Your team's year in review!

[loserX]

Now that we're past the deadline, it makes a great time to look back and see how you think your team did GM-wise. (Some may wish to hold off until playoff positioning is settled, but at least we should have a general idea.)

What was your team's plan for the past year? Do you think they accomplished it? How do you feel they handled the draft/free agency/trades? Is your roster closer or farther away from the way it should be? How would you grade the job your GM did for the 2015-16 season?

[nickhx2]

same as every year since he's been here

doc rivers sucks as GM

[Scoot McGroot]

Indiana Pacers:

Boy, I'm happy. For a year that was meant to be a "re-tool", and a painful year, it has been much better than hoped for. Going into the offseason, we wanted to get much more uptempo, and we have. We drafted Myles Turner, a safe pick at #10, and boy have we seemed to hit a home run on him. He's been a perfect match for what we're hoping to do, and he hasn't even hit his 3pt range, yet. I'm ecstatic with Ian Mahinmi's development (he's really been a secret key to what we've been able to do this year), and how Vogel has used him. I'm super-ecstatic with how quickly Paul George was able to return to form. This year was supposed to be a bit ugly as we expected him to kind of "re-learn" how to play, but other than kind of losing his stamina in his legs just before the All Star break, he's bounced back infinitely quicker than we hoped.

As for free agency, we went out and signed Monta Ellis and Jordan Hill. Monta has been a great fit for us, really, and a surprisingly good leader, too. His offense is just now coming around after having his knee drained back in early January or so, and he's been a dynamite distributor for us. He's a surprisingly good pair for George Hill. Jordan Hill has been a solid stop gap for us, too. He's won us a few games with his play, hasn't really lost us many, but isn't really a cog. I'm not sure I expect him to be re-signed, but I'm not unhappy with that addition.

We traded Hibbert for the cap space to keep Stuckey (a solid keep, if healthy), and to get Rakeem Christmas, who's doing well in the D-League, but I think is yet to make his NBA debut. Ultimately, this move allowed us to really let Ian play, and let us get up and down the court. I had higher hopes for the whole Rudez/Budinger swap. Ultimately, though, Budinger is done. I'd have rather kept the bit of cap space, and keep Rudez for his shooting off the end of the bench in the right situation, but, it was probably worth the risk. Budinger is now being bought out.

If I consider a "meh" as a C, and the Spurs offseason as an A+, I'd say Bird did a solid B+/A- for this year. A lot of the credit likely goes to Vogel too, who I think has proven to be a good coach, and not just a guy who fell into a lineup with Paul George and David West, to go with a lot of other talent. He's overseen a lot of change, both roster wise and stylistically, and won throughout. I think we're further along, though, I'd have to see what we do this next offseason to see if we are truly closer to a championship than we were with the West/Hibbert years.

[M-C-G]

Let's start with the good;
Drafted Vaughn - looks like he could be a nice player

Let's go to what hasn't worked;
Monroe - we got the exact player we wanted to get and then didn't adjust scheme or personnel around him, making everyone look stupid
Vasquez - 1st and 2nd round pick for and expiring broken PG - in the 15 or so games he played, he looked like one of the worst players in the league, partrially because of an pre-existing ankle injury which required surgery
Dudley - top 3 3PT shooter in the league who was sorely missed on a team that needs shooting, compensation 0
ZaZa - starting center for Dallas playing big minutes, compensation 0
Chris Copeland - should not qualify as an NBA player, it was brutal

Result;
Most likely lost the opportunity to be team President with such a terrible off season, which may be a good thing for MKE fans.

[jazzfan1971]

It's very hard to grade a GM. You can only see what they did, not what they didn't do, or what their options to do were.

I'll give it my best shot though.

