RealGM

These are due the 28th at NOON EST. No exception. Do NOT rank your own team.

These teams are eligible:
Denver
San Antonio
Toronto
Indiana
Minnesota
Dallas
New Orleans
Sacramento
Golden State
Cleveland
Detroit
Phoenix
Orlando
Houston
Oklahoma City
LA Clippers
Chicago
Miami
New York
Boston
Memphis
Portland
Charlotte

Please rank these from best to worst in terms of what they started with to what they ended with. Whoever did the best job with what they started with should be ranked best.

Remember, no rankings you can't win. SO MAKE SURE YOU POST RANKINGS!!!

MIN – LOVE the job that lukekarts did. I would have voted him #1 had he managed to stay with their roster as champions, but he rebuilt his roster with a Curry/Davis/Drummond trio going forward. A MUCH brighter future in Minnesota.

CHA – Much, much improved team TMAC. The Bobcats in real life are a joke, but Deron/Horford/Lopez is beautiful.

SAC – Obviously I want to rank this as the clear #1 for the simple fact that bness got Durant in Sacramento, but there is something off. I think it has to do with the fit, but a TREMENDOUS job nonetheless. Could go with either you or lukekarts.

PHX – Great job Ghost. Took a really bad Suns team with only three significant assets, and turned it into a bright future in the desert.

SAS – Took an aging Spurs team who is probably the favorite to come out of the West with the Westbrook injury, and rebuilt them. The Klay for Dirk deal was bad in hindsight given the direction IMO.

PDX – George/LMA/Noah is a really nice trio, but no depth and a poor defensive backcourt get docked for me. Not completely SamBone’s fault with his work taking him away.

DET – They went all-in, and they’ve got a very short title run in them but it could be fruitful. The Pistons need to go to competitive for attendance’s sake.

BOS – Rondo/D12 duo is a great duo, but the pieces around them are not very good. Hendo is pretty good, but Ariza and Bargnani are bad and the depth might even be worse.

HOU – When you manage to land LeBron, it’s always a good thing. The pieces around him I’m not really a fan of though. No second star, so he’s not getting out of the West.

NOP – I want to rank them higher, but I don’t trust the frontcourt to stay healthy and there is a lack of talent in the backcourt. Batum/Love/Bynum is a great trio if they can stay healthy, but that’s a pretty bad backcourt.

CLE – Obviously they’re better, but they aren’t even close to championship caliber. Lawson/Mayo are both ball domimant guards, and David Lee is overpaid considerably. Love Marc Gasol, but wish he was paired with Kyrie Irving not Ty Lawson.

LAC – Does anyone honestly expect Sterling to pay the 90+ million salaries plus serious luxury tax implications? Has to be docked for me no matter how good they might be.

CHI – Just a lateral deal here, maybe a slight improvement. Paul/Afflalo is a nice backcourt duo, but the frontcourt lost some depth here. Bench got significantly older though.

OKC – Really had nowhere to go but down, and wouldn’t have traded Durant for Carmelo either. Like the Westbrook/Chandler dynamic though. Depth is thin too.

GSW – Took over a crap roster whose GM disappeared, and made a few moves to help the future. Wall/Ross is a bright future, but outside of thah.t they don’t have much going forward. Quite a few picks thou

NYK – Took a darkhorse title contender and tore it down. Now they don’t have a franchise player, and they don’t have any notable players. Also, traded their future pick so they could miss out on Wiggins.

TOR – Long term, they’re probably better but I think they lost talent wise in favor losing money. Just no real direction here for me, and not a great rebuild either.

MIA – Like OKC, the Heat have nowhere to really go but down and they really didn’t a whole lot of talent to show for him. Lillard has been amazing his rookie year, but not much to show from LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.

MEM – I just don’t see anything that makes them better. Downgraded at center and point guard, but upgraded at SG and SF. Overall, probably a similar caliber team.

DAL – Are they better than before? Probably, but for a team that was looking to attack a star to play with Dirk to downgrade and just get guys for the other positions seems off. A lot of long term salary here.

ORL – Nothing against stern, he took over a CRAP roster with really only Afflalo, Harkless, and Vucevic has his real value players. Now, he’s got Smart, Porter, and Vucevic. Much brighter future.

IND – Two straight games and Indiana gets worse. Turning Hill/George/Granger/Hibbert into James Harden and a whole lot of nothing behind it makes this a head scratcher.


Honestly, this might have been the hardest game for me to rank. I had 8 guys I considered for that #1 spot.

1. Charlotte. As always, I bow before the king. This lineup could win the game for half the teams in the league. For Charlotte…

2. Minnesota. Beautiful job again with both the 2013 championship and a re-made roster with three young guys who are stars or could reasonably be expected to become stars.

3. Sacramento. Anthony was outrageous; Durant is over the top. Don’t love the fit of the rest of the roster and the bench is grim, but that’s just a quibble when you play Sacramento and do this.

4. Houston. Excellent job recovering from not getting a top free agent and filling in a very strong lineup around LeBron. Could be strong enough roster to win a championship.

5. LAC. Paul to Rose counts as a downgrade at this point, and the front line is very thin. Adding Kobe more than makes up for all of that, and I like the acquisition of Butler at SF.

