RealGM

Rank based on what they had, and how they got better, not the best team overall. IE, a team like CHA who got a few young superstars may be better than Dallas who made few moves, but is still the best team. You get the point.

Also put who you think will be the 2012 Champ and 2017 Champ.

Here are the teams that put writeups out:

Portland
Boston
Houston
Indiana
Phoenix
LA Clipps
Toronto
Utah
Atlanta
Miami
New York
Orlando
LA Lakers
Minnesota
Philadelphia
San Antonio
Washington
Dallas
OKC
Sacramento

Thanks to everyone who participated, and got their writeup in on time!

As always, easier for me to divide these into tiers than to do a rank order.
(Note: edited to include Atlanta - left them out the first time through.)

Terrific

1. Portland. Started with a bunch of talent that's good enough to lose in the first round of the playoffs, and wound up with Durant and Amare. There are lots of holes in the rest of the roster, but it's a lot easier to fill holes than to find two superstars. Great job.

2. Toronto. If Black Ice could have stopped trading at any of two or three points along the way, he would have had an easy first-place vote. (Durant and Love, Griffin and Westbrook were both better combinations to build around than the final product.) Still, when you start out with your two most valuable assets being Valanciunas and Derozan, and end with them being Griffin and Anthony...

3. Utah. I love when people make their teams better with just a few trades, while holding on to most of their core. Essentially swapped Jefferson (no longer needed) and Harris for Rondo and Deng, and wound up with a beautifully balanced roster that includes young veterans who can still produce (Rondo, Deng, Millsap) alongside the promising young guys (Favors, Kanter, Burks).

4. Philadelphia. The real Sixers can't shoot and desperately need a center; filled both holes without giving away Holiday or Iguodala, which is outstanding. Concerns: most of the depth is gone, and I have my doubts about Boozer. And the real Sixers can't afford to amnesty Brand (they've still got to pay his huge salary, even though it doesn't count against the cap) and pay this roster too.

5. Houston. Again, great job consolidating talent - Kevin Love alone is substantially better than anyone on the Rockets' roster, and getting Irving too is amazing. The rest of the roster worries me - the wing rotation is brutal, West doesn't really fit the team in terms of age, and with Love at center the defense is going to be ugly.

Damned if I know (i.e. might be great, might not work at all)

6. Boston. If Cousins turns into a star, this is a great job turning rapidly ageing talent into very good young players. If Cousins doesn't grow up, this gets ugly; everybody would love to have Lawson and Ibaka, but if either of them is your best player you're in trouble.

7. Oklahoma City. Amazed that you can trade Durant and come out with a team that's arguably better. Howard and Paul really is a stronger pair, in terms of balance and defense, than Durant and Westbrook. And there's still plenty of other talent here. But I'd have two big worries: Chris Paul's knees, and whether Paul and Howard re-sign. They'd love playing together; I'm just not sure they'd love doing it in Oklahoma.

Good
Order within this group is virtually random.

8. LA Lakers. Well, that was bold. Lowry is perfect for this team, and if they all stay healthy - a huge if - they've got one more title run in them for sure. One; after that it gets ugly in a hurry.

9. Orlando. I think the decision to trade Howard was right, and the return was a great deal of talent - five or six solid players, one of whom (Evans) still might turn into a star. But ... this is not exactly the Basketball IQ All-Star team. Maybe Stan Van Gundy can convince them to share the ball and play defense - and maybe not.

10. New York. I'd rather have Westbrook than Carmelo, and Randolph plus Varejao may well be a better front line than Amare and a giant questionmark, which is what he started with. That's about it, though - Ariza has become a net minus with his terrible shot selection, and Mayo has provided no evidence that he's even an average starting SG.

11. Phoenix. Curry is better than anybody now on the roster, and the 2012 Washington 1st was a very nice asset to acquire. Not much else here, but started with very little.

Good ?

12. Miami. Needed a PG, a C, and some depth, and acquired all of the above. It's a little hard to see Nick Young or Samuel Dalembert as starters on a championship team, though. And Nash can't go on forever. Bottom line is: tremendous talent, but I still think you could get slightly better pieces for Dwayne Wade.

13. LA Clippers. Credit for boldness - takes something to completely turn a team around from all youth to all veterans. And this lineup, with the exception of Carter, should be very good. But I don't think it's good enough to be a serious championship contender.

