2021 Roundtable

[Cloud]

Question 1:
If you could switch positions and GM another team, who would be your top 3 picks? Could be for players you like, pick situation, cap flexibility, win now team, fun rebuild etc​

Jason:

1. Cavs. Think they missed an opportunity here with SGA and Zion on their rookie contracts. Only one more season of SGA before his payday, 2 more seasons with Zion. But they're a fun duo that I'd love to build around.
2. Bucks. Obvious, championship reasons. Even if Rose and Love are older, I'd love to get another couple rings.
3. Nets. They traded a chunk of their picks this off-season so that hurts a bit, but Tatum and Cade are an awesome duo.

HM: Pistons (I wouldn't trade my spot with a lot of others!), Grizzlies (lots of new picks), Jazz (good young players)

Kong:
- Bucks: They won 4 titles but with Rose-Love duo they have room for more. A title next Season sounds very possible.

- Nets: Back to back #1 picks with a competitive Roster that includes Westbrook.

- Kings: Mitchell could be League Top scorer and Edwards has 100 Potential. Kings can become new Bucks with TC luck although same can be said about others too but having PG covered is key.

Yrtb:
- Cavs have been repeatedly blessed by the lotto, so building around SGA and Zion who both look dope would be nice
- Pistons because having a young backcourt locked up in Jokic/Portis would be a lot of fun to build around
- Nets have awesome wings to build around in Tatum/Cade, both could be 30ppg guys
Honorable mention: Raptors to have AD, Wall, and Giannis. They have a fucked cap situation, but it's a cool core to have

Chives:
There are a few. I think the Raptors first come to mind because out of all the competitors they probably have the longest window to be pretty damn good for a while. You really just need to find efficient, under-the-radar supplementary pieces which would be fun. Think the Sonics have a few interesting pieces under 25 with Chet, Brunson, Echenique that could be cool to add too and that's not even counting Hield/Saric. Then maybe a full-blown rebuilding team since I haven't done that yet.

Hooper:
1. Raptors

2. Nets

3. Bucks

Not controvertial besides maybe pick 3, but that roster has won 4 rings. So let me hold one.

Question 2:
I’m giving you a hypothetical do over. Whats your biggest regret / mistake / missed opportunity this league? How would things have played out differently had you made a different decision?​

Jason:
Biggest missed opportunity: My roster when we first started the iteration. Billups, Rip, Wallace core was sick. I added some good players, had a 60 Win season, made a finals run even though I lost. So I had a good run, but I regret not taking bigger swings with my additions around that core of players. I should've swung for the fences!

Kong:
I probably should have traded Bam earlier but things would have been different if he actually improved anything in the 3 TCs I had him; Bam peaked as a rookie which is nuts considering he had potential. It is true though that when I took team he had an entire year of camps missed; And also adjusting to new league was much harder than I thought (like even FA system is custom and never did sim without a ratings spreadsheet) so wasn't really looking to make big trades especially when I was advised not to.

Yrtb:
Early on I spent too much time middling. It was hard to tank with how many teams were trying to and I should've just bought cheap vets and competed. Bigger regret is not surrounding Wayne Ellington with better pieces earlier on. I could've cashed in more draft capital ~5 seasons ago to try to surround him with better talent for his prime. I think with a great pass first PG, good defensive role players, and one elite big on a team with Ellington, I could win at least 1 ring. That said, the East is a gauntlet.

Chives:
Probably not keeping closer track of my picks lol. Honestly, earlier when I returned in the league I kind of had no idea what was going on. Led to me keeping Hayward over Pondexter which I never would have done today. Could have brought back Pondexter at first without trading for him and probably been able to compete with more picks, etc. I let myself get outbid for Alan Williams after fielding one of my best teams was a regret too since I could have ponied up a few more years and had him on a reasonable deal for a while.

Hooper:
My biggest regret is picking a 2008 Celtics team that won sub 50 games third overall. Think I could have had the Cavs with LeBron. That was the obvious choice.

Question 3:
On the flip side, own your game, sell me on your savviest and sharpest move you made all league that might not get a ton of attention or hype but you feel really proud of? Whats something you want people to know you did and what impact did it equate to?​

Jason:
Savviest Move: Brandon Knight trade & 2016 draft. These moves helped me build the core that won me my ring. Knight trade got me the pick that turned into Bobby Portis, and Donovan Mitchell got me Russ. That trade could become a regret down the line bc Mitchell is great, but it got me a ring. Worth it. The Brandon Roy trade turned out to be a needle mover too!

