RealGM

Get 'em in. Deadline is Tuesday 11:59 PM EST!

Post you depth chart, what direction you took the team in, how you improved it, and update your rosters, but keep them off of this page.

rocdogg05@yahoo.com AIM = same as email

SALARIES
NBA salaries


Team Option - Qualifying Offer - Player Option - Unguaranteed

ROTATION

Westbrook(36)/Sessions(12)
J-Rich(32)/Terry(16)
Chandler(36)/Webster(12)
Griffin(40)/Varejao(8)
Varejao(24)/Gortat(24)

ASSETS

RIGHTS

Sofoklis Schortsanitis

DRAFT PICKS

OWN:

2012 1st if top 10
2012 2nd
2012 2nd from GSW
2014 2nd
2015 1st
2015 2nd

OWE:

2012 1st to OKC(top 10 protection til 2015)
2013 1st to CLE
2013 2nd to DET
2014 1st to HOU
2014 2nd to SAS via NOH(top 55 protection)

TRANSACTIONS

01. Baron Davis/Minny 1st for TPE
02. Aminu/Foye/Gomes for Gortat/Azubuike/Mason
03. Kaman for Green/Kristic
04. Green/2013 1st for Chandler/Sessions
05. Bledsoe/Jordan/Cook for Terry/Holiday
06. Kristic/Warren/2011 1st for Scola/Lowry
07. Bledsoe/Gordon for Westbrook/2012 MEM 1st(if top 14)
08. Butler/Mason for Webster
09. Scola/MEM 1st for Varejao/CLE 2nd
10. Lowry for NYK 2011 2nd, 2012 GSW 2nd


WRITE UP


STARTED WITH:

Davis/Bledsoe
Gordon/Foye/Warren
Gomes/Aminu/Butler
Griffin/Diogu/Smith
Jordan/Kaman/Cook

FINISHED WITH:

Westbrook/Sessions
J-Rich/Terry/Lee
Chandler/Webster
Griffin/Faried
Varejao/Gortat/Young

This team was 7th worst in the NBA at start of game and is now 8th worst in RL with Mo v Davis. We started with a few non desirable contracts and a couple of real nice young players in Blake/Gordon plus a few guys with potential in Aminu/Bledsoe/Jordan. Our goal was to remove the losing culture, get more great young players, add even more potential, and do this with an eye towards winning right now. With that in mind a couple of solid vets were brought in to help the team's influx of younger players learn the ropes and prepare them for the playoffs.

Yes, we said playoffs. No team that started lower than us in RL has come even close to passing us by and many teams that were ahead of us have now fallen by the wayside. The Los Angeles Clippers are now a playoff team that has strong aspirations towards winning titles. We believe this team has great chemistry and fit as well as star players to make things happen in crunch time. A bit of a sidenote on our 2 star players; they finished 5th and 9th in the latest trade value poll on the RGM trade boards and look to be on the rise.

POINT GUARD:

We started with Baron Davis and Eric Bledsoe. One was a player that has been very erratic and an unwanted contract, the other a very raw and somewhat undersized rookie.

We now have Russell Westbrook and Ramon Sessions running the point and Jason Terry if needed. This position is very important as it is in charge of running the team on the floor and creating opportunities for success. Westbrook is a top tier PG in this league on both ends of the floor. His numbers are almost identical to MVP candidate D Rose but since he plays in Oklahoma alongside Durant... nowhere near the crazy hype/hoopla. What he does do even better than Rose is play D and put the other team in foul trouble with his relentless style of play. The synergy between him and Griffin will mos def be the cause of many whistles sounding against opponents. Our backup spots are extremely solid as well with Ramon Sessions who was being wasted in Minny while Rambis tried to use him as a Triangle PG. The team he is now on is perfectly suited to his style of play and should help him shine. Sessions is a pure PG that can score but is not a 3 point shooter and wasted in the Triangle Rambis is trying to run. Once Minny traded him to Cleveland his skills started to become much more apparent. We expect the same and more from him in LA where he will have exceptional teammates to work with.

Jason Terry will also see occasional PG duties and while not a true PG is very capable in this role and can wreak havoc on teams 2nd units with his scoring/shooting.

In short our PG situation is light years ahead of what we started with.


SHOOTING GUARD:

We started with a great young SG in Eric Gordon and crap on the bench with Foye/Warren. Gordon is a damn fine SG that plays solid D and is a great scorer but is also a bit undersized for our liking. We hated to trade him away but the return was Westbrook so it was a no brainer. Can't really say we upgraded this position but what we did do is add perfect fits to help our young talent. J-Rich is an excellent 3 point shooter and was our main target in FA for this reason as well as his experience. He has the ability to slide to SF when/if needed and while not a great defender is still fairly solid in this aspect.

Jason Terry is the main backup at this position and a huge upgrade from the previous depth at SG. He should give the other team's 2nd unit fits and be a sparkplug for the team as 6th man.

We also picked up a nice SG from the draft in Malcolm Lee. Lee is a lockdown defender with the ability to play both guard positions and hit the occasional 3. We expect him to better learn the intricacies of the NBA SG position while playing behind our vets. Iggy and Afflalo come to mind as far as what we expect Lee to become, the future is quite bright.

Overall a bit of a downgrade at the starting spot but huge upgrade in depth while still retaining some hope for the future.

SMALL FORWARD:

We started with crap at SF. Aminu has shown some flashes but nothing that had our hopes up for the near future and we wanted to start our winning ways right now. He was not in that plan. Our starting SF was Ryan Gomes who was mediocre to average at best and not a contract we wanted around.

We had 1 target in mind from the start and went after him, Wilson Chandler. We brought him to LA via trade then signed him long term during FA and at an extremely reasonable amount that seems downright frugal in comparison to what other FAs were paid during this offseason. We love Chandler's fit on our team and expect him to be the glue guy, play great lockdown/team D, while helping spread the floor for our star players. Wilson possesses the excellent attitude/work ethic that we like to see in our players and we are happy to have him on board.

Our backup position also shows some good D and outside shooting touch, Martell Webster. He is mos def an upgrade even from our previous depth at this spot and a contract that ends by next offseason if we desire. He gets a bad rep at times for being drafted when he was and does have some injury concerns but we are not tied in long term with his friendly contract so can take a look at how he does in this role at no risk.

Overall huge upgrades in SF that will help this team win right now and down the road.

POWER FORWARD:

Blake Griffin is the guy we chose to build around. He is an exceptional young player that has put up numbers in his rookie year that have rarely been seen and only comparable to Elite star players on their way to the HOF. We love what he brings in every aspect of the game but like other young players(Rookie LeBron for example) still needs to develop on the defensive end. Based on his work ethic, athletic ability, and new surrounding cast we expect him to be a quick learner. Our depth at PF was not so good before and should be a step up with Verajao getting the bulk of the backup PF minutes til our rookies are ready to take over that role.

We drafted Kenneth Faried for his defense/rebounding/NBA ready game and mentality. Rebounding is one skill that translates well from college to pro and Faried is the best. He just passed Tim Duncan for most rebounds in modern era NCAA and has been compared to Dennis Rodman/Big Ben. While we expect no craziness(ala the worm) from him we do expect exceptional defense, rebounding, and flat out hustle.

We also drafted Patric Young out of FLA but he is still a bit raw and may see most of his minutes at the C spot. He turned into a draft day steal in the 2nd round as he is now projected as the 5th pick in the 2012 draft as he is no longer expected to come out in 2011 like he was when our in game draft was held. So we get him a year early but know full well he will need time to work his way into NBA shape, mentality, and game.

CENTER:

We nabbed not 1 but 2 nice centers on very nice, cheap contracts to solidify our frontcourt. We started with DeAndre Jordan who has shown flashes of great play but is extremely inconsistent, somewhat erratic, and awful from the charity stripe. While he did show some great play during stretches it was not enough to get out our checkbook. With his new contract coming and Cs in our game's version of FA getting some crazy money it was too risky to hold on to him. Kaman was getting paid serious money and very injury prone so was not in our future plans.

We now have Anderson Verajao as our starting C whose 2nd team all NBA defense and playoff experience will be a huge boost to our team as a whole. He will protect the paint, grab boards, take timely charges, set great screens, and make his FTs at a decent clip. Both our Cs can now hit their FTs which will be pertinent in close game scenarios.

Speaking of which our 2nd C is Marcin Gortat who like AV is on a very friendly contract. Since being traded to PHX and given some minutes Gortat has shown he is more than worth what he is getting paid. He is putting up close to double double stats in PHX and hitting his FTs at a good clip while not slacking on the defensive end. He is not as good as AV on D obviously but is holding his own.

As mentioned in the PF section we also added a great prospect for down the road in Patric Young. He will be able to develop and learn with no pressure and down the road become a great asset to this team.

Overall we have made huge upgrades in play on both ends of the floor, depth, and consistency while not spending very much money.

TEAM:

The Los Angeles Clippers started this game in the toilet so to speak and have now risen to playoff participants with title aspirations. We strived for balance tempered by cost effectiveness and have succeeded on both counts. This team is designed to work as a running team that can also excel in the halfcourt and is blessed with exceptional athletes to make it happen. We have some flash/star power combined with exceptional work ethics. Our versatility, size, and tenacity will make for a hard nosed team that will cause match-up problems galore. Great passing, rebounding, scoring, defense, attitude, and work ethic is what this team is all about. No team in this game has made a greater leap and we expect nothing but the best from this group of players.

LA there is a new team in town!

SALARY:

We saved quite a bit from the 2010/11 $54mil salary we started with and by cutting costs down to $45mil for the season. This left us room to sign J-Rich as well as our own FA Wilson Chandler. For 2011/12 we are currently at $62mil with more money coming off the books in 2012. Westbrook will be due for a new contract at that time so we also planned for the pay raise by giving our FAs contracts that dipped in 2012 to compensate. This should keep our salary in the same area code and it may even lower a bit depending on what we choose to do.

