You're Moving Us To Toronto?!!

[zike_42]

Love it. DeRozan is the most underrated player in the default game IMHO. Great job so far.

Thanks, I have a greater respect for Tim's work because it is taking a looooong time to go through a season.

I'm going to try and do a month every 2 days or so, which means a season every week. That's the plan anyway.

About DeRozan, I agree but I tweaked the roster a bit (increasing Griffin, Love, decreasing Howard etc) and gave DeMar a few more points in his potential so hopefully for my sake he grows into it.

[smartman]

ROTFL, you did something no one in history has ever done, gotten Ray Allen to be disrespectful. Imagine how bad team chemistry would have been had you added AI. Nice to see Rondo killing it like that.

[zike_42]

Even though we aren’t in the playoffs, I’m still excited about this year’s edition.

-Will the highly touted Miami Thrice come from 3rd in the East to win it?
-How will the #1 seed Chicago Bulls handle the pressure?
-And can anyone stop the Laker juggernaut?

First round first.

Eastern Conference:
#1 Chicago Bulls vs. #8 Atlanta Hawks
#2 Orlando Magic vs. #7 Milwaukee Bucks
#3 Miami Heat vs. #6 Philadelphia 76ers
#4 Boston Celtics vs. #5 New Jersey Nets

Western Conference:
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #8 Houston Rockets
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #7 San Antonio Spurs
#3 Portland Trailblazers vs. #6 Utah Jazz
#4 New Orleans Hornets vs. #5 Dallas Mavericks

There were no upsets in the first round with all four top seeds from both conferences going through, but it wasn’t without storylines.

The number 7 Bucks pushed the 2nd seed Magic to 7 games, where Milwaukee ran out of puff losing by 32 points.

With Greg Oden starting at PF because LaMarcus Aldridge will be out for a looooooooong time with a torn MCL puts up a 30 point, 16 rebound performance in game 7 as the #3 Trailblazers won over the #6 Jazz.

The only sweep of the first round wasn’t the Lakers (who won in 5) but the #4 Celtics, crushing the #5 Nets.

Second Round:

Eastern Conference
#1 Chicago Bulls vs. # 4 Boston Celtics
#2 Orlando Magic vs. #3 Miami Heat

Western Conference
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #4 New Orleans Hornets
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #3 Portland Trailblazers

Three of the four match-ups were won by the underdogs, including both #1 seeds going down.

A broken wrist to Derrick Rose couldn’t have come at a worse time as the old heads of the Celtics (plus Andrea Bargnani, who is leading the team in scoring in the playoffs with 18.1 a game) beat the young Bulls 4-1.

The Miami Thrice came though and conquered Superman and the Magic 4-1. The 3 Kings are averaging 57.5 points, 22.6 rebounds and 10.9 assists for the Heat, upstaging Dwight Howard’s 22.8 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.1 blocks for the playoffs.

New Orleans went to Staples for a game 7 and came out on top, winning the series 4-3. The Lakers relied too much on Kobe Byrant (30 points) and Pau Gasol (22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 blocks and 5 assists) while the Hornets had 6 players in double figures with Chris Paul leading the way with 18 points and 19 assists.

The other Western Conference Semi-Final went down to a game 7, with the #2 Nuggets ousting the #3 Trailblazers 115-101. Mr. Clutch, Chauncey Billups scored 29 points and dished 10 assists to show true leadership in the crunch time.

Conference Finals:

Eastern Conference
#3 Miami Heat vs. #4 Boston Celtics

Western Conference
#2 Denver Nuggets vs. #4 New Orleans Hornets

The Heat was too strong for the ailing Celtics sweeping the series. No game was particularly close; the narrowest margin was 9 points with the other 3 being over 20.

The western semi-final wasn’t much better with the Nuggets winning 4-1. Even though Mo Williams is only playing 20 minutes a game, he is averaging 9 points and 5 assists, giving Chauncey Billups a well deserved break.

2011 NBA Finals
#3 Miami Heat vs. #2 Denver Nuggets

Point Guard
Carlos Arroyo vs. Chauncey Billups
7.9 points, 3.2 assist, 2.5 rebounds vs. 18.6 points, 7.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds

No question who wins this matchup. Arroyo is the best they could get with the money left over after the Heatles.

Winner - Denver

Shooting Guard
Dwayne Wade vs. Arron Afflalo
24.6 points, 4.5 assists, 6.4 rebounds vs. 15.5 points, 1.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds

Afflalo is a good role player, but Wade is a superstar. Look for Wade to have his way with the younger player.

