Sim 1 S&U (S6)

[Donkey]

Main Index

Answer the following questions to claim $3.0M

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
4. What team had the best off-season and why?
5. What team had the worst off-season and why?

 

[dwightcoward]

1. Bulls and Clippers are probably favorites to meet again in the finals, but I just love how the Magic looks. Cole Anthony is INSANE and the team is stocked with shooters (Hield, Felton, Monk, Schroeder, even Siakam) and shotblockers (Turner, Whiteside). Maybe they could use a third big better than Mitchell.

2. I'd say that 70% of the league is in the middle and need either to blow it up or go all in. Rockets are, but I don't have my pick, and I don't really want to trade Kessler. Nuggets are, but they ask too much for their players who kill the tank. Wolves are in a Strange situation. Lakers too. So many teams in that middle !

3. Pippen is just crazy. Jalen Williams and Chance Westry are nice as well.

4. I like what the Thunder created from almost Nothing. But this DMC contract is gonna be rough. I also like the Raptors youth team a lot. But you can't tank with that many good prospects.

5. I have no idea why the Hawks gave two picks for Lauri. This is the only "oh my god what happened" moment in the off/preseason for me.

 

[G9.]

Early title favorite is Clippers and Bulls. I have the Clippers first because of Clouds .. extensive .. championship experience. He was able to tweak his depth chart enough last year to put an end to the Bulls. I think he can do it again. Bulls team is nasty too though there is no denying that. Should be exciting to watch.

I'm in the middle, lol. Well, like Dwight said, a lot of people are. One team I think for sure should really push for an all-in right now is the Magic. They're already a hell of a lot better than a lot of these "middle teams," but he still needs more to top the Clippers or Bulls. He's got a lot of expiring contracts on players that can walk (Hield, Schroder, etc) that could be packaged w/ picks for a third superstar. It's especially easy now while Cole only eats 10M space. Add him now, figure out next seasons salaries later. Although I don't even think he'd be that hamstringed.

Who is Christian Brown? He ranked particularly high in my spreadsheet, and very, very high in Beats (4th ish?). I didn't take much of a look at him since I didn't pick until #37, but that was a nice late round pick-up. Also gets a full year in the DLG and another summer league. Could be interesting.

Raptors, maybe? I don't even recall how Donkey got all these young assets/picks so quick but props. That team is probably better than mine and their average age is like, 19.9.

Pistons. I thought they were on the up. Maxey and Drummond. Barnes improving. Panics getting to a stage where Drummond's contract is getting pretty pricey. Maxey will command a max. Barnes final year is next season before he commands a large contract. You'd expect him to push hard to win a chip with this core before it dismantles and he goes through another rebuild. Oh..... and... KPJ?

 

[AiRuPtHeRe™]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
From the West I like the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had two big upgrades in Nico Mannion & Tobias Harris to go along with what they had. In the East, Chicago is still a legit team with Barrett/Tatum/WCJ.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
The Los Angeles Lakers really need to rebuild. James Harden and Lonzo Ball are not the formula to win games. I'd move Harden for the best young package you can get. Milwaukee is a team that would be nice to see them go all out and attempt to grab a second guy next to Giannis.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
The obvious pick is Scotty Pippen Jr. Scoring 27 PPG is pretty nuts for a rookie. Most of the other rookies aren't playing due to Dleague or aren't producing much.

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
The San Antonio Spurs adding Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis easily takes this. I like the addition of Jimmy, but he seemed to have died in TC.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
I'm going to say the Knicks because they traded the #2 pick for Zaire Wade. They potentially could of had Scotty Pippen if Bronny went #1. Yikes.

 

[Kings]

1) Clippers and Bulls are early favorites to meet again in the championship. Barrett/Tatum/Wendell is a filthy core and they have some nice role players around them. Clippers new squad of Melo/Booker/Middleton/Jokic is pretty nice too. I have Bulls over Clippers but that series could go either way. Would like to see Magic in there too Cole Anthony can lead the way to a finals appearance

2) Think the Rockets should trade KD and Dipo for the best packages available and rebuild around Walker and Velicka. Should be able to get nice prospects for both to propel the process. I know the Lakers are trying to tank for a top pick, need to get rid of Harden to properly tank or they'll end up with a late lotto. In the East the 76ers should sell off Randle/Kuzma/Rozier and add a top pick to Tillman/Springer/Aleksa and whatever they can add to their current pieces.

3) Scotty Pippen and Christian Brown are the early standouts. Christian had a superstar like TC he could be a piece to lookout for in the future. Pippen is ready now and looks to be pretty damn solid. Will be one of the best players looking back at this class for sure.