6. Detroit. New approach, going all-in on a very short window to win. Why not? Very tough team in 2013-14.

7. Chicago. Just not sure on this one. Bosh for Boozer is great, CP3 for Rose is very good. Asik and Green for Noah and Deng is credible but still a significant downgrade. If the bench takes anti-aging medicine they could be really good for one more year. Might have a somewhat better chance for a championship than the real Bulls; on the other hand, who guards LeBron or Durant?

8. San Antonio. Nice job getting younger while limiting the sacrifice of talent in the short run, and holding on to Leonard. Find it hard to see this roster competing, though.

9. Dallas. Very tough team to play and this is one of the better efforts I’ve seen. Gallinari and Sanders are a nice young core. Only criticism here is that the other big contracts (Derozan, Gibson) will get in the way of clearing enough cap space to grab a top free agent.

10. Phoenix. Lots more talent here than on the original roster, for sure. Not sure anybody on this team can get his own shot, or that Bledsoe will be a good enough passer to make that less important.

11. Portland. Three legit stars, terrific. Not enough else to be a serious contender unless Jennings gets a lot better. And knocked down a little for having less than a full roster.

12. Golden State. Always hard to rate these late-season takeovers of teams that have been demolished by the original owner. Added some talent, still a long way away from the playoffs.

13. Denver. If Cousins gets his act together, this is an improvement. If not, not. I’d bet even money on not.

14. Boston. Adding Howard to Rondo, very nice. Rest of the roster looks pretty grim to me.

15. New Orleans. Violated my first rule of GMAT (never trade for Black Ice’s first round pick) and proved me wrong by having it turn into #4. Would have rated this quite a bit higher before the last trade, which I thought was a serious overpay for a league average player. Injury risks are huge, as is the possibility that Love walks when his option comes up. But, all of that said, sometimes you have to gamble, and a healthy Love and Bynum would be an awesome frontcourt.

16. Memphis. Another one I can’t come close to predicting. Could be a disaster (Ellis dominates the ball, defense other than Iguodala falls apart) or an interesting team (Pekovic and Anderson turn out to be a really good inside-outside big man duo, Dragic continues to improve, Ellis gets under control). On the whole I like the current roster a little better.

17. Miami. Comparing this roster to the one Scott took over, I see a lot more depth but not quite as much top-level talent. I’d rather have Harden than Lillard as my best player, and I’d rather have Sanders as my second-best player / defensive anchor than anybody else here.

18. Cleveland. Gasol acquisition is great, giving up Irving may be worse. Playoff team for sure, but hard to see them going far, and given the salary structure there’s little room for growth here. And what’s with having only 9 players on the roster?

19. NY. Going young is defensible; but none of the young talent is near a can’t-miss level. Will lose many games in 2013-14, and it would take a real free agent coup to get back to contention.

20. Indiana. Plus side: Harden, and getting two good young players in Harris and Ilyasova to replace Granger and West. Minus side: Downgrade at C and likely huge defensive dropoff; don’t see the offensive improvement as big enough to offset that.

21. Toronto. Luck into the #1 pick for a second straight year, and this will be an interesting team. Odds are pretty strongly against it.

22. OKC. Just doesn’t seem as good to me as the real Thunder.

Charlotte - Literally went from zero to hero. MJ should hire you immediately.

Sacramento - DMC/reke into durantula/smoove? wow, nicely done sir!

Minnesota - That core is....literally 3 franchise players with 2 on rookie deals...just after a season of winning the championship, after 1 year you'll be RIGHT back in the hunt with how QUICKLY davis/drummond are progressing and curry is already a superstar.

Denver - awesome awesome youth. great talent everywhere, esp favors/dmc front court!

New Orleans - davis/gordon/ryno into love/bynum/batum is definitely an upgrade. well done!

San Antonio - some improvement, but you had plenty of talent to start with. you did grow it some and made it younger so great job.

Indiana - nice getting harden...not sure about the surrounding talent though but good proven backcourt with lin.

LA Clippers - turned CP into rose/kobe, which is impressive.

Dallas - good job turning dirk into good young athletic players. solid mid-rebuild post dirk era

Boston - gj getting dwight! not sure about surrounding talent...bargs?!?

Houston - LBJ solid grab...but gave a lot and didn't gain the value back.

Phoenix - good job getting young with ibaka/bledsoe, etc.

Portland - lol lmaO/noah is a great frontcourt and PG is not overrated!!

Memphis - great talent assembled...a bit later though in terms of talent acquired.

Orlando - solid youth you go there. gj snatching otto porter!

Detroit - GJ getting that championship caliber team together. det will be chasing again for the next 2 seasons with the rate timmy's going now.

Toronto - good job tanking i suppose. you'll have some promising top 2 picks to foster.

New York- good gaining talent, but still a gamble since the talent's mostly unproven.

Miami - not sure why you traded harden and bosh into very decent, but not as good youth? great dealing with you as always though!

Golden State - lol bness did what you could with just curry....sure you'd do better with more time.

Cleveland - idk why you moved kyrie, a clear franchise player, + great value for decent ty lawson, poor mayo, solid faried, and great marc. i still stand by you losing value.

Oklahoma City - Did so little with so much. you were so stubborn on not moving durant, but then moved him for "value"? you can't replace durant...even with melo!

MIN – Had to put Minnie first here since you accomplished two different goals in one game. Within a year you take a team that hadn’t made the playoffs and got them a ship, followed by flipping the roster. You now have one of the best up and coming teams in the game. Well done, Luke. Bravo.