Winner – Miami

Small Forward
Lebron James vs. Carmelo Anthony
17.8 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds vs. 26.3 points, 3.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds

The match-up of the Finals. If James can neutralize Anthony, it’s game over for the Nuggets. But if Anthony can catch fire, which he can, look out Heat.

Winner - Draw

Power Forward
Chris Bosh vs. Kenyon Martin
17.8 points, 1.7 assists, 12.7 rebounds vs. 9.9 points, 1.2 assists, 9.6 rebounds

Kenyon Martin is a quality player, but you need a lock down defender to go against Bosh. Martin has a bit of mongrel in him that might upset Bosh.

Winner – Miami

Centre
Udonis Haslem vs. Nene Hilario
8.5 points, 1.4 assists, 11.5 rebounds vs. 10.5 points, 2.2 assists, 9.8 rebounds

Haslem is giving up 3 inches and doesn’t have the reach that Nene has. Denver needs Hilario to have a huge series to have a shot at this.

Winner – Denver

Bench
Carl Landry, Mario Chalmers vs. Mo Williams, Al Harrington

All-star for Denver, none for Miami. Al Harrington played well in Nene’s absence and needs to replicate that here.

Winner – Denver

Overall – Miami’s big 3, Miami Thrice, The 3 Kings, The Heatles or whatever you want to call them will be too strong. However, if Billups and Anthony can take this team on their shoulders then they could pull an upset.

Miami in 5.

Game 1 @Denver – 114-103 Miami (1-0)
Denver’s notables – Nene Hilario: 23 points, 10 rebounds; Carmelo Anthony: 11 points, 3/10 shooting.
Miami’s notables – Dwayne Wade: 31 points; Chris Bosh: 24 points, 13 rebounds

Game 2 @Denver – 101-87 Miami (2-0)
Denver’s notables – Chauncey Billups: 23points; Carmelo Anthony: 17 points, 3/11 shooting.
Miami’s notables – Chris Bosh: 21 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists

Game 3 @Miami – 127-111 Miami (3-0)
Denver’s notables – Chauncey Billups: 15 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 7 turnovers.
Miami’s notables – Dwayne Wade: 32 points; Chris Bosh: 22 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Game 4 @Miami – 120-87 Miami (4-0)
Denver’s notables – Mo Williams: 25 points; Carmelo Anthony: 12 points.
Miami’s notables – Lebron James: 41 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists.

Well, that wasn’t pretty. Your 2011 NBA Champions are the Miami Heat. Pretty crazy, I think if Derrick Rose didn’t get injured the Bulls would have given the Heat a huge battle, I just hope they don’t have any injuries next year.

Woo, lottery time! This is where all our (un)hard work will pay off. We have the highest chance of the #1 pick at 23.3%.

14 – Phoenix Suns (-1)

Oh no.

13 – Golden State Warriors (-1)
12 – Oklahoma City Thunder (-1)
11 – Los Angeles Clippers (-1)
10 – Memphis Grizzlies (-1)
9 – Cleveland Cavaliers (-1)
8 – Sacramento Kings (-1)
7 – Indiana Pacers (-1)
6 – Washington Wizards (-1)
5 – Detroit Pistons (-2)

Oh please no.

4 – Charlotte Bobcats (-2)
3 – New York Knicks (+12)

Oh thank god.

2 – Minnesota Timberwolves (+2)

Phew.

1 – Toronto Raptors (-)


What you just heard then was the biggest sigh ever heard on Earth. I am almost certain that Kevin King will be drafted with the #1 pick. Rajon Rondo is just too good to pick Bebutov.

Onto awards.

Most Valuable Player:
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic - 22.4 points, 1.7 assists, 14.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 3.6 blocks per game.
Great to see my 2013 pickup is going so well.

Defensive Player of the Year:
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic.
No one else came close.

Sixth Man of the Year:
Greg Oden, Portland Trailblazers – 13.3 points, 0.9 assists, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Once Marcus Camby retires look for Oden to make the leap.

Rookie of the Year:
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings – 11.1 points, 1.8 assists, 8.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.6 blocks.
Good choice, only competition was Evan Turner.

Coach of the Year:
Monty Williams, New Orleans Hornets – 52-30 (.634).
Did well with what he had; let’s hope it’s not a fluke.

All NBA First Team:
Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

All NBA Second Team:
Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns
Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
Lebron James, Miami Heat
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

All NBA Third Team:
Deron Williams, Utah Jazz
Brandon Roy, Portland Trailblazers
Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks

Big call giving a would-be rookie an All NBA nod, and I would have put Bogut over Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo (bias) over Deron Williams, but oh well.

