GM a Team Winter 2010 - Writeups

[bryant08]

Format I want is/things that are to be included in any order.

DepthChart
Complete Roster Salaries (every year)
Draft Picks

Direction

Reason you went that Route

How the team is better off than when you started.


Since there are 3 categories that you guys will be judging on.

1. Best Contender - Disregard salaries and focus on depth chart and talent only.

2. Best Rebuild - Who did the best job gathering young talent for the future. This is a tricky one because some teams have a mix of young and old that work well for both. Draft Picks are important here also since you need them to get young talent.

3. Who did the best job as a GM, this one relies heavily on salaries and your talent level. A team starting at 50 million bucks and ending at 90 million would not be a good job unless they had some amazing talent in there. For example certain teams like ___ and ____ make trades of good players just to move under the Luxuray tax Also think about what teams started off with and what they ended upo with. Also if teams are still way under the cap and have several young guys then this would be considered good for the GM since he has managed to save money when his team will not be winning and still has young talent to build on. Draft picks are also important here since trading away all your assets to win right now will heavily depend on if your team is capable of winning a championship, if not then those are bad moves.

these rankings are 1-29 not east and west, with the your team left out of course.

[BlackIce]

GM: Blackice
Contact Info: Email/MSN - allstar_1264@hotmail.com AIM - Kingblackice1991

Salaries

Updated for 2010/2011 season


Jameer Nelson - $8,100,000/$8,100,000/$8,100,000
Anderson Varejao - $7,031,818/$7,700,000/$8,368,182/$9,036,364/$9,704,545
Martell Webster - $4,800,000/$5,256,000/$5,712,000
Jeff Green- $4,455,988/$5,908,641
CJ Miles - $3,700,000/$3,700,000
Kevin Love - 3,638,280/4,609,701/6,112,463
Marc Gasol - $3,580,247/$4,350,000
Sergio Rodriguez - $3,000,000/$3,000,000/$3,000,000
Thabo Sefalosha - $2,759,628/$3,000,000/$3,300,000/$3,600,000/$3,900,000
Quentin Richardson - $2,000,000/$2,000,000/$2,000,000
Darrel Arthur - $1,123,680/$2,027,119/$3,006,217
Shelden Williams - $854,389
Aaron Gray - $825,497


Depth Chart

PG - Jameer Nelson/Sergio Rodriguez
SG - Thabo Sefalosha/CJ Miles/Quentin Richardson
SF - Jeff Green/Martell Webster/Quentin Richardson
PF - Kevin Love/Darrel Arthur/Shelden Williams
C - Marc Gasol/Anderson Varejao/Aaron Gray

Starters


Bench





Trades
Listed on Roster Page

Direction/Reason Why
Rebuild. We took over a team in cap hell, with a few bad contracts and one terrible one in Elton Brand.

Our roster was:

PG Allen Iverson/Louis Williams/Jrue Holiday
SG Andre Iguodala/Willie Green/Jodie Meeks/Jason Kapono
SF Thaddeus Young/Andre Iguodala/Rodney Carney
PF Elton Brand/Marreese Speights/Thaddeus Young
C Samuel Dalembert /Marreese Speights/Jason Smith

We had a few nice pieces but all in all, we were a lotto team with no cap flexibility.

How the team is better off than when you started
We have the one of the best frontcourt's in the league, and the best PF/C combo for the future in Love/Gasol. They have games that compliment each other, Gasol is a top 3 or 4 center in the league, and candidate for MIP this season, 7'1, and only 25. Love is a top rebounder, and has great intangibles. He has range to the 3 point line, is a great passer, and can score in the low post. We surrounded our franchise big's with great perimeter defense. Green will play his natural position at SF on this team, and both him and Thabo are great defender's. Nelson fit's nicely at PG, an offensive minded PG who is a good 3 point shooter and can spread the floor.

Our bench is one of the best in the league, Varajao is an all nba level defender who will be getting all the backup C/PF minutes. Webster is a great defender and 3 point shooter who is nice off the bench. Rodriguez can push the tempo when he is in the game, and has finisher's on the wings, and bigs to dump the ball into.

We reshaped this team into a good defensive team with great young big's to build around, and I cleaned up the cap situation.

[SabasRevenge!]

GM: SabasRevenge!







Depth Chart
PG: Kidd(36)/Beaubois(12)/Watson
SG: Roy(36)/Batum(20)/Posey
SF: Prince(20)/Harrington(20)
PF: Nowitzk(36)/Odom(30)/Pendergraph/Freeland
Cc: Bynum(30)/Bonner/Fesenko


Salaries----------2010/11------2011/12-----2012/13-----2013/14
Dirk Nowitzki-----$21,513,524
Andrew Bynum----$13,700,000--$14,900,000--$16,100,000
Brandon Roy------$13,520,500--$14,940,153--$16,359,805--$17,779,458---PO
Tayshaun Prince---$11,147,760
Jason Kidd--------$8,500,000---$8,500,000
Lamar Odom------$8,200,000---$8,900,000---$8,200,000
James Posey-------$6,478,600---$6,925,400
Al Harrington------$5,400,000---$5,832,000---$6,264,000---$6,696,000---$7,128,000
Matt Bonner-------$1,500,000---$1,620,000
Nicolas Batum------$1,196,760---$2,155,365---$3,166,231
Rodrigue Beaubois--$1,156,080---$1,236,720---$2,227,333---$3,271,952
Joel Freeland--------$893,280-----$960,240---$1,027,320---$1,854,312---RFA
Jeff Pendergraph-----$762,195-----$884,293---$1,105,366
Kyrylo Fesenko-----$854,389
Earl Watson-------$854,389
Total----$101,077,477

Draft Picks
2012 2nd

Transactions
1. Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Jerryd Bayless, 2010 2nd for Stephen Curry, Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute, Joe Alexander
2. Andre Miller, Juwan Howard for Austin Daye, Kwame Brown, 2011 TOR 2nd (pending pick approval)
3. Stephen Curry, Joel Przybilla, Austin Daye for Steve Nash, Jamal Magloire
4. Patrick Mills for Julian Wright
5. Steve Blake, Kwame Brown, Julian Wright, 2011 TOR 2nd for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Theo Ratliff
6. Signed Salim Stoudamire, Josh Powell
7. Lamarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, Joe Alexander, Jamaal Magloire, 2010 1st, 2011 2nd for Amare Stoudemire
8. Signed Brevin Knight, Jason Hart, Morris Almond
9. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Josh Powell, Salim Stoudamire, rights to Victor Claver for Brad Miller, Jannero Pargo, Aaron Gray
10. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Brad Miller, Jannero Pargo, Aaron Gray, 2011 1st for Hedo Turkoglu, Emeka Okafor
11. Signed Carlos Arroyo
12. Signed Amare Stoudemire
13. Greg Oden, Steve Nash, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu, Dante Cunningham, 2012 1st for Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Tayshaun Prince, James Posey, Rodrigue Beaubois
14. Signed Al Harrington, Joel Freeland, Petteri Koponen, Matt Bonner, Earl Watson, Kyrylo Fesenko
15. Amare Stoudemire, Petteri Koponen for Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom


Direction
Reshape the Blazers into a championship caliber team with an elite young core, enabling the team to contend for many years.

Reason you went that Route
The Trailblazers have amassed a nice collection of talent but have been run conservatively on the trade front. Owner Paul Allen wants a title contender but he also likes the young players on the team. As the richest owner in professional sports, I believe that Allen would be fine with a high payroll on a team that is arguably the title favorite and a virtual lock to win over 60 games. Simply put, this team would make the owner and the fans the happiest.

How the team is better off than when you started
The Blazers had been absolutely ravaged by injuries when I started. They looked like a playoff team, but were still quite far from being a title contender. My initial trades were designed to give me a more workable roster with NO bad contracts and equal or greater overall talent/value. I then searched for opportunities to consolidate talent into stars. While I received many offers for Oden, I was not willing to send him out for what I considered to be inferior value. Finally, a mutually beneficial trade was consummated that teamed Brandon Roy with Dirk Nowitzki, forming an ideal 1-2 combination to build a championship team around.

Around Dirk and Roy, we have excellent perimeter stoppers who can space the floor in Prince and Batum, as well as a very good distributor, three point shooter, and defender in Kidd. Up front, Bynum is one of the few star quality true centers in the league. He gives us inside scoring punch and post defense as any center should. Odom and Harrington are true luxuries to bring off the bench. Harrington gives us instant scoring and Odom is a perfect do it all sixth man. With Fesenko, Freeland, Pendergraph, and Bonner, we're comfortable with our big man depth if we need to use our deep bench.

How are the Blazers different than the competition?
1. While our payroll is very high, our owner is a billionaire who is willing to shell out money for talent and 35m worth of contracts will expire this year. We only have one bad contract (Posey), and that one expires just a year from now. We have retained salary flexibility with cap friendly contracts.
2. When looking at the other teams that could be considered contenders, our bench is far superior and our starters are as good as any and with greater balance. We were able to keep a very deep team while vastly improving our starting lineup.
3. Roy, Bynum, Batum, Beaubois give us a fantastic young core that the other contenders lack, headed by two of the top young talents in the league.

