RealGM

Write ups are due within the next 48 hours.

Make sure to include all the info required on your rosters as well as how you felt you did in all aspects of the game.

as per Kees request I am copy pasting his emailed write-up...



SALARIES:

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

OLD ROTATION:

Fisher/Blake/Morris
Kobe/Barnes
Artest/Barnes/Ebanks
Gasol/Odom/Caracter
Bynum/Gasol

NEW ROTATION:

PG - Collison (30) / Miller (18) / Fisher (0)
SG - Martin (26) / Henry (22) / Stevenson (0)
SF - Deng (40) / [Martin] (8) / Kleiza (0) / Peja (0)
PF - Dirk (32) / [Nene] (16) / Gooden (0) / Evans (0)
Cc - Nene (20) / Haywood (28) / Alabi (0)


Starters:


Bench:


3rd String:


PICKS:
2013 IND 1st
2014 WAS 1st
2014 POR 1st
2015 POR 1st
2015 LAL 1st
2015 LAL 2nd

TPE's:
$5,036,077 (Dwight)

TRADES:
1. NUMBER: 2. WITH: MIA. IN: Chris Bosh, Armon Johnson. OUT: Pau Gasol, Matt Barnes.
2. NUMBER: 28. WITH: NJ, TOR. IN: Anthony Morrow, Solomon Alabi, Daniel Gibson. OUT: Ron Artest, Darius Morris, Derrick Caracter.
3. NUMBER: 31. WITH: GSW, DAL. IN: Nicola Pekovic. OUT: Derek Fisher.
4. NUMBER: 40. WITH: ORL, CLE. IN: Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas. OUT: Chris Bosh, Andrew Bynum, Nicola Pekovic, 2012 LAL 2nd, 2012 CHI 2nd, 2013 LAL 1st, 2013 LAL 2nd.
5. NUMBER: 45. WITH: NOH. IN: Linas Kleiza. OUT: Luke Walton, 2013 MEM 2nd.
6. NUMBER: 58. WITH: MIA, WAS. IN: Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem. OUT: Anthony Morrow, Steve Blake, 2014 LAL 1st.
7. NUMBER: 72. WITH: WAS. IN: Luol Deng, Al Jefferson, Marcus Thornton, 2013 IND 1st, 2014 WAS 1st. OUT: Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas.
8. NUMBER: 73. WITH POR: IN: Drew Gooden, Dirk Nowitski, 2014 POR 1st, 2015 POR 1st. OUT: Kobe Bryant.
9. NUMBER: 95. WITH: DAL. IN: Brendan Haywood, Dexter Pittman. OUT: Udonis Haslem, Daniel Gibson, 2012 LAL 1st.
10. NUMBER: 96. WITH: NJN. IN: Monta Ellis, Josh Powell. OUT: Al Jefferson.
11. NUMBER: 112. WITH: NYK. IN: Eric Maynor, Derek Fisher. OUT: Mike Miller, Andrew Goudelock, 2014 LAL 2nd.
12. NUMBER: 117. WITH: MIA, BOS, DET. IN: Nene Hilario, Xavier Henry, Tracy McGrady. OUT: Marcus Thornton, Lamar Odom, Devin Ebanks.
13. NUMBER: 146. WITH: IND. IN: Kevin Martin, Darren Collison. OUT: Monta Ellis, Eric Maynor.


WRITEUP:

PG: Fisher/Blake/Morris << Collison/Miller/Fisher
My starter went to a 3rd string, to show how much I improved this position. With Mike Brown coming in, and the triangle going out, we needed a better PG than an aging Derek Fisher. We replaced him with a legit starting PG in Collison. Collison is a great slasher and also has very good instincts for his age. He is one of the quickest PG's in the NBA, and should cause some matchup problems against some of the older PGs in this league (Kidd, Nash, Billups ect) and against some of the younger guys. He is in an ideal situation to get better, as he is backed up by 2 very classy vets. Fisher can teach him how to shoot better, along with how to be a true leader. Miller can teach him how to run an offense and how to play great D. Also, if Collison somehow gets thrown off in a game, and we need a steady vet to manage the game, we have Miller step in and that problem is solved.

SG: Kobe/Barnes/Ebanks <= Martin/Henry/Stevenson
I think I improved at this position, and this is why. Kobe (in this game) is 34 years old. With a wing like him relying a lot on athletisism on both ends of the floor, his age will become a big factor. Not to mention he is owed about $60M over the next 2 seasons. Martin is one of the most efficient players to play the game. He is also only 29 years old, and on a shorter, cheaper contract. Martin will give me 4-5 points a quarter, and with amazing efficiency. He takes 15.8 shot per game and comes away with 24 PPG. Thats INSANE. Not to mention that Henry>Barnes and is also younger, and Stevenson was a starting SG on the 2011 NBA Champion Mavs.

SF: Artest/Barnes/Ebanks < Deng/Kleiza/Peja
Here we took Artest, and replaced him with a younger, quicker, better, longer, bigger, better shooting Deng. Deng is the ULTIMATE glue guy, he is 17/6/3 and proved in the 2011 playoffs that he can guard the best of them very well (LBJ). Kleiza, while overpaid, is still very productive. 11/5 in 2011 isn't something to ignore. Plus Peja adds a great shooting touch in case some gets injured.

PF: Gasol/Odom/Caracter << Dirk/Nene/Gooden/Evans
Who ever thought someone could improve the already best PF rotation in the league? Dirk, in his later age, has come to play much better D and also has been better offensively as well. 2 40+ PT in the 2011 playoffs, while leading them to a title. We moved out star from Kobe to Dirk because Dirk will age much better. He is the same age, but does not really on athleticism at all. His signature jump shot and good all around shooting stroke will not go away with age. Nene also is an upgrade on Odom. Nene is a top C and has been saying he wants to play PF for a while now. He has the game to do it as well. He led the league in FG% in 2011, and that should transfer nicely to PF. He is also a very underrated defender, which I will go into in the C category. Gooden is a solid 11/7 big who can step in with injuries, and Evans is a guy I love. A freak athlete who will mostly play in the D-League, but we can't wait till he polishes his game so that he can get minutes at the pro level.

C: Bynum/Gasol << Nene/Haywood/Alabi
Bynum is a very injury prone C, as lots are. But he was worse than a lot, and although he was a top tier guy when he was healthy, he didn't get that opportunity often because of his nagging injuries. Nene is a great replacement for him. He has been healthy the past few years, and is still fairly young. He is easily a top 10 C and is very underrated defensively. For C's, he is 8th in the league in DWS, and 22nd in DRTG. So he is aproximatly 13-15th in the league for C's in terms of defense. Backing him up, and playing 28 MPG, will be Haywood. He is a very solid starting caliber C, 10/10/2 when he gets the minutes. He is also a top shot blocker and defensive anchor. With Haywood being a top 10 defensive C, and Nene being a top 15, we should have no trouble on the defensive end. Alabi should be a good C soon as well. He is learning from a great 2 way C, plus Haywood who he can learn some D from. Eventually when Haywood gets older, we are hoping that Alabi will be able to take over the backup role from Haywood.

Front Court:
One big thing that the Lakers had was a dominating front court. They, and I, know that size wins championships. So we kept the size that we had. To give you an idea of how we kept our size, the previous total weight of their 3 rotational bigs was 732 LBS, and the weight of our 3 is 765 LBS, and the height is exactly the same. We won't have any problems matching up against other bigs on D, and we will over power them on O.

Perimeter:
The old Lakers perimeter was aging. Artest's best years were from 2003-2008, and he was definitely out of his prime. He just didn't fit in LA. Kobe was aging quickly, and he too was past his prime. Fisher was the worst of him all, and could retire any day now. We got 5 years younger at SF, 3 at SG, and 14 at PG. This was much needed. We also got a bench, which the old Lakers were lacking. Last but not least, we also brought shooting back to LA. They had lost it in the past year, and we brought in nice shooters in Deng and Martin.

Roles:
1st option: Kobe to Dirk. We feel this improved because, although both are the same age, Dirk doesn't rely on athleticism as much, and therefore will age much better. He also came off his best performance he has had, in 2011.

2nd option: Pau to Martin. Another upgrade. Pau showed his true soft side in the 2011 playoffs, and after that, I decided I needed a better replacement. Martin is the most efficient offensive, perimeter player ever, and he is a great compliment to Dirk. Dirk usually takes over in the 4th quarter, while Martin is a guy who will give you 5-6 PTS every quarter. They are a great team together.

3rd/4th options: Odom/Bynum to Deng/Nene. Neither of Odom/Bynum were consistent. Bynum was very injury prone and Odom often took nights off. Deng is known for his hustle and being ready for every game. He played every single game in 2011, while averaging 40 MPG. He played as a 2nd/3rd option in Chicago, and should fit in nicely as a catch and shoot guy when Dirk is in the game, or as a creator when he isn't. Nene is much more healthy than Bynum. He also led the league in FG% in 2011 with .615%.

Defensive Anchor: Bynum to Haywood. Bynum was injured a lot, and this prevented him from doing his job very well. He also had to worry about offense a lot. Haywood, with all of the other offensive option on my team, can completely focus on defense. This will help us a lot as all of his energy will be put into the defensive side of the floor.

Overall: I believe that, not only did I vastly improve this team, but also made it younger and better for the future. I also know that I have the best team in the NBA and should win the Championship.

Thanks to r0cd0gg for commishing. It was run very well!

Depth Chart:

Brandon Jennings / Beno Udrih
Jeremy Lamb / Norris Cole
Jared Dudley / Tobias Harris
Kevin Love / Jon Brockman / Jon Leuer
Andray Blatche / Joel Anthony / Festus Ezeli

Salaries:



Picks:

own:
All MIL picks
2014 Portland 1st round pick
2013 New Jersey 2nd round pick

owe:
No picks


Transaction History:


Trade #1:

#54 PDX outgoing:
Brad Miller
Jason Maxiell
Kevin Love
2014 POR 1st

MIL outgoing:
Andrew Bogut
Drew Gooden

Trade #2:

#123 MIN outgoing:
Andray Blatche
Jared Dudley
2013 NJN 2nd

MIL outgoing:
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute
Jason Maxiell
Larry Sanders

Trade #3:

#124 MIA outgoing:
Joel Anthony
Norris Cole
Mike Bibby - waived
James Jones - waived

MIL outgoing:
Stephen Jackson


Draft Picks:
2012 #7 overall pick: Jeremy Lamb
2012 #36 overall pick: Festus Ezeli


WRITE UP

When the game started, MIL was in a position where they weren't good enough to contend and too expensive to rebuild. What I did, with just a few small moves, was get younger, keep a core to build off of, and create incredible cap space to help maneuver the team. Kevin Love is locked up to a long term contract, role players are locked up to cheap deals, i have all my picks that will be lottery picks for the next 2-3 years, and i don't have one single bad contract. I feel I left the Bucks in the best possible position considering the starting point.

edit: Saw some voting, and there's been some mention about Blatche. Blatche is signed to a 7-8 mil deal, so by no means crazy. He's more of a stop gap and i don't see him as a core piece. I attempted to sign two players with my capspace, both centers, Hibbert and McGee, but both were matched. Instead of wasting money on anyone else, I just held on to my money instead of locking myself into a long term deal i'd regret.