All Defense First Team:
Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte Bobcats
Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

All Defense Second Team:
Rajon Rondo, Toronto Raptors
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Lebron James, Miami Heat
Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks

Great to see Rondo get on there, he just needs some help around him.

All Rookie First Team:
John Wall, Washington Wizards
Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers
Wesley Johnson, Minnesota Timberwolves
Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings

All Rookie Second Team:
Grevis Vasquez, Memphis Grizzlies
Xavier Henry, Memphis Grizzlies
Al-Farouq Aminu, Los Angeles Clippers
Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
Cole Aldrich, Oklahoma City Thunder

Ed Davis was robbed, ROBBED! Ahem, anyway.

Mr. Petway calls me soon after to go over how I think the season went. I thought it was kind of rude to just phone me about something like this until he told me he was on business in Australia.

He starts, “it wasn’t a very good season, how do you think it went?”

“With what I had to deal with I thought it wasn’t too bad. I got rid of long contracts, gave us cap flexibility, got a very, very good building block in Rajon Rondo and somehow landed the number one draft pick.”

“Well, you did say that we would have cap space but I don’t really like being last in the league. Keep up the good work but if you keep up this poor play then watch out. Nothing sinister, just a warning.” He said.

“Not a problem, we should be fine. I will talk to you later.”

[zike_42]

There was only one coach signing, with Steve Patterson going to Charlotte as their 3rd assistant coach for 4 years.

The mock draft has been posted, and there are a few surprises:

1 – Toronto – SF Kevin King
2 – Minnesota – SG Chris Norvell
3 – New York – PF Jason Beck
4 – Charlotte – C Michael Nicholson
5 – Detroit – SF Ben Mascoe
6 – Washington – SF Marcus Mance
7 – Indiana – PF Mario Hayes
8 – Sacramento – PF Michael Sims
9 – Cleveland – PG Varlam Bebutov
10 – Memphis – C James Blanchard
11 – Los Angeles Clippers – SF Quinn Trent
12 – Oklahoma City – SG Icikas Skapovsky
13 – Golden State – SF Brian Perkins
14 – Phoenix – SG Brandon Dawson

As you can see Bebutov will not fall to #9, if he does I will resign my post. If Ben Mascoe can have a good tryout he might even rise to #2 to Minnesota. On the other hand if Mario Hayes shows the poor work ethic from college he might drop out of the lottery altogether.

Before the draft the NBA put a suggestion to the whole league that to liven up the draft they would put as many players on the trading block as possible. No hard feelings to the players, just business. Not all teams will put players up, nor will they put all their players there, just a few. I’m putting all our players up, not expecting much because I’m not trading Rondo and there isn’t much else. Maybe Jarrett Jack.

A look over the prospects shows that Bebutov is extremely raw, but is a great kid and is one of the hardest working prospects around. Jason Beck looks great but the two Wake Forest players (Mario Hayes and James Blanchard) look like they have loads of talent but no brain on their shoulders. I won’t be surprised if Ben Mascoe goes #2, he looks great and has a great attitude.

It’s draft night and everyone and his dog knows we are taking Kevin King, but I wait our allotted five minutes to see if anyone would overpay, but no. I’m ecstatic about having someone like King on our team.

1 – Toronto – SF Kevin King

Before the second pick Dallas rings me and offers C Alexis Ajinca and their 1st round pick (#23) for DeMar DeRozan which I quickly turn down. I want DeMar around to see if he can grow and become our starting SG.

2 – Minnesota – SF Ben Mascoe
Called it.

I get another call from Milwaukee this time offering PF Ersan Ilyasova and PG Keyon Dooling for SG Jarrett Jack. I have a long look at this, although Jack was our 3rd leading scorer the two Bucks are expiring and can contribute to our team. I accept their trade and the trade report will be after the draft.

3 – New York – PG Varlam Bebutov
I’m not sure New York is the best place for Bebutov as he will need a few seasons and the Knick crowd can be brutal. Maybe we can sign him cheap when he comes off his contract.

4 – Charlotte – PF Jason Beck
Great pick for the Bobcats.

5 – Detroit – SF Brian Perkins
Probably a ‘too soon’ pick especially with Marcus Mance still on the board.

6 – Washington – C Michael Nicholson
Stellar pick by the Wizards, now they have two corner pieces with John Wall at PG and Nicholson at C. In a few years, watch out.

7 – Indiana – PF Michael Sims
Tyler Hansborough has been too inconsistent (as well as injured) and Sims can be a good starter for them.

8 – Sacramento – C James Blanchard
I don’t get this pick, sure Blanchard is a good player (albeit lazy) but they have Cousins at C who is 6’11 292lbs and Blanchard is 6’10 283lbs. I’m betting that they are going to try and play them both and see if they can get a Robinson-Duncan duo out of this.