[roc]

GM - rocdogg05@yahoo.com < same for AIM

ROTATION

Hinrich(35)/Fisher(10)/Allen(3)
Kobe(37)/Allen(11)
Deng(34)/Hedo(14)
Bosh(35)/Camby(5)/Maxiell(8)
Bogut(33)/Camby(15)

Pine - Williams/Elonu

SALARIES



ASSETS

TRADE EXCEPTIONS

$1,468,904 Bynum/Watson

DRAFT PICKS

2011 2nd
2012 1st
2012 2nd
2013 1st
2013 2nd

DRAFT PICKS OWED

2011 1st - To Dallas


DIRECTION

Win Now and ready for the future

Reason for going this direction...

Well LA is coming off a title season so a rebuild is out of the question. Kobe is still one of the very best in the game and is hard to stop in crucnh time. We decided to upgrade around him and make this team better in both the starting lineup and the bench. We accomplished both without mortgaging the future to do so.

How do we compare to the old version...?

We now have better fits in the front court with a foursome of Bosh/Bogut/Camby/Maxiell. Bogut has turned into the 2nd best C in the league and has been a force on D. His 2,5 blocks is only 2nd to Dwight and he is also top 4 in charges taken per game. Him and Camby will shore up the C position and both are great passers, rebounders, shot blockers. Players will be hesitant to take it inside against us. Bosh is also putting up great numbers and rebounding in double digits and as a 2nd option will have less attention from opposing defense. This should translate into even more efficient numbers. Maxiell started off slow but during the month of March has been a double/double machine. Overall the group of Bogut/Bosh/Camby/Maxiell is much better than Pau/Gasol/Bynum/Powell in most aspects of the game including fit.

The SF position is now manned by Deng and Hedo. Deng is putting up great numbers this season at and can hit the 3 if needed. Hedo will have less pressure coming off the bench. Again we got younger while upgrading this position. Artest is good defender but can also cause problems for a team if/when he goes out of control. Hedo is obviously much better than Luke Walton/Sasha combo and cost us a 1mil less. Both Deng and Hedo also have decent passing ability and should fit their roles on this team to perfection.

The SG Position is just as good from a starter standpoint as Kobe is still the man. He has had a rough patch with his finger and ankle injuries but come playoff time he will be a force to be reckoned with. We also added Tony Allen at the vet min which was quite the bargain. He will play some great D off the bench and be much better for us than Sasha. Hedo will aslo see some time at the 2 in certain scenarios.

The PG position is another huge upgrade with a defense oriented Hinrich at the helm. He is a big upgrade over the aging Fisher as the starter for this team. We feel he will get back to his previous efficiency now that he isn't stuck playing the 2 anymore. Fisher was the starter but has now taken a role as clutch guy off the bench. At this time in his career it is the perfect fit. We also will use Allen in this role since the PG in the Triangle will not have to be the main initiator of the offense.

Overall we have made this team to win the title for the next 2 or 3 seasons and then be set for an on the fly retool come 2013. Best part is we only raised the payroll by $4mil from what we started with and are in a market and a team that will spend this money in real life, especially considering how dramatic the upgrade is for that $4mil. We are no longer the highest payroll though. That honor falls with the aging Cavs.

I don't expect to get knocked down the rankings for adding $4mil considering the improvement of talent and the all but guaranteed title run. This team was voted 1st BEFORE I added a bench. Since then I have added Fisher/Allen/Hedo/Camby.

What is the ultimate goal of a NBA franchise and especially the LA Lakers?

CHAMPIONSHIPS

LA has a history of winning championships and we plan to keep on winning em. IMO we are the clear cut choice for win now and over all, as well as being pretty well set for the future. We have a perfect blend of players(and coach) to win multiple titles and the pieces to remake this team on the fly and keep on steam rollin.

[jcldallas24]

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER



Starting Lineup:








C-Nene Hilario(36)/Ryan Hollins(8)/Larry Sanders(2)
PF-Shawn Marion(28)/Tim Thomas(15)/James Johnson(5)
SF-Kevin Durant(38)/Jerry Stackhouse(8)/Derrick Brown(2)
SG-Mike Miller(35)/Jodie Meeks(8)/Avery Bradley(5)
PG-Tony Parker(30)/Mike Bibby(15)/Shaun Livingston(3)

Salaries:
Player................2010-2011......2011-2012......2012-2013....2013-2014
Tony Parker......$13,650,000
Nene................$11,360,000 -- $11,600,000
Shawn Marion.....$7,305,500 -- $7,975,932 -- $8,646,364 -- $9,316,796
Kevin Durant.......$6,053,663 -- $7,900,030
Mike Bibby.........$5,564,767 -- $6,217,616
Mike Miller.........$3,000,000 -- $3,300,000 -- $3,000,000
Ryan Hollins........$2,333,333 -- $2,483,333
James Johnson...$1,713,600 -- $1,833,120 -- $2,812,006 -- $3,950,869
Larry Sanders.....$1,514,280 -- $1,627,920 -- $1,741,440 -- $2,674,852 -- $3,776,891
Avery Bradley.....$1,039,800 -- $1,117,680 -- $1,195,680 -- $2,155,811 -- $3,181,977
Tim Thomas........$854,389
Shaun Livingston.$854,389
Jodie Meeks......$762,195 -- $884,293 -- $1,105,366
Jerry Stackhouse$854,389
Derrick Brown.....$762,195 -- $1,059,293

*Quinton Ross.....$1,146,337
*Tony Battie........$1,000,000

TOTAL...............$57,622,500
* No Longer With Team
Player Option / Early Termination Option / Team Option / Qualifying Offer / Non-guaranteed

Right's To
Sergio Lull
Renardo Sidney
Devon Hardin

Draft Picks
2011 Phx 1st
2011 Cle 1st
2011 CHI 2nd
2012 OKC 1st
2012 CHI 2nd
2013 OKC 1st
2013 OKC 2nd
2016 Was 2nd

Transactions
1.Harpring, Ollie, 2011-2012 2nd's for Haywood, Stevenson.
2.Harden, Collison, Weaver, Mullens for Bogut, Delfino, Meeks.
3.Jeff Green, Brandon Haywood, Etan Thomas, 2010 1st phx, 2011 OKC 1st for Jefferson, Cardinal.
4.Harris, Najera for Cardinal, Westbrook.
5.Sign Rashad McCants to min.
6.Sign Antonio Daniels to min.
7.Serge Ibaka, 2010 2nd Por/Chi for DeAndre Jordan.
8.4-Way...Harris, Kristic, Maynor, Sefalosha, Meeks, Delfino, Najera, 2010 OKC 1st for Nelson, Ginobili, Finley, McGuire, Anderson, Crittenton, Carney, 2010 Philadelphia 1st, 2012 OKC 2nd.
9.Bogut, Finley for Amare.
10.Amare for Alridge, Webster, Alexander, Magloire.
11.Andersen, Crittenton for Miles, 2nd.
12.Lamarcus Alridge, Manu Ginobili, DeShawn Stevenson, CJ Miles for Tracy McGrady, Jason Thompson, Shannon Brown
13Daniels, McCants, 2011 Minnesota 2nd for Jason Smith.
14.Nelson for Ellington, Conley, Speedy Claxton, 2012 Philly 2nd
15.Drafted Larry Sanders with the 17th pick in 2010 Draft
16.Drafted Avery Bradley with the 26th pick in the 2010 Draft.
17.Traded 2011 Utah 2nd for 2010 Charlotte 2nd.
18.Drafted Renardo Sidney with the 48th pick in the 2010 Draft.
19.Traded Jason THompson, Jordan, Conley, Smith, Ellington for Nene, Murphy, Maynor, Young, 2011 1sts(Cle, and Phx).
20.Traded Murphy, 2012 OKC 2nd, 2012 Phi 2nd for Miller, Sefalosha, Hollins, Green, James Johnson, 2011 NJ 2nd...
21.Traded Young, Maynor, Stackhouse, 2014 OKC 2nd for Bibby, 2011 CHI 2nd, 2012 CHI 2nd
22. Traded Willie Green, 2012 Chi 2nd for Ross, Evans, Derrick Brown...
23.Signed Shaun Livingston
24.Signed Aaron Gray
25.Signed Tim Thomas
26.Signed Etan Thomas
27.Traded Al Jefferson, Aaron Gray, Etan Thomas for Tony Parker, Right's to Sergio Llull...
28.Re-Signed Etan Thomas
29.Traded Martell Webster, Thabo Sefalosha for Shawn Marion, Jerry Stackhouse...
30.Release Tony Battie
31.Release Pops Mensah-Bonsu
32.Release Etan Thomas...



Direction: Winning, or create better ball club....

Reason you went that Route:Because i felt the team as constructed before was too young, and needed some veteranship added to the roster....

How the team is better off than when you started : Its more prepared to face the tougher teams of the league, i don't think they will struggle as much in the clutch as they might've previously...

Offense:
My offense will be ran through Durant, and Parker....Durant will create for himself in others, while Tony will setup the team to get some easy baskets or just plain out attack the rim. Nene is one of the most underrated players in this league he can defend the basket, and has the athleticism to match up with most other NBA centers. His offense is no joke either this dude goes to the basket hard. Marion while he has declined a bit, and can't get up there like he used to he can still provide some intangibles for this team that can help, and pull out a win at times. Depending on what other teams decide to put up on defense for my team to go up against im pretty sure this team can still score on a zone, man to man and practically any defense, because its so versatile out there i can spread the floor, drive, have some mid range shooters, it will be pretty hard to stop. Now my bench its full of young players, and veterans who i think match up well. Stackhouse, Thomas, and Bibby the veterans all bring something different to the table when they come in. Meeks some youth, and Hollins some athleticism.