Old Team:
Chauncey Billups
Landry Fields
Carmelo Anthony
Amare Stoudemire
Ronny Turiaf

Key Reserves: Toney Douglas, Bill Walker,


New Team:

Russell Westbrook
Anthony Morrow
Jeff Green
Dejuan Blair
Joakim Noah

Key Reserves: Rodrigue Beubois, Richard Jefferson, Udonis Haslem


2012 - 2013 Salaries and beyond
1.Joakim Noah| 12,463,024 |13,407,474
2.Dejuan Blair|897,451 |1,202,023 |
3.Jamal Crawford | 6,000,000|6,000,000
4.Roddy Beuibois |2,145,302| 3,141,686
5.Udonis Haslem | 4,134,400
6.Jeff Green | 7,500,000|7,500,000
7.Russel Westbrook|12,500,000|13,500,000
8.Mike Miller| 5,830,000| 6,200,000
9.Eddy Curry | 1,000,000|
10.Mickael Pietrus |1,000,000|
11.Joey Graham|1,000,000
12.Richard Jefferson| $10,164,000

Draft Picks: 2013 and beyond

Trades and Transactions:

#1. Carmelo Anthony, Ronny Turiaf in exchange for Rudy Gay, Tony Allen, OJ Mayo, Darell Arthur, Xavier Henry, 2012 1st

#2. Toney Douglas for Eric Maynor

#3 Landry Fields for Robin Lopez

#4. Emeka Okafor in exchange for Robin Lopez, Jeff Foster, Iman Shumpert Memphis 2012 1st

#5. Darell Arthur for Udonis Haslem

#6. OJ Mayo for Caron Butler S&T

#7. Rudy Gay, Emeka Okafor in exchange for Marc Gasol, Aaron Afflalo, Charlie V

#8 Amare Stoudemire for Russel Westbrook, Chicago 2013 1st

#9. Marc Gasol, Afflalo for Jamal Crawford and Joakim Noah


Draft Picks: 2013 1st and beyond

What went wrong: Last years playoffs proved that buying a championship team doesn't alway work. The Miami Heat and New York Knicks, two teams who went out of their way to clear cap, to sign 3 superstars both went home earlier than expected. That withstanding, we still decided to stay on course and make a run at either Chris Paul or Dwight Howard.... until they were teamed up in Washington alongside Gerald Wallace, Taj Gibson and others.

Why we're better: Melo and Amare didn't mesh well in the playoffs. A core of Westbrook, Noah, Roddy, Jeff Green should fair much better.

Email / AIM: nwier712@hotmail.com



Starters:

The reserves:

The reserves:


Picks:
2012: 11th, 16th, 17th and 28th
2013: Utah 1st (top 12 protected -- to Minny if outside the top 12, to LAC if inside the top 12)
2014: Utah 1st(Top 6 protected), 2nd

Transactions:
1) Al Jefferson + Memhet Okur + 2012 Utah 2nd for Rashard Lewis + Chris Singleton + Jordan Crawford + 2012 Washington 1st
2) CJ Miles for Patrick Patterson
3) Devin Harris for Kirk Hinrich + Jeff Teague
4) Rashard Lewis + Jordan Crawford + 2014 1st (top 6, top 3, unprotected) for Leonardo Barbosa
5) Paul Millsap + Kirk Hinrich for George Hill + Tyler Hansborough + 2012 1st (top 5 protected)
6) Raja Bell and 2013 2nd for cap space (3 team deal)
7) George Hill + Tyler Hansbrough for Ricky Rubio and Anthony Randolph
8) Anthony Randolph for Rodrigue Beaubois and Eddy House
- Agreed to terms with Kyrylo Fesenko
- Drafted Bradley Beal
- Drafted Adonis Thomas
- Drafted Josiah Turner
- Drafted Thomas Robinson
9) 2013 Utah 1st for Raja Bell, Al-Farouq Aminu and Tiago Splitter
10) Patrick Patterson + Rodrigue Beaubois for Nicolas Batum
11) Gordon Hayward + Enes Kanter + Al-Farouq Aminu for Brook Lopez

Total trades = 11

Rotation:
Ricky Rubio (34) / Jeff Teague (14) / Josiah Turner
Bradley Beal (30) / Alec Burks (18) / Raja Bell
Nicolas Batum (32) / Adonis Thomas (16) / Chris Singleton
Derrick Favors (32) / Thomas Robinson (16)
Brook Lopez (34) / Tiago Splitter (14) / Kyrylo Fesenko

Write Up:

Started with ...
Devin Harris /
Alec Burks / Raja Bell
Gordon Hayward / CJ Miles
Paul Millsap / Derrick Favors / Jeremy Evans
Al Jefferson / Enes Kanter / Mehmet Okur

As you can see the Jazz had a pretty interesting roster and could really go either a win now or rebuild direction. Since I wasn't too confident in building a title contender around the likes of Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap or Devin Harris I decided that rebuilding my team was the best direction I could go. My main goal when I decided to rebuild was:

a) Build around Derrick Favors (everyone else was expendable on the squad)
b) Attain a young star player at any other position
c) Surround Favors with a cast of players that can develop together over time, but still compete in the 2012/13 season
d) Maintain flexibility for future free agents or for future trades

I'm very proud to say that I have accomplished each one of these goals. Now let's take a closer look at my new squad and how I reached each one of my goals....


My Finished roster ...
Ricky Rubio / Jeff Teague / Josiah Turner
Bradley Beal / Alec Burks / Raja Bell
Nicolas Batum / Adonis Thomas / Chris Singleton
Derrick Favors / Thomas Robinson
Brook Lopez / Tiago Splitter / Kyrylo Fesenko

a) As you can see I accomplished my goal in building around Derrick Favors (he's still here )

b) I also accomplished my goal of putting a young star player around Favors, enter Brook Lopez. First of all, let me get it out of the way: Brook is the perfect (and I mean perfect) complement to Derrick Favors. Brook excels in Derricks weakness (scoring) and Derrick excels in Brook's weakness (defense + rebounding). Brook has proven to be a very good and quality scorer in this league, he's also proven something that is very hard for most current NBA centers to do: stay healthy! Brook hasn't missed a game in his career yet, quite the accomplishment since it seems most big men sans Dwight Howard are constantly due to miss a good 15-20 games a year.

c) Here's my 12 "core" guys for the 2012/13 season: Ricky Rubio (21), Jeff Teague (24), Josiah Turner (20), Bradley Beal (19), Alec Burks (21), Nicolas Batum (23), Adonis Thomas (19), Chris Singleton (22), Derrick Favors (21), Thomas Robinson (21), Brook Lopez (24), Tiago Splitter (27). Those are the ages of my players come the start of the 2012 season, the average age of those players is 21.8. This team has amazing raw talent that fits well together and is more than capable of developing into a perennial title contender.

d) I currently have ~7.5 million in cap space and I'm scheduled to have 2 bench players as free agents next year (Jeff Teague and Tiago Splitter). I won't be close to the luxury tax for a good 2-3 years, but by then this team will be a legitimate powerhouse and the owner will be more than willing to pay the extra money to keep this squad together. Also with my current cap space and my young plethora of cheap players on rookie deals, I'm in position to make trades that make sense and add some talent if the right move ever comes along.

A brief run down on my starting 5....

PG:
Ricky Rubio is one of the most talented, decorated and proven international prospect in quite some time. He's going to be a pass first PG and has drawn comparisons to just about any pass first PG in league history. Ricky has star potential (and incredible marketing potential in a state like Utah), he will be a great PG for the Jazz for a long time.

SG:
Bradley Beal does just about everything you want your SG to do. He's got a very high BBIQ, he's a great shooter, a very solid passer and a good defender. He really is the complete package. Somehow he slid to the 11th slot in the draft and watched a guy like Austin Rivers go 6 spots ahead of him, the Jazz are very happy to have landed him.

SF:
Nicolas Batum is really the perfect guy for this team. He can be the glue guy and excel at doing the dirty work for this team. He's a very quality and above average defender. Night in and night out he'll be asked to guard the opposing teams best perimeter scorer and more times than not he'll succeed. He's also a very good 3pt shooter and will help spread the floor.

PF:
Derrick Favors is an athletic freak and a beast on the boards and on defense. We think that Derrick has all star potential and will be a game changer for years to come in the defensive side of the court.

C:
I'll keep this short, but Brook lopez as stated is the perfect center for Derrick Favors. His weaknesses will be masked and he'll be given freedom to dominate with his array of offensive moves. With no injury concerns in his history Brook is arguably one of the top centers in this league today and for the foreseeable future.

In closing:
This team's average age in 5 years will be 26.8, all these guys (with the exception of Tiago Splitter) will be peaking together. This team will be exciting to watch for the next decade and Utah will be proud to watch them!