I must have a bulls-eye on my back because the Clippers tried to fleece me. SG Eric Gordon, PG Randy Foye and PF Brian Cook for PG Rajon Rondo is almost insulting, and I hang the phone up. Sure Gordon is a good SG, but Rondo is special.

9 – Cleveland – SG Chris Norvell
Reports say Norvell has a bad attitude, which is the reason why he dropped. I don’t see much to him anyway.

10 – Memphis – PG Boleslav Silajdic
Terrible pick. A 20 year old, 5’11 166lb PG with terrible work ethic being drafted in the lottery is atrocious. Memphis must be up to something.

11 – Los Angeles Clippers – SF Marcus Mance
Slips to 11 because he is awfully turnover prone, but for now just needs to be a great defender (which he is) and spot up shooter (ditto) for Blake Griffin and the Clips.

**TRADE**
Boston trade PG Eddie House to Miami for C Shaquille O’Neal

12 – Oklahoma City – SG Icikas Skapovsky
Will be a good backup for the Thunder, and standing 6’7 will cause some problems for team’s second units.

13 – Golden State – SF Quinn Trent
Quality pick for the second to last lottery pick.

14 – Phoenix – PF Mario Hayes
Finally. Doesn’t really care and will probably not fulfil his massive potential. For the last lottery pick it is a great choice but his attitude is worrying.

15 – Philadelphia – C Chris Walker
Great rebounder, above average passer but a little soft for a centre. Decent pickup.

16 – Atlanta – PG Carlos Lang
Going to battle Jeff Teague for 3rd PG (Joe Johnson started there all season).

I’m interested in PG Jules Riley who has potential. He is skinny (163lbs) but can play but I have nothing the Bucks want.

17 – Milwaukee – C Travis Grimes
Very, very raw but shows potential. Can be a good backup for Bogut down the line.

18 – New Jersey – PF Jarian Turner
Too small for PF and doesn’t have much upside. Career backup.

19 – Boston – PG Jules Riley
I tried frantically to squeeze Boston’s pick but they wouldn’t budge. Oh well.

20 – Houston – SF Dion Carlisle
Spot up shooter that can defend a bit.

21 – Utah – SG Colin Cross
Small (6’4) SG who has been panned by everyone. Got a good head on his shoulders but those shoulders are made of glass.

22 – San Antonio – SF Bryen Dickerson
Too much style and not enough substance. Strange pick for the Spurs even if Dickerson is a good player.

23 – Dallas – PF Tre Phillips
Great defender and is a beast of a man. Great pick to protect Dirk Nowitzki for bigger guys. Hard worker and will bring it every night.

24 – Sacramento – PF Justin Westbrooks
Sacramento is trying to put out a team of PFs and Cs. Strange pick, even if he has got some talent.

25 – New Orleans Hornets – SG Brandon Dawson
He finally gets picked. Tabbed at #14 on the mock draft, a 6’2 SG was never going to be a good pick. I don’t think the Hornets will be able to have Dawson and Chris Paul at the same time, they will get eaten alive by bigger guards.

26 – Portland – C Dan Carter
Slow big man that has good fundamentals but takes eons to show them.

27 – Orlando – PG Andrew Norwood
Decent player that will be able to back up Jameer Nelson but will never be a starter.

28 – Chicago – PG Winston Price
Average defender, but nothing else of worth. They were hoping for Norwood to drop.

29 – Denver – SG Raymond Thomas
Pretty good shooter and is 6’8, I was hoping he would drop to the second round.

30 – Los Angeles Lakers – C Scott Williams
Lakers get a steal. Williams is small (6’9) but is a bull inside.

I’m looking for a C with the 31st pick and the massive 7’5 289lb behemoth Dennis Edwards stand out. He averaged 3.4 blocks and 12.2 rebounds last year for Fresno State which is exactly what we need here.

31 – Toronto – C Dennis Edwards
The media loves it, which picks me up a little.

I glaze over the rest of the second round, only perking up when there was a trade. Here are all the draft trades.

Toronto trades:
SG Jarrett Jack

Milwaukee trades:
PF Ersan Ilyasova
PG Keyon Dooling

Why for Toronto:
Even though Jack was their 3rd leading scorer, he was due to make over $5 million for the next two years and the Raptors want to shed as much salary as possible, which they did here. Both Milwaukee players are expiring contracts next year.

Why for Milwaukee:
They don’t have much depth at either guard position, and Jack can play both. He is the first guard off the bench now.

Winner – Draw
Both teams get what they want out of the deal and walk away happy.