Defense:
My Defense will most likely be man-to-man, or pull some trickery and runs some zone at times when we run small.Durant while not being known as a good defender, isn't too shabby and can still hold his ground thanks largely to his length.Parker's speed, and Livingston' length will help me hold down certain matchups. Miller isn't a bad defender but might have some issues against other players. Nene can probably take on other Centers and have little to no issues against them. Marion is a good defender on his own, and is capable of playing against the other team's PF to the point where the other PF's productivity might take a hit. My bench while slow, and full of veterans can show some grit and make some smart plays.

Summary:
I feel its a top 5 team in the west for more years to come, and a chance to contend for a championship on a yearly basis the way its structured, and even if seeded low can pull some upsets.

[dockingsched]

aim: dockingscheduled

Depth Chart




PG: Chauncey Billups /Jason Terry / Kalin Lucas
SG: Kevin Martin / Arron Afflalo / DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Caron Butler / Damion James
PF: Udonis Haslem / Craig Smith
C: Chris Kaman / Chris Andersen / Artsiom Parakhouski

Player Salaries

Chauncey Billups - $13,150,000 / $14,200,000
Chris Kaman - $11,300,000 / $12,200,000
Caron Butler - $10,561,960
Kevin Martin - $11,519,840 / $12,439,675
Jason Terry - $9,873,000 / $10,658,000
Udonis Haslem - $5,400,000 / $5,832,000 / $6,264,000 / $6,696,000 / $7,128,000
DeShawn Stevenson - $4,151,786
Chris Andersen - $3,942,000 / $4,234,000 / $4,526,000 / $4,818,000
Arron Aflalo - $1,959,577 / $2,906,053
Craig Smith - $1,500,000 / $1,620,000
Damion James - $1,156,320 / $1,243,080 / $1,329,720 / $2325680
Kalin Lucas - 2nd round draft pick
Artsiom Parakhouski - 2nd round draft pick


Blue - team option | Green - player option
Red - Qualifying offer | Asterisk - not on roster
Grey - Unguaranteed | Mauve - Early termination


Trade History

1/8/10 Baron Davis, Kareem Rush, 2011 1st round pick to Washington for Jason Terry, Mike James, and 2010 WAS 2nd rnd pick.

1/15/10 Blake Griffin, Mike James, Sebastian Telfair, DeAndre Jordan to Denver for Chauncey Billups, Chris Andersen, Arron Afflalo, removal of 2010 right to swap 2nds, return of 2015 clips 2nd.

1/19/10 Eric Gordon, Rasual Butler, Ricky Davis to Philadelphia for Kevin Martin, Kareem Rush, 2010 MIN 2nd, 2010 MIL 2nd.

2/19/10 Marcus Camby, Al Thornton, Craig Smith to Orlando for Caron Butler, Deshawn Stevenson, Josh Boone.

3/6/10 DRAFT: 24th: Damion James, 32nd: Kalin Lucas, 33rd: Artsiom Parakhouski

3/15/10 FA SIGNING: Udonis Haslem, Full MLE. Craig Smith, BAE.


Direction
The Clippers were made into a veteran win-now title contender.

Reason For Direction
The Clippers were molded in this direction because they were a team stuck in limbo (too good for a top 5 pick, not good enough to make an impact in the playoffs). Clippers were set to have significant capspace in the off-season but we didn't feel comfortable with the ability to attract top FA's to this franchise.

How is this team better off..

Veteran Leadership, Hard-Nosed role players, and Defense: The Clippers are much better off because they have legitimate leadership and talent. First and foremost is the championship leadership of Chauncey Billups. He's a winner and is having another great season. We then targeted and acquired playoff tested veterans like Udonis Haslem and Jason Terry. In addition, we got hard-nosed players like Arron Afflalo, Craig Smith, Chris Andersen, and DeShawn Stevenson. These guys are tough, tested, and anything but soft. Every position can be defended by our roster.

Scoring talent and Complimentary Pieces: Experience and mental toughness only works with talent, so we made sure we got plenty of people to put the ball in the basket. We feel like, offensively, we have no weakness in the starting five. Billups can run an offense with the best pg's in the league and is one of the best closers in the league. Kevin Martin is one of the highest and most efficient scorers from the perimeter in the league. Caron Butler can create his own offense and Chris Kaman can score in the post better than most centers in the league. Udonis Haslem can stretch the floor with his consistent mid-range jumper. Off the bench Terry provides a 6th man of the yr type of scoring spark, Afflao stretches the defense, James provides young athleticism at the 3, Smith provides a bully like post offense.

[Garmfay]

Toronto Raptors
AIM: Gotanza137
E-Mail: HaHa123570@hotmail.com

Lineups:






Salaries:


Draft Picks:
2011 TOR 1st
2012 TOR 1st

Depth Chart:
C: Gasol - Johnson - Gates
PF: Bargnani - Evans - Alexander
SF: Artest - DeRozan - Weems
SG: Carter - Redick - Rautins
PG: Jack - Belinelli - Banks

Transaction History:
-TOR/LAL: Raptors Trade Chris Bosh and Hidayet Turkoglu to the Lakers for Pau Gasol and Ron Artest
-TOR/SAN: Raptors Trade Jose Calderon to the Spurs for Roger Mason Jr and Matt Bonner
-TOR/ORL: Raptors Trade Roger Mason Jr, Amir Johnson, Matt Bonner, Antoine Wright and Patrick O'Bryant to the Magic for Vince Carter and Louis Amundson
-TOR call up Yaroslav Korolev and Cedric Jackson from D-League
-TOR selects F Yancy Gates #51 overall in the 2010 NBA Draft
-TOR signs G Andy Rautins to a 3 Year Contract League Minimum
-TOR signs F/C Amir Johnson to a 5 Year Contract worth $23,250,000
-TOR signs G JJ Redick to a 2 Year Contract worth $3,120,000
-TOR signs F Joe Alexander to a 2 Year Contract League Minimum

Direction
This team needed a "re-tool". The current core was not gonna work with deadweight contracts in Jose Calderon and Hedo Turkoglu. Bosh was likely going to bolt in FA so I needed to shake up the roster quite a bit but I still wanted to stay competitive. So it was a re-tool win now direction.

Reason you went that Route
I traded Bosh because he was likely going to leave anyways so I needed to get a replacable star big man, and what better than Pau Gasol who was locked up long term. One of my goals in a Bosh deal was to get rid of Turkoglu's albatross contract and I was able to do that and pick up a defense presence like Artest was a plus. I basically traded Calderon + expirings for Carter and I decided to add Vince Carter because my team was good enough to compete and I needed that veteran SG to help put the Raptors in the upper echlon. Carter was also brought in to mentor DeRozan as he is slated to be the "next" VC. In FA, I targets key glue guys needed to have a successful team in Amir, Rautins and Redick. Rautins gives me that intangible and work ethic and he comes very cheap. He can be a depth 1/2 guard who will give it his all. Redick is a shooter that is needed on every team. Belinelli is too inconsistent and I needed a consistent shooter off the bench. Him and Rautins gives me those long range threats. Amir is just the perfect 6th man type big who will bring instant energy and he is still very young. Alexander and Gates are youth guys that I took a chance on and hopefully they can break out with their athleticism.

How the team is better off than when you started
The Toronto Raptors franchise that I took over really had no direction. It was a treadmill team going nowhere and with the franchise player on the verge of leaving for nothing. Instead I added 2 championship players in Artest and Gasol, with Artest long ways better than Turkoglu and Gasol a nice compensation for losing Bosh. I finally got a scoring SG that this team desperately lacks. DeRozan is not good enough to take that roll yet and I got rid of some bad contracts.This team has even more depth and youth now with young guns like Weems, DeRozan, Rautins, Alexander, Redick, Belinelli, Gates. So my team can contend with seasoned veterans like Gasol, Artest, Carter along with a nice young core in the future centered around Andrea Bargnani. So this team can stay in contention for a long time.