14. Minnesota. I love Eric Gordon too. But I'm not particularly impressed by either Derozan or Lopez, and I think giving up Love was a mistake. Fair return on talent - just not sure that the end result is better than what the Wolves started with.

15. San Antonio. Tough team to play - still a contender but because of age the best players rarely bring back as much value in this game as they deserve. Bosh and Hibbert makes a very strong front line, and if there was one more player with anything like that level of talent I'd have rated the Spurs much higher. I don't think any of Brooks, Fields, or Green has demonstrated that he's a league-average starter.

16. Atlanta. Lateral movement - pieces fit together a bit better with Horford at PF, but I think the total talent level is about the same, and the long term salary problem of carrying Johnson's contract is not addressed.

16. Washington. Acquiring Derrick Williams at the end was an excellent move. Still, I'd rather have Wall than Williams, and I'd rather have Vesely and McGee than Thad Young and Klay Thompson. This team has a fair shot at the playoffs, which is not true of the real Wizards. I think its long-term prospects are poorer, though.

17. Dallas. Just a few moves that I think add up to a small net minus. If you want to contend now, you can't have Pietrus as a starting SG. And Beaubois (traded away) seems to me to be worth a good deal more to this team than the players acquired.

18. Sacramento. The two potential stars are gone, and have not been replaced by players of equal value.

1. Toronto: Nothing to say here, great job selling your talent BI.
2.Portland: Even tough I dont think you have great line-up now, I think you did good in this game with getting Durant and Amare, rest is always easier than to get those two superstars.
3.OKC: I think people are just trying to find a way to diss CP3, he is the best pure PG in the game, and getting Howard is great too, yeah you had a great young team with a lot of assets, but I still think you did nice.
4.Houston: I think you did nice, getting a Chris Paul light point guard in Irving and a 20-15 player with shooting in Love. West is a good asset to trade, and you have some young players I think you did good too.
5.Utah: You had two great trades that filled your needs even though you're not a good trading guy with such low offers. I like Favors he could turn out to be a 18-10 guy and also Kanter was great in the Euro at age 19 without playing organized basketball games for a year now. You have a good upcoming roster.
6.Lakers: This team had a really bad salary situation with good tradeable pieces, but as much as I love Lakers and I am a fan of the Lakers this team in real life doesnt have a chance to be a finalist now, so I really liked your moves to get Duncan-Garnett-Pierce around Kobe, Lowry was a good addition and you have a great chance to win the title now, and with Garnett and Duncan expiring you turned an awful cap situation to a relatively good one.
7.Orlando: You did good, Howard's departure was inevitable, and you got really good value for him. Felton-Evans-Gay-Lee-Mcgee core is good to make playoffs and make people watch you, so many people would end-up with worse than that.
8.Suns: You did nice with your goal as in tanking this loaded draft season with two potential lottery picks and also got Curry and Wright your core would be very nice if we had a draft.
9.Knicks: I think this team is more balanced and better than the old Knicks with no depth with two superstars. People who acts like Mayo is a scrub are really funny I mean he had great playoff last year didnt anyone watched him step up in crutial minutes?
10.Heat: I think people missed your Wes Johnson addition because you put him as a backup, you did good could have done better though.
11.Philly:You adressed every need, Boozer is a big question mark so that is the only reason you are this low in this game.
12.IND: You have a good young team but dont have a clear cut star, I love Paul George but I dont think he will become a go to scorer, will be great 2nd-3rd option with awesome perimeter defense may be the best.
13.Spurs: You went for a good big duo too but your guards and wings arent good enough anymore.
14.Hawks:You did get some good players, nothing fancy
15.Min:You got 2 good wing players with potential, and Brook Lopez is a good post scorer too, Rubio can be a Rondo type PG so I think you have a nice core.
16.Washington: You did good actually but your team is in a bad position, not bad enough to get a high pick, well you dont have the pick but still, and not good enough to go deep in the playoffs.
17.Mavs: You didnt do anything so that is why you are ranked so low in my list.
18.Clippers: You had a great young core and turned it into a last years lakers minus Kobe plus Parker, and even real life Clipps did better than you lol.
19.SAC: You started great trading for Howard but then ended up with nothing to show for even the SAC you started with was better had more potential.

12 Champs OKC, 17 champs I dont know it's too far into future may be Suns?

1. Toronto - Great job again BlackIce. Any team getting Griffin is always amazing, yet along having your best assets be Jonas V/DD/Davis. I really didn't like that last trade for Melo, but the value overall was still the highest.