Golden State Warriors




Linup
Steph Curry/Lance Stephenson/Patty Mills
Eric Gordon/JR Smith/Keith Bogans
Gordon Hayward/Al-Farouq Aminu/Sam Young
Ekpe Udoh
Enes Kanter/Jeff Foster

Draft Picks
2014 2nd (GSW)
2015 1st (GSW)
2015 1st (OKC)
2015 2nd (GSW)
2016 1st (GSW)
2016 2nd (GSW)

Salaries
Brook Lopez $15,500,000, $16,740,000, $18,079,200, $19,525,536, $21,087,579
Eric Gordon $12,500,000, $12,500,000, $12,500,000, $12,500,000
JR Smith $6,630,000 $7,260,000 $7,890,000
Ekpe Udoh $3,524,880 $4,469,548 $5,962,377
Stephen Curry $3,958,742 $5,308,674
Enes Kanter $3,818,500, $4,084,900, $5,163,314, $6,774,267
Al-Farouq Aminu $2,947,800 $3,749,602 $5,054,463
Gordon Hayward $2,709,720, $3,452,183 $4,677,708
Sam Young $2,200,000, $2,200,000, $2,200,000, $2,200,000
Lance Stephenson$870,000 $930,000
Patty Mills $854,389
Jeff Foster $854,389
Kieth Bogans $854,389

total salaries- $41,722,809

Blue - Team Option Green - Player Option
Red - Qualifying Offer Asterisk - Not On Roster
Orange - Unguaranteed Yellow - Early Termination

Transactions (trades numbered, transactions not)
1. Traded Monta Ellis to New Jersey for Travis Outlaw and Brook Lopez.
2. Traded Andris Biedrins to Minnesota for Nikola Pekovic.
3. Traded David Lee to Oklahoma City for Ryan Gomes, Nate Robinson, Reggie Jackson, 2012 1st, 2015 1st.
4. Traded Klay Thompson, Dorell Wright, Charlie Bell, Ryan Gomes, 2013 1st to Indiana for Danny Granger, Lance Stephenson.
Fired Keith Smart, Hired Jerry Sloan.
5.Traded Travis Outlaw, Reggie Jackson, 2012 OKC 1st for Andre Miller, 2012 GSW 2nd.
6.Traded Nikola Pekovic, 2012 NJN 2nd in a 3 way with Dallas/LAL for a TPE.
Signed JR Smith to a 4 year, $27,780,000 contract.
7.Traded Danny Granger, 2014, 2015(pick swap) 1st's to LAC for Eric Gordon, Willie Warren, Antonio Mcdyss.
8.Traded rights to Jeremy Tyler to Cleveland for Sam Young, Ronny Turiaf.
Resigned Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Sam Young
Signed Jeff Foster, Patty Mills, Keith Bogans.
9.Traded Brook Lopez to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Enes Kanter, Gordon Hayward, Al-Farouq Aminu.

Writeup!
Old / New
Reasoning

PG- Steph Curry/Jeremy Lin <= Steph Curry/Lance Stephenson/Patty Mills
A slight upgrade here as when Curry would used to go to the bench the offense would break down, now two very nice bench PG's to fight for minutes.

SG- Monta Ellis/Charlie Bell << Eric Gordon/JR Smith
This though not a great talent upgrade, i like the fit better and believe Gordon's ability to defend, hustle, score makes him a much more all around, complete, and better player.

SF- Dorrel Wright/Klay Thompson = Gordon Hayward/Al-Farouq Aminu
Though no real upgrade here, i like the fit of defensive players better. It is also a bit more potential, so ill just call it a wash.

PF- David Lee/Ekpe Udoh => Ekpe Udoh/Sam Young
Some may see it differently but i believe this is an improvement, though i wrote it as a slight downgrade. Allowing Ekpe to get more minutes will show his hutle/defensive style of play more, a style that is made for winning. I am slao very happy to get rid of David Lee's horrible contract and terrible defense.

C- Andris Biedrins/Lou Admunson <<< Enes Kanter/Jeff Foster
A terrible contract, average player into a rookie scale all star potential player? no explanation needed.

Overall, you should vote for me!

Clippers

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

CONTACT INFORMATION
Email: josh1524@gmail.com
AIM: joshvanklomp

DEPTH CHART
G. Hill / J. Jack / M. Lee
D. Wade / C. Lee / Q. Pondexter
W. Johnson / L. Mbah a Moute / L. Babbitt
T. Hansbrough / L. Sanders / J. Maxiell
A. Biedrins / A. Gray

SALARIES (2012-13 / 2013-14 / 2014-15 / 2015-16)
Dwyane Wade - $17,182,000 / $18,673,000 / $20,164,000 (ETO) / $21,655,000 (PO)
Andris Biedrins - $9,000,000 / $9,000,000 / $9,000,000 (ETO)
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - $6,500,000 / $6,500,000 / $6,500,000 / $6,500,000
Jarrett Jack - $5,400,000
Jason Maxiell - $5,000,000
Wes Johnson - $4,285,560 / $5,421,233 (TO) / $7,150,607 (QuO)
Courtney Lee - $6,200,000 (BYC) / $6,200,000 / $6,200,000 / $6,200,000 / $6,200,000
Tyler Hansbrough - $3,055,259 / $4,225,423 (QuO)
George Hill - $4,000,000 (BYC) / $4,320,000 / $4,640,000 / $4,960,000 / $5,280,000
Aaron Gray - $2,000,000 / $2,000,000 (TO)
Larry Sanders - $1,991,760 / $3,053,368 (TO) / $4,268,609 (QuO)
Luke Babbitt - $1,892,280 / $2,902,758 (TO) / $4,078,374 (QuO)
Quincy Pondexter - $1,234,320 / $2,225,479 (TO) / $3,284,807 (QuO)
Malcolm Lee - $788,872 (UnG) / $884,293 (QuO)

Total Salaries: $68,530,051
Available Cap Space: $-6,530,051

PENDING ACQUISITIONS
None

DRAFT RIGHTS HELD
Nemanja Bjelica
Paulao Prestes
Henk Norel
Loukas Mavrokefalidis

FUTURE DRAFT PICKS
2013: UTA 1st*, MIN 1st, MEM 1st^
2014: MIN 1st
2015: MIN 1st, MIN 2nd, DEN 2nd

*2013: Top 12 protected (If not conveyed by 2014 and if UTA 2014 1st rd pick is not within top 9 picks, MIN will have the option to swap 2014 1st rd pick with UTA. If MIN does not receive a first round pick by the 2013 draft and also does not swap 2014 first round picks with UTA, then MIN will receive UTA’s own 2014 second round pick.)
^2013: Top 14 protected, 2014: Unprotected.

TRANSACTION LOG
1. (8) Nikola Pekovic to GSW for Andris Biedrins.
2. (16) Michael Beasley, 2014 2nd to NOH for Trevor Ariza.
3. (23) Darko Milicic to HOU for Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams.
4. (36) Wayne Ellington, Lazar Hayward to TOR for Corey Brewer.
5. (37) Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, Trevor Ariza, Brad Miller for Dwyane Wade, Jared Dudley, Robin Lopez.
6. (39) Corey Brewer, Terrence Williams to NOH for Jarrett Jack, James Anderson.
7. (51) Ricky Rubio, Anthony Randolph to UTA for Tyler Hansbrough, George Hill.
8. (53) Robin Lopez to NYK for Landry Fields, Bill Walker.
9/10. (71) Luke Ridnour, James Anderson to CLE for Luke Harangody, Alonzo Gee.
11. (88) Martell Webster to CLE for Luke Babbitt, Ryan Hollins.
12. (91) Landry Fields, Anthony Tolliver, Ryan Hollins for Andray Blatche, Quincy Pondexter, Derek Caracter.
13. (123) Andray Blatche, Jared Dudley to MIL for LRMaM, Jason Maxiell, Larry Sanders.


When I started out this game, I had no real direction other than trying to maximize value. I got my starting center (Biedrins) for a third-stringer because the other GM wanted to save money. I traded possibly the biggest draft bust of all time (Milicic) for two young wing prospects.

It was about that time when I was offered the deal for Dwyane Wade. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bring an NBA superstar to Minnesota. Seeing that he was recently voted the SG with the most trade value, it makes the trade that much better in my mind. After that, I built my team with young core pieces who will complement Wade beautifully.

Although I might have sacrificed some value in the process, I acquired players who are great fits alongside Wade. I brought in two point guards who play solid defense, can hit the open shot, and are not ball-dominant. Though he was already on the roster, Wes Johnson also complements Wade with his defensive and shot-making abilities. Tyler Hansbrough is a hard-nosed player in the post who can hit the mid-range jumper. After that, I tried to fill my bench players who would fill roles offensively and play tough defense.

There are some trades I probably whiffed on. No GM is perfect. I understand that I might not have surrounded Wade with enough immediate help. However, they are young and they will grow together as a team. I increased the team salary by a considerable margin. However, it is understandable when adding a superstar player and when considering typical over-payment of players in GM a Team Free Agency.

Overall, I took the team with the NBA's worst record during the 2010-2011 season and turned them into a playoff team in 2012. Not sure how much more I could've done than that!

Trades: 13
Salary Difference: +$17,479,208
Average Starters' Age: 25.6 yrs

All picks exc 2013 1st.

Better than what I started with

The Hawks I inherited were stuck in a rut. Al Horford the centrepiece (who should've been a PF), Josh Smith a high flyer but still not fulfilling his potential, Joe Johnson - the league's biggest contract - and Marvin Williams (the less said the better). Jeff Teague had shown some promise but ultimately the team was mediocre playoff team with seemingly little ambition to shake things up. I felt the only piece worth keeping was Al Horford...

A Game of Two Halves

For the first time, I changed direction completely mid-game. This was due to my position in the rankings at the end of the season, which I was disappointed by.

2011-12 - Title Contention

Regardless, I felt the team was strong enough to compete for a title. It was the 10/11 Spurs core - Tim Duncan and Ginobili, plus Al Horford, Shawn Marion, Shane Battier, Jamal Crawford and Devin Harris.

Harris / West
Ginobili / Crawford
Battier / Marion
Horford
Duncan / Pachulia

Arguably the best defensive team in the league and plenty of scoring options. The Spurs core of Parker/Gino/Duncan won more than 62 games with Blair, McDyess and Hill taking the remaining minutes; the extra depth here I'm sure would've allowed my team to contend.

2012-13 - Rebuild

With the success (or failure) of the last season behind me, I decided to rebuild the squad. Out went my ageing core of Duncan, Ginobili, Marion & Battier; in came the youth of Marc Gasol, Arron Afflalo, Jan Vasely & CJ Miles. Probably a few less wins short term, but the long-term potential of this team is pretty significant.

Final Rotation

PG: Devin Harris [38] / Arron Afflalo [10]
SG: Arron Afflalo [28] / Josh Childress [20]
SF: Jan Vasely [28] / CJ Miles [20]
PF: Al Horford [36]/ Kevin Seraphin [12]
C: Marc Gasol [36]/ Zaza Pachulia [12]

The comparison to what I started with is fairly straightforward; but I'll briefly cover positon by position.