4) Spurs had a nice offseason adding two of the most dominant bigs around them. Still desperately need some guard help but the pieces are there to contend. Clippers had a nice offseason adding Booker and resigning Jokic for cheap. Also like what the Magic and Wolves did.

5) Jazz had a bad offseason overpaying Rui and grabbing Ja, however it's recoverable and they've been well ran so far. Hawks grabbing Lauri is questionable but he can be a solid bench piece. Could also consider a few teams who stuck in the middle and haven't committed towards winning or selling off

 

[Greeme]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Bulls. He sees the ratings and has a solid team
I think the wolves are really good as are the clips.
2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
Nuggets. gonna end up bw 10-15 which is horrible. gotta all out tank and get a top 5 pick. can't win forever. i mean they can but not at a level high enough to compete. so time to blow it up.
3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Scott is insane and bronny looked great Sim 1. If the commish wanted him it is a good bet he isn't a bust. Brown looks great but I feel that his value probably peaked and is a good candidate for a fall back tc.
4. What team had the best off-season and why?
Thunder had the best offseason getting 1 and 2 and making the rights picks. Obv kind of ruined it by moving bronny and taking on jjj. Spurs also did well. Interesting to see if ad and Joel will bring a ring
5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
Knicks gotta be kicking himself at this point for moving pippen

 

[Catdude]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
The Bulls are my top pick for winning it all this early on. They had a killer first sim and seem to be coming out of the gates swinging after failing to complete their 3-peat last season. They have an insane 18ppg differential right now while leading the league in scoring and rebounding. RJ Barrett is also just a freak of nature.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
The Rockets are my pick for this. They need to blow it up. They are a .500 team and are just basically waiting on KD to retire. They should try to get their pick back this season and flip Oladipo while he is still valuable. They could probably get a nice rebuilding package for him.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Scotty Pippen, duh. I think he's gotta be having the best rookie season of anyone in this league so far. 27ppg in like 40 preseason games and now he's off to the same start in sim 1. Dude can score from anywhere on the floor. He's gonna run away with the ROTY award this year.

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
I mean, I think we did (OKC). We went from the worst team in the league with basically zero talent and now we have a solid young core of Pippen, Culver, JJJ, and Walker. We are set to compete for many seasons to come. We also turned that bust of a pick Jalen Green into Kawhi and moved Wade (who still looks pretty meh) into the 2nd pick which turned into Pippen.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
I think the Mavs continue to do nothing with that team. I had two Mavs futures and everyone was reluctant about them because they kept saying that G9 is a good GM and will turn it around, but that team seems to get worse every season. I think that Mitchell trade was bad and that they are just gonna keep sinking.

 

[Cloud]

1. I think the best bet is we see a rematch of last year but the Clippers are the safer bet to reach the finals as the Bulls have a tougher path to the finals with teams like Orlando and Milwaukee standing in their way. I’d give the edge on paper to the Bulls due to the Barrett factor, but I think the Clippers are the better team and clearly the more willing of the 2 to be aggressive with DCs in the finals, which can go either way, but last year it worked almost without fail.

2. Denver needs to blow it up. Philly needed to blow it up and instead like got pieces back for Beal and Embiid to pseudo-compete. Detroit should’ve went all in but missed their best chance. Lakers, Blazers, Heat, Pelicans and Hornets all teams that should do whatever they can to get their picks back and hit the reset button. Bucks and Magic should exhaust all resources to take a shot.

3. Obviously Pippen is a major standout player. Christian Brown looks like a steal. Jalen Jackson one of the Clippers late 2nds blew up in TC. Wizards new backcourt duo in Chance + Jalen. Zion Harmon. Killian Hayes looks awesome but for some reason loses out to Ben Simmons for minutes.

4. Clippers dumped a declining Kawhi for cap space, a future first, and a prospect that then helped them land Zeller and Powell. The cap they frees up from Kawhi landed them Devin Booker and extended their championship window, and also helped free up the cap to retain Jokic, while also rolling the dice and getting him on a discount. They retained Capela, drafted a couple good 2nd rounders.

Minnesota addressed their 2 biggest needs in a playmaking PG (Nico Mannion) and a Scoring wing (Tobias Harris).

Magic added Whiteside, Hield, Monk, Siakim.

Thunder went from worst to a solid playoff team adding Pippen, Culver, Walker, Kawhi, JJJ etc

Spurs while still incomplete added Butler, Embiid and AD so that’s nice too

Those are the most notable to me anyways. If I had to pick just 1 I guess it’s probably Orlando because they elevated from mid range playoff team to legitimate title contender. Whereas the clippers already were the defending champs, jury is still out on Okc and Spurs, and Minny struggled to start the season.