2. Houston - Love/Irving is a great duo to start off. Houston needed a proper rebuild, and this is that. Moving West for a C is the last thing you need to do before you are done, but it's still very good.

3. Utah - Jefferson/Harris+parts for Rondo/Deng is an awesome swap. Have a great core going forward, only concern is scoring, which could take care of itself in time.

4. Orlando - Felton/Lee/Gay can carry the team now, Evans/Thorton/McGee later, and you got all of that from Dwight. Very nice first trade value wise.

5. New York - Very nice job. Adding 2 defensive Cs, Zbo (maybe better than Amare right now) and a few young wings is a complete job. Final trade you made was a great one to finish out your team.

6. Philadelphia - Took a lopsided team (wing based) and turned it into a very balanced squad. Has just the right balance of Bigs/Wings, Offense/Defense and Young/Old. Only concern is lack of a true #1 option to go to down the stretch.

7. Phoenix - Hard core rebuilds are usually underrated here, but I think you did an excellent job. You draft one of the PFs (Jones, Sullinger, Davis, ect) and a wing (Lamb, Beal, Barnes, ect) and you could be a sleeper to snatch Dwight. Great job to secure Curry and Wright, and to get a lot of cap space.

8. Boston - Took a couple aging stars, and got a couple young stars for them. Wish you would've kept Wall, but Cousins/Ibaka is a perfect fit in the front court, and you have some decent wings that work well together.

9. San Antonio - Getting Bosh with Hibbert gives you a solid front court. Overall, I think the value improved on your team, but balancing it out and getting more of a consistent guard rotation would've had you higher.

10. OKC - It's a shame you traded some at the end, because Westbrook/Matthews/Smoove/Amare/Dwight with Battier is a top 3 ranked team IMO. You started with 2 young stars and good depth, and now have 2 older stars, with less depth. I also think Harden>Smoove as the 3rd option, but pairing Dwight with CP3 can never be bad.

11. Indiana - Improved front court, and I'm very high on the Vesely kid. Just as your writeup said, if one of those players becomes a #1 scoring option, you have done a fantastic job, but I'm not so sure that will happen.

12. Miami - Took a big 3, made it a big 2 with depth. I don't think Nash has a ton left, and the C position could be better, but Crawford, Dragic off the bench are good additions, and so is the LMA/Bosh swap.

13. Atlanta - With the few moves you made, it helped the team a bit. May be lacking on scoring, and didn't get any younger, but moving Horford to PF and getting a better PG are both good things.

14. Dallas - Blatche was a good addition, but not sure this is much better than the old team. Kept Dirk though, which is something past Dallas GMs havent done.

15. LA Lakers - 98M payroll . Lowry was a strong addition, but I think your front court takes too big of a blow to have me see it as a net gain.

16. LA Clipps - Basically turned the old Clipps into the Lakers except without Kobe and with Parker. I don't think you have a title shot, and now your youngest player is 25 with a history of injuries. Can't say that is better than a young core of Jordan/Griffin/Gordon, who were all younger than 25 and had a higher ceiling than Bynum.

17. Minnesota - I'd say overall, this was lateral value from the old team. Saying that, I think the defense has downgraded a ton, DD/Gordon doesn't fit well IMO and I also am not sure Randolph should be a starter on your team, considering what you started with.

18. Washington - Trading Wall was not of your best interest, even if you did sneak in and take Williams at the end. Decent core, but not as strong as the other Wizards.

19. Sacramento - Could've helped your case had you had the draft, but not sure why you traded all of Jimmer, Thornton, Evans and Cousins, without getting back a guy of the same level.

2012 Champ - Toronto
2017 Champ - Phoenix

1.Tor lotto team to dark horse contender almost half the trades tot had better lineps during than end
2. Utah young team makes playoffs broke logjam at pf kept young pieces.
3.Hou did the rebuild has youth improved talent
4.Orl did well with dwight trade better team before rudy gay overpay
5.PORT improved playoff team with superstar Durant but IMO LMA over Amare. hole at C
6.Okl STARTED Best young team but small market keep Dwight CP3? lineup better after first 3 deals
7.LAL contending this year to quick rebuild best you could do.
8.Phi low playoff seed amnestied brand to overpay nene
9.Mia moved Wade max value? started with most talent
10. NY moved major pieces not a better contender
11. Ind moved best player and hibbert same level talent still low playoff seed
12. Atl did right simple move for balance
13. SA lost talent and cap space
14. Dal minor moves still contender
15. MIN lost best player still lotto with no pick
16. Was not better position lost youth
17. Sac lost youth still lotto team
2012 champs OKL 2017 OKL if they keep CP3 and DWIGHT

1) Orlando; As a Orlando fan, and the one that managed ORL before, i know, how tough is this place. And what you have in your roster now, is an amazing young core, that can compete now, and be extremely good in the future.