PG: Devin Harris represents a huge upgrade over Kirk Hinrich and Jeff Teague. Hinrich is a fringe starter, and Jeff Teague has had one good series of games in his career; neither are close to the borderline All Star of Harris. Devin does tend to get overlooked due to the quality of the position in the league, but he's still a borderline top 10 PG.

SG: Arron Afflalo, statistically, is a downgrade on Joe Johnson. But he's 6 years younger, paid less than 1/3 of what JJ was owed, shoots from 3 at a better rate, and defends better. He also continues to imrpove. Crawford departs for Childress, and the less that is said the better...

SF: Jan Vasely, both short and long-term, represents an upgrade on Marvin Williams. Stylistically not too dissimilar, but Jan is younger, more athletic, and on a rookie deal. With Marvin going stale, a shakeup is a big improvement. I've also added a backup here (something I didn't have) in CJ Miles. A good scorer, streaky but can be a game changer.

PF: Al Horford is an upgrade over Josh Smith at Power Forward. His higher BBIQ and improved rebounding being the main advantages. I've added a backup in Kevin Seraphin, a prospect who has size and works hard. In limited minutes, I hope he pans out.

C: Marc Gasol is an upgrade over no natural Center on the roster before. Marc coasted a little through the regular season but his 15/11 playoff performance, knocking out the Spurs and giving the Thunder a good run, shows some of this young man's potential. He has good post moves and a sound offensive game.

First and foremost, the best thing I can say about this team is how good it will be defensively. Horford, Afflalo and Harris are great defenders at their position, and Marc Gasol is a good help defender. The team will be good on the boards, possessing elite size (Horford 6'11, Gasol 7'1) that few teams in the league possess. My core all have their best years ahead; and in the next couple of seasons I have the financial flexibility to add a key piece to the backcourt and win titles.

Summary

My team represents a MASSIVE upgrade on the original Hawks. You could only argue I've got worse at one position in terms of talent, but moving that hideous contract was necessary. I'd rather pay Afflalo. I've added the teams most pressing need - a natural Center; established a great defensive core, and cut a huge amount of salary ($10m from the 7 man roster I started with). I can't claim it's perfect but it's built with both the short and long-term in mind, and I hope that's reflected in the rankings.

76ers:

Depth Chart:

Holiday/Williams/Foye
Iggy/Gordon/Harris
Gallinari/Barnes
Ibaka/Brand/Evans
Chandler/Vucevic

Salaries:

Player 12/13 13/14 14/15
Elton Brand $18,160,355
Tyson Chandler 13,000,000 $12,000,000 $11,000,000 $10,000,000 $9,000,000
Andre Iguodala $14,718,250 $15,904,750
Ben Gordon $12,400,000 $13,200,000
Danilo Gallinari $8,000,000 $8,000,000 $8,000,000 $8,000,000 $8,000,000
Matt Barnes $6,200,000
Louis Williams $5,351,500
Jrue Holiday $2,674,852 $3,776,891 (QO)
Randy Foye $2,000,000 $2,000,000 (team option)
Reggie Evans 1,500,000
Serge Ibaka $2,253,062 $3,293,976 (QO)
Nikola Vucevic $1,520,100 $1,626,200
Manny Harris $973,872


$ 30 mil in exp contracts.



Trades:

#1 Turner for Gallinari
#2 Young (S&T)+Speights+Nocioni+Brackins+Allen+picks* for Ibaka+Camby+Brewer+picks**
#3 TPE*** for Dragic
#4 Hawes+Camby+Brewer+Dragic+Douglas-Roberts+pick**** for Chandler+Gordon
#5 Meeks for Harris+Morris+picks*****


*2012 1st PHI + 2014 1st PHI (lottery protected 2014, top 10 2015, top 6 2016, top 3 2017, unprotected 2018)
** 2014 2nd CHI + 2016 2nd CHI
*** Jason Smith TPE ~ 2,2mio + PHI 2012 2nd + CHI 2016 2nd
**** 2013 1st PHI
***** 2014 1st MEM + 2016 2nd TOR

Transactions:

- Re-Sign Spencer Hawes (3 years, $11,340,000)
- Sign Reggie Evans (2 years, $3,000,000, 2nd year TO)
- Sign Chris Douglas-Roberts (2 years, $3,000,000, 2nd year TO)
- Sign Marquis Daniels (1 year, Vet Min)
- Re-Sign Danilo Gallinari (5 years, $40,000,000)
- Sign Matt Barnes (1 year, $6,200,000)
- Sign Randy Foye (2 years, $2,000,000, 2nd year TO)


Why I did a good job:

Holiday/Williams/Daniels < Holiday/Williams/Foye
Iggy/Meeks < Iggy/Gordon/Harris
Turner/Nocioni << Gallinari/Barnes
Brand/Young/Speights << Ibaka/Brand/Evans
Hawes/Vucevic <<< Chandler/Vucevic

Gallo is a way better fit next to Holiday & Iggy than Turner and has more value. Ibaka is the young big man Philly was looking for. A better fit than the hybrid Young. With Chandler the Sixers got their starting center, one of the best in the league and a very good defender. I kept the core of Iggy/Holiday/Williams/Brand/Vucevic and that's why this team will play like a team and it becomes even better in the defensive end. Gordon is another scorer who will come off the bench.
Meeks, who the Sixers got for a 2nd + who got overpaid this year + who was the 3rd SG in the rotation after the trade for Gordon + Chandler, was traded for Harris, who showed that he can be a scorer, the exp contract of Morris, a 1st rounder + a 2nd. Very good deal also. With Williams, Foye, Gordon, Barnes, Brand and Vucevic as the main guys off the bench this team is one of the deepest and has a great mix of youth + vets and guys that played many years in Philly. The exp contracts (30 mil!) are very good trade assets for deadline deals, if needed.

MIAMI HEAT

jjbail10@yahoo.com
AIM: The SamBone

ROTATION:
PG: Billups (30) / (LBJ) (5) / Chalmers (13) / Mack
SG: S.Jackson (20) / Matthews (28) / Ellington
SF: LBJ (32) / (S.Jackson) (10) / (AK47) (6)
PF: LMA (32) / AK47 (16) / Speights
C : Bogut (32) / R.Lopez (16) / Thabeet

SALARY:



TPE's:
$ 3,541,538 (trade #5)

DRAFT PICKS: (including pending trades)
- 2013 DET 1st
- 2013 HOU 1st
- 2013 MIAMI 1st (only if its top 10, if not its owed to CLEV)
- 2013 MIAMI 2nd
- 2014 MIAMI 1st
- 2014 LA Lakers 1st
- 2014 Minnesota 2nd
- 2015 MIAMI 1st (only if its top 10, if not its owed to CLEV)
- 2015 MIAMI 2nd

TRADES:
2012 salary
1. traded D.Wade to Portland for L.Aldridge, W.Mathews, A.Johnson, 2012 PORt 1st, and V.Claver(rites)
2. traded C.Bosh and A.Johnson to Lakers for P.Gasol and M.Barnes
3. traded House, Pittman, and Port 2012 1st to Dallas for R.Fernandez
4. traded Miller, Haslem, Barnes and 2014 Miami 2nd in a 3 way with Lakers and Wizzards for Morrow, Blake, Booker, Mack, 2014 Lakers 1st (creating a TPE for $1,791,280)
5. traded Gasol, Blake, Booker, Z, 2012 Miami 1st, 2012 Memphis protected 2nd in a 3 way with Dallas and Portland for Bogut, Diaw, R.Lopez (creating a TPE for $ 3,541,538)
6. traded R.Fernadez and McRoberts to Houston for Flynn and 2013 HOU 1st
7. traded TPE from trade #1 to Boston for Ellington
2013 salary
1. traded J.Anthony, Bibby, J.Jones, and Cole to MIL for S.Jackson
2. traded Morrow and Flynn to NY for Billups (s&t)
3. traded Claver (rites) to DET for 2013 DET 1st (unprotected)

My Miami Heat

Well obviously this team is set to get LeBron his 1st ring, after coming so close last year by losing in the finals (and then again in our 2011 season), I think I have gotten the pieces around LBJ to get him over the hump! But not only is this team gonna win a title in 2012, it has a bright future. When all of these rebuilding teams are finally in their prime (and some have a ton of talent, good job guys!) My team will still be playing, sort of like the current Mavs, Lakers, and Celtics age wise. Plus I have 2 lotto picks in the 2013 draft which froom what I read is the deepest draft in the past 10 seasons. So after awarding me the 2012 Champ, keep in mind that I will be still atop the league in 5 years time. Plus my payroll is not out of control like some other are.

Great game fellas, it was a pleasure playing with all of you even though some have driven me crazy this round. Thanks, and good luck to all! Gremz if you are reading this, I hope all is well

PG: Billups/Chalmers/S.Mack vs Bibby/Chalmers/House

This is a clear upgrade. Billups may be older, but with the support cast around him, he should shine. On this team he will simply be a vet leader that can defend and knock down 3’s. His toughness, leadership and ability to be clutch is ideal for my team. S.Mack looks like he could be the steal of the 2011 draft. He is an explosive combo guard that really could help this team down the road

SG: S.Jackson/W.Matthews/W.Ellington vs D.Wade/M.Miller

Well you can never upgrade when you trade away DWade. But I don’t think that DWade and LBJ messed well, I think a vet player like Capt Jack who at this stage of his career does not need to be the man, would be a better fit. Jack is a solid defender and great passer and can also stretch the floor. Matthews is an up and coming superstar who blw up for a career season in 2010. He will play the 6th man role (still getting 30ish minutes). Elly is a great shooter. If he continues to develop (and shoot 40% from 3) he will have a role in the future.

SF: LBJ/S.Jackson/AK47 vs LBJ/J.Jones

AK will be used as our combo forward who adds defense(and shot blocking) with passing and shooting.

PF: LMA/AK47/Speights vs Bosh/Haslem

Bosh is a very good player, but I believe LMA is much better and a greater force both in the present and going forward. Speights is a young BIG who has been up and down during his few seasons in the league. We believe he can still develop.

