The NBA is Back! Writeups Thread (Due 12/20)

[-Kees-]

Post your writeups here.

Include:

-Salaries
-Which team you managed
-Roster that you started with
-Roster that you ended with
-Transactions list
-Why you think you did the best job as a GM

They are due Tuesday at 8 PM EST

[-Kees-]

Salaries:

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

Old Rotation:

Felton/Smith/Mills/Johnson
Matthews/Roy/Diebler
Wallace/Batum/Babbit
Aldridge/Johnson
Oden/Cmaby

New Rotation:



Stuckey (32) / Fisher (16) / A Johnson (0)
Hill (16) / Salmons (26) / [Jones] (6)
Durant (38) / [Hill] (10) / Diebler (0)
Amare (14) / Hickson (28) / Daye (6)
Anthony (26) / [Amare] (22) / Grey (0)

Picks:

2012 POR 2nd
2012 DEN 2nd
2014 POR 1st
2015 POR 1st
2015 POR 2nd

Trades/Transactions:
1. Amnesty Brandon Roy
2. WITH: BOS. IN: Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor, JaJuan Johnson, Jermaine O'Neal. OUT: Wes Matthews, Nic Batum, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby, Greg Oden.
3. WITH: MIN. IN: Martell Webster, Nikola Pekovic. OUT: Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Johnson.
4. WITH: SA. IN: Manu Ginobili, Kwahi Leonard, James Anderson. OUT: Nolan Smith, Gerald Wallace, 2014 POR 2nd, 2015 MIN 2nd, Luke Babbit, Martell Webster.
5. WITH: WAS. IN: Austin Daye. OUT: Elliot Williams.
6. WITH: TOR. IN: Ray Allen, David West. OUT: Manu Ginobili, Nikola Pekovic.
7. WITH: TOR. IN: Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, JJ Hickson, John Salmons. OUT: Ray Allen, Chris Paul, LaMarcus Aldridge, Emeka Okafor.
8. WITH: HOU. IN: Amare Stoudemire, Rodney Stuckey, Joel Anthony. OUT: David West, Kevin Love, Jermaine O'Neal, JaJuan Johnson, Kwahi Leonard.
9. WITH: BOS. IN: Dahntay Jones, Derek Fisher. OUT: James Anderson, Ronnie Price.


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


Writeup:

Star Power:
Old:
This was the main thing that the old Blazers team was lacking. LMA is a guy who carried this team to the playoffs. Although he did that as the main option, he really is meant to be the #2. Had Roy stayed healthy, this team would be something else because LMA would be in his best role. Outside of him, they had above average role players.

New:
We have the best franchise player in the league right now. Durant is a 2 time scoring champ as the best pure scorer in the NBA. He also has gained a bit of weight over the summer and is looking to operate in the post a little more. He also is only 23 years old, and already a top 5 player. Durant is nearly 7'0, and has an insanely long wing span, and has just started to be dominant on defense. That is just my first star. Amare is at least equal to LMA in value, maybe better. He was 25/8 last year, good shot blocker, and led that Knicks team during all of 10/11 season. He brings a vet star until Durant becomes the undisputed #1 player. You may think I dropped off in depth then, but I did not, in fact, I have more depth than the old team. Salmons/Hill/Daye/Jones fill out the wings behind Durant, all playing a role. Stuckey is the starter, with veteran Fisher behind him at PG. Most importantly, I have 5 bigs who can play big minutes, when before there was only really 1 guy (LMA) who could be counted on.

Spacing/Slashing:
Old:
I'm not gonna say the old team had a bad balance of spacing/slashing. Felton and Matthews were both good 3PT shooters (33% and 41% respectively), and Wallace is one of the smarter slashers. LMA has a good mid range game, and so does Camby. Coming off the bench, Batum can knock down the 3, and the minor backups aren't liabilities either.

New:
Even with the solid balance before, I don't think many teams can match the spacing I have now. I want to show everyone the 3PT %'s of my wing players that I use as spacers:
-Fisher - 40%
-Jones - 36%
-Salmons - 38%
-Hill - 40%
-Durant - 35%
-Daye - 40%
Having 6 guys shooting the 3PT shot at 35% or greater that play at least 6 MPG is something very few teams can say. Amare will have plenty of room to do his work down low, and Durant on the wing. Stuckey will also be a creator for us, as his strengths include the drive and dish, which will fit perfect with all of our shooters.

Youth/Experience:
Old:
The old Blazer team had a team mostly in their primes. Felton, LMA, Wallace, Matthews are all in their prime, and Batum, Smith and Oden are still prospects. Camby was the only vet (and wasn't a great locker room guy...). This team wasn't in bad shape, but not having a vet leader showed in the playoffs as they lost in 6 to the Mavs. They also didn't have a true superstar to build around, so the guys in their prime were somewhat wasted because they didn't have the talent to make it all the way.

New:
We have an even better balance. We have a few young guys, who should continue to improve in Diebler, Daye and Hickson. Hickson and Daye showed big strides last year, and should continue with that (especially Hickson). We have a few guys who are young, but in their prime. Durant, Amare, Anthony, Stuckey, and Salmons all apply here. Durant is only 23 but still an amazing player, top 5, and will only continue to get better. We also have Grant Hill and Derek Fisher who are both leaders in the locker room and around the league. They will help our team a lot come playoff time.

Offense:
We have an amazing duo that we will run our offense through. Amare and Durant are both guys who really don't get stopped on the offensive end. Stuckey will run an insane P&R with Amare, as both are amazing scoring threats and Stuckey is also a solid playmaker. As we mentioned early, we are one of the best spaced teams in basketball, and that should allow us to go through our offensive plays very effectively. I also expected that my team will have a very smooth offense. Both Salmons and Hill are used to play making, as well as shooting, and this versatility will help.

Defense:
I'm just gonna say the key to defense is a front court that plays good D, and a few wing defenders. We have 2 bigs who are outstanding on D in Anthony and Hickson, and Amare is a solid help defender. On the wing we have Hill and Stuckey, both lock down defenders. Durant has just figured out how to use his long arms, and is a very good shot blocker and good at playing the passing lanes.

Overall:
Bottom line is that I have 2 players (Durant and Amare) that are better than anyone I had on the last team, and also have at least as much, maybe more depth. I also have a good balance of spacing/slashing, old/young and offense/defense. I expect to be a top 3 team now and in future years, and to bring a title to Portland

[yitur]

Starting Roster:
Kevin Garnett
Paul Pierce
Ray Allen
Rajon Rondo
Jermaine O'Neal
Jeff Green
Avery Bradley
Jajuan Johnson

Depth Chart:
C:O'Neal
PF:Garnett/Johnson
SF:Pierce/Green
SG:Allen
PG:Rondo/Bradley

Teams' Position

As you can see this team had no depth, had an old and declining trio that werent enough to compete for the title anymore, only good tradeable piece was Rondo and he had big holes in his game. So I tried to build a younger team that has upside.

New Team

T Mac $2,000,000/$2,000,000/$2,000,000
Rashard Lewis $5,000,000/$5,000,000/$5,000,000
Cousins $3,627,720/$3,880,800/$4,916,974/$6,519,907
Ty Lawson $1,684,000/$2,544,529/$3,610,686
Ben Gordon $11,600,000/$12,400,000/$13,200,000
Jared Dudley $4,250,000/$4,250,000/$4,250,000/$4,250,000
Serge Ibaka $1,288,200/$2,253,062/$3,293,976
Andrea Bargnani $9,250,000/$10,000,000/$10,750,000/$11,500,000
Rasheed Wallace* $491,109
Luc Mbah a Moute $7,000,000/$7,000,000
Brandan Wright $1,000,000/1,000,000
Joel Przybilla $1,000,000/$1,000,000
Seb Telfair $900,000
Mo Williams $8,500,000/$8,500,000
James Anderson $1,402,540/$1,526,499/$2,353,861/$3,373,083
Ronnie Price $900,000

Total: $59,897,000

Depth Chart
C:Cousins/Przybilla
PF:Ibaka/Bargnani/Wright
SF:Mbah a Moute/Dudley/Lewis/Ebanks
SG:Gordon/T-Mac/Anderson
PG:Lawson/Mo/Price/Bradley/Telfair

Now this team has depth, young pieces and great upside for years to come.

Trades and Transactions:


Positional Breakdown

C position:
We had an old, injury prone C in O'Neal that wasnt the same player he once was, couldnt finish, couldnt anchor the defense anymore. Now we have a great young C in Cousins, recently showed the competitiveness in him by his determination (lost a lot of weight and come to camp in a great shape) and his speeches about not want to leave his team via FA. Also now we have a great veteran backup in Przybilla even he is an upgrade over O'Neal at this point.

PF position:
We had one of the greatest PF ever to play this game, but it was in the past and we are all about future, Garnett may be didnt lose his competitive edge but definetly lost the step, quickness to help everyone on the D. So we traded for a upcoming defensive anchor that complements Cousins perfectly in Ibaka. He is just 22, and he has all the tools you need from your PF, also as a backup we have Bargnani, he isnt the ideal starting PF but he is a great 6th man that could give us instant offense off the bench. And we have Brandan Wright who was a great prospect that didnt turn great in short time, but we still believe his potential at least to be an effective backup with his athleticism, and he is in a min contract so he is low rish high value kind of guy.

SF position:
This position I believe is not an improvement but not a downgrade either, Paul Pierce as good as he was started to show signs of his age, with Mbah Moute+Dudley we have a great perimeter defense, Mbah Moute is definetly top 5 perimeter defender in NBA, and Dudley is a knockdown shooter that can defend well and can slide at 2 when we need some defense.