SAC – Ness, I had my doubts about you going into season 2, but you did a hell of a job putting a nice roster around, not Melo, but Kevin Durant. For starting with such a cluster**** of a roster, getting the #2 player in the game is quite the accomplishment…As is surrounding him with the team you did.

CHA – This was a huge toss up between you and SAC, but your lack of a good starter at SG held you back. Nonetheless, very impressive revamp of the LOLCats. Looking back on your trades, you got some serious value for your initial players. Very impressive.

CHI – Probably my pick to win it all this year (despite having a contending team in the East also). I think your team fits perfectly. Really like Bosh back at the 4 paired up with Asik. Great depth, Green is ballin’, Afflalo is nice, etc. If you didn’t start with one of the best teams in the league, you’d be higher.

PHX – Very impressed with the team you put together, and the future that it has. Future CAP space and young studs is awesome especially considering that you took over with limited assets and some negative contracts (Beasley). Nice job, Ghost!

HOU – I had my doubts about you when your team was simply LBJ and scrubs. Somehow you put a really nice team around LBJ. George Hill is a perfect fit at the point as is D West at the 4 spot. Varejao is a monster on the boards and has experience with LBJ and JR Smith (if he plays how he’s been playing this year) is a great addition as well (#pipe). Unfortunately, HOU was in a pretty good position starting out, so it’s tough to rate you higher.

SAS – Really nice job flipping the aging spurs into this. Personally, I like the mix of an older vet like Dirk into your roster. Giving them the extra edge in the playoffs with Dirk will also help the young cats get playoff experience. This team will compete for years.

LAC – Kobe, Rose, and Griffin? Salary is a little overkill, but this is still one hell of a roster. My personal favorite pick-up you had was fleecing the original Chicago GM of Jimmy Butler. Very underrated move.

PDX – Great starting front court. Jennings and Reddick is a nice backcourt as well. Couldn’t rate you higher because of a huge lack of depth (same problem as PDX now, though your starters improved overall).

WAS – Noah, your ranking would have been higher before you traded Deron away. Regardless, nice job flipping the Wiz into this team. Should be a juggernaut defensively, but a lack of upside holds you back.

OKC – Really like what you did here, but again, you started with a stacked team, so the basis for your ranking is a little bit harsher than others. Really like the pick-up of Shabazz (though I don’t think he’ll be as good as Harden) and your bench had great improvements as well.

NOP – Batum is a good player, but you I thought your team looked better before you traded for Nic. Love and Bynum is a beast front court, assuming they’re healthy.

GSW – Tough to rate you since you barely had time to do anything. Really liked the Gortat acquisition while only slightly downgrading your only asset.

IND – I completely see where you’re coming from when you said you wanted to redo the #3 seed in the East. Harden > PG and Tobias Harris is a player I’m very high on. Despite this, you started with some nice assets (IMO) so it’s tough ranking you higher.

BOS – Obviously Rondo and a long-term D12 is nice, but the rest of the roster is iffy. Fortunately, you have cap space in the near future, so this team will be a true contender (positions other than 1 & 5) soon.

DAL – Tough to gauge you on how you did, because I’m not sure how people value Dirk. Obviously the starting roster wasn’t great other than him, and it’s always a crap shoot relying on free agency. Regardless, Gallo, Sanders & Taj are nice pick-ups. On the other hand, I’ve never been fond of DeRozan and Calderon is a weak starting PG.

CLE – Not sure how I feel about this team. While you’re absolutely a playoff team, I can’t see this team truly contending now or in the future. Maybe if Lawson raises his game even more, but I don’t see that happening. Cleveland had a pretty good amount of assets starting out as well as a bright future. While Gasol is a great C, he can’t propel you to the finals by himself. Gasol, Lee, and AK are all older and a lack of good picks and depth will hinder you from improving while they decline.

ORL – Tough to rate you because well, you’re the Magic. I think you did a good job improving the roster with minor tweaks, but this team will still compete for the #1 draft pick for the next few seasons.

DEN – Maybe this is a personal bias because I don’t think Carter-Williams will be an above average starter, but for the assets you started out with I would have thought this team would look better. Huge hole at the 3 obviously, and I don’t like relying on the #1 draft pick to fill that spot. Bright future, but not bright enough to warrant a higher ranking.

MIA – Tough to rank you because of the direction you took and the team when you took over. I know you wanted to rebuild. With that said, I would have expected better prospects at the C position than what you have right now (considering all the value you had coming into the game).

MEM – I like the team you have, but I think it’s a downgrade to the current Memphis team. There is no player on this team better than Gasol, and the average age of the players doesn’t leave much room for improvement going forward.

TOR – While you cleaned up the CAP situation that the Raptors are in right now, the roster isn’t that much better. Yes, you have good prospects, but with pieces like Gay and Lowry starting out (as well as Ross and Amir who have both been playing great) I thought you could have gotten better prospects/rebuilding pieces. Assuming they mesh and are healthy though, Val & Noel will be beasting for a long time (though Drummond/Davis on Minny is probably a better future FC).

NYK – I understand the route you took (I’m a huge NYK fan), but when you have the current scoring champ, a top 5 Center, and a lot of other great pieces/depth, there should still be some value on the roster. Additionally, your lack of your own 1st is going to hurt you.

Just want to say that this was a great game and I had a great time being part of it. Big thanks to Karma and Orangeparka for running the show. Had a lot of trouble doing these rankings, I really think this was a close game with a lot of great improvements and GMs.