We knew we had to be fiscally responsible with this team and we met that goal. To build a team as good as this while also staying within these salary confines was not easy but we are pleased with the results.

GOALS:

Build a young team that fit together well and had some reliable vets that could help them along the path of greatness. We wanted specific types of players and went after them in as straight forward a fashion possible. We made a minimal amount of trades to get where we are. Stockpiling of random assets to be used in trade after trade to eventually make a flashy looking team was not in our gameplan. Just straight ahead going to work type of GMing was my own agenda for this game and I stuck to it.

We feel that our team has had the greatest leap in terms of where we started to where we are now. While not the flashiest we are very well balanced and have moved way up the ranking ladder. Last year the LA Lakers went from title team to younger title team. This great Laker team may no longer even be the best in LA. as this new Clippers team matches up nicely in every way possible. We are even deeper with more future potential for greatness at 2/3 the cost to our in house rival.

Not too shabby from where we started this game and with a new CBA looming we felt it prudent to watch the team's salary structure as what the future could bring is still up in the air. IF things go nicely with the new CBA we have put ourselves in position to make some waves in 2012 FA if it looks plausible.

Some of the teams in this game look pretty damn impressive and will make for hard competition. How much did they improve compared to real life situations and how well does their talent fit? Will there be issues as players vie for playing time or will everything run smoothly? It is a fine line for sure and hopefully we got the balance right.

As has been mentioned, many teams look good in this game but in our opinion not many have come close to what this team has done from a then to now perspective in all aspects of the game. We have gone from 8th worst in the league to possible title contention and did not break the bank or our future to do it.

Watch out LA, the Clippers are coming!

and

Good Luck to all!

Rotation

Chris Paul [34] / Derek Fisher [14]
Wesley Matthews [34] / Raja Bell [14]
Carmelo Anthony [34] / Shawn Marion [14]
Lamar Odom [34] / Shawn Marion [14]
Nene Hilario [32] / Yao Ming [16]

Projects: Bismack Biyombo
Solid Backup Vets: Nazr Mohammed




Full Roster



Player Stats

Nene Hilario - 15.2 points (63.1%) / 7.4 rebounds / 2 assists / 1 steal / 1 block / 30.6 minutes / 3rd PER (C's)
Lamar Odom - 14.3 points (53.7%) / 8.7 rebounds / 3 assists / .6 steals / .8 blocks / 32.1 minutes / 11th PER (PF's)
Carmelo Anthony - 25.3 points (45.2%) / 7.5 rebounds / 3 assists /.8 steals / .6 blocks / 35.6 minutes / 3rd PER (SF's)
Wesley Matthews - 16.4 points (45%/41.5%) / 3.3 rebounds / 2.1 assists / 1.3 steals / 34.4 minutes / 10th PER (SG's)
Chris Paul - 16.2 points (47%/42%) / 3.9 rebounds / 9.8 assists / 2.5 steals / 35.9 minutes / 1st PER (PG's)

Yao Ming - N/A (injured)
Nazr Mohammed - 7.1 points (50.3%) / 4.8 rebounds / .4 assists / .3 steals / .9 blocks / 16.8 minutes
Bismack Biyombo - 6.1 points (56.4%) / 4.5 rebounds / 2.1 blocks / 16 minutes (ACB Stats)
Shawn Marion - 12.1 points (51.3%) / 6.8 rebounds / 1.3 assists / .8 steals / .6 blocks / 27.7 minutes
Raja Bell - 8.3 points (42%/36%) / 2.5 rebounds / 1.7 assists / .8 steals / 30.9 minutes
Derek Fisher - 6.6 points (38.5%/40%) / 1.8 rebounds / 2.7 assists / 1.1 steals / 27.3 minutes

When I took over

There was not too much wrong in LA. 2 consecutive championships, Kobe, Pau & Odom having a good year, but that's not to say the team didn't have it's weaknesses or challenges:

- Phil Jackson set to retire - poses a challenge as no other coaches will run the triangle
- Andrew Bynum still hasn't proven his health
- Average age of starters = 31 - the window closing
- Massive weakness at point guard with Fisher as starter
- Artest totally underperforming
- Bad contracts (Walton/Blake)
- Little bench productivity (only Odom)

The result

- 2011 Championship Winners
- A versatile roster assembled that will run a variety of offensive/defensive schemes
- A healthy Center acquired in Nene; currently having a career year
- Average age of starters now just 27
- Arguably the best point guard in the NBA in Chris Paul
- No 'liabilities' in the starting lineup
- No bad contracts
- A more consistent & productive bench (Yao/Nazr/Bismack/Marion/Bell/Fisher)

Summary

The key thing for me, is how well assembled this team is around Chris Paul. Nene scores a staggering 30% of his points on cuts to the basket, and with Chris Paul's passing vision, I'd expect his off-ball movement will help him thrive. Despite ridiculous efficiency (62% FG%, good for 3rd PER for C's), he often gets left out of the Nuggets offence - this is unlikely to happen with a pass-first point guard on board. Lamar Odom possesses the versatility in terms of ball movement, passing and shooting range to thrive in any system, and by inserting him into the starting lineup I allow more floor spacing for Melo and Nene inside. Wes Matthews is having a breakout year in Portland, and with a Kobe-esque work ethic, excellent defence and an increasingly efficient 3 point shot (42%), he works well as a catch and shoot type player but is also an athletic finisher on the fast break.

As for the 'stars', Carmelo needs no introductions - he will be the teams lead scorer and go-to-guy in the clutch; meanwhile Chris Paul will use his excellent passing, leadership and experience to run this team better than anyone, with his low turnover rate and his recently developed 3 point shot (42%) being the icing on the cake. Most importantly, given the strength of my starting lineup (5 14+ PPG scorers) I have more options than almost every team, and they're all good passers for their position, meaning ball movement should be fluid and finding the best shot will be easier.

Defensive execution should be a similar affair - Chris Paul looks rejuvinated recently, and is having one of his best years defensively. Wes Matthews has earned respect across the league for his efforts in Portland, softening the blow of Roy's injuries, and putting himself into Most Improved Player contention. Melo can defend when motivated, and the system in LA demands defensive effort. That said, Matthews or Bell/Marion will take the best wing assignment, so the pressure isn't too intense, and I feel this is the ideal situation for Melo - the supporting cast will play hard so he can thrive offensively. Odom has proven his ability to defend a variety of big men all the way through to the NBA Finals, and his rebounding efforts (17% TRB%) will be useful next to Nene. Nene meanwhile has developed into a solid man-defender, his quickness offering a great deal of versatility and with the lack of dominant bigs, he can hold his own with anyone.

In terms of versatility of lineups, I feel much more comfortable with my bench in LA. From the clutchness and leadership of Fisher, to the defensive intensity and floor spacing offered by Raja Bell, through the versatility and perimiter awareness of Shawn Marion, to the dominant size of Yao Ming, I can run a variety of lineups to suit my opponents weaknesses. Yao Ming is possibly this team's X-Factor - if he can return to game fitness, a front court rotation of Yao/Nene/Odom is potentially the most dominant trio in the league. But for when Yao is unhealthy, I can call on the services of Nazr Mohammed, a former champion who will bring effort and leadership to the front court. Bismack Biyombo remains an unknown, however he has shot up to #10 on the latest realgm mock draft, due to his crazy athleticism and shot blocking skills (2+ in the ACB) which inevitably draws comparions to Ibaka. Given time in a winning environment, I don't think it's a stretch to say he could be a steal.

Most importantly, with an average age 4 years younger than the team I inherited and a championship already under their belt, I am pleased with this team's progress and am confident it will be in a position to contend for at least the next 5 years.

New York Knicks

Before
C - Amare Stoudemire / Timofey Mozgov
PF - Wilson Chandler / Ronny Turiaf / Anthony Randolph
SF - Danilo Gallinari / Shawne Williams
SG - Landry Fields / Bill Walker / Roger Mason / Kelenna Azubuike
PG - Raymond Felton / Toney Douglas / Andy Rautins

This team definitely had some good things going for it. Stoudemire having a career year, averaging 26/8/3/2. Felton is also having a good year, although his stats are probably inflated and he's showing how he can be inconsistent in Denver. Fields, Gallinari, and Chandler showing they will be good players in the league for years to come. However, with Stoudemire and Felton already well in their prime, I felt like the team was in the middle of wanting to rebuild or win now. Plus there's players playing out of position, little depth, and the team's weak defensively.

Now
C - Kendrick Perkins / Derrick Favors / Shelden Williams
PF - Al Horford / Hakim Warrick
SF - Danilo Gallinari / L.R. Mbah A Moute
SG - Tyreke Evans / Sasha Vujacic / Von Wafer
PG - Kyle Lowry / Mike Bibby / T.J. Ford

Rotation:
C - Kendrick Perkins (30) / Derrick Favors (18)
PF - Al Horford (36) / Derrick Favors (12)
SF - Danilo Gallinari (34) / L.R. Mbah A Moute (14)
SG - Tyreke Evans (36) / Sasha Vujacic (12)
PG - Kyle Lowry (33) / Mike Bibby (15)

My goals were to rebuild a team that has championship level potential, and to overall make the team better defensively. Plus I wanted to do this while keeping the cap situation flexible. Let's look at everything I did.

Team's Potential/Win Future
This was my main goal, to make a team with a lot of potential to eventually become a championship contending team. I felt like I accomplished this. Lowry is 24, Evans 20, Gallinari 22, Horford 24, Perkins 26, Favors 19. Obviously my core 6 guys are very young and most haven't reached their full potential.

Starting at the PG position, I have Kyle Lowry. Lowry is everything I want in a PG: quickness, toughness, passing, ability to create own shot/shoot the 3, and play defense. Lowry's averaging 13ppg, 4rpg, 7apg and shooting 38% from 3. That's the exact production I'm going to need from my PG, playing next to Evans. I think his career will be like a poor man's Chauncey Billups, just a good solid PG that seems to not have any weaknesses.