SG position:
This position is the position that I need to win you guys over, Ray Allen was still good but he is 37 now and didnt have a future with us, so I traded for another shooter that is clutch, Ben Gordon! Some people might think he isnt the player he once was but he is still 29 and was miss used in DET, and still had the same efficiency you can check the stats if you dont believe me. He is still a volume 40 percent 3pter that can close games for us like he did in Bulls 2 years ago, and his contract comes off the book when Cousins needs to be signed so he wont hurt my cap either. Also we have Mcgrady and James Anderson as backups, T-Mac showed that he is still can be effective as a role player that can backup 1 to 3, and Anderson was another steal of SAS so we believe he can be a great backup SG/SF too.

PG position:
We had Rondo, a great passing PG and stat padder, but I think his inability to shoot FTs and longer than 15 feet shots really hurt Cs in some ways. With Lawson we have a 60 percent TSing PG who is great defensively, and comperable offensive weapon. He is a great team player, has great upside, every game that he didnt share minutes with Felton or Billups he had 20-9 kind of stat sheed, so we believe that he would be great PG that could lead us deep into playoffs in the future. Also we have Mo Williams as a backup that is a great trading asset and Avery Bradley who is a defensive specialist that could become great in future.

Offense/Defense Breakdown

On the offense Lawson will run the plays, he is a great creator, for himself and for others, Ben Gordon will spot up or come off screens, Mbah Moute is a great slasher he will be like our defensive specialst that would do more screens than shot attempts and will crash offensive rebounds, Ibaka will set screens for Gordon or will play pick&pop or roll with Lawson, also he has a good mid range game that is still developing, he will space the floor and Cousins wont be crowded when posting up. Tmac-Lewis-Dudley-Bargs will bring instant offense off the bench. We can go with Lawson-Gordon-Tmac-Bargnani-Ibaka when we need to speed the game and score.

On the defensive side we have three top 5 defensive player at their position in Ibaka-Mbah Moute-Lawson. When team needs some stops, our line-up can be Lawson-Dudley-Mbah Moute-Ibaka-Cousins. This 5 has 3 great perimeter defenders and a great intimidator in Ibaka and Cousins can rebound the ball pretty good


WHY BOSTON SHOULD WIN
I turned an old and declining team that no superstar player wants to sign with (CP3,Howard,Deron), and no player in this game want to take to a great upcoming team. This team can be one of the best defensive team in the league with Lawson-Dudley-Mbah Moute-Ibaka as the core, Cousins-Ibaka-Bargs frontcourt is a great, interchangeable for the situation, upcoming frontcourt that could turn us to contender level. Cousins had 14-9 in his rookie season with playing 28 minutes per game, and as all of you witnessed, when Ibaka started for PF, his stats turned into 12-9 with 3 blocks per game. Also Mbah Moute is one of the best perimeter lockdown defender in the league. Ben Gordon is a great shooter that can space to floor for Cousins to post up, and Cousins has a great feel for the game and is a great passer from the post so when double team comes, he can dish assists to Gordon, Dudley, Lawson. Ty Lawson is one of the upcoming PG in the league, great on the both ends. as veteran backups and trading pieces we have T-Mac,Lewis,Mo. This team is great fit wise and future wise, and that is why I should win the game.

[RiotPunch]

Your 2011-2012 Houston Rockets



STARTED WITH:
PG - Kyle Lowry / Goran Dragic / Jonny Flynn
SG - Kevin Martin / Courtney Lee
SF - Chase Budinger / Terrence Williams
PF - Luis Scola / Patrick Patterson
Cc - Jordan Hill / Hasheem Thabeet

ENDED WITH:
PG - Kyrie Irving / Jonny Flynn / Ben Uzoh
SG - Chris Douglas-Roberts / Von Wafer
SF - Marvin Williams / Kawhi Leonard / Earl Clark
PF - David West / Al Thornton / JaJuan Johnson
Cc - Kevin Love / Jermaine O'Neal / Trevor Booker / Alexis Ajinca

SALARIES:
David West - $7,000,000 , $7,000,000 , $7,000,000 , $7,000,000
Jermaine O'Neal - $6,226,200
Kyrie Irving - $5,144,280 , $5,530,080 , $5,915,880 , $6,210,000
Kevin Love - $4,609,701 , $6,112,463
Chris Douglas-Roberts - $3,500,000 , $3,500,000
Jonny Flynn - $3,414,720 , $4,329,865 , $5,776,040
Alexis Ajinca - $2,500,000
Kawhi Leonard - $1,731,960
Trevor Booker - $1,294,920 , $1,385,280 , $2,350,820 , $3,420,443
JaJuan Johnson - $1,042,320
Marvin Williams - $854,489
Ben Uzoh - $854,389
Earl Clark - $854,389
Von Wafer - $854,389
Al Thornton - $854,389
TOTAL: $40,727,546

Transactions:
1. Amnestied Hasheem Thabeet
2. Traded Jordan Hill and Courtney Lee to Boston for Jordan Crawford, Trevor Booker and LAC's 2012 1st.
3. Traded Kyle Lowry to Toronto for Trevor Ariza, Amir Johnson, TOR's 2014 1st and TOR's 2013 2nd.
4. Traded Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, LAC's 2012 1st and NYK's 2012 1st to Toronto for Stephen Curry, Marcus Camby and Hedo Turkoglu.
5. Traded Amir Johnson to Golden State for Dorell Wright and Joel Anthony.
6. Traded Stephen Curry, Dorell Wright, Marcus Camby and Terrence Williams to Orlando for Russell Westbrook and Daniel Orton.
7. Traded Russell Westbrook and Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto for DeMarcus Cousins, Devin Harris and Luke Babbitt.
8. Signed Kris Humphries to a 6-year, $24 million deal.
9. Signed Shannon Brown to a 3-year, $13.5 million deal.
10. Signed Chris Douglas-Roberts to a 2-year, $7 million deal.
11. Traded Kris Humphries, Marcus Morris, Goran Dragic, Jordan Crawford, Chase Budinger, HOU '12 protected 1st and TOR '14 unprotected 1st to Sacramento for Derrick Williams and Rip Hamilton.
12. Signed Ben Uzoh Earl Clark and Von Wafer to 1 year vet min deals.
13. Traded Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown to Toronto for Rodney Stuckey.
14. Signed Al Thornton to a 2-year deal at the veteran minimum.
15. Traded DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Williams, Devin Harris and Richard Hamilton to Toronto for Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor.
16. Traded Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor to Oklahoma City for Kyrie Irving, Amar'e Stoudemire and Jared Jeffries.
17. Traded Luke Babbitt and Daniel Orton to Washington for Marvin Williams and Alexis Ajinca.
18. Traded Amar'e Stoudemire, Rodney Stuckey and Joel Anthony to Portland for Kevin Love, David West, Jermaine O'Neal, Kawhi Leonard and JaJuan Johnson.

WHY THE ROCKETS SHOULD WIN THE GAME:
We felt like we headed into this game with a mediocre basketball team. We had a few players with solid trade value, but we had no all-star caliber players. We began without a "direction" in mind, just trying to continue to upgrade value through trades. We feel like we did a very good job with this philosophy.

The team I ended up with has a small man/big man combo that could become the best in the league in Irving/Love. We don't have any bad contracts and are in great shape financially to re-sign Love down the road. We have a plethora of young guys that we hope will find a place on the team, and we have some nice veterans in the mix to keep us competitive while our youngsters come of age.

Some might criticize me for Having West at PF and Love at center, but this is only temporary. Our plan is to start West and allow him to showcase his abilities and prove to teams that he is healthy and that he can still ball with the best of 'em, we feel like he will be a very nice trade chip either before the mid-season deadline or during the off-season.

In conclusion, all you have to look at is that my team started out with a Lowry/Martin/Scola core and ended up with a potentially elite Irving/Love duo with great flexibility financially. We look forward to trading West to a team where he's a better fit once he proves himself, drafting in the lottery, being huge players in next year's free agency and coming into the 2012-2013 season with a vengeance.

[sterncohen]

INDIANA PACERS

Rotation:
Darren Collison 32 / George Hill 16
Reggie Williams 24 / George Hill 10 / Paul George 14
Paul George 20 / Jan Vesely 28
Ed Davis 32 / Tiago Splitter 16
Marcin Gortat 34 / Chris Andersen 14

Will get minutes: Markieff Morris
Spot duty: Marshon Brooks, A.J. Price, Kyrylo Fesenko
Street clothes: James Posey, Lance Stephenson

Draft picks:
2012: IND 1st, TOR 1st, MIA 1st, DET 2nd
2013: IND 1st, 2nd
2014: IND 1st, 2nd



Transactions
-- Acquired Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley from Phoenix for Roy Hibbert and Dahntay Jones.
-- Acquired Ed Davis and Toronto's unprotected 2012 1st for Danny Granger.
-- Signed Jose Calderon (3 years @ $3.5M/year; fourth year at the same salary with a team option for a $1.5M buyout).
-- Acquired Jan Vesely and Marshon Brooks from Washington for Tyler Hansbrough and Jose Calderon
-- Signed Reggie Williams (4 years @ $4.5M) and Josh McRoberts (3 years @ $2.75M).
-- Acquired Tiago Splitter and Miami's 2012 unprotected 1st from Boston for Jared Dudley.
-- Signed Kyrylo Fesenko (1 year, $1M)
-- Acquired Markieff Morris and 2012 Detroit 2nd from Phoenix for Josh McRoberts and Brandon Rush.
-- Acquired Chris Andersen from San Antonio for 2012 Indiana 2nd

Notes
-- "Why you should win the game." I shouldn't; several other players did phenomenal jobs that were clearly better than mine. I like my team, though. Here's why.
-- Added: Ed Davis, Jan Vesely, Marcin Gortat, Tiago Splitter, Reggie Williams, Markieff Morris, 2 additional 2012 first round picks and a high second round pick
-- Subtracted: Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush
-- Good things: We have more talent than the team I started with, and that talent is young and athletic. George, Davis and Gortat will provide a very strong defensive nucleus. We still have our amnesty to use, a ton of cap space, and a bunch of 2012 picks that will primarily be useful for trading up or acquiring a veteran, rather than taking a lot more rookies.
-- Big question: Can one of these guys become a primary offensive option? If yes, this team is clearly better than the real Pacers. If no, trading away Granger without getting back a go-to scorer was a mistake - but remember that Granger has declined significantly over the past two seasons.