C: Bogut/R.Lopez/Thabeet vs Z/J.Anthony/J.Howard

This is clear. Bogut becomes the best post player LBJ has ever played with. I think he is the perfect post player to pair with LBJ. I also added Robin Lopez and Hasheem Thabeet. Robin will play the backup minutes and Thabeet is simply a building piece for the future that once he learns the game will be the defensive force that was projected when he was the 2nd pick in the draft 2 years ago.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

Rotation:
Marcin Gortat 34 / Hamed Haddadi 14
Anthony Davis 28 / Tyrus Thomas 20 / Markieff Morris
Omri Casspi 30 / Corey Maggette 18
Reggie Williams 32 / Gary Neal 16 / Gerald Henderson
Kemba Walker 34 / Pooh Jeter 14

Others: DeSagana Diop, D.J. White
Rights to: Evan Fourner



Draft picks:
2013 - Charlotte 1st; Portland 1st (top-12 protected, declining protections next few years)
2014 - Charlotte 1st, 2nd
2015 - Charlotte 1st

Feh. Playing Charlotte ... not so fun.

Good things: Making sure I had a bad enough team to ensure a high pick, and getting lucky and coming up with Anthony Davis. Getting a real center in Marcin Gortat to go next to him; this team will have awesome interior defense. Adding a ton of inexpensive three point shooting in Reggie Williams, Omri Casspi, and Gary Neal, which takes care of one of Charlotte's (many) major offensive weaknesses.

Bad things: It's still the Bobcats. Unless Walker turns into a star, there's nobody who will get his own shot routinely, and make the offense easier for others. Wing defense is unimpressive. And I failed to find a taker who would give back equal value for either Markieff Morris or Tyrus Thomas, so there's some talent going to waste.

Prognosis: If Davis is the next Kevin Garnett, not bad. And we have a ton of cap space after the 2012-13 season. If Davis is pretty good but not great, and Kemba Walker is just a passable NBA starter ... feh.

Portland

Greg Oden - $12,000,000 / $12,000,000 / $12,000,000 / $12,000,000
O.J Mayo - $10,000,000 / $11,000,000 / $12,000,000 / $13,000,000
J.J Barea - $6,345,000
D.J Augustin - $6,000,000 / $6,500,000 / $7,000,000 / $7,500,000
Corey Brewer - $3,243,000
Quincy Miller - $2,429,880 / $2,612,160 / $2,794,440(TO) / $3,560,116(TO)
Brian Scalabrine - $2,155,811
Michael Gilchrist - $2,308,320 / $2,481,480 / $2,654,640(TO) / $3,382,011(TO)
CJ Leslie - $1,531,440 / $1,646,280 / $1,761,120 / $2,708,603
Jamario Moon - $854,389
Willie Green - $854,389
Derrick Caracter - $854,389
Tomas Satoransky - $473,604

2012/13 SALARY: 49,050,222

2013 1st, Chicago 2013 2nd
All future picks

Augustin(30)/Barea(18)
Mayo(32)/Brewer(16)
Gilchrist(32)/Miller(16)
Miller(16)/Leslie(20)/Moon(12)
Oden(26)/Caracter(14)/Scalabrine(8)

WRITEUP

Honestly, I thought the deadline was a day later than it was, and I had a couple of pending deals that would have changed the team up a bit, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got now.

Basically, we started with

Nash
Pietrus/Childress
Dudley
Frye/Warrick/Morris/Siler
Gortat/Lopez/Lawal

with Brooks, Hill, and Carter as free agents.

I basically had the worst situation in the game, besides Charlotte. My best player was 37 years old and expiring, my next best trade chip was a slightly above average C, and I had the long term contracts of Warrick, Frye, and Childress dragging the team down. The other guys on my team were marginal role players (Dudley, Pietrus) or mediocre prospects (Morris, Lopez).

I managed to turn this team into one full of young talent, with two top 10 picks in the STACKED 2012 draft and young talent at every position.

I'm not gonna do the pointless "after>>>>>>before" comparison by position, since you can basically say whatever you want and everyone seems to somehow improve 4/5 positions, but I think it's important to note that I've lost all my bad contracts, have a starting 5 with an average age of about 21 years old, and only have two long term contracts (Oden and Mayo), both of whom can easily be moved later if necessary.

I'm also 13 million under the cap, and have future picks to dangle if necessary.

Overall, the team will be built around the scoring of Augustin, Mayo, and Miller, and anchored defensively by Gilchrist and Oden. Augustin and Mayo will handle the ball mostly, while Miller is my secondary scorer to start and Gilchrist plays an Igoudala-esque multi-purpose role. I really like the balance of my team and the fact that I've accumulated a bunch of cheap young talent, but I'd like to address some questions that I'm sure people will have.

1. RELYING TOO MUCH ON GREG ODEN

- I think with a potential season lockout, Oden will have had two full years to work on his knees and get back into game shape. This is still obviously a big risk, but when you're in a sh*tty situation like Phoenix, you need to take some of these risks. Even if Oden never improves, he can still give me something like 13/10/3 in 25-30 minutes a game, along with elite defense. That's about all I need from him, anything more is gravy

2. PAID OJ MAYO TOO MUCH

- Again, with the situation I was in I had to overpay to attract young talent, especially RFA's. Mayo's being paid a lot, but he's also the 1st option here and will have a lot more freedom than he did in Memphis. My goal is to develop my young core by letting them learn and get experience, so I think at worst, Mayo can return to the 18/3/3 player he was in his rookie year, and probably up that to 20/4/4 since he's not behind Gay or Randolph in the pecking order anymore

3. PLAYING QUINCY MILLER AT PF

My original plan was to make another trade to move Miller to the 3, but the more I think about it the more I like him as a 4. He's similar to Durant in length (6'9-6'10), but he's already demonstrated a better post game than KD, and has bulked up a bit since getting injured (reportedly at 215 lbs now). I'm gonna have him split time at 3 and 4, so he can get experience in lots of different situations, and figure out where he's best at over the next few years.

CONCLUSION:

Basically, I don't know how anyone could have done anything more with this team. Nash and Gortat were the only two solid pieces I had to trade, and I managed to assemble a young team with tons of potential in every area. Some may think I've overpaid Mayo and Oden, but I'm still 13 million under the cap, and those guys are definitely going to improve.

Charlotte got a top 3 ranking last game for doing something similar to this (turning a team with no real future into a solid team), and I think I deserve at least that. Again, I had Nash, Gortat, Dudley, Lopez, Morris, and my 2012 pick as my only real assets, and I managed to turn that into the team above. I think that deserves a very, very good ranking.

DenverNuggets



SALARIES:




OBJECTIVE:

I came into this game knowing that I wanted to rebuild this Denver Nuggets team. When I took over, they had a good number of solid young pieces, but no direction, and had a logjam at a number of positions. My goal was to turn them into the team with the most potential in the entire league, but put them in a position to be a legit playoff team by the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Secondarily, I wanted to have an incredibly high-character team that would jell together. I think I've succeeded in both of these goals.


ROSTER/ROTATION/MINUTES:

STARTED WITH:
PG: Ty Lawson/ Andre Miller
SG: -
SF: Danillo Gallinari/ Jordan Hamilton
PF: Al Harrington/ Kenneth Faried
C: Chris Andersen/ Timofey Mozgov/ Kosta Koufos
note: (Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler = RFA)

ENDED WITH:
PG: Ty Lawson/ Greivis Vasquez/ TJ Ford/ Steve Blake
SG: Evan Turner/ Daequan Cook
SF: James McAdoo/ Renaldo Balkman
PF: Jared Sullinger/ Ryan Anderson/ Amir Johnson
C: Anderson Varejao/ Ryan Hollins

ROTATION:
PG: Ty Lawson (35) - Greivis Vasquez (13) - TJ Ford - Steve Blake
SG: Evan Turner (24) - Daequan Cook (24) - Greivis Vasquez
SF: James McAdoo (34) - Evan Turner (14) - Renaldo Balkman
PF: Jared Sullinger (24) - Ryan Anderson (18) - Amir Johnson (6) - James McAdoo
C: Anderson Varejao (33) - Ryan Anderson (10) - Jared Sullinger (5) - Ryan Hollins

MINUTES:
Evan Turner (38)
Ty Lawson (35)
James McAdoo (34)
Anderson Varejao (33)
Jared Sullinger (29)
Ryan Anderson (28)
Daequan Cook (24)
Greivis Vasquez (13)
Amir Johnson (6)


FUTURE ASSETS:

2013 DEN 1st
2013 MEM 2nd
2013 GSW 2nd
2014 DEN 2nd
2015 DEN 1st
2015 HOU 1st
2015 NJN 2nd
2015 LAC 2nd


TRADES:

1) Danillo Gallinari for Evan Turner

2) Andre Miller and 2012 GSW 2nd for Travis Outlaw, Reggie Jackson, and 2012 OKC 1st

3) Timofey Mozgov and Jordan Hamilton for Chris Kaman and Ben Wallace

4) Al Harrington, Travis Outlaw, Arron Afflalo, Kenneth Faried, 2012 DEN 2nd, 2014 lottery-protected DEN 1st, and $13,900,000 TPE (Carmelo Anthony) for JJ Barea, Renaldo Balkman, Andy Rautins, Ishmael Smith, Greivis Vasquez, Johan Petro, Tristan Thompson, Baron Davis, and $5,307,800 TPE (Lebron James)

5) Kosta Koufos for TPE, 2013 MEM 2nd, and 2015 NJN 2nd

6) Wilson Chandler and Ben Wallace for Marshon Brooks and NJN 2012 1st

7) Chris Kaman and Gary Forbes for Hasheem Thabeet, Chase Budinger, 2012 NYK 1st (top-5 protected), and 2015 HOU 1st

8) Tristan Thompson, 2012 NYK 1st (top-5 protected), 2012 NJN 1st, and 2012 OKC 1st for Ryan Anderson and worse of TOR and DET 2012 1st

9) Chris Andersen for TPE

10) JJ Barea for Jose Calderon and Anderson Varejao

11) Chase Budinger, Marshon Brooks, Jose Calderon and rights to Perry Jones for Dequan Cook, Steve Blake, and rights to James McAdoo

12) Reggie Jackson for Amir Johnson

13) Baron Davis, 2013 Denver 2nd, and 2014 NYK 1st for TJ Ford


POSITION BREAKDOWN:
(note: I assume moderate improvements from year-to-year in young players, and moderate dropoffs for older players)

KEY:
>>>> - Rags to riches
>>> - Way better
>> - Much better
> - Better
=> - Slightly better
= - Equal


Point Guard

Ty Lawson, Greivis Vasquez, TJ Ford, Steve Blake => Ty Lawson, Andre Miller

I see big things in Ty Lawson's future. Now he'll be going into his 4th season, and will be a go-to option on offense for us. He's incredibly efficient (50+ FG% on 12ppg in 2010-11 with a near 3:1 A/TO ratio). Vasquez is a good bench scorer with potential, and TJ Ford and Steve Blake can play spot minutes or fill in in case of injury and keep this ship moving. Of course, Andre Miller is a very solid player and a great backup, but by this time in the game, he'd be almost 37.