2) Toronto; Nice starting 5, some players played with each other before, so they should fit well. I'm not too sold on DeAndre and your bench is weak, but knowing that you had Craptors, it's a good job.

3) Oklahoma; Improved in 4 positions out of 5. Paul/Howard is a dominant duo, with lots of amazing players surrounding them. I wouldn't mind ranking you higher, but other GM's also did an amazing job with much tougher places. Not everyone starts with Ibaka,Durant,Harden,Westbrook,Collison, Perkins

4) Houston; Iriving/Love is a great core for the future. Only if you traded David West for a C and/or SG upgrade.. Knowing that you would do that and would be able to sign a good FA, you have a really nice team.

5) Boston; Nice rebuild. I like your frontcourt and Lawson being a PG of this team. You also have a solid, deep bench. Not a big fan of Gordon's contract though, if he starts to play like he did in Chicago he will be really useful, otherwise, he's overpaid.

6) Philadelphia; Filled all the needs for the team. Finally, we can see a nice balanced team in Philly.

7) Portland; Even though i liked Felton/Matthews backcourt more than Stuckey/Hill, you improved your team. You got 2 good stars and a solid bench. Center position may still be a problem, though.

8) Miami; Better looking team and much better balanced, only if Nash was a bit younger...

9) Lakers; Interesting plan that you executed quite well. Can't rank you higher, because team has a very sad upside and if injuries occur (which is possible with such an old team), i can't see good guys off the bench.

10) Phoenix; Not having a draft hurt you the most. You still added some nice value and after 2012 draft your team would be a nice upcoming powerhouse.

11) Atlanta; Pretty silent game for you, but some nice moves were made. A deep balanced team is what you have and i like defense of your team.

12) Utah; I like the aquasition of Deng, but starting C and starting SG look too weak. You had a lot to start with, so that should also be mentioned.

13) Indiana; Good cap situation, added some young talent. But this team has a question, where does the offense come from, decent rebuild though.

14) Dallas; You resigned your key guys, but it's not enough to win this game, at least, you could have tried to make your team younger or less-paid. And with other teams improved, i don't see you winning again.

15) Washington; You got some nice guys in Derrick Williams, Klay Thompson and Thad Young, but i'm not sold on your team. It seems like this team is still stuck in mediocrity and John Wall isn't overrated in my books. Cap situation could also be better.

16) Minnesota; I love Gordon. But you had a lot of assets to start with and most of them are gone (Williams, Beasley, Love, Wes...) Not sold on Ricky "Can't shoot" Rubio and Brook "Can't rebound" Lopez, your PF downgraded too and DeRozan is out of position again.

17) New York; I fail to see a big improvement. Maybe you added a little bit of depth, but could have done better starting with Melo, Chauncey and Amare on the team.

18) Clippers; Got older for no reason.

19) Sacramento; Look at your starting roster and at your finished roster. Pathetic (facepalm).

2012: Oklahoma;
2017: Houston

1. Toronto-Despite lacking many trade assets to begin with, he somehow ended up with Griffin and Melo, an amazing job.
2. Portland-Got Durant and Amar'e together, an awesome core for a team really lacking a true star.
3. Houston-Love is awesome and pairing him with Irving makes up for your lack of center(which as you stated, will be addressed)
4. OKC-CP3+Dwight=win, but your SF depth hurts you a little
5. LAL-Awesome win now team, which has a ton of salary coming off the books. I'm not sure Lowry is the best fit next to Kobe, but anytime you can join together 4 not completely washed up HOFs, you're good to go.
6. Utah: If Burks pans out this team will be awesome, although you still have depth at C and PF to trade if he doesn't. Rondo and Deng are great additions.
7. PHX: Curry is an awesome building block, and with your draft picks, your team should be a great bet to succeed in the future
8. MIN: I love the additions of Gordon and Lopez, although I'm not sure how well DeRozan and Gordon can co-exist.
9. NYK: Too bad you had to break up the stars, but this team is much more balanced.
10. Miami: Great depth, but I think you could've gotten more for Wade.
11. PHI: Great front court, but lack of depth at the 2/3 hurts.
12. BOS: Ibaka and DMC are nice, but you're kind of banking on BG to bounce-back, as you don't really have any consistent scoring options,
13. IND: Gortat and Davis are a great 4/5, but you're scoring looks to be somewhat abysmal.
14. SAS: Bosh was a great pick-up, but I don't think players like Green and Brooks will mesh well.
15. DAL: I like Blatche's addition, but you didn't do enough to justify a higher ranking.
16. LAC: You're significantly older and you could have got more for Blake.
17. ATL: I feel like you're overrating the Perkins pickup, who while good, is not good enough to justify the loss of J-Smoove
18. WAS: You didn't get enough for Wall and I liked the team before more.
19. SAC: Knight is good, as is Patterson, but besides that, I preferred the team now.