Boston trades:
C Shaquille O’Neal

Miami trades:
SG Eddie House

Why for Boston:
Not sure. They are going to have to rely on ancient Jermaine O’Neal at the C, and no-one knows why they would try and help their rivals Miami.

Why for Miami:
Their depth at C was terrible last year so picking up the Big Diesel (or whatever he is calling himself now) as well as drafting 7’2 Matt Simpson in the second round is trouble for the rest of the league.

Winner – Miami
The Heat has addressed their weakness and are looking even deadlier than last year.

Utah trades:
SF CJ Miles

Sacramento trades:
C Hassan Whiteside

Why for Utah:
CJ Miles was decent for the Jazz but with Mehmet Okur being injury plagued they needed a plan B for their 5 position. Whiteside may be a project but can be a defensive force in a few years.

Why for Sacramento:
I guess they had a plan for all those centres by trading one for a SF. Miles won’t do much for them, especially now they have 6’10 283lb rookie Blanchard at SF for some reason.

Winner – Neither
Utah got a project but he isn’t very good now and the Kings are not going use Miles properly. Puzzling for both.

New York trades:
C Ronnie Turiaf

Sacramento trades:
SG Antoine Wright

Why for New York:
Young Timofey Mozgov is oozing with potential and the Knicks want to give him as many chances as possible to shine. They also didn’t have any (zero) SGs on the team, with SF Wilson Chandler starting at the 2.

Why for Sacramento:
Who knows? They just traded away one centre and got back a worse one. To make things worse, they took on nearly $4 million extra in this trade. Baffling.

Winner – New York
Save money and give their budding centre more playing time. Sounds good to me.

Los Angeles Lakers trades:
SG Shannon Brown

Detroit trades:
SF Austin Daye

Why for Lakers:
Austin Daye is a great kid but not very good as basketball. Sure he can jump high and he has a little potential, but he will be anchored to the Laker bench.

Why for Detroit:
Ben Gordon has torn a knee tendon and will be out for a long time, so bringing in Shannon Brown will help ease the pain. Daye won’t be missed due to #9 pick Brian Perkins being so much better.

Winner – Detroit
Brown will help the Pistons, Daye won’t help the Lakers. Simple.

Dallas trades:
PG Rodrigue Beaubois

New York trades:
SG Bill Walker

Why for Dallas:
The Beaubois experiment has failed in Dallas with him being too small to play SG alongside Jason Kidd so they bring in a big 2 (6’6) in Bill Walker. Walker steps into the 6th man position for the Mavs.

Why for New York:
Toney Douglas is not a PG and Varlam Bebutov is definitely not ready yet so getting a decent PG is a good move to back up Raymond Felton.

Winner – Both
Like the Toronto/Milwaukee trade, both teams get what they want out of the trade so it’s a win/win.

Portland trades:
SF Nicolas Batum

Indiana trades:
Paul George

Why for Portland:
Paul George is good now but can be a special talent someday and steps into the starting SF position from day one. He was stuck behind Danny Granger in Indiana so here is his chance to succeed. It will help him (though not the team) that Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are out with a torn ACL and torn MCL respectively.

Why for Indiana:
Nicolas Batum can defend with the best of them and that is what George didn’t have. Having Granger and Batum manning the 3 is a great yin/yang duo; Granger the offensive half, Batum the defensive.

Winner – Indiana, just
Even though George is starting and Batum is not, Batum brings more to Indiana now than his counterpart in Portland. The grade might be different in a few years.

Kevin King looks amazing with top notch scoring and defending skills already, with potential in every other category.

Ben Mascoe for the Timberwolves looks good too, but not to King’s level.

Bebutov is very, very raw at the moment and will probably spend most of this year in the D-League. However, if he hits his potential cap he will be a top 3 point guard in the league at least, and he just might do it. He has gym rat work ethic and a great personality to boot, and at only 19 years old will be given every chance to grow into himself.

[zike_42]

I sign Dennis Edwards to a 2 year deal and give DeMar DeRozan a 3 year, $5 million extension which I believe is a steal.

Now to the cuts (cue Homer Simpson voice):
Rasheed Wallace, you’re cut.
Sasha Vujacic, you’re cut too.
Julian Wright, you are so cut.
Hey cutty, you’re cut. Sergio, you new name is cutty. Cos you’re cut.
Oh you’re so cut Jason Kapono.
David Andersen, don’t unpack you’re bags, you’re cut.
Earl Barron, you can stay.
Darius Songalia, you’re cut. But don’t go too far.

Of course I didn’t tell them like that, I just like that episode of The Simpsons.