Shooting Guard

Evan Turner, Daequan Cook >> Arron Afflalo(RFA)

Arron Afflalo is a good young player, but is inefficient and is a sub-par defender. Evan Turner is going to be a very, very good player moving forward. Despite his subpar rookie season, we believe that The Villain flashed some real ability in 2010-11. We want him to handle the ball a bit for us and defend our opponents' top perimeter player, a role he filled very nicely in the playoffs against LeBron James. Daequan Cook is a great player to have coming off the bench. He's a knockdown shooter from behind the arc and is a very good defender. He fits well with ET, and with ET's ability to slide to SF, that's very useful.


Small Forward

James McAdoo, Renaldo Balkman, (Evan Turner) = Wilson Chandler(RFA), Danillo Gallinari, Gary Forbes, Jordan Hamilton

Wilson Chandler is another good young piece, but his asking price in free agency was too high, so we swung a S+T deal to get some young talent back for him. We saw Gallinari as an expendable piece for the right price, and we got a great offer for him on the first day of FA that brought back Evan Turner. Forbes and Hamilton were both filler pieces in other deals, and we had no problem with that. James McAdoo is the real f'ing deal. At 6'8", 223, with a deadly outside shot, elite athleticism, great length, an outstanding understanding of the game, and terrific work ethic and attitude, McAdoo will fit in perfectly with what we're trying to do. He compliments Evan Turner's game magnificently, and will get everyone involved. McAdoo will be a star in this league. Renaldo Balkman is marginal, but I'm planning on splitting time at SF between McAdoo and ET, so I'm not concerned at all.


Power Forward

Jared Sullinger, Ryan Anderson, Amir Johnson >>>> Al Harrington, Marvin Ely, Kenneth Farried

Al Harrington was overpaid and underskilled, and Marvin Ely was an end of the bench guy. Farried was a project player. This was a HUGE position of upgrade for us. Jared Sullinger is a total beast. He's going to come in right away and pull down boards at a good rate, score from the low post, and eat up space. Considered the 3rd best player coming out in 2012 by DraftExpress (behind Anthony Davis and Harrison Barnes, mind you), Sullinger took college basketball by storm last year, and absolutely manhandled his peers. Ryan Anderson is a great young player, and he'll serve as my 6th man. He'll get minutes at both PF and C depending upon matchups. He's a great scorer, an underrated defender, and a very solid rebounder. He had a PER of 19 in 2010-11 on 17ppg and 9rpg per-36-minutes. Amir Johnson is a great young piece. He had a breakout season in 2010-11 in increased minutes, and will be a valuable trade chip for me and will be able to step in and contribute big time in limited minutes and in case of injury.

Center

Anderson Varejao, (Ryan Anderson), (Jared Sullinger), Ryan Hollins >>> Chris Andersen, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos

Anderson Varejao is the PERFECT compliment to the guys on my roster. Each of the other three is a potential franchise scorer in their own right, and with the exception of Jared Sullinger, each is a top-notch defender. Therefore, we wanted a guy at the 5-spot who could be a presence in the paint on the defensive end and not need a lot of touches on the defensive end. Anderson fits this mold excellently. He was one of the few bright spots on an abysmal Cleveland team in 2010-11, and advanced statistics tell the story that his 1.2 blocks per game that season didn't even scratch the surface of. He made the All-NBA Defensive team in 2009-2010. He also perfectly fits our team-oriented style of play on both ends of the floor. Needless to say, we are thrilled to have him aboard. Our depth at the postion is lacking, but Hollins and Black won't even play, barring major injuries. Because of the flexibility of Jared Sullinger and Ryan Anderson, and our depth at PF, those two can easily pick up the minutes Varejao leaves on the floor. We like what both guys bring to the table coming off the bench; Sullinger offers a better post scoring option, and Anderson stretches the defense with his range. Love this rotation.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR DENVER:

When I took over this roster, we had a good amount of young talent, but only one potential star in Ty Lawson. We also had a logjam at a number of positions (namely point guard and small forward). I wanted to consolidate this team of ill-fitting role-players into a team with legitimate start potential and a top-rate team chemistry. I truly believe that I've accomplished this goal.

Turner was the #2 overall pick in 2010, and McAdoo, and Sullinger are both potential top-3 picks depending upon whose projections you look at. Each of the three are potential perennial All-Star-type players. If all goes according to plan, those three could be a legitimate "home-grown" big three. On top of that, Ty Lawson is coming into his own, and by 2012-13 should be a big time player; he averaged 15.5 and 7 in the last two months of the 2010-11 season after becoming a full-time starter. Lawson, Turner, and McAdoo are all very good defenders, with Turner being a potential All-NBA Defensive Team-type talent. Ryan Anderson is a very good scorer, and really came on in 2010-11 with Orlando. He's got range and can rebound and bang, making him a valuable 6th man for us. With Anderson, Amir Johnson, and Daequan Cook coming off the bench, we have young talent all over our roster. Anderson Varejao makes this team click and does all the dirty work we needed our center to do. Because of the versatility of almost every player in our rotation, we can match up with any team- going big with our starting lineup, or playing small ball with Lawson, Cook, ET, McAdoo, and Anderson.

Keep in mind that we have $15 million in cap space right now, making us a player at the deadline. We'll also have the flexibility to be players in 2013 FA. This team has nowhere to go but up. Give them 3 years, and they will be competing for NBA titles.

DETROIT PISTONS * 2012 * 2013 * 2014

Ramon Sessions $4,551,626 N/A N/A
Nolan Smith $1,207,400 $1,291,600 $2,057,519
Rodney Stuckey $5,050,000 $6.550,000 $7,320,000
Reggie Jackson $1,068,200 $1,142,800 QO
Ben Uzoh $ 788,670 N/A
Marvin Williams $8,050,000 N/A N/A
Victor Claver $1,078,200 $1,159,100 $1,240,000
Damion James $1,329,720 $,325,680 $3,400,145
Devin Ebanks $854,389 N/A
Carlos Boozer $15,000,000 $15,300,000 $16,800,000
Brandon Bass $4,000,000 N/A
Nikola Mirotic $1,112,800 $1,190,500 $2,020,279 $2,939,505
Channing Frye $6,000,000 $6,400,000 $6,800,000(PO)
Ian Mahinmi $3,152,748 $3,152,748 $3,152,748 $3,152,748(TO)
Jordan Hill $3,632,257 $4,896,626
TOTAL SALARY $56,876,010

38th pick 2012 - Augusto Cesar Lima (PF / C) - Staying in Spanish League for 2012

ASSETS
TPE $1.26M (Hamilton Trade - M Williams deal; - Ryan Anderson)
$ 2.027 TPE (Darrell Arthur to Houston)
DRAFT PICKS DET 2012 2nd; 2012 HOU 1st (lotto Port)
LAC 2013 2nd (Top 55 Prot); 2013 PDX 2nd
PDX 2014 1st; 2014 2nd OKC; 2014 ORL 1st (top 3 Prot);
2015 2nd PDX; DET retains own 2013-15 picks EXCLD own 2013 1st(MIA)

2012 STARTING LINEUP (MINUTES)
R Sessions (32) / Nolan Smith (10) / R Jackson (6)
R Stuckey (35) / Ben Uzoh (10)/ Damion James (3)
M Williams (32) / Victor Claver (12) / Devin Ebanks (4)
Carlos Boozer (30) / Brandon Bass (18) / N Mirotic
Channing Frye (25)/ Ian Mahinmi (13)/ Jordan Hill (10)

COMPARISON 2010 TO 2012
2010 | 2012 STARTING LINEUP (minutes)
Will Bynum / Stuckey / C Atkins <<< R Sessions (32) / Nolan Smith (10) / R Jackson (6)
Ben Gordon / R Hamilton <<< R Stuckey (35) / Ben Uzoh (10)/ Damion James (3)
Tayshaun Prince / A Daye << M Williams (32) / Victor Claver (12) / Devin Ebanks (4)
J Jerebko / C Villanueva / Summers <<< Carlos Boozer (30) / Brandon Bass (18) / N Mirotic
B Wallace / J Maxiell / K Brown << Channing Frye (25)/ Ian Mahinmi (13)/ Jordan Hill (10)

The Detroit Pistons have gotten much younger and improved the quality of their starting lineup and the depth at all positions. With very little in the way of desirable pieces to move at the outset of this game, the Pistons were very active in making 18 trades and signing a number of Free Agents. In the end, they acquired a legitimate All Star PF, moved a talented young guard to his natural SG position – Rodney Stuckey with a 19 PER. In addition, they added a true PG (with almost an 19 PER) to trigger their offense and both in 2 solid young piece who should thrive with this young lineup. In addition, they have signed outstanding potential talent in Victor Claver – a 6'10” Spanish star who at 22 is being compared to Dirk, Brandon Bass – one of the best shooting young PF with excellent rebounding instincts and Ben Uzoh, a combo Guard who at 6'3” has the talent to be their new Ben Gordon but with a 6'9” reach is a defensive stopper.

This is a solid team built around their defensive prowess with solid offensive skills through the entire roster. Reggie Jackson, Nikola Mirotic and Ian Mahinmi could all develop into not only solid role players, but potential stars.

Most GMs with whom I traded know I relied on John Hollinger as my director of Player Personnel and while I won't list the individual PER and comments from his insider, the upgrades at all positions has been significant. The sole exception would be at Center, where 2011 starter Greg Monroe was moved and the loss of our #8 pick - Brandon Knight. However, in both instances potential was moved for proven production and assets had to go to bring in the balanced value the Pistons required.

This game leaves the Pistons with a very bright future.

