many, okay actually most, of these guys are being slightly to very under-utilized on their current real-life teams. And if this is the GM-a-team rules I think it is, you don't go by real-life stats anyway. So you've got a number of guys who are either high-potential to break out given a bigger role or more time to develop, and some guys who are specialists. Just looking at how players are currently doing would vastly underrate guys like Will Bynum, TyThomas, Childress, RoLo, etc. My main gripe with the way it's currently set up is that I don't necessarily see the group of guys bringing out that high-potential side in each other. Part of this is me being spoiled by Nash, who essentially makes everyone better and makes people break out if they are poised to do so. But where I'm going with this is, for example, scoring. Mayo is the closest you have to a volume scorer, and he CAN be that in the right situation - Memphis doesn't have space to give him that green light. But as dearly as I love Dragic, he's not quite 100% the creator that I feel Mayo needs. And that mainly scares me because of the lack of other volume scoring options. If Mayo does hit his stride and get his looks, he draws the double team and leaves Dragic to work like a madman trying to get his own and other guys' points up on the board. Anyway, I could go on and on about what I do or don't like, but it's all totally speculation. The point being, I don't love the looks of it for this season but the pieces are in place for an extremely solid supporting cast to build around.

The future
...is where you essentially nailed it. There are obviously many strategies to building a winning ballclub or a dynasty, and good draft picks plus substantial cap room are two major ingredients. So what you've done is poised your current roster to be a couple lower-tier starters and a fully-functioning supporting cast, while leaving room for one top-tier and then 3 major picks. While that in itself is a big success, timing is everything - which rookies do you pick (I'm not the most well-versed on the coming draft class anyway), what are their development timelines, do you sign one superstar or 2 stars, what convinces them that this is the place to go for a rebuild and that winning will come soon-ish, etc.

I realize I'm not giving any suggestions or anything for now, but that's my initial take on the roster.

Hey all,

Draft order had been posted. See below for where I fell down the list. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

The official draft order for the 2012 NBA draft is as follows:

1. Toronto Raptors
2. Charlotte Bobcats
3. Phoenix Suns
4. Orlando Magic
5. Phoenix Suns (DET)
6. Sacramento Kings
7. Milwaukee Bucks
8. New Orleans Hornets (WAS)
9. Houston Rockets
10. Utah Jazz
11. Phoenix Suns (MEM)
12. New Jersey Nets
13. New York Knicks (NOH)
14. New Orleans Hornets (GSW)
15. Boston Celtics (DEN)
16. Toronto Raptors (MIN)
17. Boston Celtics (PHI)
18. Sacramento Kings (BOS)
19. Miami Heat (DAL)
20. Orlando Magic (LAC)
21. Detroit Pistons (CLE)
22. Utah Jazz (SAS)
23. Memphis Grizzlies (CHI)
24. Washington Wizards (ATL)
25. Oklahoma City Thunder
26. Indiana Pacers
27. Milwaukee Bucks (POR)
28. Sacramento Kings (NYK)
29. Boston Celtics (LAL)
30. Orlando Magic (MIA)

How did Memphis not make the playoffs?
You have both Morris brothers correct? Or did I miss something?

Qwigglez wrote:How did Memphis not make the playoffs?
You have both Morris brothers correct? Or did I miss something?

These rankings are based on rosters after significant trading has occured.

I had both Morris brothers at one point, traded Marcus.

Thought I would post the results of this since I never got around to it. Also, because I know some of you all were skeptical.



MKG & Robinson are now projected at #2 and #3 in the draft. Combine those two with Evans, Dragic, Mayo, Morris and $27m in cap space... all by the time the 2013 FAs come on the market.

2013/2014 Suns
PG - Dragic / Holloway
SG - Evans / Mayo
SF - Kidd-Gilchrest
PF - Morris / Robinson
C - Lopez

+$27 million in cap space

My best shot at revamping the Suns.

trade off the remainder of the team and then just basically draft kentucky

nice work

JohnVancouver wrote:trade off the remainder of the team and then just basically draft kentucky

nice work

That was my suggestion months ago, but it would mean you had to have the exact right picks. Almost impossible.