5. Pistons really screwed up. Could’ve become legit title contenders had he played his hand differently. 76ers moves were kinda weird too. Lakers made some bad moves too.

 

[Eberlicious]

1. Bulls and Magic, two best players on the file pitted against each other.

2. Not exactly a middling team, but I think the Bucks should blow it up. Hes got some nice assets he could move and start fresh. He isnt winning with what he has now.

3. Well Pippen is playing like a borderline MVP so that's pretty crazy.

4. Orlando just added exactly what they needed to this off season and thats pretty ideal.

5. NC I love you man, but trading 2 picks for Lauri is bad enough I gotta throw you in here.

 

[hokeyrules]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Bulls, I think the Clippers and Bulls will fight again in the finals, but trading Kawhi might just flip the series in favour of the Bulls. At the end of the day one of those two teams are going to win, and the Kawhi trade was good for the Clippers.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
I would say Houston. They are a bit more than middle of the pack, the problem is Durant is 35, Oladipo is also in his 30's, he is not good enough to beat the Clippers and the Bulls, might as well trade some pieces away to semi-rebuild, so that when the time comes, he has future assets to improve his team.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Pippen, 27 PPG, will win rookie of the year, and quite possibly MVP.

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
OKC getting Pippen Jr. makes it easily the best off-season move. You tank to get that one future allstar player, and he ended up with a HOF level player. Time will tell, and he did make some mistakes in the offseason, but hands down this puts him in a spot to build around Pippen and get a contending team. They just are not ready yet.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
I would say Dallas as of right now, the moves they made looked really well done. However, after sim 1 it looks a little disappointing due to where they currently sit. I am sure it will get better and this comment will be a laugh but until then that is what I would say.

 

[ColdJ3]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Gotta go with the teams that have already been there in Chicago and the Clips. Plus they still look as good as ever starting the season. I do like my teams chances but feel like I got to make another move to possibly put me over the hump.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
To blow it all up, I would say either the Lakers or Heat. They are definitely not constructed to make any real noise in the playoffs. In Miamis situation, they have very little cap flexibility as well. Should trade off Lillard for some rebuilding assets and start over. As far as a team going all in to compete, the Bucks immediately spring to mind. Also I will even throw the Warriors out there who werent very good in sim 1. But Norvell is really starting to hit his prime. Definitely gotta figure out how to get him some help and who knows what could happen.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Is there any answer other than Scotty Pippen? Dude is insane for a rookie or really anyone for that matter lol.

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
Of course gotta say my Magic. Pulling in Siakam, Hassan via trades, Monk in FA, and even Buddy on waivers for damn near nothing. Very glad with how my offseason went. Minny did have a great offseason as well as the Clips tho. Clips pulling in Booker and getting back Jokic was monumental and they will be still be there in the end due to the offseason they had.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
Honestly I wasnt a fan of the Spurs offseason. I know they want to win but trading their future for a couple of stars just to get into the playoffs is not a good strategy imo. Its also very tough when you dont have a PG and they are just not constructed to make serious noise. Could very well be one and done in the playoffs and what for?

 

[The Godfather]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?

Bulls., Magic and Clips are in a league of their own, can they be upset? Not without a freak injury I dont think. Bulls/Clips rematch seems likely, BUT dont sleep on the Magic. Cole is legit

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.

Reading my mind, Probably my Pels. But we have a plan that includes some mediocre teams this and perhaps next yr as we develop some young guns. But I bet Pels are a popula answer

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?

Pippen looks terrific. Brown looks sick as well. and in a year or 2 someone like Landen or Jackson might surprise after 2 rds through DLG
4. What team had the best off-season and why?

Spurs, they really set out to do something and went for it, was it enough I dont know but they simply made all the big moves and are going to live or die by them

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?

76ers and Pistons, scratch the head type moves wtf did they do? and why?

 

[Emac]

1. Clippers and Bulls are the early favorites because they have the best teams. Really think the Magic have a shot as well.

2. The Blazers are sort of in the bottom middle and should move what they can to rebuild. However there isn’t much to move because the team is a dumpster fire. James Akinjo does look like the one bright spot. Fortunately Portland does have all of its picks and Miami’s pick this season. So maybe the rebuild is on it’s way.

3. Scotty Pippen looks amazing as a rookie. It would be nice if he passed a bit more but his turnovers are fine. Pippen is scoring 27 ppg and he looks like a great free throw shooter and three point shooter. Plus he’s getting two steals per game.