SG I have Tyreke Evans. Evans is the guy I'm building my team around. I feel like he has superstar potential. This is a great situation for Evans; Lowry and Gallo are guys that can spot up and shoot the 3 as well as create their own shots, Horford is a legit post threat and Favors has the potential to become an above average post player. So there is MUCH more talent for Evans to work with than what he has in Sac. Averaged 20ppg, 5rpg, 6apg on 46% FG at 19 years old, imagine what he can do in 3-4 years with the core he has now.

SF we have Danilo Gallinari. We think Gallinari has a really high ceiling. He's already shown the ability to score from all over the court and get to the line at a high rate. Him being able to get to the line so easily at such a young age is great. He has also proven to be an above average defender, using his excellent fundamentals and length. There's really not that many SFs that fit this team as well as Gallo does. We're hoping he develops into our 2nd scoring option behind Evans, definitely think he can achieve that.

PF we have Al Horford. He FINALLY gets to play his natural PF position full time. We think this is going to greatly benefit him. Should definitely increase his offensive production. Also playing with two good passing guards should help him offensively as well. Horford is one of the more complete bigs in the league, with his abilities to score in the post, rebound, and play great defense. We honestly prefer him over Stoudemire, simply because of his rebounding and defensive abilities. We see him as a 3rd scoring option, averaging around 16/10/3 for us, and playing great defense.

C we have Kendrick Perkins. We brought Perkins in for his defensive toughness, championship experience, and allows Horford to play his natural PF position. Perkins has no scoring responsibilities, he just needs to rebound and play elite defense. I think him being our veteran leader is fitting for him and extremely valuable for the team as well. He has tons of playoff and championship experience, and that will pay dividends for this young team down the road. Even though he won't put up big stats, he will be very valuable to our team on and off the court.

6th man is Derrick Favors. I feel like Favors has TONS of potential to be a great player. Other than Wall and Cousins, I think Favors has the highest ceiling in that draft. He has already shown flashes of good rebounding skills and footwork in the post. With Evans, Horford, and Gallinari already being the main core guys, Favors doesn't have the pressure to become a superstar. If he can become a double double guy with good defense for his career, and bulks up enough to be able to play C, we'll be more than happy. We think he has enough length (7'4" wingspan) and athleticism already to play C, once he adds about 20 lbs that will solidify it. Favors, Horford, and Perkins will all get 30+ mpg for us, and we're very excited to have this defensive minded front court going forward.

The rest of the bench that will get minutes consists of Mike Bibby, Sasha Vujacic, and L.R. Mbah A Moute. We like Bibby and Vujacic's ability to shoot the 3 and Mbah A Moute's rebounding and defensive abilities. Very solid bench players I'd say. Warrick, Ford, Wafer, and Williams are all proven rotation guys, so if injuries happen they will be able to step right in.

Cap Situation
While building this team, I managed to give this team great cap flexibility. We figure to have around 25M+ in cap space for 2012. The big FAs are Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams. Any of these 3 players would fit our team tremendously and would make us the best in the league. Even if it would take a Favors or Lowry S&T, we would try to get it done to get one of these guys. Also even if we don't get any of these players, having that cap room opens up trade opportunities. There's always teams looking for salary dumps, and it gives us a chance to pick up free talent.

Win Now
Even though it wasn't my goal to win now, I think I definitely made a playoff team, especially in the East. The key for us advancing in the playoffs would be our great defense. Lowry, Evans, Gallinari, Horford, Perkins, and Mbah A Moute are all VERY good defenders. Not to mention Favors who has that potential. We're still pretty raw offensively to really be a contender, but being a young playoff team is great. It will be great for the players' development and it will show them what it takes to win. Plus there will be much more motivated off-seasons. Tons of things come into play when you have a team this young in the playoffs.

Overall
I feel like I did a terrific job here. There's direction with this team and it gives the fans something to look forward to. Won't be the flashiest team, but I built a team that can win on defense, and you need defense to win championships. The old Knicks ceiling was a mid 40 win team that would get crushed in the playoffs because of their lack of defense. Overall, I built a team with championship potential that can be a legit playoff team now, as well as give the team cap space in 2012 to go out and get a big name player to bolster the team.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

ROSTER



TPE's
$4,360,000
$4,300,000
$3,500,000
$1,467,840

DRAFT PICKS
2012 LAL 1st
2012 MIN 2nd (protected)

2014 Dallas 1st

2015 Dallas 1st
2015 LaC 2nd (protected)

2016 Dallas 1st
2016 Dallas 2nd
2016 SAC 2nd (protected)

TRANSACTIONS
2010/2011
1. traded Stevenson for Turiaf and Den 2011 2nd (trade #78)
2. traded Terry for S.Jackson (trade #82)
3. traded C.Butler and D.Jones for A.Miller and J.Wright (trade #112)
4. traded J.Wright and Den 2011 2nd for C.Delfino (trade #118)
5. traded Cardinal for "future considerations" (trade #119)
6. traded TPE, 2011 Dallas 1st and 2nd for A.Brooks (trade #120)
2011/2012
- resigned Tyson Chandler and Aaron Brooks
- signed Jamal Crawford (MLE)
- signed Glen Davis (BAE)
1. traded Mahimi and 2012 1st for Reggie Williams (S&T)
- signed Vince Carter (min)
2. traded Delfino for TPE, Augusto Cesar Lima (rites), 2013 NO 2nd, 2015 LAC 2nd (top 55 protected), and 2016 Sac 2nd (top 55 preocted)
3. traded Haywood, Beaubois, and Turiaf for Marc Gasol, Mason Plumlee, and 2012 LAL 1st
4. traded T.Chandler, Marion, V.Carter for Joe Johnson, Grant Hill and E.Dampier
5. traded A.Miller, 2013 1st and 2nd for Mozgov and Turiaf
6. traded R.Turiaf, N.Calathis (rites), 2013 NO 2nd, 2015 Dallas 2nd for TPE and Reggie Evans

Cuban’s Mav’s

PG: Kidd / Berea
SG: Beaubois / J.Terry / Stevenson
SF: P.Stojakovic / S.Marion / B.Cardinal
PF: Nowitzki / Mahinmi
C : Chandler / Haywood

Out for entire season: Caron Butler
Dleague: D.Jones

2011 payroll: $84,155,385
2012 payroll (with cap holds) : $105,534,810

SamBone’s Mavs

PG: Jason Kidd/ Aaron Brooks
SG: Joe Johnson / Jamal Crawford / Reggie Williams
SF: Stephen Jackson / Grant Hill
PF: Dirk Nowitzki / Reggie Evans / Glen Davis
C : Marc Gasol / Eric Dampier / Timofey Mozgov

Dleague: Mason Plumlee and Jordan Williams

2011 payroll: $82,843,336
2012 payroll: $91,608,724


Goals when I took over the team
1. Stay a top western conference team
I think I accomplished that goal
2. Make Dirk untradeable and build around him, he stays the face of the franchise.
I think I accomplished that goal
3. Only trade Roddy if I can get a true AS to pair with Dirk
I think I accomplished that goal, Joe Johnson
Get some sort of future (real life’s future was Roddy, DomJones, Mahinmi) I think I accomplished that goal, Marc Gasol, Aaron Brooks, Reggie Williams, Mozgov, Plumlee(much better prospect then Jones), J.Williams(much better prosect then Mahinmi)
4. Put guys around Dirk that will not fold in playoffs as his past side kicks have (Josh Howard, Caron Butler, Jason Terry, Devin Harris all have folded when playoff time roles around)
I think I accomplished that goal, Joe Johnson and Capt Jack
5. get tougher
I think I accomplished that goal, Capt Jack and Reggie Evans
6. get better defensive
I think I accomplished that goal, Joe Johnson and Capt Jack are huge upgrades
7. get Bigger (on the wings, Berea, JET and Roddy are too small playing SG)
I think I accomplished that goal
8. do what Dallas has not been able to do in years and get a real backup PG
I think I accomplished that goal, Aaron Brooks is not only a HUGE upgrade that brings great 3pt shooting, but he will replace JKidd when he retires after 2012
9. keep a good bench
I think I accomplished that goal, A.Brooks > Berea, Crawford > JET, GHill > Matrix, R.Evans > Mahinmi, R.Williams > Stevenson, G.Davis > Cardinal, Damp = Haywood

... ...

Philadelphia 76ers


Blue- Team Option
Green- Player Option
Red- Qualifying Offer
Asterisk- Not on team
Grey- Unguaranteed
Mauve- Early Termination

Draft Picks:
2012 1st LAL
2012 1st ATL
2012 2nd PHI
2013 1st DAL
2013 1st PHI
2013 1st CHI
2013 1st PHO
2013 1st DEN
2013 2nd DAL
2013 2nd ATL
2013 2nd PHI
2014 1st PHI
2014 1st ORL
2014 2nd PHI


Transactions:

#42: In: Leandro Barbosa
Out: Jason Kapono

#51: In: Chauncey Billups, Danilo Galinari, Brendan Bass
Out: Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Andres Nocioni

#52: In: Mehmet Okur, Glen Davis
Out: Elton Brand, 2011 1st round pick

#53: In: O.J. Mayo, Corey Brewer
Out: Evan Turner, Darius Songila

#59: In: Thaddeus Young, 2013 1st from DEN
OUT:Marreese Speights, Jodie Meeks, Tony Battie

#60: In: Jonny Flynn, Andre Miller
Out: Chauncey Billups

#62: In: David Lee, Daniel Orton, Acie Law, Hidayet Turkoglu, ORL 2014 1st round pick
Out:Jrue Holiday, Mehmet Okur, Spencer Hawes, Leandro Barbosa