Draft
-----------------
#12 - Trey Lyles. I think this was a solid pick. We might have taken Devin Booker instead, but, with the way Hood has played and with Burks in the fold this may have been the smart pick. I'm not AS high on Lyles as most Jazz folk. He still seems a bit soft to me. But, he's tall and is shooting the 3 at a 40% clip as a rookie. This fits him into a very coveted stretch 4 skillset. I think he's going to be fine. Some folks even think he could move Favors out of the starting spot. I'm not one of those people. He did put up 18-10 vs. Boston in 24 minutes the other day, so there are some flashes. Grade A-

#42 - Olivier Hanlan. Who? I actually know who he is, but, that's because I saw the summer league. If you didn't you probably missed him. OTOH, there weren't a lot of players drafted after him that made any impact. Grade C

Free agent signings
-------------------------
The only signing of note was Jeff Withey. He looked pretty serviceable to me. But, hasn't sniffed the floor since Gobert got back. Grade B

Trades
---------------------------
Jazz traded a 2nd rounder for Shelvin Mack. Pretty good trade. Mack has come in and taken over the starting role. He's not anything more than meh, but, for a 2nd rounder that's pretty good. Grade B

Other
--------------------------
It's more about what the Jazz didn't do. When Exum went down there was an obvious and pressing need for help at PG. The Jazz decided to look within instead of without, and give those minutes to Burke and Neto. This proved to be a poor option. Shelvin Mack was brought in at the trade deadline, but, this was too little, too late. The Jazz played this overly conservative IMHO and if it costs them a playoff berth it will be sad. Grade D

Overall I'll give them a C+

[bwgood77]

Well it's been a terrible year for the Suns.

The positives:

Booker looks to have been a very solid pick and a future starter for years, and possibly someone really special if he continues to improve. Not only is his shooting great, but his feel for the game and bbiq seems pretty high, and at that age, I can't imagine what he might develop into.

The fact that we are so terrible that we should get a top 5 or 6 pick, and hopefully another cornerstone.

The negatives:

The Suns are in their longest non playoff run ever, and for some of us die hard fans, knowing that the best way to build a really good team is usually through the draft, this year may have been somewhat of a blessing. But in the eyes of most long time Suns fans, they have lost interest in the Suns, the attendance is so far down, the team has not been relevant in so long, that besides fans not being interested not giving us a home court advantage at all, but it makes it THAT much more difficult to sign free agents. No one is going to have the Suns high on their list to sign with. Perhaps this is a blessing too, as we can gain more high picks in the draft, but there are negatives that come along with that.

Bledsoe having a second or third torn meniscus on the other knee. There really isn't anything good about that.

Giving pretty sizable long term contracts to an aging over the hill vet (Chandler) and a guy (Knight) we simply do not need and gave up a pretty valuable asset to get. The latter is painful. The former doesn't bother me as much as I don't mind a veteran presence and possibly mentor for Len, and with the huge cap spike, I highly doubt the Suns will really need that cap space anyway. It would be nice to deal Knight at some point (for cap space and to clear time for others), particularly with Booker needing time, and Bogdan Bogdanovich coming over one of the next two years. Hopefully if Knight sticks around he improves in some areas, but I am not terribly optimistic about that.

[loserX]

UTAH JAZZ

The Plan
Well, the plan this year was one word: Patience. Let the team grow organically, develop some chemistry/cohesion, no short-term panicking.

The Draft
We went in with a lottery pick and two second rounders. With the lotto pick, we drafted Trey Lyles...considered by many to be the BPA (most mocks I saw had him going a spot earlier to Indiana). Lyles didn't show much early, but when forced into the starting lineup by injuries, turned it up and started to look like a legitimate NBA player. Their second rounders turned into a stash, and into cash (second one was sold to Portland...we see the downside in accumulating more assets than you can use!)

Free Agency
Not really much to talk about here. Most of our FA money went to signing our own foreign players, Tibor Pleiss and Raul Neto. The only player we signed away from another team was Jeff Withey. Pleiss hasn't shown much, Neto has been as expected, and Withey has been a pleasant surprise when more minutes became a necessity.

Trades
With capspace, an expiring, and multiple picks in hand, we looked at the trade market all year and made...one. A 2nd rounder for Shelvin Mack. We wanted a stopgap PG on the cheap, and we got one...early returns/small sample size have been quite good.

The Review
The team has been hammered by injuries all year long...I saw one article that said that in terms of quality of players lost across number of games, no one has been more damaged by injury this year than the Utah Jazz. (Losing our projected starting point guard before game 1 certainly didn't help.)

And yet...we've been patient. Very, very patient. Dennis Lindsey made it very clear: no rotation players for expirings, no picks. And that's what happened.