[SamBone]

Miami Heat
jbail10@verizon.net
AIM: theSamBone



Depth Chart
A.Brooks(30) / Blake(14) / Wade(4) / Reynolds
Wade(30) / S.Jackson(18) / Warren
S.Jackson(12) / W.Johnson(18) / Mbah a Moute(18)
D.West(30) / T.Gibson(18) / Tolliver
Haywood(24) / Foster(10) / Dampier(10) / Jordan



TPE's owned
$4,260,000 (M.Banks deal)
$1,139,880 (trade #4 below "Ariza")
$1,291,009 (trade #6 below "Morrison")
$3,290,037 (trade #8 below "JO")
$2,112,085 (trade #9 below "Gay")
$3,567,958 (trade #10 below "J.Howard")

DRAFT PICKS
2011 Charlotte 1st

2012 Miami 1st
2012 Miami 2nd
2012 PHX 2nd

2013 Miami 1st
2013 Miami 2nd

Transactions
1. traded Magloire and Diawara to PHX for J.Dudley
2. trade Wright to PHX for Diawara, Collins, McRoberts, 2010 PHX 2nd, 2012 PHX 2nd
3. In a 4 way deal traded Beasley, QRich, J.Jones, 2010 PHX 2nd, 2012 NO 2nd, and 2012 Mem 2nd for A.Brooks, Ariza, T.Gibson, Morrison, A.Johnson, George, 2010 Houston 1st
4. traded Ariza and D.George to N.O for N.O. 2010 1st, D.Collison, D.Fisher
5. traded Chalmers, Cook, and A.Johnson to Denver for C.Hayes and S.Ibaka
6. traded Morrison, Ibake, Tor 2010 1st(protected) to NJ for Mbah a Moute and Hassell
*if the Tor pick is not given to NJ in 2010, Miami would forfit the N.O. 2010 2nd to NJ
7. In a 3 way deal, traded D.Collison, D.Fisher, J.Anthony. T.Hassell, 2010 Miami 1st, and a conditional 2010 2nd for R.Gay and Josh Howard
8. traded JO and C.Hayes to Minni for Haywood, Blount, E.Thomas
9. traded R.Gay, E.Thomas, and 2011 1st to N.O. for D.West
10. traded J.Howard & C.Blount to ATL for S.Jackson, J.Foster, O.Hunter, Stoudimire, Bost 2010 2nd and ATL 2013 unprotected 1st
Transactions for 2010/2011
1. traded J.Dudley to Charltte for an unprotected 2011 Char 1st

Direction
When I took over this team, my plan was to completely remodel this team and give it an identity. Obviously my #1 goal was to get a team that would make DWade happy and resign here. I am not a Beasley fan and didn’t really like anyone else on the team so COMPLETE REMODEL AROUND WADE, was my game plan. I wanted to build a tough defensively strong team that would make the fan base in Miami proud since historically that is what they are known for. In doing this, I wanted to get guys that fit in well together. (hence the fact that a 3 point shoot PG to play next to DWade was my #1 target). I wanted to give this team a chance to be a top team now and for the future that is why I wanted younger players and good draft picks and I think drafting prospects like Wesley Johnson and Willie Warren were HUGE for my future! I also did not sell out my future draft picks and still have a 1st in all future years.

Reason you went that Route
I chose the Heat because I wanted a challenge. I figured that of all the MAX FA’s to be, DWade would be the one to jump ship. I wanted to see if I could do the impossible and make DWade not be temped to leave. I have to be honest, I thought it was all for not when Chicago (Wade’s hometown) landed Dwight Howard and max cap space. But the team I built and getting to the conference finals in 2009/2010 voting really helped me. I went from having the FA most likely to leave to having one of the 2 FA’s that wouldn’t even think of leaving (Bosh was the other).

How the team is better off than when you started
The Miami Heat franchise that I took over really had no direction. They currently were a middle of the pack Eastern Conference team (trying to stay above .500 to sneak into the playoffs) that had a payroll of $73,867,172 (luxury tax bill of $3,947,172) bringing the total payroll up to $77,814,344. This team really had no future and my people think they were about to lose their MAIN MAN DWade.

Depth chart
PG: Arroyo / Chalmers / JWill
SG: Wade / Jones / Cook
SF: QRich / Wright / Diawara
PF: Beasley / Haslem / Slav Randolph
C: JO / Anthony / Magloire

I turned that group into a team that finished 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and 3rd overall when teams were ranked. I lowered the 2009/2010 payroll to $62,664,440 which was well below the tax number which ownership was thrilled with (adding over $15 million to their pockets). But more importantly then saving money, I improved the team. I was able to retain all my key free agents and sign 2 role players in free agency that should greatly improve my team, all while staying under the 2010/2011 tax number. My 2010/2011 salary is only $65,153,178 which is by far the lowest of all the winning teams) My new rotation now consists of

PG: A.Brooks(30) / Blake(14) / Wade(4) / Reynolds
SG: Wade(30) / S.Jackson(18) / Warren
SF: S.Jackson(12) / W.Johnson(18) / Mbah a Moute(18)
PF: D.West(30) / T.Gibson(18) / Tolliver
C : Haywood(24) / Foster(10) / Dampier(10) / Jordan

My future is super bright and I think my rebuilding of the Heat was very successful. I was able to keep and lock up the 28 year old face of the franchise in DWade. I teamed him up with the PG I think is one of the best young established PG’s in the game who currently leads the NBA in 3 pointer in Aaron Brooks(25). I drafted the ultra talented combo guard Willie Warren who will be my 6th man of the future. For my SF of the future, I drafted a guy that may have as much talent as anyone in the draft and a guy that will be one of the best rookies in the league in 2011 in Wesley Johnson. Plus, I also the defensive backup in Luc Mbah a Moute (24). I love the talent on both sides of the ball that is being shown by Taj Gibson (25). I also have added PF/C Anthony Tolliver who is proving he can play in the league, and drafted the ultra talented project C in Jerome Jordan.

Plus the 29 year old David West (2 years remaining), 30 year old Brendan Haywood (4 years remaining), 32 year old Stephen Jackson (3 years remaining), and 30 year old Steve Blake (3 years remaining) all are still in the prime of their careers. And I really don’t think I have any future money owed that will hurt my organization’s growth.

[bcortell]

Them warriors in that state of gold

[Snakebites]

Grizzlies!



Starters: Rodney Stuckey, OJ Mayo, Danny Granger, Zach Randolph, Nenad Kristic

Key Reserves: Kyle Lowry, Tim Thomas, Sam Young





Player Salaries:.......2010/2011.....2011/2012.....2012/2013.....2013/2014......2014/2015

Zach Randolph.......$17,333,333
Danny Granger......$11,173,202....$12,215,904...$13,258,606...$14,221,788........N/A
Tyrus Thomas........$7,000,000.....$7,560,000.....$8,120,000....$8,680,000......$9,240,000
Kyle Lowry...........$5,000,000.....$5,400,000......$5,830,000....$6,300,000
Nenad Kristic.......$4,793,280
OJ Mayo..............$4,456,200.....$5,632,637....$7,390,019
Rodney Stuckey....$2,767,126.......$3,868,443
Stanley Robinson.....$1,373,880......$1,476,840......$1,579,920.....$2,433,077...$3,469,568
DeMarre Carroll.....$1,085,400......$1,161,120....$2,094,660....$3,106,381
Miroslav Raduljica.....$996,240......$1,071,000....$1,145,640.....$2,067,88....$3,101,820
Sam Young ..........$886,000........$947,800......$1,184,750.......N/A
Terry Gilder.........$937,195

Team Option
Qualifying Offer
Unguaranteed

Salary Commited, not on roster:

Marko Jaric..........$7,625,000.........N/A .............N/A ............N/A

Total Salary:

2010/2011: $65,425,695
2011/2012: $38,243,000

Draft Credits:
2011 Nuggets Draft Pick, 1st round, top 14 protected

Direction: Retool. Become a stronger and more talented team while retaining a distinct identity of youth.

Why we went that way: The Grizzlies were an intriguing young team with an interesting set of pieces and a promising future. They were also, however, a team with no clear star player, some pieces that did not optimally fit together, and limited depth. We sought to strengthen the team near the top while at the same time developing a bench that gives the team more staying power, defense, and ability to stay in games against the toughest opponents.

Why this team is now better off:First and foremost, this team has a greatly upgraded best player. While we were previously a nicely built group of starters with no clear number one man in the starting lineup (other than perhaps the resurgent Zach Randolph), the team lacked a true two way star. Danny Granger is that player. He's a terrific defender and great all round scorer with a great stroke from long range, and complements the low post presence of Zach Randolph extremely well for a deadly 1-2 punch. He also pairs with OJ Mayo to form an almost unguardable wing combination, given the diverse and long range offensive game both players have. We also added Rodney Stuckey to our team. In addition to being a better scorer than OJ Mayo, we feel having serious outside and post threats to pass to will allow Stuckey to hone some of his abilities as a passer. Nenad Kristic adds further spacing to our devastating offense.

Defensively the team has also improved, retaining solid defender OJ Mayo and adding terrific defensive players in Thomas, Granger, and Lowry.

Depth is also greatly improved. The Grizzlies team started with minimal contributions from anyone off the bench. Now, we have the tenacious Kyle Lowry, who is a great defender and developing passer who is essentially the third guard, coming in playing alongside either Mayo or Stuckey, allowing the ladder to try his had at shooting guard, where he has had some success thus far this year. We retained Sam Young to back up Danny Granger at the 3 and spell some at the two, and he promises to be a great contributor as well. Most importantly, we added Tyrus Thomas. In addition to backing up our All Star power forward Zach Randolph, he is a super utility player who will also see some time playing alongside Zach, taking the pressure off our rookie backup center. He does so many of the little things and, like Lowry, will be getting near starter minutes in a fairly tight rotation.

Overall perspective: This team managed to land a star while also IMPROVING our overall depth, and this cannot be seen as anything short of a great win. And we did it while retaining arguably our best young asset, OJ Mayo, and our all star, Zach Randolph, while also upgrading our pg position.
Salary has somewhat increased this year, but long term the team looks to be in decent shape financially. We will be almost 16 million under the cap come this offseason, freeing the team to retain Rodney Stuckey and negotiate a smaller deal for Zach Randolph. Even if he departs, we have an able replacement in Tyrus Thomas and can use the additional funds to improve our team elsewhere.

The team has long term flexibility and is superior both at present and for the future. We managed to get all of the benefits and little of the sacrifice, and the results are very strong here.