#63: In: Timofey Mozgov, PHO 2013 1st round pick
Out: O.J. Mayo

#64: In: Nick Young
Out: Thaddeus Young

#77: In: Andres Nocioni, Al Harrington, Shawne Williams, Ronny Turiaf, DEN 2011 2nd round pick
Out: Hidayet Turkoglu, Andre Miller, Craig Brakins

#78: In: DeShawn Stevenson
Out: Ronny Turaif, DEN 2011 2nd round pick

#85: In: J.R. Smith, Semih Erden
Out: Brandon Bass, Louis Williams

#93: In: Andris Biedrins
Out: Glen Davis, Al Harrington

#94: In: Eric Bledsoe, Chris Duhon
Out: Corey Brewer, Semih Erden

#100: In: Ryan Anderson, Kurt Thomas, Christian Eyegma, CHI 2013 1st round pick
Out: Timofey Mozgov, Eric Bledsoe

#107: In: Drew Gooden
Out: Andres Nocioni

#109: In: Kenyon Martin, Trevor Ariza, Leon Powe, 2012 ATL 1st round pick
Out: David Lee, Drew Gooden, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young

#127: In: NOH 2011 2nd Round Pick
Out: PHI 2011 2nd Round pick, Chris Duhon

#128: In: Courtney Lee, LAL and ORL 2012 1st round picks
Out: Ryan Anderson

#154: In: Nate Robinson, Craig Brackins
Out: Daniel Orton, ORL 2012 1st round pick

#156: In Wesley Johnson
Out: Shawne Williams, Jonny Flynn, PHI 2012 1st round pick

#158: In: Nenad Kristic, Andray Blatche, Chris Duhon, Al Harrington
Out: Zach Randolph, Roger Mason Jr.

#164: In: JJ Redick, Louis Amundson
Out: Trevor Ariza, Craig Brackins

#165: In: Andre Iguadala, Travis Outlaw
Out: Nenad Kristic, Courtney Lee, Tayshaun Prince, Nate Robinson

#167: In: Marc Gasol, Nick Batum, Rasul Butler, Mason Plumlee, Timofey Mozgov, Eric Bledsoe
Out: Andre Iguadala, Wesley Johnson, Christian Eyenga

#172: In: Brendan Haywood, Rodrique Beaubois, Ronny Turiaf
Out: Marc Gasol, Mason Plumlee, 2012 LAL 1st round pick

#174: In: Chris Kamen, Randy Foye, Shawn Marion, CHI 2012 1st round pick, ATL 2013 2nd
Out: Andris Biedrins, Al Harrington, Nicolas Batum, Ty Lawson, Louis Amunson

#176: In: Ryan Anderson, Mickael Pietrus
Out: Shawn Marion

#179: In: Andre Miller, 2013 DAL 1st, 2013 DAL 2nd
Out: Timofey Mozgov, Ronny Turiaf



Goal:The old 76ers had there best 4 players at PG, SG, SF and SF-PF with Holiday, Turner, Iguadala and Thad Young respectively. They didn't have a true big man for the future (or the now for that matter) and we wanted to change that. Good, young bigs are harder to come by, so we tried switching the talent over to the PF and C positions while cutting salary and staying young.

Old Rotation:
PG - Holiday/Williams
SG - Turner/Meeks/Kapono
SF - Iguadala/Young
PF - Brand/Songaila/Nocioni/Brackins
Cc - Hawes/Speights/Battie

New Rotation:
PG - Beaubois (34)/Bledsoe (14)/Miller (0)/Duhon (0)/Mccamey (0)
SG - Redick (28)/Foye (20)
SF - Pietrus (22)/Outlaw (16)/Anderson (10)
PF - Blatche (30)/Anderson (18)
Cc - Kaman (32)/Haywood (10)/ Blatche (6)

PG: Beaubois/Bledsoe V. Holiday/Williams
First of all, we cut salary here from about 6.5 mil to about 3 mil. Backup PG, Bledsoe is a better option. He is much cheaper, and also about 3 years younger, playing into our rebuilding role. Williams is almost a SG, and would be if he had the size, Bledsoe is more of a true PG. Starting PG, Beaubois is better for this team. He is playing amazing on a contending team with limited minutes. 10 ppg, 3 apg and 2 rpg in 19 min is phenomenal. Holidays numbers are just slightly better, and he is getting 35 min on a non-contender. Clear winner here.

SG: Redick/Foye V. Turner/Meeks
Meeks is still in development and not ready for a big role, even if it's off the bench. Turner's numbers are very insignificant considering he was the 2nd overall pick. Redick is playing great basketball (10ppg, 2apg, 2rpg in 25 min) and is a hard worker on both ends of the floor. Foye, although a little undersized, brings this team nice shooting and has great passing from the 2 spot. We feel Redick will turn into a Ray Allen type, coming off screens and hitting big shots for us. Slight upgrade from the old team.

SF: Pietrus/Outlaw V. Iguadala/Young
This is the only position we feel we haven't improved on. This was the best position for the old 76ers team, and probably our weakest. But we feel you need to lose one to win others and the SF position is that one loss. Pietrus and Outlaw aren't a complete loss, as Pietrus has nice experience and a good shot and Outlaw gives us size. However, we still downgrade at the SF.

PF: Blatche/Anderson V. Brand/Songaila
Playing for similar teams and having similar minutes, Blatche puts up better numbers than Brand in real life. In this offense, he will get the ball even more, increasing his production. Blatche is also 8 years younger and a good match with Beaubois in a Pick and Roll offense. Anderson is having a career year, and a very clear upgrade over the untalented Songaila. Anderson will help us stretch the floor with his 3 point shooting and also a solid rebounder. Getting younger and more talented puts it as a clear victory for the new team.

C: Kaman/Haywood V. Hawes/Speights
We don't feel Hawes was a true C, and unfit for this team. We were looking for a defensive and rebounding anchor in the middle to bind everything together. Kaman is that piece, and is still fairly young (28). Haywood can step into the backup role as a similar player. Speights was a nice prospect, but probably not good enough to have a large role on this team. Large upgrade for the new 76ers.

Offense: The new offense will be similar to the old one. We will run the ball, as both Bledsoe and Beaubois are great transitional PG's. Also, our PF's (Blatche, Anderson) can run with the smaller players on the fast break. The goal would be to get a 4 on 3 or 3 on 2 and get a shooter wide open for a 3. Redick, Pietrus, Foye and Anderson can all shoot the ball very well. What is different from this offense and the old one is that we have a half court game as well, if we can't run the ball. A Pick and Roll with Blatche and Beaubois will work very well, as both are skilled in that area. Also in the half court, Redick will come off screens and get wide open shots that he can, and will, make. Isolation post-ups from Blatche, Outlaw and Kaman will also be an option.

Defense: This will start with Kaman. He will hold down the middle and block shots. At 7'0, 265 lbs, he has the size to defend anyone. Bledsoe and Beaubois each are good at stealing the ball and playing tight, aggressive defense. Pietrus and Redick both showed their defense in the 2009 playoffs, when they slowed down guys like Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant. Pair that with Blatche and Outlaw's length and Anderson's toughness, and we've got a solid defensive unit.

Overall: We completed our goal of getting our talent bigger and staying young. Beaubois has star potential, Blatche is a solid 2nd option and Kaman can hold down the defense and offense with his size. We believe that finding a great wing is much easier to do than finding great PG's and C's. We also have 9 1st round picks in the next 3 years to build our team further, and about $25 mil in cap space this next summer to sign a nice wing player and add depth.


Side Notes: This was my first game and I had a great time playing it! Thanks for commishing Miller4ever and SamBone, you guys did a great job! I will most defiantly sign up for the next game.

Atlanta Hawks


Depth Chart

PG: Tony Parker/Carlos Arroyo
SG: Andre Iguodala/Vince Carter
SF: Kevin Durant/Hedo Turkoglu
PF: David West/Al Harrington
Cc: Samuel Dalembert/Joel Pryzbilla







Salaries

Player 2012/2013 2013
Andre Iguodala $13,531,750
Kevin Durant $13,603,750
Tony Parker $13,500,000
David West $13,000,000
Hedo Turkoglu $11,015,850
Samuel Dalembert $9,000,000
Al Harrington $6,226,200
Louis Amundson $2,403,000
Christian Eyenga $1,097,520
Vince Carter $1,352,181
Carlos Arroyo $854,389
Kurt Thomas $854,389
Dorsey $854,389
Collins $854,389


Total Salary:

2011/2012: $88,147,807

Original Team:
PG Mike Bibby Jeff Teague
SG Joe Johnson Jamal Crawford
SF Marvin Williams Damien Wilkins
PF Josh Smith Jasoh Powell
C Al Horford Zaza Pachulia

Not a bad team by any means, around a 5th seed. Built around the two bigs and JJ (on a max contract). No real options at SF or PG and ultimately a treadmill team.

Win Now
It starts with our star, Kevin Durant. The scoring leader, his ability to score 28ppg off the ball is valuable to our team. He is a true 1st option. Parker is our veteran leader, he provides Finals MVP experience. His drive and kick game to Durant, and his pick and pop game with West will be a big part of our offense. Iguodala is one of my favourite players in the league. his playmaking, rebounding and elite defense are beyond useful. Iggy can share the playmaking duties with Parker and guard the other teams best wing player. West is an efficient 19/8 big with range and Dally is a defensive big that can protect the rim. Our bench is one of the best in the league.

Future

Durant - 22 years old. The star of our team is still verrry young. Parker is 28 and in his prime and Iggy is 27. West is 30 and Sammy is 29. Our starters are all in there prime but under 30 (except West). We are in a perfect position to win now and build around Durant for the future.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS
sterncohen@comcast.net


McGee 32 / Pleiss 16 / Seraphin
Valanciunas 30 / Booker 18
T. Young 34 / Alexander 14 / La. Williams
S. Brown 28 / Fredette 20 / De. West
Wall 38 / Fredette 10 / De. West



I'll call this a modest success, with very few transactions: I took a team with a severe deficit in talent, a dysfunctional culture, and a mediocre cap situation, and turned them into a team with more talent, the bad apples removed, and lots of cap space. It's still miles away from being a serious contender. To get there Wall has to be a superstar, one of Fredette or Valanciunas has to be an All-Star, and/or they've really got to attract a top free agent, and none of those is exactly a sure bet.