1. Portland
-great duo, greatest in the game maybe with meh around them. Still a great job. You get better each game Kees

2. Houston
-Irving/Love has so much upside, not much around them but HOU was terrible to start off.

3. Orlando
-with Dwight out the door you turned him into a great team. Young, explosive with shooting to boot.

4. Minnesota
-wow. Rubio/Gordon/DD/Lopez is a great core to build around. The problem with MIN was on the wings. Solved.

5. Philadelphia
-big winners in FA, perfect fit with Martin between Iggy and Holiday and Boozer in the middle.

6. Utah
-the biggest turn around with the least amount of trades (respectful nod to ATL and DAL). A huge addition in Rondo and Deng is the perfect wing player for Utah. Kept Favours/Kanter.

7. Oklahoma City
- another much improved GM. Howard/CP3 is ideal. Best fit in the game. Do they stay? I think so. Hard to put them higher considering the really wanted to. Started out with a lot. Think they had Curry/Durant/Howard at one point..

8. Miami
-LMA is an upgrade and it's a good team around LBJ. I would have liked to see a CP3/Williams in place of Nash considering Wade was lost though.

9. Boston
-great job. BOS looks like a good team to have but with so many aging pieces it's tough to create a good team with them. Defense up front, a star at PG, I like this team a lot.

10. Atlanta
-perfect moves. Only a minor comment, I think Smith could have gotten a bit more. Perkins/Nelson are solid additions.

11. LA Lakers
-Old, but a contender. Weak bench.

12. Indiana
-Nice young additions. I really like the frontcourt a lot. George/David/Gortat will be good for years to come.

13. San Antonio
-Bosh is a great piece to rebuild around on the fly.

14. Phoenix
-love the core, but not enough around Curry and Wright. Tough break with PHX, not a ton to work with.

15. Washington
-I would have tried to get more for Wall, he has a ton of value around the league. Nice recovery with the Nash trade. Derrick Williams projects to be a beast.

16. New York
-Not a bad job, just a ton of teams that did a tiny bit better. I think you got the better of me in the Melo/Westbrook deal . Good job.

17. LA Clippers
- LA without Kobe. Active GM.

18. Dallas
-Again, not a bad job just didn't do enough to be ranked higher.

19. Sacramento
-Not a great end result.

2012: OKC
2017: HOU/ORL (couldn't decide)

Rank. Team (Average rank)

1. Toronto (1.2857)

2. Portland (2.8571)

3. Houston (3.2857)

4. Orlando (4.4286)

5. Utah (5.5000)

6. Oklahoma City (5.7500)

7. Philadelphia (7.0000)

8. Boston (8.3333)

9. LA Lakers (8.6250)

10. Miami (9.7500)

11. Phoenix (10.1429)

12. New York (11.3750)

13. Minnesota (11.6250)

14. Indiana (12.0000)

15. San Antonio (12.8571)

16. Atlanta (13.0000)

17. Dallas (15.8750)

18. Washington (16.2500)

19. Sacramento (18.7500)


2012 Champ - Oklahoma City
2017 Champ - Houston/Phoenix has same amount of votes


Thanks to everyone who played, was active, and submitted a writeup and ranking. Congrats to BlackIce for winning his 2nd straight GMaT! (I'm going to beat you for 1st one of these times!)

Thank you all for this nice game. I performed poorly, hoping to do better next time.
Thanks for both Karmaloop and Keeslinator for commishing this game and thank you (almost) all GM's for discussing interesting trades.

Thanks for commishing Karm and Kees. Looking forward to the next one.