Position comparisons:
PG: Collison / Hill / Price - unchanged.
SG: Reggie Williams / Hill / (George) > Hill / Rush / (George).
SF: George / Vesely ??? Granger / George
PF: Davis / Splitter / Morris >> Hansbrough / ?
C: Gortat / Andersen > Hibbert / ? (Yes he is. Gortat's PER 17.8, WS/48 .151; Hibbert 15.9, .077. And the age difference is only two years, and at the end of this year Hibbert will get a free agent contract bigger than Gortat's.)

[Klomp]

Hornets

[MJallday59]

Original Roster:

Steve Nash/ Aaron Brooks [RFA]
Vince Carter/ Mickael Pietrus
Grant Hill/ Jared Dudley
Channing Frye/ Hakim Warrick
Robin Lopez/


Stephen Curry - $2,913,840 , $3,117,120 , $3,958,742
Chris Duhon - $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $3,500,000
Brandon Rush - $2,956,658 $4,089,058
Mickael Pietrus - $5,300,000, $5,300,000
Dorell Wright - $3,540,000 , $3,823,000 , $4,106,000
Hakim Warrick - $4,250,000 , $4,250,000 , $4,250,000
Josh Mcroberts - $2,300,000 , $2,300,000 , $2,300,000
Marcus Camby - $12,866,332
Total Salary: $37,626,830

Assets:

2012 Phoenix 1st Round PIck
2012 Washington 1st Round Pick
2012 Orlando 1st Round Pick


New core: & 3 1st Round Picks - 2 surefire lotto picks.


Why I should win the game:

The future of the phoenix suns looked bleak when I took over. The face of the franchise [Steve Nash] just turned 38, the other starters were either over paid or 36+ and expiring [Grant Hill, Vince Carter]. The franchise needed a bolt of youth and a new player to build the franchise around. We turned the expiring contracts of Nash, Hill and Vince Carter into superstar in the making, Stephen Curry 18/6/4 RPG 48% FG & 44% 3P, Dorell Wright 16/3/5 RPG and 3 1st rounders in what's to be the deepest draft in the past 10 years. Two of the picks being sure fire lottery picks. Jared Sullinger and Harrison Barnes maybe? I was also able to keep my salaries in check, which should allow us to pick up other pieces through FA.

No other team in the league had to deal with the situation i encountered w/ Phoenix. Overage stars on expiring contracts would never equate to Stephen Curry and 3 unprotected 1st round picks for most teams.

[Warriorfan]

LA CLIPPERS

Original
PF Griffin, Ryan Gomes
SF AFA,
C Kaman,Jordan
SG Eric Gordon, Randy Foye
PG Mo Williams, Bledsone

Depth Chart
PF gasol troy murphy Udonis Haslem Trey Thompkins
SFodom dunleavy Travis Leslie
C Bynum Kristic John Smith
SG Vince Carter redd jaryd bayless
PG Tony Parker carlos aroyo bledsoe

jared bayless 3,280,000
udonis haslem 3,260,000
Travis Leslie 500,000
Trey Thompkins 500,000
Eric Bledsoe 1,700,000
pau gasol 18,200,000 19,200,000
Andrew Bynum 15,000,000 16,000,00
tony Parker 12,000,000 12,000,000
lemar Odom 8,500,000 9,000,000
carter 3,000,000 3,000,000 3,000,000
t murphy 900,000
m dunleavy 900,000
nened kristec 900,000
Micheal Redd 900,000
69,540,000 59,200,000

2012 picks
Min Unprotected
LA Lakers Unprotected
LA Clippers Lotto Protected

2013
LA Clippers
LA Lakers Unprotected


Why I should win

With a mix of Griffin,AFA,Kaman,Gordon Williams the team still was fourth worst in the NBA. There was potential but it did not turn into wins.

We turned the potential into win now team with proven players . Gasol, Odom, and Bynum as a combination has two rings and 3 finals. Gasol and Odom are still in their prime but only have two more seasons left on their contract. PG Parker is an upgrade over Williams . Bynum is only 25 and is over knee problems so we can build on him. We still have two potential lotto picks for youth.

[BlackIce]

Toronto Raptors


Depth Chart

PG: Chauncey Billups/Eddie House
SG: Arron Afflalo/Daequan Cook
SF: Carmelo Anthony/Arron Afflalo
PF: Blake Griffin/Jason Maxiell
Cc: DeAndre Jordan/Matt Bonner








WRITE UP


We started out with:

PG Jose Calderon/Jerryd Bayless
SG DeMar Derozan/Leandro Barbosa
SF Linas Kleiza/James Johnson/Sonny Weems
PF Amir Johnson/Ed Davis
Cc Andrea Bargnani/Amir Johnson


and ended up with:


PG: Chauncey Billups/Eddie House
SG: Arron Afflalo/Daequan Cook
SF: Carmelo Anthony/Arron Afflalo
PF: Blake Griffin/Jason Maxiell
Cc: DeAndre Jordan/Matt Bonner


PG: Billups is older but still a much better player then Calderon. Strong defense, sharp shooting and great decision making. He already has great chemistry with Afflalo and Melo from Denver.
SG: Afflalo is a top 5 perimeter defender, and elite 3 point shooter and a strong player off ball. Perfect role player that will guard the other teams best PG to SF.
SF: Melo is our go to scorer on the wings. He can take you inside and outside, and a good rebounder. Melo is a complete offensive player, strong, has a post game, has good handles, can actually score in iso situations, and has the mentality to play strong throughout an entire game.
PF: Griffin is the franchise. Simple as that. Developing shot. Will get better defensively.
Cc: Jordan is the man in the middle. Defensive anchor. Put backs. Blocked shots.



Stats:

Billups - 17/3/5, 43% FG and 40% from 3
Afflalo - 13/4/2, 50% FG and 42% from 3
Anthony - 26/7/3, 46% FG and 42% from 3
Griffin - 23/12/4, 51% FG
Jordan - 7/7/1.8 blks, 69% FG


My perimeter guys are efficient from 3, all 40% + from 3. I have 2 big time scorers and balance throughout the lineup. Our defense is good as well, Jordan in the middle, Afflalo and Billups locking down the perimeter.


Goal: Win a championship. Our core is young enough to grow together and play at a high level for many years.


Why should I win?

Look at what we started with. Now look at our roster now.

[london sonic]

UTAH JAZZ

Player...................2011/12..............2012/13.............2013/14..........2014/15
Rajon Rondo..........$10,045,455..........$11,000,000........$11,954,545 ....$12,909,091
TJ Ford.................$1,500,000
Alec Burks.............$1,736,100............$2,286,000..........$2,445,480.....$3,245,151
Keith Bogans.........$1,728,000
Luol Deng..............$12,325,000.........$13,365,000.........$14,275,000
Paul Millsap ..........$6,700,000 ..........$7,200,000
Jonas Jerebko........$4,500,000..........$4,500,000...........$4,500,000.....$4,500,000
Derrick Favors........$4,443,360..........$4,753,320...........$6,008,106......$7,882,663
Enes Kanter...........$3,202,500...........$4,413,360..........$4,753,320.....$6,008,106
Cole Aldrich...........$2,286,000 .........$2,445,480 ..........$3,245,152.....$4,442,613
Mehmet Okur........$10,890,000

Rights to PF - Nikola Mirotic
DRAFT PICK STATUS
2012-UTAH JAZZ 1st TO MINNY (top 14 protected) ,GOLDEN STATE 1st - 2012 TO UTAH JAZZ (Top 7)
Utah Jazz 2nd
UTAH 2013 1ST , UTAH 2013 2ND, 2014-1ST AND 2ND, 2015- 1ST AND 2ND

PG- RONDO,FORD
SG- BOGUNS,BURKS
SF- DENG, JEREBKO
PF-FAVORS,MILLSAP
C- OKUR,KANTER,ALDRICH

FIRST OF ALL THIS TEAM HAS NOT USED its Amnesty Provision!!!!!!

GOAL- Well the goal in utah was look to improve in key areas ie point and sf and clear any bad contracts and aquire either prospects or picks. aquire players on good long term contracts that could build and gel with talent already in the team.We planned to keep the young talents of favors,kanter and burks and add to them.

TRADING RESULTS-Utah had some nice talent already so didnt need to go trading for the sake of it like some teams.Well first we wanted to trade the large contract of big al(who we see as a pf not center)utah have talent at pf with favors, kanter and millsap. We traded big al to get an upgrade at small forward aquiring underated defensive do it all luol deng. also in the trade dealt an unwanted contract and aquired a great talent for the future in pf nikola mirotic and expiring defensive vet guard boguns. second we traded to get a major upgrade at point dealing harris,miles and hayward for Defensive allstar and team oriented point Rajon Rondo and prospect center aldrich.