So, does everyone like the plan? Nope. In terms of keeping fans from being disappointed/frustrated/annoyed, the year is a C, and only that good because the few things we did have largely worked out for the better, and because despite everything we *still* have a shot at the playoffs. In terms of sticking to the plan? That's an A+

[Texas Chuck]

Dallas.

Obviously the plan was Jordan and Matthews. And not just for this year, but to be along with Parsons a group that could potentially attract another high-level piece this summer as well. Smart plan--nearly worked....

So obviously Dallas was in super-scramble mode. Gave more money to Matthews which while understandable hurts. Zaza fell into our laps and has been able to hold his own which is all we could ask. I think Deron only agrees to the buyout once he sees Dallas has money and that has worked out better than expected as well. Everyone knows I love Barea, but I hate that contract. It's too much money and its too long. Other signings were just fringe guys and none of them have had any real impact.

Drafted Justin Anderson. He's not played hardly at all and has looked mostly lost when he has. But he plays really hard, works really hard, has a great attitude and plays with force. Attacks the glass, gets after it defensively, and has the stroke to be a solid 3-pt shooter. Any dividends will have to be next year and beyond.

Picked up David Lee and through an early small sample against mostly bad teams--he's been really good. Has been great on the glass which we need, and has really helped the offense a lot because of his ability to catch and finish--and not a bad passer. The downside is--he is being used exclusively at center which means he plays next to Dirk or Parsons and the team has gone exclusively to zone with him something that isn't going to work against good teams I don't think.

Overall grade: C- Only reason this isn't lower is because of how well Donnie pieced together a roster when there was just nothing left to get.

[loserX]

Well it's been a terrible year for the Suns.

The positives:

No mention of the Markieff trade? (Or the Marcus trade, for that matter.) The former certainly seems like a positive despite everything that happened in the interim!

[bwgood77]

Well it's been a terrible year for the Suns.

The positives:

No mention of the Markieff trade? (Or the Marcus trade, for that matter.) The former certainly seems like a positive despite everything that happened in the interim!

Yeah, that's a positive, but I do think he had the ability to be a good rotation player if he had his head on straight, so that whole situation wasn't any fun. Hopefully we can get a good rotation player with that pick. The net return was better than I expected. I thought we'd probably get a first, but I wasn't really expecting one that could be a lottery pick. Though with the Suns luck, it wouldn't surprise me if Washington jumped into the top 3 and then finished with the 2 seed in the east next year.

[bdpecore]

Let's start with the good;
Drafted Vaughn - looks like he could be a nice player

Let's go to what hasn't worked;
Monroe - we got the exact player we wanted to get and then didn't adjust scheme or personnel around him, making everyone look stupid
Vasquez - 1st and 2nd round pick for and expiring broken PG - in the 15 or so games he played, he looked like one of the worst players in the league, partrially because of an pre-existing ankle injury which required surgery
Dudley - top 3 3PT shooter in the league who was sorely missed on a team that needs shooting, compensation 0
ZaZa - starting center for Dallas playing big minutes, compensation 0
Chris Copeland - should not qualify as an NBA player, it was brutal

Result;
Most likely lost the opportunity to be team President with such a terrible off season, which may be a good thing for MKE fans.

You forgot to mention the new arena as approved.

[WolvesGuy14]

This is great timing for this because I’m extremely bored at work. Here comes a novel.

Timberwolves:

First of all, this season started off in awful circumstances. Losing Flip, a guy that meant so much to Minnesota basketball but also just the culture and people there, it really sucked. He had an amazing vision and with that vision and some lucky he put together a roster that has a promising future. It sucks he won't be able to see any of the pay off.

With that said, this season for the Wolves was about answering questions for the future. Is KAT a franchise changing player? Will Wiggins take a step in doing other things besides scoring? What do we have in Lavine, Tyus, Bazz, Dieng? Can Pek contribute anything? And will Ricky ever be able to score at a better rate.