After all that renouncing, we have nearly $24 million in cap space. I’m not really sure if I will splurge this year as the free agent crop is just OK. Sure there is Yao Ming and Tony Parker, but I’m trying to go all in.

Our Summer League looks like this:
PG – Nick Calathes
SG – DeMar DeRozan
SF – Kevin King
PF – Ed Davis
C – Dennis Edwards

Our first game is against Detroit and we lose 105-91. Kevin King nets 18 points and 8 rebounds but turns it over 5 times. Greg Monroe wins player of the game with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

We win our second game 107-103 over the Mavericks. Kevin King played well again with 21 points and 4 steals. We also had 5 other players in double figures. Bill Walker is playing well for Dallas with 22 points, 9 assists in his first game and 30 points in this one.

We lose against Golden State 98-87 because for some reason Steph Curry played. You would think that the Warriors would rest Curry would doesn’t need to play here. Dennis Edwards is showing that he can beast the boards, grabbing 13 in this game.

Our next game was a 97-93 loss to Washington. Second round pick Clarence Smith schooled us with 20 points and 14 rebounds. DJ Strawberry top scored for us with 17 off the bench.

Our last game of the Summer League was a 100-89 win over Minnesota. Dennis Edwards has played very well all summer circuit and finishes with flair, scoring 14 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking 6 shots.

So we went 2-3 in the Summer League with Kevin King leading the pack with 17.6 points and 5 rebounds. He also had 3.4 turnovers a game which is a little worrying. DeMar DeRozan was disappointing, only going for 10.6 points a game. Our surprise was Dennis Edwards going for 8.6 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks a game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was right about the free agent crop, lots good players but no superstars. Sure there is Yao Ming, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker and David West but nothing that I want to send huge contracts to. I’m looking for one year rentals this year.

I send a $4 million, 1 year contract to Reggie Evans and an $8 million, 1 year contract to Samuel Dalembert. Earl Barron wants a multi-year deal that I don’t blame him for but I offer him one $4 million contract as well as Shane Battier for $5 million.

There wasn’t much activity for about a week until a bombshell drops. Yao Ming signs a 5 year, $77.8 million contract with, wait for it, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland just got their new cash cow.

Both Reggie Evans and Earl Barron sign with us the next day, with Shane Battier and Sam Dalembert still deciding.

And the next day both sign with us. Our front line will be much stronger than last year, and hopefully we bully a few teams around.

New Jersey sign Jamal Crawford to a one year deal. It’s a bad free agency if Jamal Crawford is noteworthy. Tony Parker re-signs with the Spurs.

I have $3.8 million to spend and I want another back up PG/combo guard so I offer TJ Ford a one year, $3 million contract and he signs straight away. 13 players signed, $829,846 in the black and I think I’m done.

There is still Zach Randolph, David West and Jason Richardson as the main marquee free agents left.

New Orleans re-signs David West to a 6 year, $71 million contract on the same day that Sacramento steals Zach Randolph from Memphis to the tune of 5 years, $74 million.

Allen Iverson goes to Dallas the next day, which could be great or disastrous. The Lakers pick up Jason Richardson from $23.6 million, 4 years. Ron Artest had been poor last year so Richardson is a great signing for them.

There isn't any 'big' signings so it's onto training camp.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Training camp goes without a hitch, with DeMar DeRozan shows up in great shape and Kevin King exhibited how good he really is.

I assign Dennis Edwards to the D-League as he won’t get many minutes behind Sam Dalembert, Earl Barron and even Ersan Ilyasova playing at centre.

So the 2011-2012 Toronto Raptors goes like this:
PG – Rajon Rondo
SG – Ray Allen
SF – Kevin King
PF – Ed Davis
C – Sam Dalembert
6th – Shane Battier
7th – Earl Barron
8th – Reggie Evans
9th – Ersan Ilyasova
10th – TJ Ford
11th – DeMar DeRozan
12th – Keyon Dooling
D-League – Dennis Edwards.

The pre-season rankings have us as 11th in the East, which I am at least satisfied with.

Eastern Conference:
1 – Miami
2 – Chicago
3 – New Jersey
4 – New York
5 – Milwaukee
6 – Atlanta
7 – Boston
8 – Indiana.

Orlando has fallen through the floor, down to 9th, and good luck to Yao Ming with the Cavs seeded second last only in front of Detroit.

Western Conference:
1 – Los Angeles Lakers
2 – Golden State
3 – Denver
4 – Sacramento (!!)
5 – Minnesota (!!)
6 – Los Angeles Clippers
7 – Portland
8 – Oklahoma City.