Free Agency- well the team needed a backup point and picked a nice one in TJ Ford. After failing in an attempt for chuck hayes(glad we dodged that bullet as diagnosed possible heart problem) the front office picked up talented young versatile swede jerebko that can play both sf and pf signing him up long term. These two aquisitions shored up the team and provide the jazz will a solid second unit.


Position anaylsis

POINT- Going from harris to a Rondo is a major upgrade. well what can i say about rondo that people dont know team oriented,def allstar,triple double spec and on a lovely long term contract thats keeps him with the team for the next 3/4 yrs and with the young talent of favors,kanter,burks and fellow talent deng. also adding solid veteran ford gives utah a nice point guard rotation.

SG- well the rotation of boguns and burks reminds me of okc with sefo and harden. Bogans with his defensive skills will start and burks will provide spark off the bench and do what harden does. Burks I feel will be a great prototypical shooting guard and will develop this year.

SF- Having deng locked down on now a nice contract provides this team with stability for the next 3/4 years. deng a great player who will provide allstar defense and will contribute in all departments and will be a great team player. having the young and now fully healthy jerebko and versatile millsap to provide mintes off the bench makes this position have depth and strength.

PF- Strong depth here with young athletic talent favors plus versatile millsap and jerebko and also kanter who can play pf aswell. all nice conracts and signed long term means power forward sorted now and for the future.

CENTER-everyone i believe has written off memhet okur but he is now fit and well and posted solid and good numbers in turkey. okur will start this year providing mentorship to both fellow turk kanter and our other center prospect aldrich.

Why I Should win.

well the team wont be winning the ship this season but believe this team is built to win in the next few years. reasons a team built with defense in mind with a great core across the board -future starting five of rondo,burks,deng,favors and kanter and will be together for the next 4 years. no bad contracts. A great second unit which most players in this game have ignored, salary cap friendly squad, lottery gsw 1st rd pick in deep 2012 draft to get best player avaliable, a 1st round pick every year which if you check some teams have destroyed future for win game now approach, Have not used Amnesty Provision and with large exp contract of okur and also boguns and ford this team can make a big splash in free agency next year "Make this team a dynasty Dwight Howard". With this roster and cap management the future looks very good in UTAH.

[spree8]

Starting Five



2nd Unit



Reserves




Depth Chart

Jameer Nelson/ Kirk Hinrich/ Anthony Carter
Joe Johnson/ DeShawn Stevenson
Ron Artest/ Richard Jefferson/ Pape Sy
Al Horford/ Charlie Villanueva/ Magnum Rolle
Kendrick Perkins/ Zaza Pachulia/ Kurt Thomas

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

Previous Roster

Kirk Hinrich/ Jeff Teague
Joe Johnson
Marvin Williams/ Pape Sy
Josh Smith/ Magnum Rolle
Al Horford/ Zaza Pachulia

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


Transactions

Simultaneous Multi-Team Trade:

Outgoing} Josh Smith & Jeff Teague
Incoming} Kendrick Perkins & Jameer Nelson & 2013 1st round pick from Oklahoma City

Amnesty Provision: Marvin Williams ( 3 years/ $23,287,500 )


Free Agency

1.) Richard Jefferson: 2 years/ $4,400,000
2.) Player Formerly Known as Ron Artest: 3 years/ $9,000,000
3.) DeShawn Stevenson: 3 years/ $6,000,000
4.) Charlie Villanueva: 2 years/ $ 2,139,018
5.) Kurt Thomas: 1 year/ $854,389
6.) Anthony Carter: 1 year/ $854,389


Draft Picks

2012: Hawks 1st & 2nd round picks + Suns 2nd round pick
2013: Hawks 1st & 2nd round picks + Thunder 1st round pick + Rockets 2nd round pick
2014: Hawks 1st & 2nd round picks
2015: Hawks 1st & 2nd round picks


Why I think I should Win:

My goal was to commit to Joe Johnson and Al Horford, and stick with the defensive culture of the team. Moving Horford over to the power forward position was also a top priority. Since the team had 66 million dollars invested in only 9 players, I had to fill out and improve the roster while keeping the team below the luxury tax of 70 million.

Trading Josh Smith and Jeff Teague for Kendrick Perkins, Jameer Nelson and a 2013 1st round pick was a great move for me because it allowed Al Horford to return to the 4 spot while adding a defensive minded veteran center with championship experience next to him. This also brings in a point guard in Nelson who is a very good playmaker (with Finals experience) which would be very beneficial to Al as it was for Dwight Howard. The 2013 1st helps to add to the stockpile of picks the Hawks have for the next few years.

Using the amnesty on Marvin Williams was essentially like trading him for all of the free agents I signed, as I wouldn't have had the room to do so had I not made that move. Basically DeShawn Stevenson+Ron Artest+Richard Jefferson+Charlie Villanueva+Kurt Thomas+Anthony Carter >>> Marvin Williams. They all are defensive minded role players who would be great fits around Johnson and Horford. Everyone of these role players comes from winning teams. Rj's team had the best record last year, Ron's are 2 time champions, DeShawn's are champions, Kurt's went to the ECF, and Carter's also went to the playoffs..and although not as big a name as the others...he did great on the Knicks in the defensive role, where he's had the duty of guarding the Wade's and Allen's...and doing a damn good job.

I felt I kept my moves realistic, and financially responsible. I firmly belive that this team would at worst get to the ECF with the very real possibility of getting to the Finals, and are truely championship contenders.

[orangeparka]

SALARIES




PICKS

2012 SAS 1st Round Pick (unprotected)
2012 NYK 1st Round Pick (unprotected)
2013 WAS 1st Round Pick (unprotected)
2013 MIA 2nd Round Pick
2014 MIA 1st Round Pick / 2nd Round Pick
2015 MIA 1st Round Pick / 2nd Round Pick
2015 WAS 1st Round Pick (lottery-protected)

OLD DEPTH CHART

Joel Anthony / Dexter Pittman
Chris Bosh / Udonis Haslem
LeBron James / Mike Miller
Dwyane Wade /
Eddie House / Norris Cole

NEW DEPTH CHART

Samuel Dalembert / Brendan Haywood / Kevin Seraphin
LaMarcus Aldridge / Tyler Hansbrough / Donatas Motiejunas / Yi Jianlian
LeBron James / Wes Johnson / Christian Eyenga
Nick Young / Jamal Crawford / Willie Green
Steve Nash / Goran Dragic

WHY MIAMI SHOULD WIN

First, let's look at the summary of Miami's overall situation at the start and end of the game.

At the start of the game:
- no PG, C, and bench/depth
- capped out for the foreseeable future (deep luxury tax)
- no assets (outside of the big 3)
- only one 1st round pick until 2015

At the end of the game:
- championship caliber starting lineup (no holes)
- at least two-deep at every position
- quality bench (all 2nd string are easily capable of starting)
- tons of financial flexibility (no luxury tax for next few years)
- tons of youth/potential
- six 1st round picks (three unprotected)
- haven't used amnesty clause yet (will be very useful in the future)

Now let's take a look at the team in general.

On Offense:
- great spacing (all good shooters)
- scoring balance (post presence, shooters, shot-creators)
- elite 3point shooting from backcourt (Nash 43%, Young 39% on high volume)
- great midrange shooting from frontcourt
- elite playmaking (Nash and LBJ)
- all four starters can hit big shots
- all four starters can create own shot
- fastbreak nightmare (great passers, tons of athleticism)
- mismatch potential/great versatility

Basically, they're all good offensive players; LeBron has tons of room to operate, and everyone will feed off Steve Nash. Offensively we have great versatility and can go big (LBJ/Young/Wes/LMA/Dally) or small (Nash/Young/LBJ/Wes/LMA). LMA's a great #2 option post presence/midrange, LeBron's arguably the best scorer in the league, Nash/Young are terrific shooters who can create, and Dalembert can shoot and catch & finish (not (Please Use More Appropriate Word)).

On Defense:
- all great man defenders (except PG)
- two defensive presences at center (Haywood/Dally)
- great perimeter defenders (Young, LBJ, Wes)
- very athletic all-around
- great defensive versatility

Other than Nash, Young/LBJ/LMA/Dally are all good defenders. The Miami Heat gameplan is always about elite defense. We have tons of defensive versatility and can match up with anyone in the league.

Next, let's look at some roster-specific improvements:

Center:
We went from absolute worst center rotation (Joel/Pittman) to one of the best. We have two starting defensive/rebounding centers in Dalembert and Haywood. Kevin Seraphin is only 21 and has tremendous athleticism/physical tools. He put up great numbers in limited minutes and many Wizards fans think he can become a starter in the league.

Power Forward:
We upgraded from Chris Bosh to LaMarcus Aldridge. He's not only much cheaper and younger, but also fits better as a 2nd option and plays better defense. Backing him up, we have Tyler Hansbrough, a great 3rd-year spark/hustle/energy guy who puts up great production even in limited minutes (18/9 per36), and should be like a younger, better Udonis Haslem.

Our wild card is Donatas Motiejunas, who was a early-mid lottery pick for majority of the season. He has great physical tools and a unique skill set, and should be great coming over after a couple of years in Europe.