Oh and one other question: Is Mitchell the future head coach? Part of that answer was how he was going to answer the previous questions. And sadly, he has failed to do so for most of the season. He first granted Lavine starting 2 guard prior to the pre-season and then pulled that back. His rotations, concepts, and player management have all failed. Players have expressed their displeasure for him as coach. And while this team isn't a playoff team, I feel they should have about 5-6 more wins right now. He is clearly not the future coach, but I'm scared this organization will sign him for a couple more years.
Now for individual players:

KAT - I had no idea the Wolves were getting this good of a player. He literally does everything well except maybe outlet passes. I'm 100% convinced he will surpass KG for greatest palyer in franchise history.

Wiggins - It's tough to be disappointed in such a young player that has the ability to average 20 ppg. But I am a bit disappointed. He just doesn't do a lot of other things to contribute to winning basketball. He still has top 20 player potential, just not sure if he’ll ever be elite like KAT (which isn’t a knock on him really).

Lavine – He’s a 2. We know that 100% and I suppose it was worth really testing it to make sure he couldn’t play the 1. With Ricky, he’s actually looked really good. He is still streaky and disappointing on defense considering his tools. I think there is a chance he can be a long term starter, but he needs to get smarter defensively. He fits nicely with Rubio and Wiggins.

Bazz – He works his butt off the entire time on the court. He isn’t good defensively but he can get buckets. I don’t think he’s a long term option here, though. For this team to become a contender, I’v always thought it would be Dieng or Bazz to get an extension. I think he will be a solid player for a while, but they need a wing with better outside shooting.

Dieng – He’s been playing very well since moving into the starting lineup with KAT. I think his potential is a third big on a contender. I see him having a similar career to Enes Kanter. His rim protection has been very disappointing though considering that’s what he was drafted for. He does provide some flexibility in that he can play the 4 or 5.

Rubio – He’s shown flashes here and there of improved shooting. He’s still very valuable to this team and if his scoring never improves he’s at worst a top 12-15 point guard. Right now he’s on a hot streak for his standards. He’s around 42% since Feb 1. If he can stay at that level consistently then his value will increase tremendously. It’s tough to get better at that position, though. He’s the point guard the rest of his contract unless they are able to move him for someone like Middleton.

Pek – He’s a non-factor moving forward and it’s really disappointing. During his three year stretch of breakout, he was a top 5 offensive center when healthy. But he just can’t stay healthy and I feel bad for the guy. If only he could stay healthy, Towns, Pek, Dieng, and then add a shot blocker would be a great rotation.

Bjelica – Funny enough we all thought he was the one lock to be a solid contributor. I don’t know if it’s adjusting to the NBA, Mitchell constantly mixing his minutes up, or something else, but he just hasn’t translated. Hopefully next year is different with hopefully a new coach.

Tyus Jones – He got literally no playing time until very recently. He was belittled by Mitchell in front of the entire team earlier in the year, but he’s actually shown some flashes recently. He’s size does limit him, but he has a nice stroke, can run and offense, and has a very high BBIQ. It sounds cliché, but the guy really just is a winner. I hate that phrase as much as the next person, but he’s a great example of it.

[jazzfan1971]

Will Wiggins take a step in dong

This sounds unpleasant.

[WolvesGuy14]

Will Wiggins take a step in dong

This sounds unpleasant.

I'm having awful luck with realgm right now. It moves so slow for me.

[M-C-G]

Let's start with the good;
Drafted Vaughn - looks like he could be a nice player

Let's go to what hasn't worked;
Monroe - we got the exact player we wanted to get and then didn't adjust scheme or personnel around him, making everyone look stupid
Vasquez - 1st and 2nd round pick for and expiring broken PG - in the 15 or so games he played, he looked like one of the worst players in the league, partrially because of an pre-existing ankle injury which required surgery
Dudley - top 3 3PT shooter in the league who was sorely missed on a team that needs shooting, compensation 0
ZaZa - starting center for Dallas playing big minutes, compensation 0
Chris Copeland - should not qualify as an NBA player, it was brutal

Result;
Most likely lost the opportunity to be team President with such a terrible off season, which may be a good thing for MKE fans.

You forgot to mention the new arena as approved.

I thought this was specific to GM moves. But I was happy with Kidd's support in the community helping to get that done. In terms of other good news;
Identified our core and who is not in our core
Our core all massively have developed their games
The future is bright, so not all gloom and doom

[DocRI]

Great thread! My take on ...