Disclaimer: These rankings are rankings. If you don’t like your rank I’m sorry, but I didn’t like your roster . Seriously though this is all just for fun, so nobody should be upset with the outcome.

1. Charlotte - Tmac doing work, as usual. Great job turning this into 3 all-stars, a good starter(Parsons) and a solid bench.

2. Minnesota - NBA champs, then gets Curry who's playing amazing, with maybe the 2 best frontcourt prospects in the game who fit together extremely well.

3. Sacramento - Durant alone is great, but got a couple nice pieces with Smoove in FA and Lowry as well.

4. Houston - LBJ is the man of course, and put some solid pieces around him...don't see it winning a championship, but a tough out in the playoffs.

5. Detroit - Could win a title if it had some luck, pretty good job since Detroit really doesn't have a ton to work with.

6. Phoenix - Brought in good young pieces, also have a couple bad contracts...but should be a much better team to watch then current phoenix.

7. LAC - good job getting Kobe, but he probably only has 1 or 2 years left at this point...need to win a title...but I think there are better teams.

8. Portland - nice big 3, and Jennings could be a nice fit if he can keep putting it together

9. Dallas - only 1 really good asset in Dirk, now has Gallo / Sanders as 2 pretty big pieces moving forward, along with good players in DD / Taj.

10. Chicago - I like the team, but the bulls were already a really good team(with rose), don't see this team being much better, if it all, then the RL bulls.

11. Toronto - Raptors are at best a treadmill team in RL with Gay / DD making good money..unless Val becomes a monster. I like the rebuild, just needs a few more pieces.

12. Orlando - improved the talent, but not by a ton....not overly high on Smart...really needs him to turn into a superstar for this team to be good.

13. NOP - potentially a nice frontcourt...but Bynum is never healthy. I liked it more before the Batum trade which was a pretty significant overpay, IMO...but still should be a pretty good team(if Bynum plays).

14. Denver - I'm really high on RL denver....don't see this as much of an upgrade. Gallo / Lawson are pretty major pieces...plus guys like Iggy, Koufos, McGee, Faried, and Wilson Chandler hold good value. Still should be a pretty good trio down the line, not a fan on MCW at all.

15. Boston - Rondo/Dwight is nice, Hendo is playing better and better....and I think Bargs is a great fit with Dwight. Think some of the pieces that were moved had good value(probably hard since the last 2 games Boston has been ranked very high).

16. Cleveland - Playoff team now, but Mayo was pretty bad the last half the year and is now paid a lot...Lee/Gasol is a nice frontcourt...and Lawson is a good PG...just think the Cavs had some nice talent that might not of gotten the full value back with Kyrie / TT / Waiters / AV

17. Indy - Harden is great, but so is PG(not as great of course)...the other pieces aren't really a whole lot...while Hibbert / Granger / West / Hill are pretty good pieces.

18. Memphis - Downgraded the front court and PG by a good margin, IMO. Iggy / Ellis on the wings screams that they need 2 balls to play with..tough to predict, lots of talent...but could've gotten some better fits possibly.

19. GS - not Bness's fault...but just not a very good team...and still have Beans / RJ and now have Beasley.

20. NYK - lots of young talent...but will need Burke / Bennet / Zeller to turn into stars...and IDK if I'd want Ron Artest in the locker room with all those young guys.

21. OKC - Don't think Chandler was the big piece needed for OKC...then trading down Durant wasn't a great move...Shabazz has talent but I don't see him being a great player. Lots of shooters, but with assets like K-mart / Ibaka / Lamb / Toronto 1st think they could've gotten a 3rd type "star".

22 - Miami - from 3 stars to no stars, Lillard / McLemore / Hayward are guys I really like...but it's tough with the Heat since they are going to win another title...think this team has too much depth / young guys...needed to package pieces.

thanks to Karma for running the game, I had fun...hope everyone else did. Thanks to OP as well for free agency...even though there was some drama as usual.

Houston Rockets Rankings

1.Charlotte-What more can u ask for. started with the worst team. is now arguably a team that would have homecourt in the playoffs. Williams is playing better now which is huge for them cuz hes what makes them tick. horford is underrated big time and lopez is putting up great numbers this season. Parsons is a great fit as well on any team.

2.Minnesota-this was a masterful job. bring a championship to the city with a group of players thats on there last legs then while there value is still high flip them for young players that are only a year or two away from surpassing the players they were traded for. Curry,davis and drummond are an amazing core.they will have cap space to add a wing player and they are set for years....

3.Sacramento-Perhaps would have won other games if it wasnt for the job that tmac and luke did. i think the team around durant is ok but. He got DURANT! if it wasnt for lebron this guy would have multiple MVP's and hes still a pup. the hardest thing to do in this game is to get a star. Its hard to get a top 30 player,really tough to get a top 10 but the #2 player in the league is impressive no matter how u spin it.

4.Washington-Just an old fashioned well built team that is solid at every postion, every guy can contribute and has a good bench and the wiz are a mess. Conley is one of the most underrated players in the league,jefferson is a machine in the post and deng is a good system guy.

5.Portland-The core of Aldridge,George,Noah and Jennings will win ALOT of games just with talent. all they have to do is show up and they have a chance to win every game. if the shots arent falling it might be a different story but at the same time they might be a team thats unstoppable when they are on.