Small Forward:
We have the best player in the league. Backing him up is Wes Johnson (4th overall pick), a 2nd-year player with tremendous athleticism, great defense, and a nice 3-point shot. He could get a lot of minutes as a defensive stopper who can shoot and finish, and could easily become a perimeter-oriented Shawn Marion with better three-point shooting. Eyenga is our third string and he's incredibly athletic.

Shooting Guard:
We no longer have Wade, but picked up Nick Young, who is much younger/cheaper. He's a guy who plays great defense and has a great jumpshot, while still having the ability to create his own shot. He's also hella athletic. Backing him up is former 6th man of the year Jamal Crawford, who is absolutely lethal as instant offense off the bench. Willie Green, the third string, had a terrific year on the Hornets and is great insurance.

Point Guard:
Like center, we went from absolute garbage to two-time MVP Steve Nash. He's the best passing/shooting PG in the league, and still has a ton left in the tank. He's never been around this much talent before and should absolutely flourish, coming off a great season. He'll likely play less minutes to preserve his body, but we have Goran Dragic, a triple-double threat who was absolutely terrific under him. They should be great sharing minutes at the PG spot.

Finally, how will the team do now and in the future?

Last season:
- weak depth
- huge hole at Center
- roster wasn't a great fit (Bron and Wade, whole is less than sum of parts)
- still just 2 wins away in very close Finals series

This season:
- tremendous depth
- two great defensive/rebounding centers
- new big 3 are great complements to each other
- championship?

The team obviously has enough talent, fit, depth, and defense to win it all. It's a vast improvement over last year's team and has more championship-caliber players. I really do think we win the championship this season, but of course that's very subjective and cannot be declared by anyone.

For the future:
- LeBron, LMA, and Young are 26
- Nash isnt slowing down much if at all
- Three unprotected 1st Round Picks in 2012/2013
- Six 1st Round picks until 2015
- Amnesty clause still an option (potential cap space/luxury tax escape)
- 6 player still on rookie deals
- great blend of veterans/youth potential

LeBron and LMA still have a ton left. Nash doesn't have as long, but doesn't show much signs of slowing down. There are potential replacements in nearly every position (Dragic, Wes, Motiejunas, Hansbrough, Seraphin), and we have a ton of picks (and potential lottery picks) to get some youth in the near future.

We feel the Heat can win numerous championships, and has a much larger window than before.

[koogiking]

Knicks

Salaries
Richard Hamilton $12,500,000
Trevor Ariza $6,790,640
Russell Westbrook $5,082,416
Zach Randolph - $15,200,000
OJ Mayo - $5,632,636
Anderson Varejao $7,950,000
Robin Lopez $2,862,602
Toney Douglas........$1,145,640/$2,067,880/$3,101,820
Bill Walker.............$916,100
Derrick Brown........$920,525(Qualifying Offer)
Andy Rautins.........$788,872


Depth Chart

Russell Westbrooks/Iman Shumpert/Toney Douglas
Rip Hamilton/O.J. Mayo//Andy Rautins
Trevor Ariza/Bill Walker/Derrick Brown
Zach Randolph/Josh Harrelson
Anderson Varejoa/Robin Lopez

Unsigned Rookies

Iman Shumpert
Josh Harrelson


What I started with

Chauncey Billups/Tony Douglas
Landry Fields/Iman Shumpert/Bill Walker/Andy Rautins
Carmelo Anthony/Renaldo Balkman/Derrick Brown
Amar'e Stoudemire/Josh Harrelson
Ronny Turiaf

Why I should win

Stat & Melo are great players, but their contracts were extremely expensve going forward. The Knicks would be above the salary cap if I kept them for the next couple of years. By trading Stat&Melo for Zach and Westbrook the teams salary is cut by a large amount now and in the future.

Zach Randolph is on the same level as Amar'e and Westbrook is on the same level as Melo. Westbrook is only in his 3rd year and he has a ton of potential to get better.

The team is also much better defensively with Ariza on the wings and Varejoa in the paint.

I was also able to aquire OJ Mayo in the Amar'e trade. OJ Mayo still has all star potential and on this team he will be given a chance to shine.

Right now the Knicks are just as good as they were and going forward the Knicks will be better because the team is younger, has more potential and has more cap flexibility.

[JoebobLollipop]

Orlando Magic:

Salaries:
Raymond Felton $7,500,000
Tyreke Evans $4,151,640
Marcus Thornton $8,000,000
Rudy Gay $15,032,144
Terrence Williams $2,369,040
Quentin Richardseon $2,446,200
David Lee $11,610,000
Jason Thompson $3,001,284
JaVale McGee $2,462,399
David Andersen $2,685,185
Total: $59,962,968

Starting Roster:
PG: Nelson/Duhon
SG: Arenas/Reddick
SF: Turkoglu/Richardson
PF: Bass/Andersen
C: Howard/Orton

Ending Roster:
PG: Felton
SG: Evans/Thornton
SF: Gay/Williams/Richardson
PF: Lee/Thompson
C: McGee/Andersen

Transactions:
Dwight Howard
Hedo Turkoglu
Jameer Nelson
for
J.J. HIckson
Jimmer Fredette
Tyreke Evans
Demarcus Cousins
2013 1st

Jimmer Fredette
Chris Duhon
Brandon Bass:
Orlando 2012 1st Round PIck
for
Steve Nash
2013 PHX 2nd

2012 2nd
for
Marcus Thornton

Demarcus Cousins
Steve Nash
for
Russel Westbrook
Jonas Valanciunas

Russell Westbrook
Daniel Orton
for
Stephen Curry
Dorell Wright
Marcus Camby
Terrence Williams

Ryan Andersen
Jonas Valanciunas
for
JaVale McGee
Jason Thompson

Tyreke Evans
Dorell Wright
Marcus Camby
J.J. Hickson
for
Rudy Gay
David Andersen

Stephen Curry
J.J. Reddick
for
David Lee
Tyreke Evans
Raymond Felton


Rotation:
PG: Felton(36)/Evans(12)
SG: Evans(24)/Thornton(24)
SF: Gay(36)/Williams(8)/Richardson(4)
PF: Lee(36)/Thompson(12)
C: McGee(36)/Thompson(8)/Andersen(4)

Summary:
Like the Orlando Magic of right now, taking this team on was a major challenge. When I started, the Magic had a grim future, with a high payroll and the inevitability of Howard's departure looming. I first made it my goal to get rid of any bad contracts, amnestying Arenas. I then knew the only to get talent would be too rebuild and trade Howard, who I did with Turkoglu. Now I have a great young team with a bright future and all-star talent at almost every position.

Point Guards:Nelson/Duhon < Felton
Felton is a younger and better player than Nelson who is more fit for the run-and-gun system which will be in place. He is alos an expiring contract, so I would have room next year, with his contract, Reddick's, and Q-Rich's, coming off the books, to pursue CP3 or D-Will.

Shooting Guard: Arenas/Reddick<<<<<<<<<Evans/Thornton/Reddick
This is not even a competition. Evans has tremendous talent and far exceeds the bloated contract of Arenas. Thornton is a very good scorer who will be my sixth man.

Small Forward: Turkoglu/Richardson<<<<<<<<<<<<Gay/T-will/Richardson
Turkoglu's contract and declining skills make him an albatross, while Gay's youth and ability make him one of the top SFs in the game. Williams has also shown potential to be a versatile player off the bench.

Power Forward: Bass/Andersen<<<<Lee/Thompson
Lee is a great scorer and compliment to McGee at the 5 and Thompson is a per-36 14-10 guy.

Center: Howard/Orton>>>>>>>McGee/Orton
This is the one positional disadvantage but with the guarantee of Howard leaving, McGee replaces him as a great young center.

Offense:
Gay will be the number one option with Evans the number two, and Lee third. The system will be extremely fast paced, as all of my starters are young and extremely athletic. They will be basically a vastly superior form of the Knicks pre-Melo, with Felton being the floor general. Off the bench, I have good shooter like Thornton who can hit the three and Lee and Felton have shown they can be good outside shooters.

Defense:
Unlike many fast-paced teams, the Magic also play defense. While Lee's defense may be somewhat dismal, McGee at the 5 will block almost 3 shots a game, while he can collect 10+ rebounds. Evans is a great defender and Felton was averaging about 2 steals a game. Gay's all around game has vastly improved.

Why I Should Win:
I took a team bloated with huge contracts and with no foreseeable bright future, and transformed them into a guaranteed playoff, and championship contender. While I regret losing Howard, it was the only way to get tradable assets.

[GFF88]

Old Roster
C:Bynum/Caracter
PF:Gasol/Odom
SF:Artest/Barnes/Walton/Ebanks
SG:Bryant
PG:Fisher/Blake

The problem with this roster was, they were a contending team but had some chemistry issues, had a huge payroll, no athleticism with almost whole rotation players being old except Bynum, but he was injury prone and slowed down.

New Roster
C:Tim Duncan/Erick Dampier
PF:Kevin Garnett/Jordan Hill
SF:Paul Pierce/James Johnson
SG:Kobe Bryant/Sonny Weems
PG:Kyle Lowry/Baron Davis

Salaries
Kobe Bryant $25,244,493-$27,849,149-$30,453,805
Tim Duncan $21,164,619
Kevin Garnett $21,247,044
Paul Pierce $15,333,334-$16,790,345
Kyle Lowry $5,750,000-$5,750,000
Baron Davis $3,000,000-$3,000,000-$3,000,000
Jordan Hill $2,855,760- $3,632,527
James Johnson $1,833,120-$2,812,006
Sonny Weems $900,000-$900,000
Erick Dampier $900,000-$900,000
Total:$98,231,000

You can say wow!! look at the salary but when I got the team it was already at 91M, so I said lets go for win now mode, and turn this team into a winner team. Also Duncan and Garnett are total of 42.5M expiring next season so in just one year this team will turn into a regular around 60M cap team.