DETROIT PISTONS

"TL; DR" SPOILER ALERT VERSION — I think Stan Van Gundy should receive votes for Executive of the Year.

BACKGROUND — SVG was one year into his dual role as "Czar" of the Pistons entering last summer, and while most DET fans were happy with the moves he had made there were certainly still more questions than answers in Motown (and, granted, most of us were ready to erect a statue to him just for cutting Josh Smith!). Our 2014-15 season was a roller coaster of injuries, roster-shaking transactions, and wild inconsistency (featuring double digit winning AND losing streaks). One of SVG's biggest moves was trading for RFA Reggie Jackson, whom he insisted was "not here on a try out;" still, many wondered what Reggie was worth and how the PG situation would play out when Brandon Jennings returned from a devastating injury. Oh, and "cornerstone big man" Greg Monroe was now a UFA, and although SVG mostly inherited this situation from his predecessor, he was still "the man in the chair" who would have to answer for it should he lose such a valuable asset without any compensation.

And then the fun began! And seriously, no matter how you feel about Detroit, it’s undeniable that we’ve been one of the most active and entertaining franchises over the past year (so this is gonna be a long post)!

TRADE: (I HONESTLY FORGET WHO) FOR ERSAN ILYASOVA — Seriously, it was Shawne Williams and another unguaranteed contract. That’s not the important part of this transaction; what was important was it was SVG, yet again, making a tough executive decision — this move signaled that Greg Monroe was officially out the door. As such, the Pro-Monroe camp of Piston posters hated it, and the Anti-Monroe camp applauded (but that was more about removing Monroe than it was being happy about getting Ersan).

DRAFT: STANLEY JOHNSON @ #8, DARRUN HILLIARD @ #36 — And with his first ever first round pick for the Pistons, SVG inspired his first wave of “FIRE SVG!!!” threads (seriously, one year into his tenure!). Many fans (myself included) desperately wanted Justise Winslow and were crushed by the Johnson selection. Then Johnson dominated Summer League and a bunch of us were like, “Oh!” Honestly, in hindsight, I don’t think we could’ve gone wrong with either guy, but it’s impossible not to like what Stanley has shown so far in his rookie year. And as for Hilliard, well, he’s shown enough to make me think he could wind up as an end-of-the-bench / deep rotation guy, and how much more do you really expect from a second rounder?

FREE AGENCY: SIGNS ARON BAYNES (3 YRS, $20M) — Definitely NOT the splash any DET fans expected or wanted to kick off free agency! Needless to say, this signing was widely panned and the “FIRE SVG!!!” crowd grew in size and volume. Seriously, $6M+ per year for a back up C? And boy, did his slow start to the year throw fuel on that fire! But after about the first month, Baynes has absolutely settled in and is thriving in his role as a key contributor off the bench (and his salary looks very reasonable with the impending cap spike to boot). Besides, when your best player is your 22 year old center, you only want his back up on the court for less than 20 minutes a night anyway.

TRADE: A 2020 2ND ROUND PICK FOR MARCUS MORRIS, REGGIE BULLOCK & DANNY GRANGER — So, after striking out in the first 36 hours of free agency on primary targets like DeMarre Carroll and Tobias Harris (but hold that thought!), SVG basically trades all of our cap space for an underwhelming pu pu platter from PHX. “FIRE SVG!!!!” becomes, “The game has passed him by and SVG has no clue what he’s doing! He never should’ve been given the GM position!!!” Granger never puts on a Piston uniform and Bullock spends most of the year glued to the bench (although he’s been okay in spot duty lately due to injuries), but this deal was all about Morris. SVG declared that, ‘We needed a starting SF” after this trade, and most of us replied, “And we still do!” Well, the joke was on us; SVG was right, and Morris has been amazing and exactly what we needed. And he’s 26, and locked up for $5M per year for another three years after this one. And we got him for literally next to nothing.