[Teddy KGB]

[bryant08]

Charlotte Bobcats










Depth Chart:
Jermaine O'Neal [30] - Chuck Hayes [10] - Al Horford [8]
Al Horford [25] - Hakim Warrick [20] - Craig Brackins [3]
Gerald Wallace [32] - Jared Dudley [10] - Chris Douglas-Roberts [6]
Ray Allen [30] - Marquis Daniels [10] - Chris Douglas-Roberts [8]
Mo Williams [30] - Luke Ridnour [18]

extras: DJ Mbenga, Antoine Wright, Matt Carroll

Incoming Draft Picks:
2011 second round draft pick from LAC

Draft Picks Owed:
2011 first round draft pick to Miami
2011 second round draft pick to Atlanta

Transactions:
1. DeSagana Diop, DJ Augustin for Luther Head, Jeff Foster
2. Waived Stephen Graham
3. Jeff Foster, Ray Felton, Stephen Jackson, 2011 CHA 2nd for Al Horford, Brian Scalabrine, Jason Collins, Maurice Evans, Zaza Pachulia
4. Tyson Chandler, Maurice Evans for Josh Howard, JJ Barea
5. Boris Diaw, Zaza Pachulia, Gerald Henderson for Brad Miller, Marcus Thornton
6. Acie Law, Brian Scalabrine, Brad Miller, JJ Barea for Mo Williams, Fabricio Oberto, James Posey
7. Josh Howard, Nazr Mohammed for Speedy Claxton, Chris Douglas Roberts, Troy Murphy
8. Speedy Claxton, Jason Collins for Carlos Delfino, James Johnson, DJ White
9. DJ White, Carlos Delfino, Fabricio Oberto, Flip Murray for Mike Miller, Marcus Landry
10. Marcus Landry, James Johnson for Chuck Hayes, 2010 MIN 2nd
11. James Posey, Marcus Thornton, Troy Murphy, Alexis Ajinca, Derrick Brown for Erick Dampier, Matt Carroll, 2011 2nd
12. Signed Jermaine O'Neal, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, Luke Ridnour
12. Waived Erick Dampier
13. Signed some unguaranteed scrubs
14. Traded said scrubs and 2011 CHA 1st unprotected for Jared Dudley
15. Signed Antoine Wright, DJ Mbenga

Direction:

When I first took over the Bobcats my first goal was to cut salary. Although a $65-$70M payroll is pretty standard today for winning teams, I didn't find this team was responsible financially. Guys like DeSagana Diop, Tyson Chandler, Boris Diaw are guys that simply aren't worth their contracts, not even close. It was tough to move those guys, but my defining move for this franchise had to be moving a package of Stephen Jackson and Ray Felton for Al Horford. Horford is a dominant big man and he added to my core, which at the time, really only had Gerald Wallace as the building block. Horford backed me up on the deal with his recent play, putting up staggering numbers in March (15.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 59% FG). Mo Williams was another addition to my core which came at the cost of adding more long term salary, but it's definitely worth it. A PG that can shoot the lights out, run an offense efficiently and is still pretty young is a valuable commodity. A desperation move towards the beginning of free agency saw me trade a young stud SG in Marcus Thornton and Troy Murphy for Erick Dampier's unguaranteed deal, giving me max cap space.

My main target in FA was David Lee to give me a young PF that will really mesh well with Horford and provide me a major source of offense. Unfortunately, we were some $4M shy over the duration of the contract of an offer made by Sacramento, and Lee decided to sign there. I considered holding onto my cap space, but again, I believe this team has the tools to win now and the youth to win later. I decided to go for some veteran FAs to take this team to the next level in the Eastern Conference and succeeded in signing Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal to pretty reasonable contracts. My thinking is if those guys are signing 3 year deals, that's only really a commitment of 2 years, since heading into that last year their combined contracts are $17M in expirings. Both are having pretty darn good years and have proven even as they age, they are not over-reliant on athleticism like some other veterans.

Overall I feel I've kept this team fantastic defensively, while giving Larry Brown the tools to work with. If I had to compare the way I built this team to a franchise in particular, I'd have to look to the Larry Brown-lead Detroit Pistons. Two very good defensive big men (although it's tough to compete with that Wallace/Wallace duo), an athletic defensive SF (Wallace is simply better than Prince though), an off the ball SG, and a PG that has to take the reins for the team to be successful (Billups is better than Mo-Will at pretty much every aspect, but Williams has that ability to hit the big shot and will be looked upon to lead the team as he did in Milwaukee). I also believe I have a fantastic bench, with defensive role players like Chuck Hayes, Jared Dudley (who is also a great 3pt shooter), Marquis Daniels, Antoine Wright and some guys who can provide energy offensively in Hakim Warrick, CDR, Luke Ridnour. Moving forward with MJ's ownership of the team, I strongly believe this team can be a contender for years to come. And don't under-estimate us now either, the East is a pretty weak conference in this game. I believe similar to the real Bobcats, this is the team that can upset the big guns with fantastic defense and a very well rounded offense.

Reason I went this route:

I really looked for the best value in trades and once I got Horford, everything stemmed from that transaction. And as I mentioned earlier I wanted to be financially responsible. I saved the team plenty of money right off the bat.

How this team is better:
Nazr Mohammed - Tyson Chandler - DeSagana Diop
Boris Diaw - Derrick Brown - Alexis Ajinca
Gerald Wallace - Stephen Graham
Stephen Jackson - Gerald Henderson
Ray Felton - DJ Augustin

Jermaine O'Neal - Chuck Hayes - DJ Mbenga
Al Horford - Hakim Warrick - Craig Brackins
Gerald Wallace - Jared Dudley - Antoine Wright - Matt Carroll
Ray Allen - Marquis Daniels - Chris Douglas-Roberts
Mo Williams - Luke Ridnour

'nuff said.

[verbal8]

Washington Wizards



Line-up
PG Collison/Koponen
SG Mason/Flip Murray/Gee
SF Marvin Williams/Hayward/Najera
PF Troy Murphy/Varnado/DJ White
C Cousins/McGee/Haddadi

2010/2011 Roster & Salaries
Marvin Williams...........$6,712,500......$7,500,000.....$8,287,500......$7,500,000
DJ White.......$1,036,440
JaVale McGee..........$1,601,040..........$2,462,400....$3,494,145(qo)
Darren Collison..........$1,361,040.........$1,455,960......$2,319,344.......$3,342,175(qo)
Hamed Haddadi....$1,600,000
Ronald "Flip" Murray...$1,900,000.....$1,748,000(to)
Roger Mason.....$1,900,000....$1,600,000....$1.500,000(to)
Troy Murphy......$11,968,253
Eduardo Najera........$3,000,000.....2,500,000
Petteri Koponen.......$925,000(2 more years)
Alonzo Gee....$500,000
DaMarcus Cousins....$3726600.....$4006080.....$4285560......$5421233(qo)
Gordon Hayward......$1204560.....$129490......$1385280.....$2350820(qo)
Jarvis Varnado....500,000....700,000....750,000

Draft Rights

Alexey Shved
Pablo Aguilar
Dwayne Collins

Other Rights
Fran Vasquez

Future Draft Picks

2011 WAS 1ST
2011 LAC 1ST
2011 HOU 1ST
2011 LAL 1ST
2011 OKC 2ND
2011 ORL 2ND
2011 UTA 2ND
2011 POR 2ND

2012 WAS 1ST
2012 POR 1ST
2012 IND 1ST(top 15 protection)
2012 HOU 1ST
2012 WAS 2ND
2012 NY 2nd

2013 WAS 1ST
2013 ORL 1ST
2013 WAS 2ND

TRANSACTIONS
1. Traded Haywood/Stevenson for Harpring/Ollie and OKC 2011/2012 2nds
2. Traded Jamison and Oberto and WAS 2011 2nd for Z IIgauskas and CLE 2011 1st
3. Traded Foye for Brandon Bass/2011 ORL 2ND & rights to fran vasquez
4. Traded Jason Terry/Mike James & 2010 WAS 2nd for Baron Davis/Kareem Rush & 2011 LAC 1st
5. Traded Baron Davis, Kareem Rush, Kevin Ollie for TJ Ford, Watson & Jrue Holiday
6. Traded Andray Blatche, Earl Boykins for David Anderson, Joey Dorsey & HOU 2011 1st
7. Traded Z IIgauskas for Cutlino Mobley & 2010 NYK 2nd
8. Traded Earl Watson for TPE & 2010 LAL 2ND
9. Traded Butler for Delonte West, Marvin Williams, 2010 ORL 2ND, 2011 NJN 2ND & 2013 ORL 1ST
10.Traded Kapono for TPE
11.Traded Eric Maynor for Haddadi, CHA 2010 2ND & IND 2012 1ST
DRAFT
Wall/Hayward/Varnado/

12. Traded draft rights to John Wall & Jrue Holiday for Darren Collison & draft rights to Demarcus Cousins
13. Traded 2010 CHA 2nd for 2011 UTA 2nd
14. Traded Bass & Jodie Meeks for Dwayne Collins & HOU 2012 1st
15. Traded Mike Miller, Jerry Stackhouse, Thabo Sefalosha, Willie Green, 2011 NJ 2nd & 2016 Was 2nd
for Troy Murphy & 2012 OKC 2nd
16. Traded Nick Young for DJ White
FREE AGENTS
Mike Miller/Flip Murray/Roger Mason

17. Traded TJ Ford for Eddy Curry, Sasha Vujacic, 2011 1st (LAL), 2011 2nd (POR) & 2012 1st (POR)
18. Waived Eddy Curry and Sasha Vujacic
19. Traded cap space for PG Petteri Koponen, Eduardo Najera & 2012 NY 2nd

Direction
Rebuild.