6.Miami-Started with lebron and wade traded already. all he got for wade was sanders so considering what he fell into this team has a core of lillard,mclemore and faried. is bad enought to potentially get a top 3 pick and has pretty much 10 starter quality players and will have cap in the future and miami is a destination....

7.LA Clippers-The Rose for Paul deal is a toss up,different players but when rose is heathy he's probly a bigger game changer. Added Kobe and really didnt lose anything....

8.Detroit-Has a shot to win a championship, really hurt the future but if drummond dont pan out and with knight not being all too impressive they dont really have alot to work with....

9.Chicago-Nice mix of talent and if paul can make everyone a little better who knows what this team could do. like the mix up and bosh as a #2 is good for everyone.

10.Cleveland-lets face it cleveland sucks in real life, they might never get out of the lotto lol, might not have kyrie but at least this team will be in the playoffs and can potentially do some damage.

11.New Orleans-IF love and bynum are healthy they are a GREAT team that could be good for years. one of the worst backcourts tho and if love an bynum are hurt they will be REALLY bad

12.San Antinio-Took a team thats steamrolling everyone this season and blew it up, dirk is not as good as duncan at this point and rubio is definatley a huge downgrade from parker, like the youth and hibbert but it might take some time

13.Boston-Got 2 starts but somthing has to give, they will be awesome on d and on offence i dunno who's gonna do the scoring....

14.Phoenix-tough team to start with, like the rebuild on the fly, might even get a good pick in the draft, alot is riding on bledsoe for this team to work.

15.Dallas-Good mix of young guys with good production but will need a star until then would probly be a 40 win team

16.Orlando-Not too much to work with, like that he kept vuc, added some really nice peaces to the rebuild and might get a nice pick too. Damnit HEDO!!!!

17.Memphis-the grizz would never go into lux tax and this is a really expensive 45 win team with no allstar.

18.Indiana-top team in the east at the moment and great core , not alot of help for harden now.

19.Denver-Thought that karm would be able to take this team to another level, perhaps the last team that i think needs a rebuild , had tons of assets to upgrade so this direction confused me.

20.OKC-Took over a dynasty and turned it into the knicks... lol. but seriously i think that everyone expects too much fom okc, they havent won anything so cant blame him for mixing it up.

21.New York-A team that will likely make the conference finals when started is now gonna be picking top 3

22.Toronto-like the direction but would liked to see more assets aqured from selling off all your players. you pretty much got vazquez for everyone cuz u got noel in the draft and kept val.

23.Golden State-team was ruined when bness took over. had to do somthing, wall is playing great now hopefully he can keep it up and stay healthy and if they get a couple players with all the picks they have the rebuild might not take too long.

First, just wanna say a quick thanks to Karmaloop for running this thing. Also a shout out to orangeparka for running free agency. Both guys deserve alot of credit. Second, good work to all the general managers that stuck this one out, finishing the game all the way through.

I feel two teams did a great job, three teams did a good job, a big pack did a solid job and a big pack did an "Eh" job.

GREAT:

1.) Charlotte - I knew when I signed up for this, and saw Tmac's name, that I'd be playing for second place. Tmac is the greatest GM to grace these boards, and this is just one of the many examples. No real negatives to start with, but turning MGK, Kemba, and Hernderson and pretty much nothing else into Deron, Horford, Lopez, Parsons, and a great bench is just silly. I wish I had the patients he does, being so smooth and cool with everyone, never getting angry, and is probably get more votes ; ) Anyways, superb job like always, the best of the best.

GOOD JOB:

2.) Washington - Listen, when Derricknoah started these games, he was flat out terrible, and he knew it. He learned, as Beasted this one! This team has NO holes, solid all the way through, and can beat any team out league, even has a good bench to boot. Really with only Wall and Beal to start with, this is a great job. I wish he would stop acquiring Bulls players though. Once KG retires, they will need a big man ASAP though. Love this team.

3.) LAC - Having alot of good peices usually hurts you in these games. BUT Willy kept two of those 3.5 peices. IMO when Rose is healthy, he's just as good or better then Paul, plus he's what? 5 years younger? Trading Paul for Rose (and Butler for that matter) even with his injury isn't still a good move, considering Paul could have walked for nothing. Trading Bledsoe for Kobe is just rediculous. Basically making a dominate squad while keeping your 2nd and Third best assets is really good. This team can beat anyone on any given night, and deserves alot more credit then they are getting.

4.) Minn - Would be alot higher, but there is a reason everyone wants Minnesota in the games. They have so many peices to begin with. Love, Rubio, Pek, AK, Shved, DWill, ect. But this is a still a great job from beginning to end. Luke took care if buisness year one, and rebuilt year two. Still kid of a hole at SF, and TA won't be around long, but PG / PF / and C are locked in their place for the next ten years barring injury, and guy gotta love that.

Solid Jobs:

5.) Orlando - hardest team to start with, but I feel you still dramatically improved them. Stern always does a very realistic job, and this is somewhat what I expect them to do in real life. Adding a few great rookies, clearly out long term cash and acquiring more draft picks. On top of that he kept the big "V" and Harkless. This team is young, scrappy and deep.