C - McGee / Pleiss / Seraphin vs. McGee / Seraphin. I think Pleiss has significant potential, so I'll call this an upgrade.

PF - Valanciunas / Booker vs. Blatche / Yi / Booker. Addition by addition (Valanciunas) and subtraction (Blatche is everything that's wrong with this team).

SF - Thad Young vs Remains of Rashard Lewis. I like Young a lot - very athletic, high FG%, plays defense, still lots of room for growth.

SG - Shannon Brown / Fredette vs. Nick Young - Per 36 minutes, Shannon Brown scores three fewer points than Nick Young. He also plays defense, and I'd rather pay him $2.4M than the $10M Nick Young is getting in this game. Fredette of course has enormous potential, which makes sense on this team only if he can play alongside Wall some of the time.

PG - Wall / Fredette vs. Wall - see above.

Cap space: room for one max free agent plus one very substantial offer, if the right player or players are available after the 2011-12 season - and enough flexibility to hold back money for the following year as well.

Draft choices 2012 and after: unchanged.

Draft choices:
2012 WAS 1st and 2nd
2013 WAS 1st and 2nd
2014 WAS 1st and 2nd

Transactions:
(#14) Waived Hilton Armstrong. Acquired Shannon Brown, Marcus Banks, Didier Mbenga, and the 2011 ATL 1st from New Orleans for Kirk Hinrich.
(#24) Acquired rights to Tibor Pleiss, rights to Latavoius Williams, and Morris Peterson from OKC for Andre Blatche.
(#64) Acquired Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia for Nick Young.
(QO's) Made qualifying offers to Thaddeus Young and Shannon Brown. Did not make QO's to Al Thornton and Yi Jianlian.
(Draft) #8 Jonas Valanciunas; acquired #16 pick from NJ for #22 and #37; selected Jimmer Fredette.
(Free agency) Re-signed Thaddeus Young; signed Delonte West and Joe Alexander.
(Other additions) Signed Latavious Williams and Tibor Pleiss.

Toronto:

Goal: To shed salary and bad defensive players and build for the future with an emphasis on defense.

Outcome: We shed all bad contracts and grabbed a few players we feel can contribute to the youth movement. We have a great outlook for the next few seasons with potentially 30m in cap space available for the next off-season or to use in a form of TPE this season. Meanwhile, our young and exciting players can be given the season to develop and build chemistry. We will allow them to make the mistakes that lead them to becoming great players. We don't see any weakness in our defense. We should be able to pick up a nice player in the upcoming draft as well.

Red-Team Option Green-Player option Blue-QO
Robin Lopez $2,866,336 $4,007,137
Amir Johnson $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000
Linas Kleiza $4,605,000 $4,600,000 ($4,600,000)
DeMar DeRozan $2,625,000 $3,344,250 $4,531,458
Jerryd Bayless $3,042,280 $4,164,881
Ed Davis $2,063,040 $2,207,040 $3,153,860 $4,361,788
Solomon Alabi $830,000
Enes Kanter $2,554,200 $2,745,800 $2,937,400
CJ Watson - $3,400,000 $3,400,000 $3,700,000
Dahntay Jones - $2,500,000 $2,700,000 $2,900,000
Omri Casspi- $1,341,960 $2,277,306 $3,313,480
Kelenna Azubuike -$3m/$3m/$3m

Total Salaries: $34,237,816


Old DC:
Jose Calderon/Jerryd Bayless
Demar Derozan/Leandro Barbosa
Linas Kleiza/Sonny Weems
Reggie Evans/Amir Johnson
Andrea Bargnani/Ed Davis

New and improved Depth Chart:
Jerryd Bayless[33]/CJ Watson[15]
Demar Derozan[35]/Kelenna Azubuike[13]
Omri Casspi[32]/Linas Kleiza[10]/Kelenna Azubuike[6]
Amir Johnson[24]/Ed Davis[24]
Enes Kanter[24]/Robin Lopez[24]
(subject to change due to performance of rookies)

DNP:
Solomon Alabi
Dahntay Jones

Picks:
2012 Toronto 1st

Transactions:
#42 Barbosa for Kapono
#54 Bargnani, Calderon, Julian Wright, Miami 1st for Vince Carter and Robin Lopez
#142 Jason Thompson, CJ Watson, Dahntay Jones for TPE
#178 Jason Thompson + 2012 2nd for Omri Casspi

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER



------------------------------------------

Salaries....................2011/12..........2012/13...........2013/14

Gilbert Arenas $19,269,307....TBD
Amare Stoudemire.....$18,217,705........$19,948,799.....$21,679,893
LeBron James $16,022,500.....TBD
Brandon Roy............$15,032,144........$16,460,538......$17,888,932
Michael Beasley..........$6,262,347.........$8,172,363
Mike Conley................$6,611,571.........$7,305,786.......$8,000,001
Tracy McGrady............$3,200,000
Spencer Hawes...........$2,000,000...........$2,000,000...........$2,000,0000
Anthony Parker...........$1,399,507
Al Thornton...................$947,907
Daequan Cook $854,389


TOTALS (UPDATED as of March 2, 2011)

w/ options ------- $69,621,584.............$81,016,389............$70,769,630............$68,179,364


w/o options ---- $69,621,584............$76,965,365............$62,597,267.............$68,179,364


NOTE:

Qualifying Offer
Team Option

Draft Picks OWNED:

2011 1st
2011 2nd from ATL
2012 1st
2012 1st (via LAC, top 10 protected til 2016)
2012 2nd
2013 1st
2013 2nd
2014 1st
2014 2nd

Draft Picks OWED:
2012 2nd to CLE
2011 2nd to ORL


------------------------------------------


ROTATION:

............

............

PG: Mike Conley / Gilbert Arenas
SG: Brandon Roy / Anthony Parker / Daequan Cook
SF: LeBron James / Tracy McGrady / Al Thornton
PF: Michael Beasley / Amare Stoudemire
C: Amare Stoudemire / Spencer Hawes


TRADING BLOCK:




Bron, Roy, Beas, Amare close to untouchable. Rest up for grabs.


------------------------------------------

TRANSACTIONS:

#24 -- OKC Sends M.Peterson, Rights to L.Williams and Rights to T.Pleiss to WSH for A.Blatche

#35 -- OKC Sends J.Harden and D.White to ORL for D.Wright and R.Anderson

#41 -- OKC sends J.Green and N.Krstic to LAC for C.Kaman

#43 -- OKC Sends E.Maynor, D.Cook, R.Ivey, S.Ibaka, T.Sefolosha and B.Mullens to MIN for M.Conley, A.Afflalo and A.Rautins

#48 -- OKC Sends R.Westbrook, A.Blatche, N.Collison to MEM for P.Gasol, and M.Beasley

OKC Signs Joe Smith and Josh Powell to 1-year minimum deal

OKC Signs Earl Barron to 1-year minimum deal

#73 -- OKC Sends P. Gasol, C.Aldrich, R.Anderson, J.Smith, J.Powell to CHI for B.Roy, C.Boozer, L.Harangody, J.Moon and 2011 2nd via ATL

#102 -- OKC Sends C.Boozer, D.Wright, A.Afflalo, E.Barron, A.Rautins, L.Harangody and OKC 2011 2nd to ORL for A.Stoudemire, Ty.Thomas, S.Hawes and S.Erden

#103 -- OKC Sends Ty.Thomas to MIN for T.Sefolosha and R.Foye

#159 -- OKC Sends T.Sefolosha, K.Durant, E.Dampier, C.Arroyo, R.Foye and C.Kaman to ATL for L.James, G.Arenas and D.Cook

Before

Westbrook / Maynor
Sefolosha / Harden / Cook
Durant / Green
Green / Ibaka
Krstic / Collison

Now

PG: Mike Conley / Gilbert Arenas
SG: Brandon Roy / Anthony Parker / Daequan Cook
SF: LeBron James / Tracy McGrady / Al Thornton
PF: Michael Beasley / Amare Stoudemire
C: Amare Stoudemire / Spencer Hawes

Westbrook >> Conley
Sefolosha < Roy
Durant < LeBron
Green =/< Beasley
Krstic << Amare

Maynor < Arenas
Harden > Parker
Cook = Cook
None < McGrady
Ibaka > Hawes

We added the best and most talented player in the game in LeBron. We also added alongside him a very stud #2 option in Amare Stoudemire, who was once an MVP candidate. Beasley was also a great addition as he will benefit playing alongside LeBron. Mike Conley was also not bad of a downgrade from Russ. Having a proven clutch player in Brandon Roy is also a huge boost even if he wasn't the superstar he once was. He would provide solid crunchtime minutes and will ease off the pressure from Amare/Bron.

Arenas is still pretty decent as well and is the same with Brandon Roy. Tmac also provides us solid veteran depth as we see him as an older/limited version of LeBron. Overall, we like our team a lot better and think we are definitely worthy of being classified as an elite team. We like our chances a lot.

STARTING LINEUP



BENCH



DEEP BENCH: James Anderson (SG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SG/SF), Andres Nocioni (SF/PF), Desagana Diop (Cc), and Kyrylo Fesenko (Cc).

SALARIES



DRAFT PICKS

- 2012 Boston 1st
- 2012 Boston 2nd
- 2012 Knicks 2nd
- 2013 Suns 1st
- 2013 Suns 2nd


TRANSACTIONS



Thought Process/Ultimate Goal

The Suns are built to win now, they overpaid grossly for Childress and Warrick. Outside of Nash, they have no other star, nor youth to look forward to the future. At this point, the Suns aren't a good enough team to make the playoffs, and have one of the bleakest future outlooks in the NBA.