FREE AGENCY: RE-SIGNS REGGIE JACKSON (5 YRS, $80M) — The Pro-Reggie camp on the Pistons board rejoices, citing his incredible last dozen games of the season as a sign of what’s to come. The Anti-Reggie, Pro-Jennings camp revolts, insisting we just paid $16M per season for a back up gunning combo guard who will lose the starting PG job once Jennings is healthy (and this side was also joined by some neutral fans who, quite fairly, doubted Jackson due to his history in OKC). However (noticing a trend here?), SVG’s faith is yet again justified; Jackson has been absolutely great, putting up fringe-All-Star numbers and pairing perfectly with Andre Drummond in SVG’s pick & roll heavy offense.

TRADE: QUINCY MILLER FOR STEVE BLAKE — Everyone vomits, and rightfully so. Suddenly, it’s very clear that Brandon Jennings will be nowhere near ready to go at the start of the season and this is pure “dumpster diving” for a stop gap 3rd PG to hold us over off the bench until he’s healthy. And Blake is … well, exactly what everyone knew he was. Traded nothing and got nothing in return (although the incoming “nothing” would gain importance a few months down the road, but we’ll get to that …)

FREE AGENCY: DOES NOT SIGN ANDRE DRUMMOND TO AN EXTENSION — This needs to be included ‘cuz it’s crucial to what comes next — SVG convinced Drummond to delay his extension until Summer of 2016 so that he’d have more cap space to spend over the forthcoming 12 months. And Drummond bought into the plan, for the betterment of the team. Which became vital at the trade deadline, when …

TRADE: BRANDON JENNINGS & ERSAN ILYASOVA FOR TOBIAS HARRIS — BOOM! SVG spends a chunk of his impending cap space (in the form of two expiring contracts) for one of the primary free agent targets he previously missed out upon. Yes, this deal forces Steve Blake into the back up PG role for the rest of the season, but that’s the only negative that can be said about the deal. It’s a small sample size, but Harris has been an absolute revelation so far in DET, fitting with our team like a glove and adding MUCH diversity and versatility to the offense. Ilya was one-dimensional and Jennings was not the same player upon returning from his injury, and SVG turned them into a 23 year old combo forward locked up on a long term reasonable deal. I’m sorry for the homerism of this comment, but this trade still baffles me; I get what ORL was doing in clearing cap space and minutes for their other young players, but SVG essentially got another young core piece and significant upgrade to the roster for free.

TRADE (THAT WASN’T!): JOEL ANTHONY & 2016 1ST ROUND PICK FOR DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS & MARCUS THORNTON — Yes, the trade was rescinded ‘cuz D-Mo failed his physical, but it did happen and I think it further shows SVG’s thinking as GM, so I’m including it! If this trade had stood, SVG would have shown a willingness to: A) preemptively spend rather than wait for free agency (an extension of the strategy of the Tobias deal); B) trust his scouting department, as he stated his scouts told him the players available in our pick range weren’t as good as D-Mo; and C) build a team based upon depth and versatility rather than “big name star power."

OVERALL — Stan Van Gundy inherited a dumpster fire and has turned it into a promising YOUNG team (six core players, all locked up or under team control, all 26 or younger) who still have a ton of room to grow and improve from within. Plus, since the D-Mo trade fell through, he’s also still got (I think about) $15M in cap space and his first round pick this summer to play with. In less than two years, he’s completely overhauled the roster (the only holdovers are Drummond and KCP), he’s got no truly “bad” contracts on the books, and he did it without any prolonged tanking. In short, NO ONE has done more, with less, and so quickly, to rebuild a team than Stan Van Gundy. For the first time since the end of the “Going to Work Era,” the Pistons have an identity and an apparent cohesive plan moving forward. When Van Gundy was hired, the phrase, “In Stan We Trust” was (admittedly!) blindly bandied about the Piston boards; looking at where our franchise is now compared to where it was 12 (or 24) months ago, I am confident to say that SVG has earned that unequivocal trust.

(And again, sorry this was so long, but there was a LOT to cover!)

[buckboy]

I have no real problem with the Bucks offseason, as long as they fix last offseason this offseason. This team still needs an influx of talent, so an 8thish pick is nice in that regard.

But they have to get rid of Monroe and MCW this summer. They do not fit whatsoever. Monroe is more important to dump than MCW.

[Baddy Chuck]

Offseason started out great. Arena deal looked like it was going through (eventually did), we were fresh off a playoff birth and the team was looking to be growing. That optimism, for me at least, went away pretty damn fast.