Game Highlight
Being called out for signing free agent Jason Thompson to the outrageous $12,000,000 salary -"was he a 2 or 3 time All Star we did not hear about?" ONLY to have him turn into the instrumental player in the acquisition of Carlos Boozer - 2 Time All Star! Awesomeness!

Saved for Boston

Rotation
PF David West Andre Bargnani
SF Lamar Odom Ron Artest
C Chris Kamen Eric Dampier
SG Marcus Thorton Mikeal Pietrus
PG Jameer Nelson Mo Williams


12/13 13/14


A Bargnani 10000000 11000000
D West 7000000 7500000
Ron Artest 7300000 7800000
Jameer Nelson 730000000(PO) 7800000
Marcus Thorton 6000000 6000000
Mo Williams 8400000
Lamar Odom 8200000(TO) NA
Chris Duhon 3400000 3400000(TO)
Qrich 2690000 2900000
Chris Kamen 10,000,000 11,000,000
Mickeal Pietrus 4,200.000 42000,000
Eric Dampier 2,000,000 2000000
Mike Donnigan 500,000 780000
Joshua Smith 500,000 780000

Arkavious989 @ hotmail.com


Starters

...Rondo.....Young......Beasley.....Smith......Jordan

Bench

...Bayless..Fernandez....Redick..Cunningham..Bonner


..Bradley....Belinelli.....Hayward...Johnson




Salaries


Depthchart


Minutes
Rajon Rondo (32)/Jerryd Bayless (16)
Nick Young (30)/Rudy Fernandez(18)
Michael Beasley (36)/J.J Redick (12)
Josh Smith (32)/Dante Cunningham (16)
DeAndre Jordan (36)/Matt Bonner (12)

Marco Belinelli - DND
JaJuan Johnson - DNPCD
Avery Bradley - DND
Lazar Hayward - DND


Roster




Draft Rights
Davis Bertans
Corey Joseph
Erazem Lorbek
Nando De Colo
Robertas Javtokas
Ryan Richards
Sergei Karaulov
Viktor Sanikidze



Draft Picks
2013 1st Round Pick (San Antonio)
2014 1st Round Pick (San Antonio)
2014 2nd Round Pick (San Antonio)
2014 2nd Round Pick (LA Clippers top 55 Protected)
2015 1st Round Pick (San Antonio)
2015 2nd Round Pick (San Antonio)
2016 1st Round Pick (San Antonio)
2016 2nd Round Pick (San Antonio)
2016 2nd Round Pick (Charlotte top 55 Protected)


Transactions

1.) 22 Antonio Mcdyrss, Tiago Splitter, Kawhi Leonard to LA Clippers for DeAndrea Jordan.

2.) 27 Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili to Atlanta for Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.

3.) 33 Joe Johnson and James Anderson to NOH for Emeka Okafor, Michael Beasley and Jerryd Bayless.

4.) 61 Tony Parker and Emeka Okafor to Boston for Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, JJ Reddick and JaJuan Johnson

4.) 63 Richard Jefferson, San Antonio 2012 First Round Pick, San Antonio 2012 2nd Round Pick to Dallas for Jason Kidd

5.) 66 Danny Green and San Antontio 2013 Second round pick to OKC for Lazar Hayward.

6.) 98 Da'Sean Butler, Gary Neal to Charlotte for Donte Cunningham.

7.) 106 Jason Kidd and DeJuan Blair to Chicago for Nick Young and Marreese Speights.

8. Signed Rudy Fernandez to a multi year deal.







Goals

When I took this team my goal was to rebuild it to be much younger and contend in the future. While the team might not be a title contender just yet, with what I had to trade I felt I did a good job. Sure you may say the spurs were the 2nd best team in the league and had a lot of assets but they really didnt. In this game youth has so much value. Manu and Duncan, espcially Duncan had very little value because of his age. Parker had decent value and then there was jefferson, who has 0 vlaue in this game for some reason.


Looking at my roster as is, it will definitely make the playoffs in the future and will probably be a contender but might not get the job done as of yet, I fear that just he name Beasley on my roster will cause me to lose rankings because the people who do the rankings dont realize that all i need him to do is score. Sure defense is great but theres a reason I have Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo and DeAndre Jordan, its cause they play very good defense. Young is a very udnerated defender as well. Overall I think that if people are to naive to rank me high because of beasley this will be my last game.

Salaries
I have a lot of money invested in what we might call medicore players. But I had no choice if your guys is a RFA you want to keep him. Your not going to let some idiot throw max money at him and take him because money means nothing to gms in this game (one of the problems with it).

Overall
While there are some things I would have liked to change, the trades were just not there for me to make the right deals to get better. I feel with what I had and what I did i desrve to be ranked high.

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

DEPTH:
PG: Steve Nash (24) / Jason Kidd (24) / Keyon Dooling / Charlie Bell
SG: Manu Ginobili (28) / Shane Battier (10) / Carlos Delfino (10) / Charlie Bell
SF: Paul Peirce (28) / Shane Battier (10) / Carlo Delfino (10)
PF: Pau Gasol (28) / Jermaine O'Neal (12) / Ronny Turiaf (8)
Cc: Tim Duncan (24) / Jermaine O'Neal (12) / Ben Wallace (12)

SALARIES:



DRAFT PICKS:
CREDITS:
2013 First round draft pick
2015 First round drat pick
2016 First round draft pick

DEBITS:
2013 Second round draft pick (MIN)
2014 Second round draft pick (BOS)
2014 First round draft pick (LAL)
2015 Second round draft pick (TOR)
2016 Second round draft pick (BOS)

TRANSACTIONS:
1. With the Golden State Warriors:
OUT: Brook Lopez, Travis Outlaw
IN: Monta Ellis

2. Signed David West to a 5 year deal starting at 6.5 million per.

3. With the Toronto Raptors:
OUT: Jordan Farmar, Stephen Graham, 2012 second round draft pick (MIA), 2015 second round draft pick
IN: 5.1 million dollar in capspace

4. A three way trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors:
OUT: Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, 2014 first round draft pick
IN: Ron Artest

5. Sign Glen Davis to a 5 year 25 million dollar deal (5 million per)

6. With the Denver Nuggets:
OUT: Marshon Brooks, 2012 NJN First round pick
IN: WIlson Chandler, Ben Wallace

7. With the Toronto Raptors:
OUT: Jordan Williams, Damion James
IN: Kevin Seraphin

8. With the Boston Celtics:
OUT: Ron Artest, David West, 2016 Second round draft pick
IN: Paul Peirce

9. Signed Vladamir Radmonovic, Leon Powe, Josh Powell, Hilton Armstrong to one year minimum deals.

10. With the Los Angeles Lakers:
OUT: Monta Ellis, Josh Powell
IN: Al Jefferson

11. With the Portland Trailblazers:
OUT: Deron Williams, Glen Davis, Ben Wallace, Leon Powe, Vlad Radmonovic, 2012 Houston 2nd round draft pick
IN: Pau Gasol, Steve Nash

12. Resigned Steve Nash to a 2 year deal (9 Million year one, 10 Million year 2 with a P.O)

13. With the Atlanta Hawks (Sign and Trade)
OUT: Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Wilson Chandler
IN: Shane Battier, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili

14. Signed Jason Kidd to a 2 year MLE deal.

15. Signed Jermain O'Neal to full BAE deal.

16. Signed Ben Wallace, Ronny Turiaf, and Carlos Delfino to one year minimum contracts.

17. Signed Keyon Dooling and Charlie Bell to one year minimum contracts.
TRADE COUNT: 9

WRITE UP:
First and foremost: Thanks Roc for another good game.
Secondly: Thanks to all the guys who helped out in FA, to many to name, but you guys put in work.

Now to the good stuff.

PRE - NETS:
Yes i had Deron Williams to start with, and Yes to me he is the 2nd BEST PG in the league. Yes i had a Brook Lopez, who will get you 18 or so point per game, but for a center, he rebounds like a BAD Small Forward. Kris Humphries was a expired when i took over the nets and we had some of the WORST contracts in the game. Travis Outlaw is just pitiful. Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, give me a break. I basically had 2 - 3 positives on the roster to start, with about 5 negatives and the rest just nuetral. I felt that i had a tough job from the begining, which is why this makes my team even better in the end. I didnt start with the Heat, or the Lakers, or the OKC thunder, or the Knicks, or the Celtics, ect. I started with the NEW JERSEY NETS. Just rememeber to take that into consideration when RATING us, and reading this write up. Hands down, you cant say i didnt do the BEST JOB OVERALL. The Nets have about what? 6 easy Hall of Famers.
WHAT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS? Defense / Shooting / Chemistry / Bench Play

CHEMISTRY.
If you think these NETS are not the most balanced, well thought out, good meshing TEAM in the this game you flat out nuts. THIS IS A TRUE TEAM, good balance on Offense, good balance on Defense, a co-hesive unit. There is SUPERIOR shooting everywhere, which will open things up for the bigs. WE ARE VERY DEEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH. We have plenty of defense at every position all the the through the roster as well. We know we are an older team. When i see age, i dont think of OLD, i think of EXPERIENCE, i think of BEEN THERE DONE THAT, i think of WINNING!. Just take a second and soak in this team i've compiled.

CITY / COACH / TEAM
Okay, i want everyone to take a look at my team salary. Seriously, have a look at it. I dont want people to say "Wow, 88 million" and down grade me. Because, normally, im self consious about my salary. Look at my last few teams in my GM a Team track record. Bobcats / Knicks ect. I didnt go outrageous. But when i got the Nets, i told my self NOT TO WORRY ABOUT SALARY because i have the richest owner in the league. I know he is willing to do anything to win, and put fans in the seats. We feel that especially being in Brooklyn now, that this also is crucial to be winning and putting fans in the seats. I told myself at all costs, make a WINNER. Also, Avery Johnson is going to love this group I've assemble for him. Its a coach's dream to have 13 guys who KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE GAME AT ALL ASPECTS OF BASKETBALL.

FUTURE:
I only have one contract that goes more then 2 years. (Battier) who will most likely retire anyways in 2 years. So generally speaking i would have max cap space in 2013 and my 2013 first round pick. So you can say i have no future what so ever, when realistically, I DO.

