Post by Braz on Mar 5, 2023 6:21:10 GMT -8
Well I wanted to follow up my east article and did not have time yesterday. Spence the Goat flew through playoffs and now we sit at the draft! This is wonderful except I do not have team records to reference. All good tho!
Midwest Division
Dallas Mavericks- Let's kick it off with Brian who is likely a little sad right now...but lets be honest here. Brian took the Mavs to the finals! After middling for a long stretch of his Dallas tenture Brian put together a really good team that was blended with self develop vets, draftees and some solid trade guys. The Mavs whole future really relies on Bingo Smith returning. Rumors have it after the 4-1 loss in the finals Bingo is hungry for more and determined to bring Dallas back. The first move for them is easy. Max Bingo. Can Brain Be creative and steal a nice depth guy for the $2.6MM? I think so. Send out 10 bids for 4 years 2.6 mil starting to guys who can make a difference. Given Bills age likely bigs! Now we gotta resign Bill. Still an easy choice. Pay him what you want. Hes a mav till he retires unless someone outbids you. Do not falter. Keep building off what you have.
Denver Nuggets- They just reset and Royal is the master of the reset. With out firsts I assume they continue to compete. Royal seemed to find his stride down the stretch DC wise. The biggest question is will he or will he not max Pistol. With all the cap out there I feel like he will command a max somewhere. Royal just needs to decide if that production is replaceable and if so what assets does he use. The team is a blend of really old guys lke Don 33 Yates 36 Warley 37 and guys on or fresh off rookie deals. My advice to Royal is to break down some of those deals and try to build a team with depth! Keep it afloat and then rebuild in a few seasons getting max value for Cowens.
Houston Rockets- The Rockets are in an interesting spot. Making playoffs yet not being capable of making any noise. You can tell broph is getting frustrated and i do not blame him. The question is will he actually go as far as blowing it up. I do not think he will take mid offers for Daniels or Jojo so good luck. Good news is he has cap for a max and things can change quickly. I think Broph is in a much better spot than he thinks. He has his picks. He has players that have value and if shit hits the fan he can sell off. The problem here is he will have to trade a lot to get something to gel. Can he do that with out those firsts? Would he even do that? The man hates trades!
Minnesota Timberwolves- Well thankfully for the Wolves they do not have to hire a new GM. CC did a great job taking this team past the kings last year and almost to the finals. DVA only wants to play for C.C and has made that known. CC continues to put together playoff teams and vows to do so until the 80s. I think for the wolves they are in a position to utilize their pot boost as an asset to improve a roster. I do not see any other path to getting a stud with DVA and Bellamy. Luckily for him he has some expiring players. Old ass team- get slightly younger and keep getting players who can play. Lots of trades ahead.
San Antonio Spurs- I think Ashes in in a great spot after just crushing CY. Seems he has all his picks and Butch signed to a reasonable contract. I would probably move Jerry West to the Lakers for their CY and see what the team can do. Pick up a lotto sure why not. They have space before soft cap and likely should try to get creative in signing Wes. Wes looked solid just does not block like one would like. His boards are insane! Beard looks good and is an interesting pot candidate. I can see Ashes resigning his guys, trading for a stud but at the same time if the FA plan doesnt go well he will punt. Expect a fun offseason in SA
Utah Jazz- Well I assume they will draft someone. If the Gm manages to get bids in attack FA and continue the rebuild.
Memphis Grizzlies- Skillz is heading toward a rebuild after having some really fun teams the last 10 seasons. He has some interesting guys in Gail, Jasper, Barnes (great deal) and even old man Rudy who can help teams. The question is will Skillz move quick or stay patient to maximize value. I expect things to move a lot more after FA for him. The big question to me is who will he use his +100 on and how fast will he be traded.
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors- Good start for Stool who landed the second pick and Bobby Jones who I think will be really good. He has a chance to be a top defensive player ever and the offense looks rather solid. More of a 1B player but still good for them. GSW also should make use of their other picks and maybe pot boost one or Pinball. I do not think Stool realized how bad it is to carry bradley. He has cap this year but is missing 2 max slots and wont have cap again if he gets someone this year. Oh well. Good stuff Stool! Keep building but try to reset in year 3.
Los Angeles Clippers- I think Game should go the quick rebuild route. With how good Carr is and the fact they have a PG in place showed they can not properly tank. Take your pick +100 that MF and trade him for max value. They got max cap as well so can get a stud and move even quicker if the FBB gods allow. No point in tanking for pick 10 again Game!
Los Angeles Lakers- Outlawz is in his CY so the path is pretty obvious here. He has already secured the top pick and the Iceman will be very helpful. Unfortunately for the Lakers they never had a chance to have Cap since they had embry. So now do they rely on that old man or use him as a filler in a different deal? I do not love their bigs and they do not have a PG. However the market will be kind to them. Cazzie Russell resigned cheap out of pure love and Mcginnis seems to be settling in at SF. Worst case to save his ass he can trade a 100 pot guy, Gervin and or Mcginnis. Assets are not weak here. How can Lawz Maximize what he has? I think first step is to #FreeHerm
Pheonix Suns- Well John did it! He reset in year 3 and avoided Cy. Walked away with a lotto and Guy retired. Could John be any happier (other then his pick jumping to 1 or winning a ring). I think they blow up all the team around SF Issel and try to see where they can end up in a few seasons. The issue here is Pat Riley. Will Johns love for Pat slow down his ability to tank? Will he get proper value for Stud George T? Who gets the Pot! Phx will have a fun offseason. Maybe get a little funky. Anyway he survived trading his full team for Dan Issel
Portland Trailblazers- Rex is also in Cy and has a decent amount of assets and Mccoy on the way. Unfortunately for Rex 1 of his 3 bird guys retired and one is Layton Johns who he desperately needs to ball out. On the good side McCoy could prob reset him on his own and we assume more help is on the way. Rex has 18M in cap to try to steal some help and likely will be trading 3/4 of Paultz, Cosic, Steele and Petrie. Those guys are all a mixed bag on value so we will see what he ends up with. if he falls on his face see ya on the WL but I think he will be fine if he doesnt go 10MM over the cap.
Sacremento Kings- The Kings are off Chippers best season as a Gm. Playoff results aside keep the foot on the gas. Use the Pot boost as a trade asset IMO and get another star. Murrell is getting old and I still think Barnet is a waste of cap. Chipper needs to operate at 77M, maximize his depth and find a third scorer capable of 30 PPG to move to the next level of talent.
Seattle SuperSonics- The Sonics are 2 years off a ring and have one of the best core in the league. JR mentioned he will use +15 on Lou and Barry and I think that is brilliant. Keep the good times rolling and turn those under 30 superstars to Sonic lifers. JR likely will be active on the trade market to replenish some depth. Wonder if now is a good time to maximize Hudson's value?