Reason you went that Route
The current Wizards team had some talent but the team did not mesh. The salary situation with Arenas and Jamison made it difficult to bring in an impact player.

How the team is better off than when you started.
The Wizards now have young prospects at every position. A ton of future draft picks and a ton of salary cap flexibility.

A couple of roster positions were kept open to allow us to bring in promising players from D-League.

The vets that are on the team should assist the development of our prospects. Mason has the size and shooting to be SG, but can take some PG duties to allow Collison to play off the ball some. We also would sometimes try a back-court with Koponen and Collison. Flip Murray is a scorer who can give us instant offense if the 2nd unit is struggling. We like Murphy's mix of good rebounding and shooting range. We think this will greatly assist the development of Cousins and allow him to find the role where he is most comfortable. Najera is a hustle player who can play both forward positions and will provide a good example to his teammates.

PG Collison has shown a lot filling in for Chris Paul vs Arenas who is a big question mark and a huge contract Koponen is a promising prospect
SG Have a couple of stopgap vets and are hoping that Gee develops to win this spot. This unfortunately continues to be an area of weakness, however we have the assets to upgrade this position.
SF Marvin Williams has athleticism, length and is a decent shooter. Butler was more productive in the short run, but seems to be declining. Gordon Hayward is a promising prospect who could end up filling a Mike Miller type roll.
PF Murphy is nearly as good as Jamison and younger and on an expiring contract. He also has the ability to play some Center. Varnado will replace some of the defense that Haywood provided. DJ White is promising, but needs some more development.
C Cousins provides a post scorer that the Wizards did not have. He should be solid defender and rebounder. McGee was kept because of his potential and flashes of offense and shot-blocking. Haddadi could develop into a player very similar to Haywood.

[All In The Name]

Depth Chart

Steve Nash / Ty Lawson / T.J. Ford
Marcus Thornton / Jermaine Taylor / Willie Green
Ronnie Brewer / Andrei Kirilenko
Andrei Kirilenko / Jordan Hill / Deon Thompson
Greg Oden / Alexis Ajinca / Kosta Koufos

Salaries



Draft Picks

2011 1st
2011 2nd
2011 2nd (from Minnesota)
2012 1st
2012 2nd
2012 2nd (from Chicago)
2013 1st
2013 2nd

Transactions List

1. Drafted Andrew Ogilvy
2. Drafted Deon Thompson
3. Traded Joel Przybilla, Andrew Ogilvy, 2011 2nd (from Memphis), 2012 2nd (from Minnesota) for Thaddeus Young, Kosta Koufos
4. Traded Gilbert Arenas for Andrei Kirilenko, Jermaine Taylor, 2011 2nd (from Los Angeles Clippers)
5. Traded Shane Battier, Shawn Marion for Rodrigue Beaubois, Tayshaun Prince, Renaldo Balkman
6. Traded Erick Dampier, Matt Carroll, 2011 2nd (from Los Angeles Clippers) for Alexis Ajinca, Marcus Thornton, Troy Murphy, James Posey, Derrick Brown
7. Traded Dirk Nowitzki, Tayshaun Prince, James Posey, Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beabouis for Greg Oden, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu, Steve Nash, Dante Cunningham, 2012 1st
8. Traded Hedo Turkoglu for Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, 2011 1st, 2011 2nd (from Minnesota)
9. Traded Troy Murphy for Julian Wright, Wayne Ellington, 2011 2nd (from Portland)
10. Traded Emeka Okafor, Dante Cunningham, Luke Walton, Wayne Ellington for Eddy Curry, Jason Kapono, Ty Lawson
11. Traded Maurice Evans, Quinton Ross, Derrick Brown for Willie Green, 2012 2nd (from Chicago)
12. Traded Thaddeus Young, Jason Kapono, Kris Humphries for Jordan Hill, Ronnie Brewer
13. Traded Eddy Curry, Sasha Vujacic, 2011 1st (from Los Angeles Lakers), 2011 2nd (from Portland), 2012 1st (from Portland) for T.J. Ford
14. Traded Renaldo Balkman, Julian Wright

Direction

Total rebuild. We have exciting prospects at every position (Lawson at PG, Thornton and Taylor at SG, Brewer at SF, Hill and Thompson at PF, Oden, Ajinca, and Koufos at C), no bad contracts and are in great cap position overall, and have all of our own future picks in addition to two picks from other teams.

Just to give you an idea of why we're so excited about a few of our future prospects, let's take Lawson, Thornton, and Hill. All three are rookies right now (in the real NBA). Lawson has done a great job behind Chauncey Billups, shooting over 40% from downtown and nearly 52% from the field with a TS% above 60. In eight starts, he averaged 17 PPG and 5.9 APG on 56.7% shooting! Thornton is a lethal scorer. He has played more than 30 minutes 24 times this season and has averaged 20.8 PPG in these contests. He's also shown some great range, averaging 2.3 made three pointers per 36 minutes on over 38%. Hill didn't get much playing time early on, but in 17 games since being traded to Houston, he's shown why he was a top 10 pick. He's averaging better than 14/10/1 block per 36 for them on almost 54% shooting. These three players (along with some of our other young guys, such as Oden, who despite injury troubles is still one of the best young big men in the league) help form a fantastic core for the future.

Still, we think it is important to have some veteran leadership even on a rebuilding team to show the youngsters the ropes. Steve Nash is the perfect mentor for Lawson and will also help us in the short term, as he is still playing some of the best ball of his career.

Additionally, we have terrific financial flexibility. There is not a guy on this roster with a bad contract, and we have the room to go after a top-tier FA as early as next offseason. Plus, it was a big goal of ours to get below the luxury tax this season, and we just made it (by less than $1 million).

Reason I went this route

When I inherited this team, it had some talent, but the pieces didn't fit and it was in cap hell.

Jason Kidd / Gilbert Arenas / Shawn Marion / Dirk Nowitzki / Erick Dampier

That's not a bad lineup, but no way is it worth spending close to $100 million for each of the next two seasons and having the contracts of Arenas, Marion, and Matt Carroll weighing us down for awhile. With some of the stacked teams in this league, we didn't really think it was feasible for us to build a contender, so a rebuild was clearly in order.

How the team is better off than when I started

Steve Nash / Ty Lawson / T.J. Ford
Marcus Thornton / Jermaine Taylor / Willie Green
Ronnie Brewer / Andrei Kirilenko
Andrei Kirilenko / Jordan Hill / Deon Thompson
Greg Oden / Alexis Ajinca / Kosta Koufos

vs.

Jason Kidd / Gilbert Arenas
Gilbert Arenas / Maurice Evans / Quinton Ross / Matt Carroll
Shawn Marion / Shane Battier / Shawne Williams / James Singleton
Dirk Nowitzki / Kris Humphries / Tim Thomas
Joel Przybilla / Erick Dampier

I think it's indisputable that my current team is set up better for the future and has a MUCH better cap situation. And I'd even go as far as to say that my current team isn't much worse RIGHT NOW, if at all. Sure, it's not as talented, but the pieces fit way better, it's got more depth, and Nash can do wonders for an offense.

[poopdamoop]

Contact: dudeguyboy@hotmail.com

Depth Chart

John Wall(28)/Daniel Gibson(20)/Damon Jones
James Harden(32)/Fransisco Garcia(10)/John Wall(6)
Devin Ebanks(20)/Andres Nocioni(13)/Fransisco Garcia(13)Sasha Pavlovic
JJ Hickson(25)/Dante Cunningham(15)/Andres Nocioni(8)
Nazr Mohammed(24)/Hasheem Thabeet(24)/B.J Mullins

Player Salaries: 2010/2011......2011/2012......2012/2013......2013/2014

Andres Nocioni: $6,850,000 / $6,650,000 / $7,500,000(TO)
Nazr Mohammed: $6,883,800
Francisco Garcia: $5,800,000 / $5,500,000 / $5,800,000 / $6,100,000
John Wall:....$5,144,280 / $5,530,080 / $5,915,880(TO) / $7,459,925(TO)
Hasheem Thabeet: $4,793,280 / $5,127,720(TO) / $6,471,183(TO) / $8,444,893(QO)
Daniel Gibson: $4,015,334 / $4,403,834 / $4,792,332(Ung)
James Harden: $4,304,520 / $4,604,760(TO) / $5,820,417(TO) / $7,636,387(QO)
JJ Hickson: $1,528,920 / $2,354,537(TO) / $3,357,569(QO)
BJ Mullens: $1,204,200 / $1,288,200(TO)[/color)] / [color=#00BF00]$2,253,062(TO) / $3,293,976(QO)
Devin Ebanks: $1,035,960 / $1,113,600 / $1,191,240(TO) / $2,150,188(TO)
Dante Cunningham: $762,195 / $1,059,293(QO)
Sasha Pavlovic: $825,497
Damon Jones: $825,497

Rights to: Charles Garcia, Manny Harris

Total Salaries for 2010/2011: $43,972,483
Total Salaries for 2011/2012: 37,632,024

PICKS:

2011 Mil and Sac 2nds
2012 onward = everything

DIRECTION:

Rebuild, and compete in a few years with my young core

ANALYSIS:

I didn't think a championship calibre team could be built around Bogut because of how injury prone he is, and even though I traded him before he broke out, I still got a good return for him. Jennings is great, but I was able to use him to shed some bad contracts and acquire more assets. Essentially everyone else on my team was either mediocre or had terrible contracts, so I wanted to completely reshape the roster and acquire some star caliber players to build the team around, which I think I have done.