4. The Magic probably had the best offseason. Orlando added Siakam, Whiteside, Monk, and Hield to one of the best players in the league Cole Anthony and dominant big Myles Turner.

5. A lot of teams had bad offseasons but the Blazers biggest move in the offseason was umm...hmm...err...re-signing Thomas Bryant? Signing Kyle Anderson? The Blazers did nothing this offseason. Portland did not draft anybody. The Blazers did not even move T.J. Warren.

 

[BradS4President]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Gonna go with the Clippers and Magic. Clippers have the best starting five in the league and the Magic have a great duo in the frontcourt to protect the rim and rebound. Looks like Siakim is going to be a great number two option next to Anthony. Can't count out the Bulls. If the Spurs can find a facilitator...

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
Lakers probably need to move on from Harden and get the best rebuild package possible. Same with Rockets for Durant, although not too sure how much they will get despite the 35 year old averaging 24 points per game on great peercentages.
Think Philly should look to get some rebuilding packages for Randle and Kuzma to reset.
Miami should look to sell off, but we all know Sam likes to just be in the 6-10th seed range

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Pippen looks like he will be a stud in the league for a long time. Killian Hayes is playing behind some guards but should be a starter in no time. Hayes maybe could be the best out of the draft...

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
The Magic have great pieces around Cole Anthony on the wings. Siakim and Hield were great additions to an already solid team. Them or the Bulls are going to win the East. Clippers retained everyone and moved on from Kawhi, plus adding Booker doesnt hurt.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
Pistons gave a lot of money to Kevin Porter Jr. and added OG for 5 mill per year over the next three. Not great use of spent money, but I do that all the time so...

 

[Scott]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
I’m a firm believer that the clippers still deserve to be the favorite. They got rid of Kawhi’s dying ass and were able to steal Devin Booker from FA who looks to have fixed one of his major flaws. I think the Bulls are obviously still right there and the magic aren’t far behind.
2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
Mavericks. Have 0 clue what they’re doing. Didn’t think trading Mitchell made sense nor did acquiring Trae or Sexton who are now eating up a decent chunk of their salary space. Beal is still great but I can’t see this team doing anything crazy IF they even make the playoffs
3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
I mean it’s already been said 100 times but Pippen has been downright dirty. Wonder if he continues to progress...
4. What team had the best off-season and why?
I’d say the Thunder. They’ve definitely gone from the bottom to a pretty solid playoff team. Catdude has done a pretty crappy job at drafting in all honesty and that hasn’t helped his case. But they have a solid all around, young team. I also would like to add myself the trade for Wall/Levert/Bell really filled out our team fantastically and I was able to get rid of TJD before he went down in TC.
5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
Mavericks. Once again, tf is G9 doing. Mitchell and Beal would have been a solid ass duo. I get that he didn’t have other pieces to acquire bigs. But if he kept his contracts more flexible he definitely could have made a move at some point to acquire a clog.

 

[the_jon]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Its obviously either the Clippers or Bulls. Clips were at risk of taking a step back but cloud managed to resign his most important FA, Nikola Jokic, and also added Devin Booker through free agency. Bulls just had to manage some cap trouble and they did that.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
I think the Jazz are toast. They dont appear close to contention, not do they have the pieces to upgrade. If I were notail I'd blow that up quick, get picks and prospects for Gobert, Rui and Carey and reset.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
Scotty Pippen is the obvious one. Some other higher picks that are looking good are Killian Hayes, Zion Harmon, Chance Westry. As far as later picks I like Drake London and Christian Brown. A good mix of high upside and lower upside guys appear to be blossoming.

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
Imo the Orlando magic did a great job improving their situation. Wolves also had a nice offseason getting Msnnion and Tobias. I'll throw the clippers in that mix for resigning Jokic for less than max and also signing Booker.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
Spurs? I'm not really sure what daulten was thinking trading zion and then immediately flipping everything for AD and Embiid. That team has serious depth issues and really cant afford to fail right now.

 

[notail]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
- clippers is my vote because Cloud is the best GM imo and he kept pretty much the same team by replacing Kawhi with Booker. Bulls is the East Favorite by bringing back core of RJ Barrett, Tatum and WCJ and they will be in contention for years to come.

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
- might be time for Jazz to make a decision, but we'll have to see. I believe Vernon will have better sims coming up and Rudy needs to stay healthy. But they do lack depth that other top teams have. As long as they have their picks, I believe Heat should blow it up to rebuild from bottom up.

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
- Killian has got to be my vote for now as he has shown impressive numbers as a rookie. He was not considered a top 3 prospect but he has shown he can be just as good as them. Then obviously you have Pippen who will be most people's top pick because he is dropping stats like a veteran

4. What team had the best off-season and why?
- Wolves have my vote in keeping the core plus adding two starting members that fill their void. Donkey got Bronny through FA pretty much so Raptors have my vote as well.