So the question becomes, what direction should the Suns go in? Nearly every past PHX GM has decided to rebuild, and frankly, none of them have been successful. The Suns are obviously headlined by Steve Nash, a star PG that's still at the top of his game. I seriously considered going win-now considering some of the offers I got for Nash (i.e. Marcus Banks, and 2nd) -- partly -- because his value was limited as he only appeals to contending teams. But ultimately, I understand why other GM's decided to choose the rebuild route. If I were to have gone win now, it wouldn't have been a rather long window with Nash, and the Suns would then be screwed after a couple years. It's clear now that the Suns have to accept their era of contending has come to an end, and it's time to look towards the future.

So the goal becomes obvious, to build a team that's young, financially friendly, and is established enough to a point that it wouldn't be a pushover for the present either.

Breakdown, Why the Suns Deserve a High Ranking

We didn't have much to work with. Our best players, Nash, and arguably Hill only garnered interest from contending teams, who didn't have the young pieces I wanted back. And nobody was too keen on trading for Hill as they figured they'd just sign him in the off-season (considering he wouldn't stay with my team). I'd even venture to say, out of all my players, the one that received the most interest was Robin Lopez, and to a lesser extent Marcin Gortat. The rest were considered "I'll take him if he's cheap," or below average with bad contracts (Warrick, Childress, Pietrus etc). Carter's value came as an expiring, but that too was flawed as he still had 4M guaranteed on his contract.

So with that bearing in mind, the challenge that faced me was to bring a team that I'd have players to build around, filled with young talent that can be a force in the future. I've turned a couple decent assets, none great, into a top 5 SG in the NBA in Monta Ellis, an arguable top 5 PF in the league in Kevin Love. Ellis, with Rose, Kobe, LeBron are the only players in the NBA to average at least 24 PPG, and 5 APG. Love leads the league in rebounding at an amazing 15.4 per game, while still being able to shoot over 40% from three, and average over 20 PPG. Neither are superstar/top 10 players, but they're most definitely all-star caliber players, that when teamed together have the ability to increase their current reputations.

To pair with them, we put arguably a franchise caliber PG prospect that's drawn comparisons to the great Isiah Thomas. Irving isn't as quick, nor as athletic as recent #1 picks in Derrick Rose, and John Wall, but his understanding for the game is amazing. It's in the same Chris Paul, Jason Kidd mold, in they know how to set tempo for the game, and completely control everything that happens on the floor. He's terrific in the pick and roll, crafty in transition, has a sound jump-shot, unselfish, and has the ability to do whatever he wants on the floor. He's by far the best prospect in the draft, and we feel has all-star potential that can help create our own little "big three."

Around them, we've put Nicolas Batum, an All-NBA caliber defender, that's still only 23 years old. He's supremely athletic, has underrated ball handling, a very good shooter from the perimeter, and even if he weren't to improve from what he is now, a still very valuable asset to any team. And to round out the starting lineup, the 22 year old DeAndre Jordan. We love his fit next to Love, he's a up and coming shot blocker, rebounder, and his athleticism is off the charts. In the 24 games in which he's received 30 or more minutes, he's averaged nearly 11/11 with 2.5 blocks per game. It's no coincidence the Clippers success came when he and Griffin were starting in the frontcourt, and Kaman was sitting at home on the bench. We think he can develop into a defensive anchor that can be a potential double double guy, but again, even if he were to not improve, he still gets us 2 blocks, and over 7/7. The chances he doens't improve are slim to none, we definitely feel we've upgraded that position as well.

Off the bench, we have Darren Collison, who averaged 18/9 on 48% starting in the place of Chris Paul last season. For the Pacers, he's been a stabilizing force who isn't being utilized the way he was in New Orleans. Chase Budinger, who's averaged 16 PPG since being named as a starter since the departure of Battier, Marvin Williams, who is still only 24 years old, and averaged 14/6 only a couple seasons ago. Patrick Patterson is finally getting the minutes to show his talents, and he's garnered three straight double doubles, his basketball IQ, and fundamentals reminds you of a young Horace Grant sort player. Even Jodie Meeks has had a breakout season shooting the ball, and James Anderson has the potential to be an above average SG in the league as well. The only regret we had is not having enough time to recover for a backup C, but we feel we have a rotation that can make up for that, and even guys like Diop, and Fesenko have filled in for contending teams in the past for spot minutes. And while we have Diop, who can be classified as our only poor contract, it doesn't hurt since we're STILL UNDER the cap.

Average Rotation Team Age: 22.2 years old!

*Our oldest players are Monta Ellis at 25, and Darren Collison at 23. The rest are 22 and younger. If we include Meeks (23), the average age, is 22.3 years old! We've built a team that can be together for nearly a decade with very high potential.

Conclusion

In short, we feel we've done the most with the least, which is what this competition is all about.We've taken a team with no direction, no franchise player, and no GREAT assets (most important), and turned it into a very young talented team with three building blocks. We've built our team around Love, Irving, and Ellis, and surrounded them with Batum, Jordan, Williams, Collison, Patterson, and Budinger. I honestly don't know in the shorter game we've had, how much better a job one could have done. Best of luck to everyone else.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Salaries


Before
PG-Luke Ridnour / Jonny Flynn / Sebastian Telfair(Rights to Ricky Rubio)
SG-Corey Brewer / Wesley Johnson / Wayne Ellington
SF-Michael Beasley / Martell Webster / Lazar Hayward
PF-Kevin Love / Anthony Tolliver
C-Darko Milicic / Nikola Pekovic / Kosta Koufus

Transactions
TRANSACTIONS:
#2 Traded Kevin Love, Corey Brewer, Wesley Johnson and jazz 2011 1st for Amare Stoudemire, Danillo Gallinari, and Andy Rautins.
#19 Traded Sebastian Telfair and Lazar Hayward for Mikael Pietrus.
#22 Traded Danillo Gallinari for Arron Afflalo, Shelden Williams, and Denver 2012 1st round pick(top 3 proctected)
#25 Traded Amare Stoudemire and Jonny Flynn for Pau Gasol.
#27 Traded Pau Gasol, Michael Beasley, and Wayne Ellington for Rudy Gay, Xavier Henry, Michael Conley, and Tyrus Thomas
#38 Traded Xavier Henry for Courtney Lee, Joe Smith, and Lal 2012 1st round pick.
#39 Traded Mickael Pietrus for Zaza Pachulia
#43 Traded Mike Conley, Arron Afflalo, and Andy Rautins for Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolasha, Eric Maynor, Royal Ivey, Daquan Cook, and B.J Mullens...cut Shelden Williams, and Joe Smith
#46 Traded Anthony Tolliver, Daquan Cook for Randy Foye.
#47 Traded Ty Thomas, Thabo Sefolasha, Zaza Pachulia, and Nikola Pekovic for Jason Richardson, Malik Allen, Earl Clark, and Jason Williams
#49 Traded Rudy Gay, Malik Allen, and Jason Williams for Nicolas Batum, Greg Oden, Joel Pryzbilla, and Elliot Williams.
#66 Trade Royal Ivey for GS TPE in Watson Deal.
#68 Traded roster spot for Jermy Lin
#74 Traded Darko Milicic for C.J. Watson and 2014 ATL 1st round pick.
#81 Traded Joel Przybilla, B.J. Mullens, Jermy Lin and Memphis 2011 1st round pick(top 14 protected) for C.J. Miles, Brandan Wright, and Ronnie Price.
#88 Traded Greg Oden and 2012 Denver 1st round pick(top 3 protected) for Ty Lawson, Jordan Hill and Solomon Jones.
#89 Traded Eric Maynor for TPE.
#97 Traded Ty Lawson, Serge Ibaka, and Solomon Jones for Brandon Jennings, Patrick Patterson, and Thabo Sefolosha.
#101 Traded Ronnie Price for Steve Blake
#103 Traded Thabo Sefolosha and Randy Foye for Tyrus Thomas.
#115 Traded Martell Webster for Rasual Butler, Roger Mason, and Ike Diogu
#117 Traded Patrick Patterson, and Steve Blake for Deshawn Stevenson, and Carlos Delfino.
#117 Traded Carlos Delfino for Julian Wright and 2011 Denver 2nd round pick.
#121 Traded The rights to Kyrie Irving(#1) to PHX for Courtney Lee, 2011 Miami 1st round pick, 2011 Utah and Boston 2nds, and the draft rights to Jared Sullinger(#3).
#122 Traded Brandon Jennings and Jordan Hill for the draft rights to Harrison Barnes(#9) and 2013 2nd round pick.
#128 Traded Courtney Lee and 2012 orlando and LAL 1sts for Ryan Anderson
#132 traded picks 39,51,55 for dallas 2012 and 2014 2nds
#141 Traded CJ watson, Raja Bell, and Ryan Anderson for Nick Young.
#145 Traded Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Khris Middleton, Samuel Dalembert and 2013 1st for Marc Gasol, Dejuan Blair, Tyler Hansbrough, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Rush.
#153 Traded Dejuan Blair, Tyler Hansbrough, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Rush for Anthony Randolph, Eric Bledsoe, and Timofey Mozgov.
#167 Traded Marc Gasol, Nic Batum, Tomofey Mozgov, Eric Bledsoe, Rasual Butler, and Mason Plumlee for Andre Iguodala, Wes Johnson, and Christian Eyenga/
#175 Traded David West, Wesley Johnson, and Christian Eyenga for Nic Batum, Ty Lawson, Andris Biedrins, and Jermaine O'neal.
#177 Traded Andre Iguodala, Andris Biedrins, and Joel Przybilla for Tyson Chandler, Wesley Johnson, and Jarret Jack
#181 Traded Nicolas Batum for J.J. Hickson
#185 Traded Jermaine O'neal and C.J. Miles for Mike Miller and Derek Caracter

After**Assuming all trades are approved**
PG-Ricky Rubio(30) / Ty Lawson(18) / Jarret Jack / Avery Bradley
SG-Nick Young(28) / Mike Miller(10) / Jarret Jack(5) / Elliot Williams
SF-Wesley Johnson(25) / Andrei Kirilenko(20) / Mike Miller(3)
PF-J.J. Hickson(28) / Tyrus Thomas(18) / Andrei Kirilenko(2)
C-Tyson Chandler(32) / Anthony Randolph(12) / Tyrus Thomas(4) / Derek Caracter / Lucas Noguiera

Plan
Wanted to get more athletic in the front court. More assets to either build our team with or keep and use as our core. Build around Ricky Rubio.