My new team is build around my young stud guard combo of John Wall and James Harden. Wall is one of the most highly touted prospects in recent memory, and Harden is a great young compliment as a scorer. As for the rest of my core, Devin Ebanks is a solid young piece, and JJ Hickson has flashed some nice potential, and should blossom in an uptempo pace with Wall feeding him. Hasheem Thabeet, though opinions obviously vary, is the x-factor to my team. If he develops into anything even resembling a star player, the Bucks will be very, VERY difficult to beat in a few years. He may never live up to the 2nd pick, but I am positive he can develop into a solid defensive center, which is all my team needs. I've managed to lower the payroll almost 30 million dollars, getting us out of luxury tax danger, and opening up lots of flexibility to use during the season in case a solid player wants out elsewhere. My only negatives would be the lack of a pick next year, as well as a couple longish contracts in Nocioni and Garcia, but neither of them will hinder me from making moves, as both are fairly small, money wise, and I still have over 10 million dollars in cap space. As for the pick, I already have a solid young player at every position, and having too much youth can be problematic.

With the large amount of flexibility and trading pieces I have, I'm confident that I'll be able to continue to add to the team, and even standing pat, I've got a great young team filled with potential.

[MadNESS]

Roster:


Rotation:
Arenas (30) / Robinson (10) / McGrady (8)
Battier (20) / Barnes (14) / McGrady (14)
Smith (32) / McGrady (14) / Barnes (12)
Boozer (34) / Smith (4) / Gooden (10)
Jefferson (30) / Gooden (10) / Darko (8)

Injuries / Situational: Williams / Teague / Pargo / George / Singleton

Draft Picks: 2011 ATL 2nd round draft pick
Transactions:
2009-2010
1. With the Chicago Bulls.
OUT: Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, Brian Cook
IN: John Salmons, Taj Gibson

2. With the Detroit Pistons.
OUT: Yao Ming, Kyle Lowry
IN: Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince

3. With the Utah Jazz.
OUT: Tracy McGrady, Louis Scola
IN: Carlos Boozer, Andre Kirilenko, 2010 second round draft pick (Utah)

4. With the Washington Wizards.
OUT: David Anderson, Joey Dorsey, 2011 first round draft pick (Houston)
IN: Andray Blatche, Earl Boykins

5. With the Orlando Magic.
OUT: TPE (Rafer Alston), 2011 Houston second round draft pick.
IN: Anthony Johnson

6. In a three way trade involving the Miami Heat and Golden State Warrior.
OUT: Trevor Ariza, Aaron Brooks, Taj Gibson, Anthony Johnson, 2010 first round draft pick (Houston)
IN: Tony Parker, 2010 second round draft pick (Phoenix), 2012 second round draft pick (Memphis)

7. Signed Shaun Livingston and Mikki Moore to Fully Unguarented Minimum Deals for one year.

8. With the Denver Nuggets.
OUT: Andrei Kirilenko
IN: Kenyon Martin

9. With the Denver Nuggets.
OUT: Ben Gordon, Chuck Hayes
IN: JR Smith, Joel Pryzbilla, 2010 second round draft pick

10. With the Denver Nuggets.
OUT: Kenyon Martin
IN: Andrei Kirilenko

11. With the Dallas Mavericks.
OUT: Shane Battier, Joel Pryzbilla, 2010 second round draft pick from Phoenix, 2011 second round draft pick from Memphis
IN: Tyson Chandler, Rodrigue Beaubois

12. With the New York Knicks.
OUT: John Salmons
IN: Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman

13. Resigned Carlos Boozer to a multi-year extension.
09/10: $12,323,900
10/11: $16,200,000
11/12: $17,494,009
12/13: $18,788,018
13/14: $20,082,027

2010-2011

1. Drafted Dwayne Collins with the 48th overall pick.

2. Drafted Luke Harangody with the 56th overall pick.

3. With the Dallas Mavericks
OUT: Andrei Kirilenko, Jermaine Taylor, 2011 Clippers 2nd round draft pick
IN: Gilbert Arenas

4. With the Dallas Mavericks.
OUT: Tayshaun Prince, Rodrigue Beaubois, Renaldo Balkman
IN: Shawn Marion, Shane Battier

5. With the Orlando Magic
OUT: JR Smith, Andray Blatche, 2012 first round draft pick, 2013 2nd round draft pick, Rights to Luke Harangody, and rights to Dwayne Collins
IN: Lamarcus Aldridge, Al Thorton

6. Signed Jannero Pargo and James Singleton to minimum deals.

7. With the Oklahoma City Thunder
OUT: Tony Parker, rights to Sergio Lull
IN: Al Jefferson, Aaron Gray, Etan Thomas

8. With the Atlanta Hawks
OUT: Lamarcus Aldridge, Tyson Chandler, Al Thorton
IN: Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, 2011 2nd round draft pick

9. Waived Etan Thomas and signed Darko Milicic and Devean George to minimum deals.

10. With the Philadelphia 76ers
OUT: Shawn Marion, Aaron Gray
IN: Tracy McGrady, Matt Barnes, Drew Gooden, Jason Williams

Direction:
To stay young-ish but be better then what i started with.

Reason why?:
This seemed like a nice median from what we started with. All out competing usually ends up getting old, and all out rebuilding usually gets to young. We feel we have a young-ish core with Josh Smith, Carlos Boozer, and Al Jefferson, and some nice "older" peices to help us win now with Arenas, Tmac, and Battier. Either way we feel we completed our goal of getting much better while still remaining some what young.

How we became better then what I started with?:
Started with:
Brooks / Lowry
Battier / Tmac
Ariza / Budinger
Scola / Landry
Ming / Hayes

Guards:
Brooks / Lowry / Tmac / Battier VS. Arenas / Robinson / Battier / Tmac
This is the toughest thing to judge. Its really Arenas / Robinson vs. Brooks Lowry. Well when i had Tmac he wasn't playing and made 22 million. When i got him back he was contributing heavily on the Knicks and now only makes 6 million. But anyways, i had Brooks who was a nice peice but i think hes basically reached his ceiling. Hes a speedy quick PG with good shooting ability. I was going for winning. I had to move him to get Parker which at the time we loved. When we aquired Gilbert for basically nothing we felt we could move parker for an upgrade at any position and we did, we got Al Jefferson. We then slide Gil back over to PG where he thrives. Robinson and Lowry are complete opposites. Lowry is a defender of the bench, and Nate is a spark plug / instant Offense off the bench. Overall, even if this is a slight upgrade due to Arenas "off court issues", its still and upgrade and thats what we wanted. We KNOW when hes on the court hes one of the top PG's in the league.

Forwards:
Ariza / Budinger / Scola / Landry VS. JOSH SMITH / Barnes / Carlos Boozer / Gooden
Wow. We went from a Chucker in Ariza, a jump shooter in Budinger, a 29 year old PF in Scola, and well a nice 6th man in Landry to 2 Franchise players in Josh Smith and Carlos Boozer. I also didnt mention 2 very nice roll/bench players who currently start on there respective teams in Gooden and Barnes. We know we ungraded HUGELY here. All of our forwards can play multiple positions which we love, there all fairly young which we also love, and there all locked into pretty decent deals. Between Boozer / Smith we feel we can overwelm most teams with there size and abilitys. This is a huge upgrade all the way around.

Centers:
Ming / Hayes / Anderson VS. AL Jefferson / Darko Milic
This seems alot harder to judge, but to me its not. Sure Ming, when healthy is one of the top 5 centers in the league. Sure, but hes NEVER healthy. And when he is, you never know when hes gonna go down again. We felt that this is unacceptable and that we needed to move him. Al Jefferson is still young, very young and can play multiple positions. He can also be a franchise player, but on our team he becomes a 3rd or 4th option which will also help him thrive. Hayes is a nice defensive player off the bench, but to get an upgrade in just about everyother category, we had to move him. Anderson just plain stinks. Also, Darko will be huge for us with the 8-10 minutes he will play helping stretch the floor. Overall, we upgraded at center in the short term, and the long term.

Offense:

Our offense will be overpowering people. We will take advantage of our mismatches, which we will have plenty of. Not to many teams have good big man combo's, so between Boozer and Jefferson we will have a mismatch at one of the big positions on most nights. Also Josh smith will most likely also have a mismatch as hes HUGE at the three spot. We will also run alot of pick and rolls with either Arenas and Boozer or Arenas and Jefferson, again whichever one has the better match up. Shane Battier will also come in handy, actually whichever of my wings plays the 2 (Barnes, Tmac, Battier) due to the fact that they will get ALOT of wide open three's. You really cant double off of anyone on my team which again is another advantage to me. We can score in a variety of different ways. All in All our Offense is well rounded and very deadly when needed to be.

Defense:

We wanted alot of wing defenders on our team when we had finished. We ended up with 3 good ones. Battier / Barnes can both defend pretty well with anyone playing the 2/3 and Smith can gaurd just about anyone playing the 3/4. Boozer although not the best defender, still rebounds at a crazy rate along with AL Jefferson. We will play some zone defense but mostly 1 on 1 straight up hoping to create steals and run outs with guys like Smith, Boozer, Jefferson, Mac and others getting easy dunks. Either way we feel we have enough Defense to win alot of games, and beat alot of teams. But with our versitility we can throw different players at all kinds of different positions.