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?
- Spurs made an all-in move for a short term window. Kemba is a nice one year piece, but next year they will only have embiid and Davis but no one else. Those two individually can carry a team, but that still leaves a lot of holes to be filled

 

[Panic!]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
Pistons. Cause they have Panic. He'll find a way.
2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why. Rockets. He has been there for years. Durant and Oladipo not working.
3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why? Pippen because of volume. Thats it. Shit draft. Bronny should've been moved to PG.
4. What team had the best off-season and why? Clippers because they still are contenders.
5. What team had the worst off-season and why? Pistons. Panic! Failed. Made wrong moves. But he is still optimistic. Go Pistons.

 

[NCツ]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?

I think the Bulls are on a path to redeem themselves after last season. They have the best player on file and their team defense so far this season is far superior compared to the rest of the league. I would put the Clippers next as they look to repeat and are still the best in the west imo. Below those two are teams like the Magic and Bucks who should be doing everything they can to make that next step into the Clippers/Bulls category. My wild card is the Spurs because that AD/Embiid duo might be enough to carry them to the WCF and then from there who knows what can happen with FBB

2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.

Pistons might as well blow it up and go back to tanking because they've done a horrible job capitalizing on Maxey and building a contender when they had the resources and cap space to do so and they didn't

3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?

hard to gauge standouts outside of top 5 due to dumb DLG rule where we can't see 75% of the rookies play until season 2 so the easy answer is Pippen cause of that volume

4. What team had the best off-season and why?

My wildcard answer for this will be the Thunder. They drafted their franchise centerpiece in Pippen and have immediately put pieces around him for a chance at early contention. Now we see if it will pay off for them

5. What team had the worst off-season and why?

Dallas Mavericks, I don't get what their goals were this off season, and whatever they were... they failed at reaching them imo lol

 

[Cheddar]

1. Who is the early title favorite and why?
2. Name a team who's in the middle that needs to either blow it up or go all out to compete and explain why.
3. Who are some early standouts from this past draft and why?
4. What team had the best off-season and why?
5. What team had the worst off-season and why?.

1. The Bulls and Clippers are again at the front of the pack. I think the Magic and possibly the Spurs (with a few corresponding moves) could make some noise as well. Obviously the Bulls and Clipps have established rosters as they played in the finals last season. For the Magic, Cole seems to be an absolute stud and can keep them relevant alone. If the Spurs can upgrade at PG, I think that they could definitely become a force with Embiid and AD anchoring the paint.

2. I believe the Heat are prime candidates for a rebuild. They do not have their first this year, so that would obviously complicate things. But after this season it would probably be a good idea. They have some pieces they could auction off for some picks/prospects potentially. They have an aging roster with a couple young pieces that they could use to build around.

3. Scottie Pippen, for sure. His production is ridiculous at this stage in his career as a rookie. It is only one sim in but he also performed very well in preseason too. I would imagine this isn't a one off situation. Christian Brown looks like the absolute steal of the draft, ratings wise at least. If he is able to play up to those ratings the Knicks got a stud at pick 24. An honorable mention for me is Drake London, he looks like he could be a solid player as well.

4. It has to be the Thunder, right? Maybe the Spurs as well? The Thunder were able to draft at #1 and #2 in this past draft, that is a recipe for any team to improve drastically. They made Bronny the #1 pick and then obviously traded him to the Raptors for Culver/Walker. I may have given Bronny another TC just to be sure, but I can understand where they are coming from especially with Pippen's production. The Spurs also had a solid offseason, after dealing for AD they were able to snag Embiid to pair with him. Those two alone will keep the team relevant, but he needs to make some corresponding moves to be considered a true contender. I know their moves made them paper thin as far as depth goes, but if they are able to add depth they went from a bottom tier team to a playoff contender.

5. I sound like a parrot here, but none the less it has to be said. Lauri making 27M this season and still costing 2 1sts is a pretty big head scratcher for the Hawks. I also thought the Pistons drastically overpaying Kevin Porter Jr was a huge mistake, pretty easily the worst contract handed out this offseason. He has solid ratings for his age, but looking at his production (career splits of .432%/.619%/.283%)leads you to believe those may be somewhat empty. The Mavs are worthy of mentioning, unfortunately. Moving Mitchell for a Adiassa based deal I wouldn't have minded, but toss in Goga's contract and not really getting any more compensation wasn't great. On top of that they moved Adiassa., who I think will be a stud.