I don’t understand why Sacramento is 4th and Minnesota is 5th. No idea what so ever. Clippers could be good; Blake Griffin is godly at the moment. Phoenix is slotted last, with the Zach Randolph-less Grizzlies second last.

[zike_42]

Our first game is on Halloween against the Cavaliers, which we win 97-90. Kevin King plays superbly with 21 points and Rajon Rondo has someone to pass to, dishing out 15 assists. Yao Ming tries his hardest for Cleveland with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Toronto Raptors 1-0

It’s a streak with a 105-83 win over Detroit. Rajon Rondo steals the show this game with 18 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Kevin King nabs 15 points and 8 rebounds. Charlie Villanueva top scores for Detroit off the bench with 17 points.

Toronto Raptors 2-0

We lose our first game of the season in a high scoring affair against the Pacers 124-117. Danny Granger (28 points, 4 steals, 4 blocks), Roy Hibbert (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Darren Collison (22 points, 9 assists) lead the way for Indiana while Rajon Rondo (27 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) and Samuel Dalembert (16 points, 15 rebounds) do the same for us.

Toronto Raptors 2-1

Ray Allen has been moved to the bench for Shane Battier and is not happy with it. Like last year he has blasted Rudy T over playing time and I respond in kind. If he is starting this now I don’t want to be going on all season causing a distraction, so I hit the phones. I really want Cleveland’s 1st round pick this year and I have a deal in place, but I can’t do it until one of our off season signings becomes eligible. For now Ray Allen is safe.

Well, this isn’t going well. After practice the next game Keyon Dooling has a go at Ed Davis. I have had enough. I can’t wait until Reggie Evans becomes eligible and strike a deal for that elusive Cleveland first round pick.

Toronto trades:
SG Ray Allen
PG Keyon Dooling
PF Ersan Ilyasova
2014 1st round pick (TOR)

Cleveland trades:
PF Antawn Jamison
2012 1st round pick (CLE)

Why for Toronto:
Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling have been a distraction so early in the season and GM Felix Elwood does not want the drama off court to impact on the court. Elwood is counting on that 1st round pick to be very high and Jamison is a serviceable big man who has a huge expiring contract.

Why for Cleveland:
All the incoming players are expiring so they don’t lose out there and Ray Allen is a quality player. They are hoping the 2014 pick will be high as the Raptors are putting all their eggs into free agency.

Winner – Toronto
The Cavs look terrible this year so the pick will be high. Ray Allen isn’t even starting (rookie Chris Norvell is at SG) so expect the drama to continue.

I’m happy with this trade but we are short handed, so I sign PG Daniel Gibson, PG Tyrese Rice, SF Da’Sean Butler and C Omar Samhan.

Our new starting line-up is:
PG Rajon Rondo
SG Shane Battier
SF Kevin King
PF Antawn Jamison
C Sam Dalembert

Our first game with the new starting five is a 120-118 win over Memphis. Rajon Rondo has a stellar game, going for 26 points, 17 assists and 5 rebounds. Sam Dalembert steps up with 18 points and 13 rebounds and Shane Battier says “Ray who?” with 20 points. Rookie PG who I panned Boleslav Silajdic proves me wrong with 19 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds as the starting PG.

Toronto Raptors 3-1

We go down to the Thunder in Oklahoma City 100-80 Kevin Durant schooling our Kevin to the tune of 30 points and 9 rebounds. Our Kevin scores 20 points while DeMar DeRozan scores 11 off the bench.

Toronto Raptors 3-2

We win in a statement game over last year’s Eastern Conference minor premiers Chicago 107-77 with DeRozan coming to the party with 27 points and Ed Davis scores 17 points in 17 minutes. Derrick Rose top scored for the Bulls with 15 points to go with 9 turnovers.

Toronto Raptors 4-2

We win again, this time over the Bucks 105-95 in Milwaukee. Shane Battier scores 31 points, Rajon Rondo has 15 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan keeps up his output with 16 points. Andrew Bogut plays the best for the Bucks with 14 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Toronto Raptors 5-2

We absolutely smash the hapless 76ers with a 126-98 home win. Antawn Jamison plays magnificently for his new team with 30 points and 10 rebounds while Rajon Rondo dishes out 15 assists to his 16 points while we shoot 57% from the field.

Toronto Raptors 6-2

We win our 4th in a row with a 119-81 win over Washington. Kevin King shows why he was #1 with 26 points in 27 minutes. We shoot 57% from the field with Ed Davis scoring 18 points (on 7/9FG) with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. This game made me smile more than all of last year.