Kong:
Morris had the most impact I think because it solved my TOs problem but that received attention because Morris was suddenly in Top 10 for scoring.

I am mostly proud about taking a guy like Leunen and giving him his 1st opportunity to start for a winning team before he retired.

And my savviest move (and also a move some might mention as wtf here) was to bench Luka because I absolutely believe in Doncic but didn't think he was ready yet to compete like I wanted. I finished 1st in the West with best League point differential so I couldn't do any better especially considering what people thought were expectations for my team before Season started.

Yrtb:
It's a small one, but I think I found Cory Joseph out of nothing and he ended up being a pretty nice starting PG. I signed him after finding him in LFA and based on a small sample size figured he had more juice.

Chives:
Think I've done a very good job finding under-the-radar players who I projected would do a bit better in an expanded situation. They definitely gave me surplus value compared to the contracts I gave them. J.J Redick comes to mind as I got him on a 1-year deal at first and he had a career season at like 34 averaging like 23 points-per game. Josh Harrelson is another guy who I identified in Free Agency and got him for dirt cheap over multiple years. Now he's a 3x All-Star. Then even guys like LMA and DJ Augustin. Have never broken the bank for them and Augustin kind of blossomed at 31 for me having a career year being the starting PG for a 57 win team.

Hooper:
Did not answer (lol)

Question 4:
Who do you think the 3 most overpaid players are in the league?​

Jason:
1. Paul George. Only one year left now, but that contract was stinky! He's a solid guy, but nowhere near a max player.

2. Zach Lavine. Another one that has one year left, but he got overpaid after an underwhelming start to his career.

3. DeMarcus Cousins. Aging guy, on a really long max contract. Doesn't play much of any defense. Some empty calorie numbers it seems like!

HM: CJ McCollum, Myles Turner, Alan Williams

Kong:
Picking 3 most overpaid is hard because would need to check every team but 3 I am thinking right now are:

Mario Hezonja, Ben Simmons and DeMarcus Cousins; And Cousins I admit is controversial in this list because I reckon he will probably be traded for multiple assets but playing Center and having these many TOs with so little blocks and shooting %, I wouldn't want him charging 39M average for 4 years even if he is a top 2 rebounder.

Yrtb:
- Terry Rozier (Knicks) is an obvious one but I don't know if he's the worst contract in the league just because it's only 2 more years
- Demarcus Cousins (Pacers) might be a hot take, but I don't love bigs of his mold other than the elite rebounding. He's not super efficient, and 0.5 BPG with 3.5 TOPG is tough. Close to 160M over the next 4 years to a 31 year old big with some issues might not be ideal.
- CJ McCollum (Warriors), 137M over 4 years might actually be the worst one to me. He's 31 and while he's efficient, his TOs are high and he's a mediocre defender at best

Honorable mentions
- Nerlens Noel (Mavericks), 130M over 4 years
- Klay Thompson (Grizzlies), 78M over 2 years
- Jaylen Brown (Lakers), 80M over 4 years

Chives:
There were a few that definitely stood out but for the most part most of these guys have either expired or are entering their final year. Zach Lavine's was wild considering he's ideally a bench player and he was given $100+ million total over 4 years. Vucevic's was by far the worst for a while. Myles Turner (and to a lesser extent Broekhoff are bad contracts) but I guess they're decent players. Derrick White's stood out too. I'm sure someone would say Rodney Hood's who I claimed for free but he's objectively a great offensive player so I'm fine with it.

Hooper:
Mr. Rozier

Buddy Hield

Nikola Vucavic

Probably missing some guys, but not sure what we're doing with these 3 on max deals.

Question 5:
Who are the 3 best value deals? Exclude rookie contracts from consideration.​

Jason:
1. Tyler Ennis. Hornets have one of each! Ennis is a really solid, productive young PG on a $12 million salary.
2. Trey Burke. Per 36 numbers behind Russ have been good. I took a big chance on him when I traded Russ so hopefully he proves me right! This will be a move that definitely could be an answer in either direction on question.
3. Doug McDermott Productive and efficient scorer for the Champs. the bench in and he's making less than $10 million per year.