6.) Pistons - actually had you ranked a little higher before the "Spurs" deal, but Oak vastly improved this team. Take the big three on one last title run with better complimentary peices the the real life Spurs. Letting IT learn from TP is huge for his development, and with Shump, Manu won't have to play over 25 mins a game, which is huge. I like this team, and again, would be alot higher, but with Drmmond, Moose, and Knight, with no real negatives except Villy (amnestied) to start out with, I can't put you higher.

7.) Dallas - Aging Dirk, FA Mayo and bunch of junk is tough to start out with. Really like the outcome of this squad, and in the future if a young PG could be acquired, watch out. (The way Nate Rob is playing you might actually be set J Rocka!) DD is finally coming into his own, Taj would thrive as a full time starter, one of the best defenders in the league. Gallo is a top 10 SF and Sanders is quickly becoming a good big man in this league. I call this team "The Great Recover".

8.) Denver - Karm took a big step back right now, but made this team alot better in the long run. A core of Beal, Cousins, Favors, and Williams is just nasty for the future. Also, once Bogut gets healthy (IF), that will be huge. This is one if those ultimate "win future" teams. He should have a top 5 pick as well. Denver has alot of peices, but all just better then average, nothing spectacular. You know have 4 and potentially 5 spectacular peices.

9.) Phoenix - I thought you had this game won at one point. Didn't like that you traded Sanders for Len and Knight, and I didn't like when you traded Gallo. I really like this team though, so young and athletic. Ghost send likes 5 offer to each team a day, which is admirable. Again, I can't remember what your starting 5 was, but I remember saying to myself, this guys got it. I think I was like Ross, Gallo, Ibaka, Sanders, with less bad contracts. Speaking of, that bench has alot of ugliness.

10.) Houston - got Lebron an added JR, but the rest of the peices don't provide much. Your alot higher then I would have ranked you obviuosly because of Lebron, but you started with alot. Harden, Lin, Asik, Jones, Trob, Beverly, Smith, Parsons, Ect. Rox finished in 8th in the west, and even with Lebron, I can't see them finishing much higher then that. Kinger did a good job spreading out the talent around Lebron, but there were quite a few deals where it's like, huh?

11.) Spurs - Got alot younger and deeper, but is this a title team? Is there a number one prospect? I like the fact that you kept Leanord, and that you got younger, but you did start with the team with the second beat record in the west, Duncan, Manu, Parker, Leonard, Splitter, ect. This team is very young and very deep Moss, so they will be fine, just would have liked to see more.

12.) OKC - still a top team obviously. It's just so tough to win or do great with a great team. I for one am a big Shabazz believer and I also feel Carmelo Anthony is the third best player in the NBA. Tyson clearly fits well with this team, and Russell is clearly a top 2 PG. I wouldn't say you improved or got better, but I wouldn't say you got worse either. I think all in all is a wash. I like this team just slightly better then the original Thunder.

The could have done better jobs (no offense):

13.) Indy - I'm not a fan if trading away an entire roster for basically one guy (Harden) unless you plan on attacking FA hard or you have alot of other assets. This pacers team is worse then original and I can't see them (currently constructed) getting better then current team. I love Harden, don't get me wrong. But it just didn't make sense to me to go this route.

14.) Cleveland - sorry, Elias, this will probably sound harsh, but I'm just being honest. I'd rather have Kyrie, Waiters, TT, AV, and max space then the roster you created. Sure you upgraded from AV to Gasol and ect, but you had a superstar, and now you have an above average team thy cannot really improve. (Plus there's only 9 guys on your roster?) I love Gasol and Mayo but I can't see them bron dominate. Lawson and Mayo can't really co-exist IMO either.

More to come.

Working on it (prob in the morning). Don't have the desire right now

1. SAC- considering the assets he started off with which probably had very little value outside of DMC, and got Durant and co. just one hell of a job. Though I disagreed with Smoove choosing Sac in free agency as I cannot remember the last time a big name went there, even if it had Melo and Garnett (both who got traded and were probably mentioned in the pitch to attract Smoove)

2. Minny- Won a championship and then put together one of the better rebuilds. Would be interesting to see if he had one more week.

3. Cha- Great job probably should call up MJ and tell him how its done

4.LAC- Learned from his mistakes from the last time he choose LAC, and got Rose and Kobe while keeping Griffin.

5. Phx- really like the rebuild enough capspace to build the bench in the future

6. Chicago Really like this roster see them battling it out in the conference finals for the next several years

7. Orlando- not much you can do but remain patient and continue with the rebuild

8. Detroit -Took a gamble went for win now has a short window and think he will ultimately fall short. But like NY Detroit fans hate rebuilds

9. SAS- Man crush with Rubio continues.. All seriousness liked all moves except for Dirk not sure how he fits in, and really think his front court depth needs some tinkering

10. Portland - Like the starting 5 but rest of the team is incomplete.

11. Miami- interesting moves by both GMs kept the game interesting but getting McLemore at the end was genious imo

12 Boston - Busy last day got him a solid top 6 team in the east

13. Dallas- was a meh team to begin, now has some nice pieces in DD, Gallo, and Sanders

14. Cleveland- Incomplete team just patch work at each position really see some issues with chemistry. However, I do like the high low combo of Lawson and Gasol

15. Houston- Got Lebron an okay starting 5 and 6th man, but I don't see Lebron sticking around with the current roster as he has made it known he would like to win multiple championships and i just dont see it with this roster

16 Memphis- think the team took a step backwards from what it started off with

17/18 DEN/NY both were a 1-2 pieces away for perennial championship appearances, considering the assets they started off with I wasn't to impressed with the rebuild. In NY case I just don;t see Knicks fans being to pleased waiting for 4-5 more years to see this team develop.