Toronto Raptors 7-2

That’s five games on the trot with a 95-82 win over the cellar-dwelling Timberwolves. Antawn Jamison tears it up with 22 points and 7 rebounds and for the first time in I can remember we have two players with double figure assists in the same game. Rajon Rondo has 16 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds with TJ Ford coming off the bench with 1 point, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Kevin Love is the best for the Pups with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Toronto Raptors 8-2

We go to Chicago with the Bulls thirsting for our blood, and they get it with a 106-79 win. Derrick Rose is sublime with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 10/13 from the field. We shoot 34% with Sam Dalembert 9 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks our best player.

Toronto Raptors 8-3

We absolutely decimate the Knicks in the overtime period, outscoring them 17-2 in extra time for a 110-95 home win. We counter Amar’e Stoudemire’s 20 points and 20 rebounds with Sam Dalembert’s 16 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks and countered Raymond Felton’s 17 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds with DeMar DeRozan’s 18 points off the bench.

Toronto Raptors 9-3

I don’t want to jinx things but this team is looking fantastic and with loads of cap space next off season we are in a great position.

We go up against the surging 9-2 Bucks and beat them 100-88 at home. Rajon Rondo steps up with 30 points and 12 assists while Sam Dalembert is showing how good a quality centre is with 18 rebounds. Corey Maggette plays well for Milwaukee with 26 points.

Toronto Raptors 10-3

We go to Denver and get squashed to a 112-83 beatdown. We shoot 38% with Kevin King being the only bright spot. Nene shows how much of a quality centre he is with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Toronto Raptors 10-4

We beat the falling 76ers 98-82 on the back of surging Sam Dalembert 23 points and 20 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan carries the bench with 16 points.

Toronto Raptors 11-4

We fall to the pathetic (3-11) Warriors with Monta Ellis going bananas with 43 points. We have 6 players in double figures but tonight was painful, especially at home.

Toronto Raptors 11-5

We finish November with being in the 4th seed in the East. Pretty good compared to last year. Orlando is leading the way with a 12-3 record with Miami (12-4) and Milwaukee (10-4) behind them. Detroit is last with a 3-13 record (maybe I should have got their pick) with Cleveland at 6-9.

In the West the Lakers (11-2) and Houston (12-3) tied for first with the Spurs right behind them. The darlings of the pre-season rankings, the Timberwolves, are sitting at 4-12. The only two teams below them are Phoenix at 3-12 and Memphis at 2-14.

Toronto Top Scorers – Rajon Rondo (16.3), Shane Battier (14.7), Kevin King (14.4), Antawn Jamison (13.5), Sam Dalembert (10.8), DeMar DeRozan (10.3)
Toronto Top Rebounders – Sam Dalembert (11.4), Earl Barron (6.3), Antawn Jamison (5.6), Ed Davis (5.3)
Toronto Top Assisters – Rajon Rondo (9.4), TJ Ford (3.7), Kevin King (2.6)

League Top Scorers – Monta Ellis GSW (27.0), Danny Granger IND (26.4), Kevin Durant OKC (26.2), Lebron James MIA (25.9)
League Top Rebounders – Dwight Howard ORL (15.6), Amar’e Stoudemire NYK (12.8), Andrew Bogut MIL (11.6), Sam Dalembert TOR (11.4)
League Top Assisters – Chris Paul NOH (11.6), Deron Williams UTA (10.7), Raymond Felton NYK (10.4), Rajon Rondo TOR (9.4)

Rookie Top Scorers – Kevin King TOR (14.4), Jason Beck CHA (12.1), Ben Mascoe MIN (11.1)
Rookie Top Rebounders – Michael Nicholson WAS (8.3), Jason Beck CHA (7.5), Dan Carter POR (5.9)
Rookie Top Assisters – Boleslav Silajdic MEM (4.7), Carlos Lang ATL (4.5), Michael Sims IND (2.6)

[LightningStrike5]

Any chance you could take a screenshot of Kevin Kings' ratings? Sounds like the game made a god.

[Cleasby]

Any chance you could take a screenshot of Kevin Kings' ratings? Sounds like the game made a god.

this please

[Tim Moungey]

Is King the new Yeaton?

[zike_42]

Here is King's card:

http://img829.imageshack.us/i/kevinking.jpg/

[I don't know how to put a image into a thread, can anyone help? I tried to put it in the brackets but nothing came up]

As you can see, he is already a great player but he has huge potential. I love his work ethic, motivation and popularity, but his loyalty is only average so I will have to woo him to keep him.

Tim, I wish he was the next Yeaton. If he can get to those heights then I will be a happy GM.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but the NBDL championship trophy is the Mateen Yeaton Cup named after the legend of the game (even though I think he was born in the future).