HM: Dion Waiters, Kevin Love, Anthony Bennett (could/should take Burke's spot but I'm biased!)

Kong:
Best value deals got to be all the best players because they are true difference makers especially when you consider they make same cash as players that do not win games.

By best players I mean Rose, Love and Anthony Davis (or Leonard maybe?); And Mitchell will be in this list if his TC is good because he accepted way less than Max to re-sign.

Yrtb:
Did not answer

Chives:
Eric Maynor's is pretty good. Very solid PG making under $10 million. I know he's a bad rebounder, but Ersan Ilysova is still a good enough offensive player that as a backup 3/4 he's worth the under $4 million a year. Then I think I'd go Anthony Bennett. Could definitely be missing someone. Oh Tyler Ennis is very good too for his deal.

Hooper:
Anthony Bennett

DAJ

AJ Hammons

It's much easier to snipe a defensive juggeranut on a ridiculous deal than an offensive engine

Question 6:
Give me a team or two that you think “man, if they just did x y and z, they could really get back on track”? Basically looking for who do you think is underperforming? Not looking for the best or the worst teams here, I want a sleeper pick of teams in the middle. What would the moves be in a general sense?​

Jason:
Back to the Cavs on this one. I think they have a real shot with SGA and Zion as a duo, and missed out on lots of opportunities with LeBron. If they can get some good defenders in the paint, then some wing help they could contend in a tough Eastern Conference. DeRozan could've been a move for them but he got moved. Somebody like Aldrich would be a great fit too. If they can make the money work, Beasley at SF too!


Kong:
I am not really sure about this question. If it was last Season I would have said Knicks before they decided to take Rozier off the Offense equation to get Ellington more attempts because of how efficient he was.

Maybe Blazers could benefit from dropping some offense in favor of defense but honestly just thinking Blazers because they said they needed to improve defense.

Yrtb:
Cavs are an easy one, particularly looking at the last 10 years when LeBron was one of the best players on the file and they didn't really put a team around him and were mostly middling. Now, with stars on rookie contracts is a good time to be a little less cap conscious and grab some veterans who can contribute and see if you can win a ring. You can be a lot more risky with cap, especially shorter term deals, if you have multiple plus starters on rookie deals.

Chives:
I think Ellington is so good that the Knicks if they could just make 2-3 shrewd moves could be favorites out East. The Wizards were an interesting team. Lauri Markannen and VanVleet are both far better than their ratings and they were not making a lot. They could have added a few defenders and probably been a very interesting team the last few years. Magic are big ones too that have underperformed. Not entirely sure what they should have done differently since I haven't paid close enough attention but between Conley and their high picks figured they would be better. Sonics also. Would try to flip Saric and add a legit defender.

Hooper:
Raptors just need to fill their roster out with a couple solid rotation guys and they would immediately go into dynasty watch. Best assortment of top end talent in the league.

Jazz consolidation move. 2 guys making less than 20M combined top 10 in blocking. Time to make a deal for a true engine, not some mid round hero.

Question 7:
Talk to me about your player development philosophy? How do you attack and deploy coaching? How do you strategically apply boosts vis summer league and d league? Weight gains? If you don’t do it… why not?​

Jason:
I used boosts like coaching/SL/DLG to create depth. Guys like Jokic and Portis need their boosts like strength and pot from coaching, but they're early picks with good ratings to start. But finding the mid level guys I can add rebounding and strength too has helped. Naz Reid (lotto pick, so not a mid level guy) I spammed all his DLG camps with rebounding and strength. Same thing with Handles/Passing for Trey Burke. If I'm gonna keep this window with Portis and Jokic open, while also moving off of a player like Russ bc of salaries, I need to have good and cheap depth from the draft. SL/DLG/coaching is how I do that.

Kong:
Didn't do much yet but my strategy so far is to always do what's best for Luka as opposed to coach multiple players for example; And I did some Strength gain but only on players locked down for 4+ years.