Changes
The team I had swept by Dallas last year, had chemistry issues, and didn't had athletic players coming off bench. Gasol always picked games, Bynum was all about getting more touches, that frontcourt didnt have the mental toughness to win, even Phil couldnt awake them from getting swept.

I traded for declining but still effective old legends in Duncan and Garnett, even now it is a good duo that is great in both ends of the court, and with Pierce and Kobe they won't have to carry the offensive load, so they can just go hard at the defensive end. With both being good mid-range shooters Kobe can post-up all day long, something he couldn't easily do when Bynum was on the floor. Also one of the biggest weakness of the old Lakers was PG, that hole was so big Chris Paul almost beat Lakers by himself. I believe Kyle Lowry fits perfectly with being a great defensive guy and a great spot-up shooter.

The other big issue was lack of athleticism coming off the bench, Lowry fits perfectly for that role at PG, but the biggest thing I did was actually is I got Sonny Weems and James Johnson. Both are great athletes and have the ability. James Jonhson especialy had 9-5-3-1-1 season last year in TOR. With Kobe and Pierce as their mentors, that backups players would turn into great role players, like Garnett mentoring Davis. And then at PF/C backup I have Jordan Hill, who was the 8th pick in 09 draft, another athletic guy that will learn the game from Duncan-Garnett. Anyone would kill for that.

WHY I SHOULD WIN
Because I turned this team into a title favorite once again, and got players for every single weakness they had.
Shooting checked
Quick PG checked
Athletic role players checked
Winner players checked
That veteran 4 have combined 11 rings.

[The J Rocka]

Contact Information:
Email: Atribefan92@yahoo
AIM: jaronthejrocka


Depth Chart:
Lopez/Turiaf
Randolph/Tolliver
DeRozan/Prince
Gordon/Ellington
Rubio/Ridnour




Draft Rights: Malcolm Lee


Salaries:
Tayshaun Prince $8,000,000/8,000,000/8,000,000/8,000,000
Brad Miller $4,752,000/$5,104,000
Ronnie Turiaf $4,000,000
Eric Gordon $3,831,183/$5,137,616
Luke Ridnour $3,680,000/$4,000,000/$4,320,000
Ricky Rubio $3,480,120/$3,741,120/$4,002,120/$5,070,686/$6,723,729
Brook Lopez $3,076,983/$4,190,850
Anthony Randolph $2,911,231/$4,049,522
DeMar DeRozan $2,625,000/$3,344,250/$4,531,458
Anthony Tolliver $2,050,000
Wayne Ellington $1,154,040/$2,083,042/$3,103,732
Lazar Hayward $1,097,520/$1,174,080/$2,119,214/$3,178,821

Total Salary (2011-12): $40,589,014

**Qualifying Offer**
**Team Option**

Draft Picks:
2012 UTA 1st (top 14 protected)
2012 HOU 2nd
2012 MIN (top 55 protected or to Mavs)
2013 MIN 1st
2013 MEM 1st (lottery protected)
2013 MIN 2nd
2013 NJ 2nd
2014 MIN 1st
2014 NOH 2nd
2014 MIN 2nd

Transactions:
Trade #?
Incoming: Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Johnson
Outgoing: Martell Webster, Nikola Pekovic

Trade #?
Incoming: Eric Gordon, Tayshaun Prince
Outgoing: Derrick Williams, Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson, Darko Milicic

Trade #88
Incoming: Greg Monroe, DeMar DeRozan, Ronny Turiaf
Outgoing: Kevin Love, Jermaine O'Neal

Trade #94
Incoming: Brook Lopez
Outgoing: Greg Monroe
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Depth Chart: Before
Darko/Randolph
Love/Tolliver
Beasley/Williams
Johnson/Ellington
Rubio/Ridnour

Depth Chart: After
Lopez/Turiaf
Randolph/Tolliver
DeRozan/Prince
Gordon/Ellington
Rubio/Ridnour


Breakdown:

Wolves started with a team loaded full of talent. We had many of these guys playing out of position and knew they wouldn't maximize their full talent.

We decided that it was best for the franchise that Michael Beasley would move on with his career in a different environment. Wes Johnson we felt was a role player that was holding back. We also had the 2nd pick Derrick Williams, who we felt was a PF and our best player at that time (Love) played that same position. We decided to move them for a much needed SG that had all the specific characteristics & game that we were looking for. It was important for us to acquire a star in return for our young talent. We strongly feel Eric Gordon is that true number one option and will be the franchise player for many years to come.

We decided to move on without Kevin Love. We didn't want him to leave but we were able to end up with a center (Greg Monroe flipped for Brook Lopez) and add a player that could breakout at any moment in DeMar DeRozan. We feel moving forward that we can find a more defensive minded PF to put next to Brook Lopez who will take care of the scoring.

Ricky Rubio we feel will be a special player in this league for years to come and playing alongside Gordon & DeRozan will make his life much easier. Not to mention a 7 foot scoring center in Brook Lopez.

Anthony Randolph is a special talent that is capable of playing some decent minutes. He's a very streaky player and lacks the BBIQ to be successful. We believe he's a great spark off the bench and can start at PF or C if an injury were to occur. He's still a valuable piece on this team.

Looking Forward:

The team has some flexibility and can easily open more up by moving a few contracts that still hold value. We have enough money to make sure Brook Lopez & Eric Gordon are on this team for years to come.

We hope to add an all-star caliber PF in FA to complete our roster. This team is very special and can easily compete for a bottom seed playoff spot. They will continue to grow together and win games.

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

At the end of the day, the Wolves I feel are in better position to win and have enough flexibility to add another special player to our core. We might have our growing pains being a younger team and all, but this team will be ready to compete for the future. Everybody is still young and have young talent at every position, something the Wolves didn't have when I started. I can honestly say this team has a better future moving forward than before.

[Dan Verze]

Philadelphia 76ers:



GM:

dan-verze@dan-verze.de
DanielSchroeder7@aim.com


Salaries:

Player 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016

Andre Iguodala $13,531,750 $14,718,250 $15,904,750
Carlos Boozer $13,500,000 $15,000,000 $15,300,000 $16,800,000
Nene $12,900,000 $13,000,000 $13,000,000 $13,000,000
Kevin Martin $11,519,840 $12,439,675
Louis Williams $5,176,000 $5,351,500
Marco Belinelli $2,000,000 $2,000,000
Jrue Holiday $1,741,440 $2,674,852 $3,776,891 (QO)
Nikola Vucevic $1,414,400 $1,414,400
DeJuan Blair $986,000 $1,054,000
Reggie Evans 854,389
Rasual Butler 854,389
Gary Forbes 854,389


= $62,769,430


Rotation:

Holiday/Williams
Martin/Belinelli/Forbes
Iggy/Butler
Boozer/Vucevic/Evans
Nene/Blair

Transactions:

- Amnestyied Brand
- Signed Nene (51mil, 4 years)
- Signed Belinelli (4mil, 2years)
- Signed Evans (min)
- Signed Butler (min)
- Signed Forbes (min)

Additional draft picks:

- Bos 2014 1st

Trades:

- Turner+Nocioni for Martin
- Young+Meeks+Speights+Phi 2012 1st for Granger+Jones
- Granger+Brackins for Boozer+Blair
- Jones for Cole (rights)+Bos 2014 1st


Write-Up:

Old Team:

Holiday/Williams
Meeks/Turner
Iggy/Nocioni
Brand/Young
Hawes/Vucevic/Speights

New Team:

Holiday/Williams
Martin/Belinelli/Forbes
Iggy/Butler
Boozer/Blair/Evans
Nene/Vucevic

Why should I win?

Compare old team with new team. I got a scorer next to Iggy and Holiday - the perfect fit - Martin. Off the bench I have good - 3point - shooting guys. The best thing is, that I got Nene + Boozer (who will bounce back) and a cheap big in Blair. This team is a contender + only a bit over the cap.

[MagicalMe]

San Antonio Spurs



Salaries:



Blue - Team Option
Green - Player Option
Red - Qualifying Offer
Grey - Unguaranteed
Mauve - Early Termination

Unsigned draftees:

Cory Joseph (29h pick in 2011 draft)

Old depth chart:

Parker/Ginobili
Ginobili/Neal/Anderson
Jefferson/Leonard/Anderson
Blair/Bonner/McDyess
Duncan/Splitter

New depth Chart:

Brooks/Blake/Watson
Fields/Brown/Pavlovic
Green/Kleiza/Pavlovic
Bosh/Bass/Caracter
Hibbert/Hawes/Howard

Draft picks:

2012: 2nd SAS/ 2nd WAS/ 2nd IND
2013: 1st SAS/ 2nd SAS
2014: 1st SAS/ 2nd SAS/ 2nd POR 2nd LAC (top 55 protected)
2015: 1st SAS/ 1st PHO (lot. protected)/ 2nd SAS/ 2nd MIN

Trades and Transactions:

1) Used Amnesty Clause on Richard Jefferson.

2) Traded DeJuan Blair to the Bulls for Omer Asik

3) Traded Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard and James Anderson to the Blazers for Gerald Wallace, Nolan Smith, Luke Babbit, Martell Webster, 2014 POR 2nd, 2015 MIN 2nd

4) Traded Tony Parker and Tiago Splitter to the Celtics for Kyle Lowry, Courtney Lee, Andrea Bargnani.