POINT GUARDS:
NEW: Steve Nash / Jason Kidd / Keyon Dooling
OLD: Deron Williams / Jordan Farmar / Sundiata Gaines

OKAY. First of all, we know how good Dwill is. Hes great at everything, a true superstar, but to upgrade at all other positions on the team, you need to sacarfice somwhere. BUT we also know that Deron Williams could have left us for NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING. We felt that it was the best move for the organization to move him and get the best trade out there possible. We decided that having a GREAT DUO with Nash / Kidd, we could sacrafice Dwill. Nash is still one of the best passing and shooting PG's out there. He will easily get his ASSISTS with this group and have a lot of fun doing it. Also, Nash only weakness happens to be defense and rest. ENTER Jason Kidd. This guy just won the title as the starting PG for the Dallas Mavericks. He is a lock down defender able to guard the 1, 2, and 3 spots sufficiently. Both Nash and Kidd will split the minutes at PG all the time, doing offense for defense subs at end of games. We feel having to HALL OF FAME PG's on the same roster is a huge luxuary.
ADVANTAGE: WASH

SHOOTING GUARDS.
NEW: Manu Ginobili / Carlos Delfino / Charlie Bell
OLD: Anthony Morrow / Damien James? / Stephen Graham?

To me, this is just wrong. Sure Anthony Morrow is one of the best pure shooters in the NBA. But is he a starter? NO. Can he defend? NO. Is he anything but a shooter? NO. And the rest? TRASH. Ginobili is hands down the 3rd best SG, behind Kobe and Wade. He is a true ALL AROUND shooting guard. Defense, Offense, Passing, Three point shooting, he can do it all. THis is why we love him. He can close games out too. He is the perfect 2 guard for our team. And also, i just want everyone to know, i had at least 5 OPPORTUNITIES to get KOBE, and the reason i didnt jump on any of them, is because I KNOW IN MY HEART AND IN MY HEAD, that Manu is not that far behind him. Carlos Delfino also happens to be another real life starter who i have on my bench, which is a great luxuary.
ADVANTAGE: LANDSLIDE NEW NETS

SMALL FORWARDS.
NEW: Paul Peirce / Shane Battier
OLD: Travis Outlaw / Damien James?

WOW. Thats all i can say to this. I go from one of the worst contracts in the game to the 4th best SMALL FORWARD in the league and his back up is one of the PREMIERE defenders / roll players in the league as well. This has to be one of the biggest upgrades in the game. This isnt even fair. Travis Outlaw is flat out trash. I dont even need to write about this anymore.
ADVANTAGE: Give me a break. NEW NETS.

POWER FORWARDS.
NEW: Pau Gasol / Jermaine O'Neal
OLD: NO ONE (Unless you count the cap hold of Kris Humphries????)

Obviously this is an upgrade. You get one of the top 5 big men in the game and place him on a team who has no PF at all on the roster. Back him up with a solid scorer / defender in J.O. and you have a great mix for success at the Power forward position. Pau Gasol will be even better with great shooters (Nash / Kidd / Gino / Peirce / Battier) all around him. He will get single guarded on every postition making him more dominate. Both guys also have the ability to play center when needed which is great. The win category is starting to get rediculous for the NEW NETS.
ADVANTAGE: EPIC NEW NETS.

CENTERS.
NEW: Tim Duncan / Ben Wallace / Ronny Turiaf
OLD: Brook Lopez / Johan Petro

This one looks alot closer then it really is. Brook Lopez is a good young center. Yes he can score. But thats about all he can do. He CANNOT defend, He CANNOT rebound AT ALL. Just look at his stats. Its sad that a dude that Big, that talented, and that athletic, and hes that terrible at rebounding. This to me is about effort. And if your not gonna bring it every night, then why play. Did i also mention this knuckle head got a MAXIMUM CONTRACT in this game. WHAT A JOKE. Tim Duncan will bring it every night. He knows how to DEFEND. He knows how to WIN. And he knows how to play with winners. Ben Wallace and Ronny Turiaf are the hustle, dirty work big men that every good team needs to win. This 2 fit this to a tee. We love out Center rotation, espectially with the ability of having Gasol / JO there when matchups call for it.
ADVANTAGE: New Nets by ALOT more then most would think.

BENCH:
NEW: Jason Kidd / Carlos Delfino / Shane Battier / Jermaine O'Neal / Ben Wallace / Ronny Turiaf / Charlie Bell / Keyon Dooling.
OLD: Sundiat Gaines / Stephen Graham / Jordan Farmar / Damion James / Johan Petro.

DO I REALLY NEED TO TYPE ABOUT THIS?
My bench now consists of guys who know what to do. They can all defend. They all know how to play the game. That has to be one of the most solid / best benchs in the entire league, if not THE best. I feel i can go 13 deep just fine, but would keep it to a 8 - 9 rotation in the playoffs.

OVERALL.
I think i have a GREAT SHOT at the TITLE, but ultimately I think I have BEST OVERALL wrapped up easily. The only other team that even deserve credit for best overall is Washington. Out of all the teams contending, i started with the LEAST amount. I have the most balanced team, and the best chemistry. My team is now very deep and very talented. We are about winning. I cannot stress how important CHEMISTRY, DEFENSE, SHOOTING (three point), and BENCH PLAY is in the the NBA. MY TEAM HAS NO WEAKNESS's!

ALSO, made this dream team in ONLY 9 (NINE), yes thats right, 9 TRADES.

VOTE NEW JERSEY / BROOKLYN NETS!!!!

Player 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016
JJ Hickson 6,200,000, $6,696,000, $7,192,000, $7,688,000, $8,184,000
Francisco Garcia $6,100,000, $6,400,000
Samuel Dalembert 8,000,000, 8,000,000, 8,000,000, 8,000,000
Tyreke Evans $5,251,825 $6,927,157 N/A N/A
DeMarcus Cousins $3,880,800 $4,916,974 $6,519,907 N/A
Donte Greene $2,503,071 N/A N/A N/A
Jermaine Taylor $942,293 N/A N/A N/A
Hassan Whiteside $847,307 $905,742 N/A N/A
Elliot Williams $1,442,880, $2,373,537, $3,436,881
Vince Carter $5,000,000 (half guaranteed)
Earl Clark $854,389
Rasual Butler $854,389
Craig Smith $854,389
Kendall Marshall
Patric Young


Depth Chart:
C-Samuel Dalembert, Demarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside
PF-Demarcus Cousins,JJ Hickson, Craig Smith
SF-Mike Miller, Francisco Garcia, Vince Carter, Donta Greene, Earl Clark, Rasual Butler
PG-Jimmer Fredette, Aaron Brooks, Elliot Williams
SG-Tyreke Evans, Francisco Garcia

D-league: Patric Young and Kendal Marshall

Draft picks: possess all out picks except those listed in debit


Debit: 2013 2nd round pick to the NY Knicks


Transactions:
1. Knicks trade Aaron Brooks, Mike Miller to us for a 2013 2nd round pick

2.Pistons trade Elliot Williams and Vince Carter to me for John Salmons

3.Drafted PF Patric Young #13 and Kendal Marshall (#40-something)

4.Signed Earl Clark, Rasual Butler and Craig Smith for one year veteran minimum contracts


What went wrong:

#1:I have a life and a job. Boy oh boy having a life and a job is really not conducive to playing this games. This caused me huge headaches. Firstly, I didn't even know I was selected to GM ( I thought I was signing up for the 1st alternate spot) until I started getting emailed offers. By that time it seems as if there were 30 something trades so it was a real pain in the arse to keep track of what player was were while I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my team. It also made it difficult to negotiate trades because I didn't have much time during the day to research the players I was offered. It also hurt me for the draft. While Rocodog can be proud of the fact that he had the fasting moving draft in the history of this game (it seemed like it was) that was a huge problem for me because I didn't really get a chance to scout any of the players b4 I was auto-picked another power forward. In hindsight it wasn't a big deal because I looked at Patric Young's scouting report and he seems like a steal at #13 or 14 but I would have preferred to pick someone who could actually step in and help me rather than someone I could stash in the d-league until I found a way to clear minutes for him.

#2: I received mostly really horrible offers. Some of the worst offers I've ever gotten in these games. I mean downright insulting. I've never been insulted by offers in these types of games. A couple guys here, and they know who they are, managed to do the seemingly impossible.

What went right:

I stuck to my guns. I had a plan and after a little time where I almost gave up too much in a deal because I didn't know enough about my guys I figured out what I would and wouldn't accept in a trade. And damnit I stuck to my guns and wouldn't accept less. I'm not going to make a bad deal for the sake of making a deal. I think with the few tweeks I made in combination with the expected improvement from my young guns I think the team will actually be quite respectable.

I kept my young guys: I think Evans, Cousins, Hickson and Jimmer are all really good. Patric Young has a ton of potential and I think Kendal Marshall was a really good pick up. I would have loved to keep Jason Thompson as well because it would have allowed me to get rid of Samuel Dalembert (my original plan) and have a fully young starting squad. But who would have thought he got that embarrassingly silly 72 million dollar contract offer.


What would happen going forward: I like my young core. I think Tyreke Evans and Demarcus Cousins are going to be playing in a lot of All Star games in the near future. Demarcus Cousins will eventually supplant Samuel Dalembert at Center while I think Hickson or Young will be my long term Power Forward (with the other used as a trade chip to upgrade the 1 or 3 spots. The trade I made which brought in Aaron Brooks and Mike Miller should keep the flood waters at bay but I think the team really needs a long term solution at these spots, especially at the small forward spot. I was really disappointed that I was not able to get get Gallinari. But I still have Donte Greene and I acquired former 1st rounder Earl Clark on a one year deal. Regardless of how well the team is playing I would give these guys every opportunity to earn big minutes. While I think neither is a superstar in the making both still have upside. But in the meantime some combination of them along with Francisco Garcia, Vince Carter and Rasual Butler should be able to hold the fort down until help comes via trade. As for Jimmer, I am not a huge fan of his. I love his scoring ability but I just don't like how much of a liability he will be on defense. But he can score and spread the floor with his shooting so I think he'll be a very positive addition to my ballclub. At the very least he'll be able to keep opposing defenses from keying up on Cousins and Evans too much.

Future drafts and Salary cap situation: I have all my future picks except for the 2013 second rounder I traded to NY. I don't really have much in the way of bad deals. Samuel Dalembert is the most expensive player I have but I willing to take the hit to have his shot blocking ability to cover my arse. JJ Hickson is also signed to a long term deal but unlike that joke of a contract that Jason Thompson was given his deal is actually quite reasonable so if need be I think I wouldn't have a problem moving him.