Yrtb:
- I don't have a very targeted coaching approach, but I try to get above average coaches in terms of availability of boosts, and avoid boosts I don't care about (passing, drive D, jumping for example). If I have a PG with handle issues I prioritize a handling coach
- For summer league I just make sure to do it for all 1st round rookies and all 2nd round rookies who look promising, and I always hit athletics. This is similar to how I approach DL
- I don't usually do weight gains except for some elite players. 10M for +2 is a lot compared to other ways cash can be spent, especially now that scouting is so easy and we have the ability to scout draft prospects

Chives:
It's difficult and depends on the prospect. I've gone both routes. I know that skill values are a lot easier to develop than athletics. So, I took a guy like Mudiay a few years ago who was all athlete and high pot and basically was just hoping between all the summer-league, d-league boosts, and TC's he'd get the skill attributes up. He for the most part did. Some flaws but still good.

Then I've taken guys who are not great athletes but profile to be at worst pretty skilled offensive players. You can definitely find a few sub-par athletes who can score with volume very efficiently and not turn it over. Those guys definitely have a lot of value. In those cases, I'll attempt to give a minor boost to the athleticism, but I'll just go all in on the skill attributes. I'm big on strength for bigs and handling is a must for wings and guards.

Long way of saying it truly depends on the player base.

Hooper:
I just pound inside scoring, I think that rating has the highest overall impact on a player. Try to find outliers and then boost them into the dominant range. Overall that strategy applies to guys with high quickness or strength as well. You don't want well rounded guys as much as you want to exploit the outliers. It's a simulation, after all.

Question 8:
Of the players currently on the file… predict 5 years from now on who the best players in the league will be. Give me an all league first, second and third team by position list, an MVP, and a DPOTY. The MVP doesn’t need to be FBB’s interpretation it can be who you think the best player will be.​

Jason:
First Team:

PG. Luka Doncic
SG: Cade Cunningham
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Bobby Portis
C: Nikola Jokic

Second Team:

PG: Donovan Mitchell
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: Zion Williamson
C: Jahlil Okafor

Third Team:

PG: SGA
SG: Emmanuel Mudiay
SF: Deni Advija
PF: Grant Golden
C: Chet Holmgren

MVP: Luka Doncic
DPOTY: Grant Golden


Kong:
I feel like this question is impossible to answer because it is strictly related to TC which I always hate because my TCs usually suck.

But my dream is for Luka to become an MVP caliber player eventually. Not sure if that's a realistic goal but doing all I can to help his development.

And for DPOTY I think this is a question designed to answer Golden so I will say Golden.

As for rest, not really sure how to predict All-League 2, All-League 2nd and 3rd League Players. I suppose I can say Tatum, Edwards with old Leonard still leading SFs.


Yrtb:
1st Team

C: Nikola Jokic
PF: Anthony Davis
SF: Jayson Tatum
SG: Cade Cunningham
PG: SGA

2nd Team

C: Chet Holmgren
PF: Zion Williamson
SF: Matisse Thybulle
SG: Deni Avdija
PG: Ja Morant

3rd Team

C: Myles Turner
PF: Bobby Portis
SF: Kawhi Leonard
SG: Mikal Bridges
PG: Tyrese Haliburton

MVP: SGA
DPOTY: Anthony Davis


Chives:
I'll just name best players that I scanned through. Donovan Mitchell is and will be a stud. SGA looks amazing. Tatum looks crazy good. I guess if I had to rank 5 years from now it would go something like:

PG: SGA - Donovan Mitchell - then one of Brunson/Murray/Morris/Lonzo
SG: Mario Hezonja I feel confident about. Honestly really like Gary Harris. Then one of the higher TO guys like Mudiay/Johnson/Suggs
SF: Jayson Tatum - Matisse Thybulle - Brandon Ingram
PF: Bobby Portis - Zion Williamson - Anthony Davis
C: Jahlil Okafor - Nikola Jokic - Jaime Echenique

Something like this but don't mirror me to this. Think SGA and Mitchell will probably be the two best players in the league.


Hooper:
This is tough and a lot of sorting.



PG: Lamelo, Mitchell, SGA

SG. Cade, Deni, I actually have no idea for SG

SF: Tatum, (probably still) Kawhi,

PF: Giannis, Portis, Jabari

C: Embiid, Okafor, Jokic



MVP: Tatum

DPOY: AD

[SoftLettuce]

Good stuff fellas!

[Username]

hell yeah dion waiters!!