19. Indiana- James Harden and role players, see this team struggling for thhe forseeable future unless they can bring in a 1b option next to Harden

20. New Orleans- Not a fan of the Bynum contract and trading away McLemore and Davis. I see the front court running into injury problems and another appearence in the draft lottery for N.O.

21. OKC - I dont think I agreed with a single move but thats just my opinion and I am an idiot so don;t take it personally

22. GSW- GM Quit, Bness took over and ruined my lottery odds a bit as i held the GSW unprotected first.....

The Elite:

1. Sacramento - Durant in Sacramento. Plus decent supports in Lowry, Smoove & Nene. That'll do.

2. LA Clippers - Bledsoe into Kobe. Wow. Really depends on how Rose comes back… did well to get Butler added to this core, he's turning out great.

3. Phoenix - One of those teams that starts with nothing. Turned that nothing into a very solid young core of Bledsoe/Klay/Ibaka. No star, but it was the worst starting roster IMO.

4. Charlotte - it is no secret to anybody that I really don't rate Brook or Deron which kinda puts a ceiling on how I can rank this team. Certainly I can understand people's perception that he took Kemba/MKG/high pick and turned that into a playoff team, but Deron & Brook are seriously flawed (see BRK/Chi), Horford & Parsons are a good accompaniment but I think I'd like to have seen some players I actually like at PG/C.

The Very Good

5. Portland - great frontcourt, but didn't get chance to finish it off.

6. Detroit - I don't hate Boozer as much as most (and just look at the CHI/BRK series for reasons why) and I think this team comes out of the East to face LAC.

7. San Antonio - Was one of the better rebuilds, then added Dirk. Good overall job, I think he backcourt will struggle though and will probably be better with Martin on the court.

8. Chicago - I was 90% certain Paul would leave. But he added Bosh and a supporting cast worth Paul staying. Good job.

9. Orlando - really solid effort, limited by an unlucky 3rd pick. Smart/Porter/Davis make solid additions to a hardworking young core. Need a star next draft.

The Room for Improvement

10. OKC - Solid core but I didn't like the KD deal, thought it was better before.

11. Houston - LeBron was a great start, but somewhat complacently didn't have a plan B in place when FA failed. Should've turned those young pieces into a second star asap.

12. Denver - Assembled a lot of young talent… downside is that Favors and Cousins still don't seem to 'get it'. I'm not sure if it's an improvement on the original roster in that sense.

13. Cleveland - I really liked the job here, but the Mayo situation kinda ruined things.

The Laterals

14. Dallas - really tough job. It was for me when I had them almost 2 seasons ago. Hard to see them being anything other than a 42-45 win team though - they're kinda stuck in the middle of the road.

15. Boston - too much dependence on Rondo/Dwight, could get pretty ugly. One of the weaker recent jobs in Boston, sorry MJ.

16. Memphis - deep but i'm not sure it improves anywhere on the original Grizzlies. Might even cap out lower, actually.

17. Golden State - had very little to work with, but at least gave the team some direction will Wall/Ross/Singler.

18. Toronto - tanked for Noel, then kinda stood still. Gonna be bad next year, Wiggins will help. Acknowledges that fact, at least. Needs to be done in TOR.

The WTF move crew

19. Miami - There were so many 'smh' moves made in Miami, by both GM's, though Scott recovered nicely to get a superstar package for Batum Not a bad collection of young talent, in the end. Pretty great backcourt, actually.

20. NOP - Was a lock for top 5 IMO, then did one of the worst trades I have ever seen. McLemore would've been an overpay for Batum. Porter/filler would've been alright. But Mclemore/Porter/Dudley/Leonard & Jack…

The Downgraders

21. New York - I think even Steven would admit he undersold on Melo and Chandler, some decent moves and I think I understand the direction at the end. Was good to deal with even if we made no trades, hopefully comes back and builds on the feedback here.

22. Indiana - I'm not sure Harden was worth tearing it all down for, sadly.

Team - Grade - Explanation
1. Charlotte - 9.9 - This is what this game is all about. Anyone can take the Heat or Magic and turn them into something great or promising. You took the armpit of the NBA and made them a contender.

2. Phoenix - 9.5 - Amazing. Simply outstanding. You took a team with zero future and turned them into the best young team in the league.

3. Minnesota - 8.7 - Took the T-Wolves and won the 'chip in year one with a fantastic vet. roster. Then you blew it up, which I didn't like, but the rebuild was solid.

4. LA Clippers - 8.1 - I don't even know how, but okay... I like it a lot. Obvious injury concerns in your backcourt, but this is a significant upgrade, regardless.

5. Portland - 8.0 - Love it. You turned Lillard into Paul George and still have a backcourt of Redick and Jennings. Your PG, LMA, Noah frontcourt literally makes my dick hard. Great work!

6. Chicago - 7.8 - Great work. Love the way you changed things up, while still remaining extremely competitive. Your Bosh-Asik frontcourt is pure genius.

7. Orlando - 7.6 - Like you getting Marcus Smart and Otto Porter. Overall, a great, young roster. Good work! Glad you didn't move Vucevic to a contender. Let that boy grow in Orlando!