Offense
Right away I knew we wanted to get an athletic team to get out on the break and get easy buckets in transistion, then focus on the pick and roll/spreading the floor with shooters on offense. Rubio, Wes, Ak47, and Chandler are all known for their defense, and then we have guys who are extremely athletic to run the floor.
Rubio and Hickson should form a great tandem in the pick and roll with Rubio's passing and Hicksons athleticism. Tyson Chandler should also ALA his days in New Orleans with CP3.

Defense
We wanted length for our defense. All the players in the starting 5 have great length/athleticism and then AK47 is one of the best defenders in the league. We want our defense to set up our offense by creating a ton of turnovers.

Overall outlook

I think that we have done a very nice job creating a young team, that has some key vets to help them figure out the game and should be able to get into the playoffs soon if not now to get more experience. Looking at the roster now I think that we've effectively upgraded the PG/SG/SF and Center spots, and also have gotten some young guys(Avery Bradley, Elliot Williams, Anthony Randolph, Lucas Noguiera) who may not get a lot of PT yet but we love all of their potentials to contribute should they need to. While we don't have caproom, we used a lot of that this offseason to acquire talent, and we also assumed that this is Minnesota after all and you can't expect any big names to want to sign here.

Overall I think that this team will compete for the playoffs now, and then once Rubio/Lawson/Nick Young/Wes J/Hickson/Randolph/Noguiera/Avery Bradley/Elliot Williams fully develop will be able to compete for a championship.

Daniel Gibson $4,015,334 $4,403,834 $4,792,332 N/A N/A N/A $13,240,500

Charlie Bell $4,447,792 N/A N/A N/A N/A $8,547,712

Mehmet Okur $9,945,000 $10,890,000 N/A N/A N/A N/A $20,835,000

Terrence Williams $2,369,040 $3,143,716 $4,303,747 N/A N/A $7,727,236 11

Jared Sullinger $3,552,100

Harrison Barnes 2,024,900

Marco Bellineli $854,389

George Hill(1,540,463

Corey Brewer(3,500,000

Devin Ebanks $788,872 QO N/A N/A N/A $1,262,476

Cole Aldrich $2,286,000 $2,445,480 $3,245,152 $4,442,613 N/A $10,103,152

Jordan Crawford $1,120,440 $1,198,680 $2,162,419 $3,206,867 N/A $8,730,726

Yi Jianlan 5,000,000 5,000,000

Chuck Hayes 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000

Earl Clark 2,000,000 2,000,000 2,000,000
Total = 45 M


COLLECTING CHECKS AT HOME:

Eduardo Najera $2,750,000
Ryan Hollins $2,483,333 N/A N/A N/A N/A $4,816,666


Future Assets Gained:
2012 Philly unprotected 1st(top 5 for sure)
2013 Atlanta 1st
2013 Clippers First


OLD ROTATION:

Mo Williams/Ramon Sessions/Gibson
Parker/Egyena/Harris
Moon/Powe/Graham
Jamison/Hickson
Varejao/Hollins

NEW ROTATION:

G.Hill(30)/Gibson(15)
Beli(20)/Crawford(20)
Barnes(30)/Brewer(16)/Ebanks(7)
Yi(22)/Sullinger(22)/Clark(12)
Hayes(22)/Aldrich(14)Okur(7)


TEAM OVERVIEW: THIS IS A YOUNG YOUNG SQUAD BUILT. IT IS CERTAINLY NOT READY TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS YET BUT COULD BE DOMINANT IF ALL GOES WELL. GEORGE HILL HAS SHOWN IN THE PAST AND PRESENT THAT HE CAN BE AN EXCELLENT LEADER ON A GREAT TEAM LIKE THE SPURS. HARRISON BARNES IS CLIMBING THE LADDER AND COULD VERY WELL BECOME A STAR IN THE LEAGUE ALONG WITH JARED SULLINGER. BELI CAN SPREAD THE FLOOR FOR EVERYONE. YOUNGINS LIKE CLARK,EBANKS,CRAWFORD WILL HAVE A TRY OUT SEASON SO TO SPEAK.

WHY I WIN: WELL I STARTED OFF WITH THE MOST DEPLETED AND SAD LOOKING ROSTER IN RECENT MEMORY. ALSO IT IS NOT A TEAM WITH AN IDEAL MARKET IN WHICH I CAN JUST SIGN PLAYERS AND MAKE A RUN. I DID EVERYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A REBUILD. CLEARED LONG TERM SALARY, AQUIRED MANY PICKS AND PROSPECTS. THIS TEAM WILL BOTTOM OUT AGAIN NEXT SEASON SO THAT WILL NOT ONLY BE ONE POTENTIAL TOP PICK BUT 2!! I OWN THE PHILLY UNPROTECTED 2012 1ST WHICH BY THE LOOKS OF THEIR TEAM COULD BE QUITE HIGH. I KNOW THAT OUT OF GAME PICKS DONT HOLD MUCH PRESIDENCE ON RANKING BUT IT VERY WELL SHOULD. POTENTIALLY MY TEAM FOR THE 2012/13 SEASON CAN CONSISNT OF AUSTIN RIVERS, MIKE GILCRIST, BARNES AND SULLINGER. NOW THAT LADIES AND GENTLEMENT IS A REBUILD

Miami Heat

To be continued.

Goals
1. Find a way to maximize talents available and eliminate duplication. Wade and Lebron's game are essentially similar. I thought one of which should go for a much better fit. Both Wade and Bosh have been marginalized with Lebron running the show for them so I thought the best way to go is to move Lebron for another superstar which in our case, Dwight. With Dwight our interior is secured and he wont command that many touches which is = more possessions for Wade and Bosh.

2. One weakness of current Miami heat is their bench. Point guard to center are just plain aweful if not scrubs. What we did was to seal veteran free agents with playoff experience. Michael Redd, Josh Howard, Udonis Haslem, Jeff Foster, Leon Powe and Marquis Daniels are guys no longer looking for great pay but legacy in their name.

3. Three point shooting. We resigned James Jones and signed Michael Redd for that purpose. Calderon is now slouch also when it comes to shooting three balls. We expect Charles Jenkins outside shooting to translate well in the NBA (42% in 4.8 attempts per game).

4. We need to put in some young bloods as well without sacrificing our win now goal. Splitter is slowly acclimating himself in Spurs system. We are high on Charles Jenkins as well. We felt he is like the point guard version of Marcus Thornton and we are very luck to pick him very late in the draft. Guys a heck of a shooter, very good in drawing fouls and more importantly not turnover phrone.

GM: Bness888
EMAIL: Cantmesswithness8@yahoo.com
AIM: Bness8888

ROSTER:
PG -
SG -
SF -
PF -
Cc -

SALARIES:


MINUTES:
PG - Derrick Rose (36) - Eddie House (12)
SG - Caron Butler (28) - JR Smith (20) - Brandon Rush
SF - Paul Peirce (30) - Matt Barnes (18) - Quentin Richardson - Peja Stojakovic
PF - Paul Gasol (32) - Kenyon Martin (16) - Tyler Hansbrough
Cc - Joakim Noah (36) - Dejuan Blair (12)

DRAFT PICKS:
CREDITS:
2012 second round draft pick from NOH
2012 second round draft pick from Boston
2013 second round draft pick
2014 first round draft pick
2014 second round draft pick

DEBITS:
2012 first round draft pick to Boston
2012 second round draft pick to Los Angeles Lakers
2013 first round draft pick to Philadelphia

TRADED PLAYER EXCEPTIONS:
None

RIGHTS OWNED:
Vladimir Veremeenko - 2006 second round draft pick (18th overall)

DIRECTION:
Remain as young as possible, while competing with every team, night and night out.

GOALS:
- Upgrade the Shooting Guard spot (Check)
- Upgrade the Small Forward spot (Double Check)
- Upgrade the Power Forward spot (Double Check)

TRADING BLOCK:
Everyone except Mr. Derrick Rose, you can ask, but you'll waste your time.

TRANSACTIONS:
2010 - 2011:
1. With the Boston Celtics:
OUT: Kurt Thomas, 2012 first round draft pick
IN: Shaquille O'Neal, 2012 second round draft pick

2. With the Charlotte Bobcats:
OUT: Loul Deng, Taj Gibson, Omir Asik, James Johnson, 2011 first round draft pick, 2012 first round draft pick returned, 2011 second round draft pick.
IN: Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Sherron Collins, Dominic McGuire

3. A three way trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers:
OUT: Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson, Keith Bogans, Dominic McGuire
IN: Ron Artest, Luke Walton, Matt Barnes, Jordan Crawford, Steve Blake, 2011 2nd round draft pick from ATL.

