Post by Deleted on May 17, 2020 16:58:32 GMT -8
Boston Celtics—B
Unsurprisingly, they did next to nothing. Brian has 4,200 posts and just three on his preseason and TC results. Credit where it’s due: Battier was a great pick. Without that, this would be an F, as Brian is fretting the contract year, doesn’t have his pick this year, and should be aggressively pursuing upgrades—but did nothing.
Miami Heat—A
Kobe got Bo Outlaw to round out a nice rotation of defensive-minded bigs; added Dejan Bodiroga, who looks like a microwave scorer off the bench, in FA; and stole a fringe starter at PG in Chucky Atkins. He also kept Tony Delk. Good moves all around, and he could be in the mix for the second seed if TMac McGrady sims to his ratings. Good.
New York Knicks—D+
My position on Jamal Crawford is known, but the Nash-Crawford swap was a pointless move that didn’t fit the Knicks’ direction and didn’t far outflanked the league’s estimation of Crawford. I think Crawford will continue to sim exceptionally well, but Skillz was thin on assets with Hakeem retiring, and while I’d be fine with Crawford as the primary piece in exchange for Nash, Skillz needed to get significantly more alongside JC. I love the MJ move, though—Posey is an elite backup 2/3 with potential to be more, and the Celtics’ pick is a nice asset. I think some people argued Skillz shouldn’t have dealt MJ to a division rival—very wrong indeed. If you aren’t contending, where better to send a 38 year-old impending retiree than to a team in your division? Does anyone doubt this deal weakens the Nets and strengthens the Knicks after this season?
New Jersey Nets—A
Glen Rice, James Posey, and the Celts ’02 for MJ and Mike Miller. I love Posey and think the Celts ’02 has late-lotto written all over it, but Greeme has a win-now team in its last year of contention and doubled down in the best way, adding an all-world player on the cheap. The Nets probably need to tear down soon, but they’re easy favorites in the East. A Nets-Jazz rematch with MJ guarding Houston awaits us.
Orlando Magic—B-
Didn’t like the Joe Johnson pick at all. Scoring wings are a dime a dozen and it was easy to see Joe with high passing, low steals, and middling handles. I think he has a chance to be an excellent scorer, but I can’t justify them passing on Tony Parker. The Magic should be in the tank targeting Yao or Amare this year. They need to cut the pretense that Antoine Walker merits a big return and dump him for reasonable picks and youth. I think they’re in good hands with Footy, who’s active, fair-minded in trade talks, and experienced, but I didn’t like their offseason.
Philadelphia 76ers—C+
Steve gets the picture and appears to be beginning a necessary rebuild, having dealt Steve Smith and Nick Van Exel for solid returns. There’s no future in Marubry and Jamison, though, and I hate to see Steve stand pat with them. He should be actively shopping them for rebuild pieces.
Perhaps he's waiting to pad their value during the season, but these guys need to be gone soon!
Washington Wizards—C
I loved everything Jah did from the creation draft through the end of last season. And I couldn’t much gripe with his decision to trade down and pick Richard Jefferson in the draft. He didn’t do much else, though, and a moderately disappointing training camp has the Wizards with a glut of wings and a weak rotation of bigs. Doesn’t look like any of Jah’s picks were home runs, though I still love this team and will continue to nag Jah for Peja.
Atlanta Hawks—B+
Signing Shandon Anderson was sharp, but I wish George would’ve gotten birds out of it. I loved the Dally pick—looks like he could be a stud defender with camps. I don’t really worry about the contract year, but this roster has that purgatorial vibe that leaves you scratching and clawing to get 42. Francis isn’t bad, but he probably can’t handle PG. Jackson sims well but has gaudy turnovers. Atlanta probably won’t be bad enough to build through the draft and its foundational pieces probably aren’t good enough to build a winner out of.
New Orleans Hornets—C+
Pig’s running it back with a roster that benefits as much as anyone from Hakeem’s retirement. He made nice FA signings, particularly with the addition of Jim Jackson for needed shooting and volume scoring off the bench. But this was a low-key offseason, and with New Orleans right on the bubble of contenders, they needed to be more aggressive in fine-tuning the roster.
Chicago Bulls—C+
I try not to factor TCs into grades too much, but Michael Finley’s improvement is nice for Chicago. The Bulls assembled a team of high performers with middling ratings, and it worked out extremely well last season. They seem a bit locked into what they have now, however, as few of their guys hold high trade value, and the lack of stats makes it risky to tinker with the roster’s chemistry. Huge to see Finley take a step toward upper echelon scoring ratings. They lost a big contributor in Tony Massenburg, and I don’t know where the Bulls go from here. Camby, Howard, and Finley seem to hold nice enough value to net the Bulls good pieces for a rebuild, but I doubt Play and Insane are interested in one.
Cleveland Cavaliers—C-
I like Svedda, though I think it’s silly he poses as an FBB expert but takes extreme stances on nearly every player he comments on. I loved his roster before the deal with the Clippers, but that one made zero sense. GP is a good inside scorer, but he’s subpar or worse in all other facets of offense, and he can’t hang at PG. No doubt the Cavs had a glut of versatile forwards and could’ve afforded to upgrade from Darrell Armstrong—who, having said that, is pretty good! I recommend more adventurous GMing. TCs looked good, though, and the Cavs are in the mix for the second best team in the East.
Detroit Pistons—B
Indiana Pacers—B+
Sargo’s fully committed to a rebuild and has lots of picks at its outset. Nuggets ’02 should be borderline lotto or better if Covid deals Shaq. Wolves ’03 is about as good a traded pick as there is right now—that team has zero hope and may be interested in moving VC for its pick soon enough. I can’t overlook the fact that Elton Brand is over 85 in inside scoring and strength and went for four picks, three of which have virtually no chance of going lotto. Sargo needed to build a DC around Brand and pump his value; he could’ve at least given himself a chance to get good value that way. Otherwise, a very good offseason. Excellent move to get Q-Rich for valueless firsts. I’m not sure there’s a world of difference between Q and Joe Johnson. Similar thoughts on Shard, who didn’t sim well last year but appears to have legit potential and is looking much better after TC and preseason. I liked two players a lot at 17 and 18, but Sargo made out nicely in that deal.
Milwaukee Bucks—D
I don’t think any of this is particularly consequential, and I’m not trying to hammer Chipper. He’s a good presence and he’s right to try to make this team his own. But everything he did backfired. Diop was bad value. Tinsley’s notes had turnover machine written in ink. Atkins left Cream City for a tuna sandwich and bus fare. The reason this isn’t an F is because Chipper took Bob Simmons with pick 17. Simmons seems to have very high steals, solid inside scoring and midrange, and a bit of potential. Good addition. A full-blown rebuild is in store in Milwaukee. Get good value for Sheed but don’t be precious about him.
Toronto Raptors—B-
The Raptors aren’t going anywhere with this roster and should commit to a rebuild if they can’t convert J-Rich, Bradley, LaFrentz, et al. into a star to pair with Ray Allen. Nothing they did this offseason forecloses a rebuild, but Game doesn’t seem particularly committed to one despite having unloaded good players at last year’s deadline. I didn’t love the J-Rich pick, but I can’t nitpick drafting a B-/B-scorer, A-potential wing at the end of the lotto. LaFrentz looks decent and came cheap. Hardaway, between his rebounding and turnovers, was awful last year, but he’ll probably look a lot better in an outside offense. Worse ways to spend an MLE.
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