8. Sacramento - 7.4 - Good talent, but hate Smoove and KD playing together. Still think you did a great job taking the Kings from the basement to at least the second round of the playoffs.

9. New Orleans - 7.2 - Can't just assume Bynum will be healthy, given his history (Love, I assume will be), so the fact that Bismack Biyombo is your first option in case of missed games by Bynum made me downgrade a bit.

9. Houston - 7.2 - When you first gutted your team for LeBron, I was expecting to downvote the hell out of you in rankings, but you turned it around. Great talent. Honestly, though, I hate the fit of your roster, but with that kind of talent and LeBron James, who cares?

11. Cleveland - 7.1 - I'm a big fan of this roster. Love Gasol (kicking myself for trading him early in the game), Lee is a fantastic fit in the front court, AK47 gives them great defense and consistent offense, Mayo and Lawson both have room to grow and give them great scoring. 9 players? WTF!

12. Toronto - 6.0 - cap space, blue chip prospects, and got the Raptors out of late lottery hell

12. Indiana - 6.0 - Got a superstar in Harden and kept a good supporting cast around him

14. Dallas - 5.9 - I like your new starting five, but your depth is really, really bad still.

15. San Antonio - 5.5 - Solid, but unspectacular, given starting roster. Just think you could have done a lot more moving the big 3.

15. Oklahoma City - 5.5 - Pretty lateral. Love the addition of Korver and Novak to play on the wings and get those easy kickouts from RW and Melo.

15. Detroit - 5.5 - You turned Detroit into a contender, but this group will be done in a year or two. Really would have liked to see you used all your young talent to put together a nice, young competitor or a great rebuild.

18. Denver - 3.3 - not enough high-level prospects to justify downgrade.

19. New York - 2.4 - I'm fine with the idea of a rebuild, but you began the game with so many valuable pieces and your rebuild really falls flat.

20. Boston - 1.8 - Don't like the direction of this team one bit. Pierce, Garnett, and Bradley should have netted you a better supporting cast.

21. Golden State - 1.2 - Just really bad downgrading. You turned Curry into Wall, Thompson into Ross, Barnes into Singler, Lee into Beasley (wut), and Bogut into Gortat (the only one that's close to okay). Sorry.

22. Miami - 1.1 - I want to give Blazer50 some credit, as this debacle wasn't his doing, but I have to be fair and judge this team as what it is vs. what it was. It seems like half the games I've been in, someone just destroys the Miami Heat. Blazer, you turned it around a bit and gave this team an identity (rebuild), which I appreciate, but overall, your Heat make me think of this painting

Charlotte: We're talking about a lolcats team that was still in the rebuild stage and you managed to bring in D-Will, Parsons, Horford, and Brook Lopez core.

Sacramento: High lotto team that brought in the 2nd best player in the game and was able to sign J-Smoove & co. to assemble a great strong team. Had really only DMC as the major assets. Can't say enough, great work.

Minnesota: You actually managed to bring a championship to my Wolves. Really liked the core you had but with aging of stars + injury concerns for the future, you chose the perfect time to retool.

San Antonio: This was probably one of my favorite teams in the game. Great mix of youth & vet leadership that mesh well together. Dirk on the rival Texas team. Strong core you have that was pretty much Dallas' goal and you accomplished it.

Chicago: Excellent starting 5. Very all-around solid team that will get it done in the Playoffs. Deep bench as well.

Washington: Really like the your team overall. I think Al Jefferson is a bit overpayed but in the end, you have a great team with really no flaws.

Clippers: Rose, Kobe, and Griffin is excellent work.

Houston: Solid team around LeBron. He carried a pretty crappy team to the 07 Finals so he'll make do with this squad.


Sorry guys I've been working +40 hrs and really pressed for time. These teams I listed are my top dogs and even though rankings will be due at noon, I'm still going to finish when I get back this evening. Thank you commish & everybody who played.

Since deadline is now passed I will open OaT sign up thread.

r0cd0gg wrote:Since deadline is now passed I will open OaT sign up thread.

I think I am going to sit out this one need bit of a break. However, if someone drops out part way through or you need someone to help out with free agency or the draft I can lend my services.

Kinda bummed that we didn't get more rankings.

Congrats to lukekarts for winning Spring '13 GMAT.

Been tied up on work project, life, etc so can only do winner (even though deadline passed).

There were alot of huge improvements and depending on personal goal (mine was championship team while staying young) others may have been complete rebuild w/ youth, capspace, or one shot win it all and guys did a great job but this is very difficult for me to decide a clear cut winner based on FINAL ranking criteria, w/ that said the teams that started from the bottom and made it to the top and must share my top spot are:

The Phoenix Suns
The Charlotte Bobcats

HM: Kings (only advantage was having Cousins vs Suns having Gortat and 'Cats having MKG as biggest assets).

Good game y'all!

I thought rankings were due today, as in we had today to get them in? Sorry ya'll.

My top 3.

SAC
-close but Durant with a good supporting cast, a poor mans OKC in SAC is nuts

CHA
- typical TMAC job, one of the best young teams in the league and started with minimal assets

MIN
- won for a reason

Ugh, hate not being able to put up rankings on time, but I've been beyond busy over the past week. Lukekarts and Tmacformvp would've been my #1 and #2 anyway. Good game people, I'm sitting out OaT for now, since it's finals week now, but if you guys need a replacement at sometime let me know.

Thought we had more time

1. cha
2. Min