5) Traded Andrea Bargnani, Martell Webster, Courtney Lee, Kyle Lowry, 2012 SAS 1st to the Heat for Chris Bosh, Mike Miller, Eddie House.

6) Traded Gerald Wallace, Nolan Smith to the Wizards for Jeff Green, Rudy Fernandez, Ramon Sessions, 2012 WAS 2nd.

7) Traded Chris Bosh, Mike Miller to the Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Luis Scola, Linas Kleiza, Joey Dorsey, Solomon Alabi

8) Traded Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, Rudy Fernandez, Danny Green to the Lakers for Pau Gasol, Steve Blake, Derrick Caracter

9) Traded Pau Gasol, Eddie House, Matt Bonner to the Raptors for Lamar Odom, Nicolas Batum, Evan Turner

10) Traded Omer Asik, Ramon Sessions, Joey Dorsey to the Hornets for Devin Harris

11) Traded Devin Harris, Luke Babbitt to the Raptors for David Lee

12) Signed UFA Spencer Hawes.

13) Traded Nicolas Batum, Evan Turner, Gary Neal to the Nuggets for Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Chris Andersen

14) Traded Luis Scola, DeMar DeRozan, David Lee to the Suns for Roy Hibbert, Aaron Brooks, Landry Fields, Brandon Bass, 2015 PHO 1st (lotto protected).

15) Traded Lamar Odom, Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson to the Raptors for Chris Bosh, Shannon Brown

16) Signed UFAs Sasha Pavlovic, Earl Watson.

17) Traded Chris Andersen to the Pacers for 2012 IND 2nd

18) Sugned UFA Juwan Howard

Text:

I started this game with a strong team that was getting very old. In other words, despite the fact, that the Spurs were still one of the top teams in the West, most of the people didn’t see them winning in up coming years. My job, as a GM of this franchise, was to change that. So I decided to get younger. Now, that are my thoughts on the job I’ve done.

PG:

I had Tony Parker, who wasn’t as old as other stars, but he still was getting into 30 years, so, I had to trade him, because in years to come his value won’t get any bigger. I replaced TP with Aaron Brooks, a nice guy, who won MIP few seasons ago in Houston. Last season, he had to play behind Lowry and then behind Nash, so his value has decreased, but now we give him starting job again, so we think he should be playing well again. Backing him up we have Steve Blake. And don’t get me wrong, but he isn’t as bad as you think. He didn’t succeed in the triangle, but we won’t be the team that runs triangle offense, so he should do well. Yes, he is 31 years old, but we think he may be good experience guy, who can solidly run his team and hit some shots. Earl Watson is our 3rd stringer and we feel comfortable with him as our security option.

SG:

Yes, Manu is still one of the top guys in the league and Gary Neal was damn good in his rookie season too, but Neal is a perfect role player nothing more and Manu.. He has only about 2 years left in this league. Knowing, that we decided to retool, we didn’t need him anymore, because he wouldn’t be good for us in the future and we don’t care so much about present. We ended up with a good Fields/Brown rotation. Fields is a guy that had a monster rookie season. Defense, rebounds, points he does it all. Behind him, off the bench we have guy who was backing up Kobe Bryant and learnt from arguably the greatest to ever play the game, Brown is also very athletic and he would have bigger value if he had a bigger role in LAL last season. When one of them is struggling or gets injured, we could easily rely on the other one, so, we think, we did a good job here.

SF:

Jefferson/Leonard/Anderson is what we have started with at SF. However, we amnestied the terrible contract of RJ. And even though we liked other 2 guys, we had to move them as well. Good thing, we’ve got a solid player back. And that player is Jeff Green. Last season in Boston wasn’t his greatest, so he has his value lowered, but actually, he is a very good player, capable of playing the 4, he may post up smaller SF’s, hit the three, run the floor, he is a terrific leader, who voices his opinion and teaches young guys. His defense is his strength too. And I know you will be negative about the guy, who’s backing him up, but Linas Kleiza isn’t overpaid terrible player like you think. Watch, how vital he is for Lithuanian national team and you’ll see what I mean. Remember world championship? He made the first team and led our small country to bronze medals. In the NBA, he is known as Melo’s substitute at Denver and as the guy, who played pretty well in TOR until he got injured. He is a good scorer and rebounder, sometimes he isn’t playing well, but sometimes he is able to explode for 41 points or put up 26/12 or something like that. I think, I won’t get positive opinion from you about having him, but this guy is a perfect peace of the bench.

PF:

Duncan was getting old, he needed a lot of resting and he wasn’t THAT Duncan anymore. Also, even though, he is our legend, we had no room for him, because we are retooling (same like with Manu). That’s why we sent him to LA, the place, where he could win it again. We got a younger and at this point, much better Chris Bosh. He will be number 1 option again, he will be our leader, our main scorer. Even though, Bonner and Blair were solid guys, we had to trade them, but we are feeling well, about having Brandon Bass backing up Bosh. Bass is a perfect scorer, who has good mid range game, he was starting in Orlando last season, so as a backup, he is as good as it gets. Caracter may see very little playing time, so we would probably send him to the D-League.

C:

Hibbert is a big potential guy, who is very tall and he showed some signs of good playing. After Spurs got their butts kicked by the Grizzlies, many speculations were about not having a true center, big body in the middle. Now it has changed in the city of San Antonio. Roy will get a lot of minutes and if he develops as he should, we could have one of the best centers in the league in few years. Backing him up we have Spencer Hawes, a solid guy, who is able to rebound, space the floor and is a good backup. Yet another perfect guy in our team is Juwan Howard, a solid mentor for our younger players, especially Hibbert. Also, you have to take it to the fact, that he’s always ready to come out and play if injuries occur, so this min contract signing is probably bigger than you think.

Bench:

Blake/Brown/Kleiza/Bass/Hawes is a pretty nice bench. Every guy can score a lot of points and while the defense off the bench may not be great, we are satisfied with our bench (with the 3rd unit as well).

Money/Picks:

73M when starting, 57M when finishing. We are again a team that is under the cap, even though we have one highly paid superstar in Bosh. Our owners should be happy with that and Bosh.. He will sell a lot of T-Shirts and tickets, so he will compensate his salary in the way many superstars do. Not only, we added some young guys and got to spend less, but we also added some draft picks. Yes, we lost our 2012 1st, but we got a ton of 2nd rounders and 1 future 1st. Knowing, how good are our scouts (We got Ginobili with the 57th pick!), those picks will be used well. Believe me!

Overall:

I’ll keep it short. We are weaker than we were, but we are still the team that is ready to be the playoffs team, but: We are now spending less, we got much younger and we got some nice talented guys. I guess, future is bright for San Antonio.

[Blazer50]

>>> <<<

Preface: A great game - glad to be working with current rosters - missed a draft which eliminated an important aspect of the game (and trade values for picks). Karmaloop did a great job until his computer crashed and I Thank You for your efforts - responsive and decisive.

WIZARDS REPORT:
18 trades with 15 teams and total transactions involving over 90 players have completely transformed the Washington Wizards. This has been a team without direction since the Walt Bellamy / Wes Unseld Bullet era (1960's through '70's) and they finally have a plan.

The Wizards started the game with Overrated (John Wall - best player in a terrible draft who will contine to struggle against NBA quality players), Me First (Nick Young - $9M contract demand -took the QO at $3.7 and Andray Blatche) and Overpaid (Yi Jianlian - Rashard Lewis) players with a weak - No name bench. With Javale McGee as a promising asset, the New Wizard's roster is a clear upgrade in the starting 5 and a Massive Upgrade in their bench strength. (continued below)

ORIGINAL ROSTER 2010-2011
STARTERS KEY BENCH MORE BENCH
PG John Wall / Mustafa Shakur
SG Nick Young / Maurice Evans
SF Rashard Lewis / Jordan Crawford / Josh Howard
PF Yi Jianlian / Andray Blatche / Trevor Booker
CN JaVale McGee / Kevin Seraphin / Hamady Ndiaye
SALARY WITH ADJUSTED CAP HOLD -- $ 70,727,788

ENDING ROSTER
LINE UP
PG Devin Harris / Jose Calderon / Nolan Smith
SG Klay Thompson / Gilbert Arenas / Elliot Williams
SF Thad Young / C J Miles / Luke Babbitt
PF Elton Brand / Derrick Williams / (Ryan Anderson) / Travis Outlaw
CN (Greg Oden) Channing Frye / Ryan Anderson / Daniel Orton

IR - Greg Oden to Jan 15 - then Babbitt / Orton & Smith will swap stints in D League



WIZARD'S REPORT CONTINUED:
I have assessed a number of the "win now" rosters that have been assembled in this game. Most feature 3 or 4 super star players with very limited backups - mostly vet min players. They are in cap hell and have no future. What is lost in that equation is that 2012 is a 66 game stpint with tri-back-tas and 4 game / week schedules the norm. Players will be injured. WA was never a win now team, but assembled to develop chemistry and allow quality young players to learn from some select-productive vets (see Elton Bland - Derrick Williams). This is why I downgraded PG Steve Nash to an All Star PG in Devin Harris who is 10 years his junior - and backed him up with a guy whose career averages are almost 90/50/40.

The possible downgrade in my roster would be at the Center position. I feel Frye/ Brand and Anderson are capable of handling that spot in this up tempo season. It may be a good bet that Greg Oden will never be what the experts felt he could become. However, if 4 years of mending have done the trick, a motivated Greg Oden could make this a team that immediatly becomes a legitimate contender for the championship. (And Orton may not be far behind).