Summary:

We upgrated at just about every position including the bench, and we got our "core" much younger and much more talented. We managed to get Josh Smith, retain Carlos Boozer and get AL Jefferson. Those three are all "franchise" guys and we also brought in Arenas who when healthy is a star. Most of all, we met our goal of getting better while remaining young-ish.

[LeQuitterNotMVP]

Cleveland Cavaliers



GM: LBJ4MVP23
Email: adamextra@sbcglobal.net

Roster with Salaries:



Depth Chart:

..................PG.........SG.........SF........PF.........C
1st string:
................Davis...Richardson..James...Jamison..Dalembert

2nd string:
..................Foye......Brown.....Moon......Powe.....Brand

3rd string:
.................Collins.....Barea.....Green...Jackson.....Jones

Minutes:

PG: Davis(28)/Foye(20)
SG: Richardson(32)/Brown(16)
SF: James(38)/Moon(10)
PF: Jamison(28)/Powe(20)
C: Dalembert(24)/Brand(24)

Draft Picks:

2011

Credits: PHI’s and WSH's 2nd round picks
Debits: 1st round pick

2012---->

Credits: None
Debits: None

Transactions:

1. Released Jawad Williams

2. Traded Zydrunas Ilgauskas and CLE's 2011 1st round pick to WSH for Antawn Jamison, Fabricio Oberto, and WSH's 2011 2nd round pick

3. Traded Daniel Gibson, J.J. Hickson, Coby Karl, Shaquille O’Neal, and Delonte West to PHI for Elton Brand, Samuel Dalembert, Baron Davis, Allen Iverson, Kevin Ollie, and PHI’s 2011 2nd round pick

4. Traded Fabricio Oberto, Anthony Parker, and Maurice Williams to CHA and CHI for Chucky Atkins, Jose Juan Barea, and Jason Richardson

5. Drafted Sherron Collins with the 29th overall pick in the 2010 draft

6. Resigned LeBron James to a 6-year contract

7. Signed Shannon Brown to a 3-year contract

8. Traded Anderson Varejao to PHI for Randy Foye and Solomon Jones

My Goal as GM:

As the GM of the Cavs, I knew that I had to make this team the best contender possible in order to both entice LeBron to remain a Cav and to give the city of Cleveland its first championship.

I feel that I have achieved this goal. I did not make many trades, but I feel that each trade I made helped make the Cavs stronger.

I first acquired Antawn Jamison, before he was acquired by the real-life Cavs. I got him for pretty much the same price as the real-life Cavs did, so I feel that I got a huge piece pretty much for free.

I then made my biggest trade with the Sixers, in which I added Davis, Dalembert, and Brand. I did add a lot of salary here, but I really did not give up much aside from a few young players and Shaq, who retired after the season anyway, so I feel that this trade really gave me the depth and extremely talented starting 5 to be the top team in the league.

I then made a couple of trades to round out my roster's starting 5 and bench in the Richardson and Foye trades.

The main thing I accomplished though was resigned LeBron. This lofty goal would have scared anyone from becoming the GM of the Cavs in this game, but I took the challenge and was able to build a team that would entice him to stay, which had to be the primary goal of the Cavs this time around. The team I ended up with isn't too shabby either.

And of course, thanks to mascot for running the game!

[bringbackhoffa]

ATLANTA HAWKS

Player Salaries


Depth Chart
Felton(34)/Duhon(14)
Childress(9)/Rush(30)/Henry(9)
Thornton(20)/Childress(28)
LMA(37)/Novak(5)/Chandler(6)
Perkins(33)/Chandler(15)

Reserves: Digbeu, Akyol, Magloire

Direction: Rebuilding while fighting for last few playoff spots

Reason for going this route: Really wsant given a choice. Joined this game half way through, and the former ATL GM had done a horrible job and I was able to turn things around and put out a solid starting 5 while trimming salary.

Other: Really was hoping to cash in on free agency but wasnt able to land any1 major so had to the trade route to fill out my roster and I believe I made a pretty good trade with dealing JSmoove,Teague for LMA,Thornton, and Chandler. I know i still have a lot of work to do. My first priority next season will be to resign Perkins to a long term deal and the rest of my starting five is locked up for the next couple of years. Next offseason i will have anywhere btw 10-15million to spend in solidifying me depth which i will definitely be doing.

[nba_addict]

BOSTON CELTICS
GM: nba_addict
Email: nbaaddict99@gmail.com

Depth Chart:

PG - Rajon Rondo (34) / Jamal Crawford (4) / Eddie House (10)
SG - Joe Johnson (28) / Jamal Crawford (20)
SF - Paul Pierce (32) / Joe Johnson (6) Dorell Wright (12)
PF - Kevin Garnett (30) / Glen Davis (18)
C - Kwame Brown (24) / Rasheed Wallace (24)

Salaries and Player Contracts:


Draft Picks
I have all my draft picks and in addition the following second round draft picks.

(1) 2014 second round draft pick from Sacramento
Sacramento's own 2014 2nd round pick to Boston (top 55 protected in the 2014 Draft). If Sacramento's own 2014 2nd round pick is in the top 55 picks, then Sacramento's obligations to Boston shall be extinguished. [Boston – Sacramento - Toronto, 2/19/2009]

(2) 2015 second round draft pick from Sacramento
Sacramento's own 2015 2nd round pick to Boston (top 55 protected in the 2015 Draft). If Sacramento's own 2015 2nd round pick is in the top 55 picks, then Sacramento's obligations to Boston shall be extinguished. [Boston - Sacramento, 2/17/2009]

Direction
Win now.

Reason you went that Route
Despite early season injuries to Pierce and KG, we still believe such condition is just short-term and both still have at least 2 years in them for the team to contend. Instead of going rebuild we thought of finding reinforcements to strengthen the team and contend for the next two years and then prepare to rebuild in 2013.

How the team is better off than when you started.
Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford. The team need offensive boost both in the starting and off the bench positions and JJ and JC answers that call. RayRay is still a realiable shooter/scorer but he is the oldest among the former big three. JJ is an upgrade and not to mention 6 years younger.

Loosing Kendrick Perkins is a big hit defensively but he isnt a 20-10 big and will never be. We believe that with proper coaching and orientation, Kwame can replace what ever Perkins was defensively to our team.

[pja123]

Depth Chart
PG-Stephen Curry/Leandro Barbosa
SG-Terrence Williams/James Anderson
SF-Josh Howard/Travis Outlaw
PF-Jason Thompson/Josh Boone
C-DeAndre Jordan/Gani Lawal/Hilton Armstrong/Jason Smith

Complete Roster Salaries (every year)
Josh Howard $8,000,000 / $8,000,000 / $8,000,000 / 8,000,000
Leandro Barbosa $6,600,000 / $7,100,000
Travis Outlaw $4,000,000 / $4,000,000 / $4,000,000 / $4,000,000
Stephen Curry $2,913,840/ $3,117,120/ $3,958,742/ $5,308,674
Terrence Williams $2,214,480 / $2,369,040 / $3,143,716 / $4,303,747
Jason Thompson $2,178,000 / $3,001,284 /$4,129,767
Jason Smith $2,187,913 / $3,135,279
Josh Boone $2,000,000 / $2,000,000 / $2,000,000
DeAndre Jordan $1,500,000 / $1,620,000
James Anderson $1,563,120/ $1,680,360 / $1,797,600 /$2,761,113
Gani Lawal $1,110,120/ $1,193,280/ $1,276,560 / $2,299,084
Hilton Armstrong $854,000

Draft Picks for NY
2011 1st round pick
2012 1st round pick
2012 2nd round pick

Direction
Considering the Knicks missed out on every notable free agent, we decided to go young and build the franchise around our core of Curry/Thompson/Williams/Jordan. We signed two talented small forwards in Josh Howard and Travis Outlaw. Both had down 2009-2010 campaigns, but we feel they can bounce back and become high-level contributors in 2010-2011.

Steph Curry and Jason Thompson are already producing at a high level and we believe they’re going to be a dynamic duo that can rival Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer or Chris Paul/David West. We also have a very promising center in DeAndre Jordan. He’s a legit 7’footer with great defensive instincts. With the right development, we believe he’ll turn into a more athletic Theo Ratliff.

Finally, our draft went very well. We selected James Anderson and Gani Lawal. Anderson is a silky smooth guard with a great shooting percentage and versatile enough to play both wing positions. We feel he could turn into a new Allan Houston. Gani Lawal is a raw, rugged big man with great rebounding and shot blocking skills. He may need a couple years to fully develop, but we believe he was a diamond in the rought and could become a new Kurt Thomas.

Reason you went that Route
Not much of a choice. We missed out on LeBron, Wade, Bosh, even Ray Allen. But it’s all good; you win some, you lose some. We feel we have a very good young core that’s going to be a playoff threat next season and a legit contender in no time. Plus, our finances are in order. We don’t have any terrible contracts on the books and remain under the cap to make additional moves.

How the team is better off than when you started.
I took a team that was over the cap, had very few draft picks, and even fewer young prospects. The team now is under the cap, has draft picks for the foreseeable future, and each position has young talent.