We trade Ersan for nothing, a trade that for all intents and purposes looked promising. It opens up a max contract slot to be offered in a few weeks and just dumps a rather not needed, overpaid, player. Come draft night we take a really green 18 year old prospect. Great. Vaughn has looked pretty solid in limited minutes and summer league. Then comes the rain. We give up cap space, a future first and a second round pick for Grieves Vasquez. The move all but shows Kidd's power as the decision maker, and it isn't looking pretty. Fast forward throughout the season and not only did Vasquez look awful on the court, he gets injured and might only have given us 16 games for the investment.

Free agency hits. The Bucks land Greg Monroe. For all the hoopla that was made the writing was on the wall the entire time. We got what we paid for, nothing more, nothing less and it just never had much of an opportunity to work out. The ceiling for the season was limited and we might be seeing the floor right now. Monroe certainly hindered the development of our core and he isn't good enough to lead a team anywhere off his post ups. Maybe it was worth the risk, we could see if we eventually trade him, but there were better options to be spending money on. Then we sign Copeland. A bad player, Kidd's friend, who never had a chance of working out. Whatever.

While this is happening we ship off Dudley and Zaza for nothing. Personally, I don't have a problem with those in a vacuum. I wanted to be as bad as possible, even if that means being the 9th seed instead of the 8th. This helped with that. Outside of the vacuum and looking back, wrong move. These guys would be great to have next to Giannis/Parker/Midds. For all the "#ownthefuture" talk it was abundantly clear Kidd and co wanted to win. Trading these guys, who I think they really didn't think they'd miss a ton, was miserable there.

Season starts to roll around, we extend Henson. Pretty premature. He had a nice playoff series but throughout his career has never been a consistent effort guy and we're definitely seeing it this season along with injury concerns. The deal itself doesn't look bad, mostly to the rising cap and decreasing nature of the deal, but I have a hard time believing that was a move that needed to be made.

Season starts and there's only two consistents throughout the first few months, this is Middleton and Greg Monroe's team. We're bad. Really bad. It isn't working at all. Giannis and Jabari are complete afterthoughts, MCW is really, really bad, and Monroe can't defend a tree. This continues for a while, Kidd goes out for a few weeks and we see a slight uptick which doesn't last and we're back to business as usual.

Two games before the deadline/all star break we make a change. We're handing the keys over to the core. Monroe and MCW go to the bench, we feature Giannis at point guard and heavily rely on Jabari. It works.

Deadline hits and we do nothing. Hard to say without knowing the deals on the table but this is a huge missed opportunity to me. Monroe needed to be dealt. Simple as that. Guys like Mayo and Bayless probably didn't have much interest but I'd imagine atleast Bayless could have been shipped out, should have done that.

We're now a few weeks after handing over the keys and things are going great. Giannis is playing extremely well at "point guard" and Jabari looks like the 20ppg scorer we hoped. Things are starting to look up. I guess we'll see if that continues.

[Texas Chuck]

Deadline hits and we do nothing. Hard to say without knowing the deals on the table but this is a huge missed opportunity to me. Monroe needed to be dealt. Simple as that.

If I am guessing, they probably didn't love any of the offers they got. Either not enough value or they were being asked to take back a contract or two they really didn't want.

He should be easy to deal this summer. There will more teams with cap space than players to spend it on and he's a guy you can talk yourself into--thinking we will be the organization that figures out how to work around his flaws. And if nothing else it proved that the Bucks could land a "name" free agent.

Thought overall you summed the whole thing up really well. Kidd as a basketball mind is someone I believe in a lot. Kidd as a person I wanting have influence over my organization is something I'm starting to see is just a terrible terrible idea.

[HartfordWhalers]

Year in review?

The guy leading in fga per game also has a 43.8% TS%.

After drafting a pf/c last summer with the 3rd, 35th, 37th, 47th and 60th pick (and two other top 6 pick centers the years before), the Sixers just started Carl Landry and had the sub 6'8" (in shoes) Jerami Grant take the tip versus Whiteside.

Over the last 3 years, the Sixers have had 5 lotto picks, and tonight will play not a single 1st rounder. Unless Elton Brand records his first minutes of the season. Oh. Elton is playing.