I have a great 2nd unit and have some of the best young prospects from the last 2 draft classes.

I will say I did enjoy a collect-a-Euro plan in this game early on, but ulimately did not feel they would be a legit team without Gasol and I did not have the assets to add him to my roster. Great fun and I enjoyed working with all the GMs - not just the 15 who finally made the deals.

ACTIVE ROSTER | SALARY | RBS / APG / SPG / BPG / TO / PF / PPG
Devin Harris ------ 9,319,000 - 8,500,000 -- 2.4 rbs / 7.1 ast / 15.2 ppg
Jose Calderon ----- 3,500,000 - 3,500,000 -- 3.0 rbs / 8.9 ast / 9.8 ppg
Gilbert Arenas ----- 2,000,000 - 2,000,000 -- 3.3 rbs / 5.6 ast / 17.3 ppg (WA)
Thadeus Young ---- 9,000,000 - 9,675,000 -- 5.3 rbs / 1.0 ast / 12.7 ppg
Greg Oden -------- 9,000,000 - 9,000,000 -- TBD - LAST POSTED PER 23.+
Luke Babbitt ------ 1,768,800 - 1,892,280 -- 1.3 rbs / 0.5 ast / 1.5 ppg
Channing Frye ----- 5,600,000 - 6,000,000 - 6.7 rbs / 1.2 ast / 12.7
C J Miles ---------- 3,700,000 - --N/A -- -- 2.6 rbs / 3.3 ast / 12.8 ppg
Ryan Anderson ----- 2,244,601 -- --N/A -- -- 5.5 rbs / 0.8 ast / 10.6 ppg
Travis Outlaw ------ - 854,389 - 904,600 -- 4.0 rbs / 1.0 ast / 9.2 ppg
Elton Brand -------- 10,000,000 - 9,550,000 -- 8.3 rbs / 1.5 ast / 15.0 ppg
- 2011 ROOKIE SALARYS
Nolan Smith ------- 1,123,100 - 1,207,400 #21
Elliot Williams ------ 1,348,800 - 1,442,880 signed 2010 #22
Klay Thompson ----- 1,827,400 - 1,964,500 #11
Derrick Williams ---- 3,835,600 - 4,123,200 #2
Daniel Orton ------- 1,105,560 - 1,182,600 #29

RETAINED SALARIES & HOLDS - $66,227,450

TRANSACTIONS
WAS relases all UFA & RFA rights & Hold to Owen-Jeffers-Jianlian Ndiaye
WAS sends Nick Young; to >>>>> Trade 2CLE for Ramon Sessions
WAS sends John Wall; to >>>>>> Trade 8 BOS for Ray Felton & Jeff Green
WAS sends 2012 1st round pick; to >>>>Trade 27PHX for C Frye, D Jones & PHZ 2013 2nd
WAS sends Andray Blatche; to >>>>Trade 28 DAL for R Fernandez & B Haywood
WAS signs FA Andrei Kirilenko to a 4 yr 38.5M contract s 9M - (TO) in 2014
WAS sends J Green, R Sessions, R Fernandez & '12 WA 2nd>Trade 31
SAS for Gerald Wallace & Nolan Smith
WAS sends Gerald Wallace & 2013 1st; to >>>>> Trade40
NJN for Donatas Motiejunas, Marshon Brooks & 2012 NJ
WAS sends Raymond Felton & Wesley Matthews; to Trade 41
OKC for Jeff Teague & Danny Granger
WAS send Danny Granger & Dahntay Jones; to >>>Trade 44
PHI for Thad Young, Jody Meeks, Mareesse Speights & PHI '12 1st
Note: Thad Young (5years, $52,275,519 ($9M; $9,675M $10,400,625 $11,180,672 $12,019,222)
WAS sends C Frye, Jody Meeks & C Singleton; to >>>>Trade 46
SAC for Jason Thompson & Ben Gordon
WAS sends B Gordon & M Speights; to >>>>Trade 48 BOS for Ray Allen
WAS sends Thad Young, Jeff Teague a& '12 2nd; to >>>Trade 54
SAC for Steve Nash & Austin Daye
WAS sends Ray Allen; to >>>>>Trade 55 TOR for Wes Johnson & Ryan Gomes
WAS sends B Haywood, R Anderson, K Seraphin & '13 1st >>Trade 61
MIA for Andris Biedrins & marvin Williams
WAS sends 2013 2nd; to >>> Trade 62 DAL for Ian Mahinmi
WAS send Austin Daye; to >>>Trade 63 PDX for Elliot Williams
WAS Signs Jarrett Jack to 4 yr - $29.5M contract - $7M+ 4.5%
WAS sends Jonas Valanuicas & Jarrett Jack; to >>>>Trade 74
CLE for Klay Thompson & Thadeus Young
WAS send AK47, Andris Biedrins & Ian Mahinmi; to >>>Trade 78
SAC for Marcus Morris, Chris Kaman & Channing Frye
WAS sends Jan Vesely & Marshon Brooks; to >>>>>Trade 79
IND for Tyler Hansbrough & Jose Calderon
WAS signs FA Center Alexis Anjinca to $2.5 Mini Exp - 2 yr $5.075
WAS signs PF / C Al Harrington to 2 year Vet Min $1.348/ yr
WAS send A Harrington, R Gomes & M Morris; to >>> Trade 87 GSW for Elton Brand
WAS signs FA Dante Cunningham - 745,248 - 771,331
WAS sends M Williams & Alexis Anjica; to >>>>>Trade 100
HOU for Luke Babbitt & Daniel Orton
WAS sends C Kaman & '13 2nd; to >>Trade 102 NOH for Greg Oden & C J Miles
WAS sends S Nash, W Johnson, T Hansbrough, D Montiejunas, '15 1st >Trade 103
MIA for Devin Harris, Gilbert Arenas, Derrick Williams, Ryan Anderson & Travis Outlaw

[supplyndemand69]

CONTACT INFO
EMAIL: Supplyndemand696@yahoo.com
AIM: Supplyndemand696

Old Roster

PG:Jason Kidd/J.J Barea(FA)/Roddy Beaubois
SG:Jason Terry/DeShawn Stevenson(FA)/Dominique Jones
SF:Caron Butler(FA)/Shawn Marion/Corey Brewer/Peja Stojakovic(FA
PF:Dirk Nowitzki
C:Tyson Chandler(FA)/Brendan Hayward/Ian Mahinmi

New Roster

PG:Jason Kidd/J.J Barea/Earl Boykins
SG: Mickael Pietrus/Jason Terry/Roger Mason
SF:Caron Butler/ Jason Kapono
PF:Dirk Nowitzki/ Shawn Marion/Melvin Ely
C:Tyson Chandler/ Andray Blatche/Kwame Brown



AMNESTY
Dominique Jones


SIGNINGS

Tyson Chandler re-signs for 5ys/55million
Caron Butler re-signs for 4yr/32million
J.J Barea re-sign 3yr/12 million
Kwame Brown signs 2yr/4,400,000
Jason Kapono signs 1yr/$854,389
Melvin Ely signs 1yr/$854,389
Roger Mason 1yr/$854,389
Earl Boykins 1 yr/$854,389

TRADES
Dallss sends: Rudy Fernandez and Brendan Hayward
Washington sends: Andray Blatche

Dallas sends Ian Mahinmi
Washington send 2013 2nd

Dallas sends Corey Brewer and Roddy Buebois
Phoenix sends Mickael Pietrus and 2013 1st Round Pick - Top 7 protected


DRAFT PICKS

2012: Dallas 1st & 2nd
2013: Dallas 1st & 2nd/ Phoenix 1st top 7 protected/Washington 2nd
2014: Dallas 1st & 2nd
2015: Dallas 1st & 2nd

Why Dallas Should Repeat

If it ain't broke don't' fix it. Last years roster won the championship against arguably the most hyped team in NBA history. I wanted to maintain the core roster, re-sign the key free agents, and go after some young talent.

My first order of business was the re-signing of Tyson Chandler. He put up a stat line of 10.1 ppg 9.1 rpg and 1.1 blkpg. While those numbers don't scream all star, his contributions in the playoffs and in the finals could not be measured. He was a perfect compliment to Dirk and the anchor of the defense. I then moved on to J.J Barea. Who could forget his series against the Lakers. He penetrated the paint at will and seemed to frustrated the Lakers every time he touched the ball. With Jason Kidd coming close to retirement, it will be nice having his successor locked in. My final re-signing was Caron Butler. He had a great first half averaging 15 ppg and 4rpg. He looked like the perfect second option to Dirk until injuries sidelined him. I'm excited to see what he can do for an entire year.

I didn't want to make to many trades or take on to much salary. I wanted some youth and depth in the front court so I made the move for Andray Blatche. Blatche is a young PF/C Who can rebound, score, and alter shots. I feel playing along two future hall of famers will only improve his game. The shooting guard position lacked some depth so I signed Brandon Roy with the mid-level , but injuries forced him to retire. The opportunity to acquire Mickael Peitrus and a 1st round pick (top 7 protected) for Roddy Beaubois and Corey Brewer came up, so I jumped at it. While I love Roddy's potential, the lack of depth at SG could not be ignored. Mickael is a solid defender and can score. Also the 1st rounder is a nice asset for the future.

Last years roster was good enough for a championship. I feel like I improved it, and got younger in key positions. In my opinion this team is good enough for a spot in the Western conference finals and hopefully the finals.