4. With the Atlanta Hawks.
OUT: Luke Walton, Ron Artest
IN: Brandon Roy

5. Signed Sheldon Williams to a one year minimum deal.

6. Sign Jamario Moon to a one year minimum deal.

7. With the Cleveland Cavaliers
OUT: Jordan Crawford, Sheldon Williams, Brian Scalabrine, Sherron Collins
IN: Anthony Parker, Christian Eyenga, 2011 OKC 2nd round pick

8. With the OKC Thunder
OUT: Carlos Boozer, Brandon Roy, Luke Harangody, Jamario Moon, 2011 2nd round pick from ATL
IN: Pau Gasol, Cole Aldrich, Ryan Anderson, Joe Smith, Josh Powell, Generated TPE

9. With the Boston Celtics
OUT: Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Josh Powell
IN: Paul Peirce, Avery Bradley, Kurt Thomas, Von Wafer, Generated TPE

10. Signed Sebastian Telfair

11. With the Minnesota Timberwolves
OUT: Avery Bradley, 2011 second round draft pick from Phoenix, 2011 second round draft pick OKC
IN: Courtney Lee

12. With the Cleveland Cavaliers
OUT: Cole Aldrich
IN: Anthony Randolph, 2012 2nd round draft pick NOH

13. With the Philadelphia 76ers
OUT: Ryan Anderson, Kurt Thomas, Christian Eyenga, 2013 first round draft pick
IN: Eric Bledsoe, Timofey Mozgov

14. With the Minnesota Timberwolves
OUT: Steve Blake
IN: Ronnie Price

15. With the Los Angeles Lakers
OUT: TPE from Gasol Trade
IN: Deshawn "Soulja Boy" Stevenson

16. A three way deal with the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers
OUT: Courtney Lee, Deshawn Stevenson, Anthony Parker, Joe Smith

2011 - 2012:

1. Re-Signed Caron Butler to a 5 year / 42 million dollar contract.

2. Signed JR Smith to Full MLE with 8 percent Max raises contract.

3. Signed Kenyon Martin to Full BAE for 3 years.

4. With the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic
OUT: Anthony Randolph, Timofey Mozgov, Eric Bledsoe
IN: Dejuan Blair, Brandon Rush, Tyler Hansbrough, Eddie House

5. With the Orlando Magic
OUT: TPE (From Gasol trade)
IN: Q - Richardson

6. Signed Peja Stojakovic to a minimum deal

Write up

First i want to mention i dont have alot of time to write this. But for those of you who say "He started with the Bulls" I have to say this to you "Goodnight". I kept the 2 best players (Rose and Noah) and mad every other position way better and its not even funny.
Gasol > Boozer
Peirce > Deng
Butler >Bogans (LOL)

and my bench is light years better considering i have a 6th man candidiate now (JR Smith)
Some how i took a team that is first in the East currently, and made them waye better.

I complete all mygoals with ease as well.

I wish i had much more time to write this but i dont. Clearly i did a good job, and did what i wanted.

Thanks for your time

Rodney Stuckey| O.J Mayo | Jeff Green| Andrea Bargnani | Andrew Bynum

Steve Blake| Evan Turner| CJ Miles | Josh McRoberts | Kwame Brown

Goal: With Melo's departure imminent, we need to quickly establish a new core and gear for a deep playoff push within 2-3 years.

Step 1: Trade Carmelo Anthony for the best possible package

Result: Carmelo Anthhony for Monta Ellis, Epke Udoh, Dorell Wright and expirings

Grade: With the season that Monta is having we give ourselves a B- in this deal. We were unable to land the all-star we wanted, fortunately for us we picked up solid assets that could help us build in the long run. Only downfall is that we were unable to save a considerable amount of money in the deal.

Step 2: If unable to acquire a franchise player with Carmelo Anthony, use other pieces to find a suitable building block for the franchise.

Result: Nene in exchange for Andrew Bynum

Grade: A- We land a guy with loads of potential but like Nene, has a history of injury problems. The difference? Andrew Bynum is a 23 year old natural center, already locked into a deal. With the lack of capable big men in the league we knew Nene would command max dollars (signed for 16 million per -92 million total) and we weren't convinced he would stay.


Step 3: Find a capable 2nd and 3rd go to guy who can relieve the pressure off of your franchise player


Result: Acquiring O.J Mayo, Jeff Green and Evan Turner


Grade:A+ We acquired O.J Mayo, Turner and Bargnani for relatively cheap. While his numbers may be down, all signs point to Mayo having a fluke year. He's still capable of averaging 18-20 PPG on good %'s and still a really good defender. Turner is slowly turning the corner and should start showing more of his potential next season. Green has always proven to be a capable scorer and defender when given the chance.

Step 4: Find suitable role players

Result: Acquired Rodney Stuckey, Andrea Bargnani, CJ Miles, Josh Mcroberts and Kwame Brown

Grade: B+



Step 5: Rebuild and be able to compete in 3-5 years.

Mission accomplished! In 3-5 years Bynum will be the 2nd best Center in basketball and the focal point in our offense. We have 5 big men with different skill sets that should allow Bynum to play 25-30 MPG so that he can be fresh during the playoffs. We also expect Green, Mayo, Stuckey, Turner and Bargnani to be in their primes, thus making this team extremely dangerous.


Evan Turner|4,947,840 | 5,293,080
Rodney Stuckey 7,000,000| 7,000,000|
Andrew Bynum |14,900,000|16,100,000
Jeff Green |12,531,750|14,718,250
Andrea Bargnani |8,600,00| 10,610,000 |
Drew Gooden |6,226,200| 6,687,400
Steve Blake $4,000,000 |$4,000,000 |$4,000,000
OJ Mayo $5,632,637 | $7,390,019
Kwame Brown $2,000,000|2,000,000
Josh Mcroberts $1,500,000|1,500,000
Luke Walton $5,680,000 | $5,800,000
Lazar Hayward|1,432,00|1,970,232
Jermaine O'Neal |$6,000,000
CJ Miles| 853,300|854,300

Total w/ Options $73,741,531 $62,613,239
Total N Options $73,741,531 $48,624,740

Draft Picks: 2012 1st Round Pick, 2013 1st Round Pick

Transactions:

Trade #3 . Warriors Get:Carmelo Anthony , J.R. Smith , Chris Anderson , Renaldo Balkman

Nuggets Get:Monta Ellis, Dan Gadzuric, Vlad Rad, Dorell Wright, Ekpe Udoh


Trade #6
Andrew Bynum, Marvin Williams, Derrick Caracter, Mo Evans

Nene, Ty lawson, Kenyon Martin


Trade #22

Aaron Afflalo, Shelden Williams, 2012 1st Top 3 Protection for Danillo Galinari

#44

2011 2nd for Shawne Williams

Trade #51

Billups, Galinari, Bass for Iguodala, Young, Nocioni

#84

Turkoglu, Delfino, Andre Miller for Jamison, Nate Robinson


AIM: Elijah129
Yahoo: Mjallday59@yahoo.com

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

Luol Deng: $12,325,000 / $13,365,000 / $14,275,000
Andrew Bogut: $12,000,000 / $13,000,000 / $14,000,000
Luis Scola: $8,591,793 / $9,408,207 / $10,224,622 / $11,041,037(UNG)
Matt Carroll: $3,900,000 / $3,500,000
Eric Gordon: $3,831,184 / $5,137,617(QO)
Nick Collison: $3,272,997 / $2,929,332 / $2,585,668 / $2,242,003
Tony Allen: $3,150,000 / $3,300,000
Jrue Holiday: $1,741,440 / $2,674,852(TO) / $3,776,891(QO)
Wayne Ellington: $1,154,040 / $2,083,042(TO) / $3,103,733(QO)
Greivis Vasquez: $1,113,600 / $1,191,240(TO) / $2,150,188(TO) / $3,203,780(QO)
John Brockman: $1,000,000 / $1,000,000
Sam Young: $947,800 / $1,184,750(QO)
Roger Mason Jr: $854,389

Total Salaries: $53,882,243

Draft Picks:

All future 2nd rounders are owed, top 55 protected.

ROTATION:

Holiday(32)/Vasquez(10)/Gordon(6)
Gordon(30)/Allen(18)
Deng(30)/Young(18)
Scola(32)/Brockman(6)/Deng(6)/Collison(4)
Bogut(34)/Collison(14)

TRADES AND TRANSACTIONS:

#12: Traded Zach Randolph and Hamed Haddadi for Paul George, Jeff Foster, and TJ Ford

#13: Traded OJ Mayo, TJ Ford, Hasheem Thabeet, and Darrell Arthur for Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Matt Carrol, and Derrick Brown

#18: Traded Paul George, Marc Gasol, and Jeff Foster for Andrew Bogut, Jon Brockman, and Earl Boykins

#27: Traded Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Tyrus Thomas, and Xavier Henry for Pau Gasol, Michael Beasley, and Wayne Ellington

#48: Traded Pau Gasol and Michael Beasley for Russell Westbrook, Andray Blatche, and Nick Collison

#108: Traded Russell Westbrook and a conditional 1st round pick for Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday

#158: Traded Andray Blatche for Luis Scola and Roger Mason Jr

OVERALL:

I've turned this team into a more competitive playoff team and probably improved the future of the team as well. Memphis was considering losing one of Gasol or Randolph, had no idea what to do with Mayo, and had a very offensive-minded team that probably couldn't go that far in the playoffs. I've changed all that.

The current Memphis team is very young, with 4 of its 5 starters under 26, and the only veteran, Scola, has only played a few years in the NBA so he'll be able to play 5-10 more years very effectively. He's not as productive as Randolph, but he's a better team player and comes at about $50 million dollars cheaper. Bogut is a big upgrade over Gasol defensively, and can anchor the defense for many years to come. Deng isn't as offensively talented as Gay, but is a much better defender and still puts up plenty of points. I consider the two equivalent if both are in the right role, and I believe Deng is here, as the 3rd option. Gordon is clearly a huge upgrade over Mayo, as well as being a bit younger, and Holiday is one of the best young PG's in the game, a solid boost over Conley skill-wise and contract-wise. Off the bench, Young, Allen and Vasquez play the same roles they do in RL Memphis, and my bench bigs in Collison and Brockman are a big upgrade over Darrell Arthur and Hasheem Thabeet. I've also got over 6 million in cap space to faciltate trades and bolster my team, keeping me fiscally responsible, which the real life Memphis ownership would thoroughly appreciate, unlike other small market teams in this game who have crazy salaries.

In conclusion, this team is essentially better in every way, with much more flexibility then they had before I took over.