Waking up in Toronto

[IWWROCKS]

Rookie Workouts

The mock drafts have us picking 22 year old Greek PF Michalis Vassilides. He is a very good shooter and rebounder. His defence has alot ot be desired but he is a clear top pick in a draft lacking greatness beyond him. He has potential to be a Bargnani which is the fear, but i'm hopeful he wont. I will almost certainly take him and I could look to end the Bosh return in order to strenghten the rest of the court and maybe free up cap space. Michalis is the first invitee to workouts.

Also invited (Mock Draft Prediction):

Lavoris Ashbury (15) - SF
John Jones (7) - PF
Derrick Mason (2) - C
Marc Gostin (6) - PG
Amir Kettle (9) - SF
Juan Harris (5) - SF
Travon Baker (3) - PF
John Cooper (4) - PG - Predicted to be drafted by Raptors
Sean Perry (10) - SG
Tezale Hunter (8) - SG
Kurtis Davis (13) - SF
Pat Caldwell (11) - PF
Larry Lyles (N/A) - PG
Andre Mariano (24) - SG

2013 NBA Draft

1 -Toronto Raptors

Michalis Vassilldes

We suprise no one with this pick. He is the best player available and now I will be letting GM's know that Chris Bosh is available. There will be other movement in the PF position though as your about to see...

TRADE

TOR Get: 2013 1st Round Pick (13)
CLE Get: Ed Davis (PF)

Ed hasn't developed into the player we would of liked and there is some decent sleeper talent in the middle of the draft I think we can take advantage of.

2 - Washington - Amanz Ibanez (SF) - what?!?! nowhere near the top half of the draft.
3 - Charlotte - Pat Caldwell (PF)

TRADE

TOR Get: Dwayne Wade (SG), Shane Battier (SG)
MIA Get: Chris Bosh (PF), 2013 1st Round Pick (4), Dion Waiters (SG) Jonas Valanciunas

Our good relationship with Miami continues! We have ourselves a star but we did have to give up alot for him. I dont feel we have compromised ourselves badly though. We have a new starter coming in at PF anyway. We've replaced Waiters like for like with Battier on the bench. Jonas was a backup to Marcin. So I feel like this is a very good deal for both teams as Miami will get some good talented players and a high draft pick.

4 - Miami - John Cooper (PG)
5 - Detroit - Juan Harris (SF)
6 - Denver - Derrick Mason (C) - Fell a long way. Good pickup for Denver.
7 - Sacremento - Travon Baker (PF)
8 - Memphis - Tezale Hunter (SG)
9 - Boston - Sean Perry (SG)
10 - Houston - Shawn Brodnax (SG)
11 - New York - Amir Kettle (SF)
12 - Orlando - Kurtis Davis (SF)
13 - Toronto -

Lavoris Ashbury (SF)

Unfortunately alot of the guys I thought would fall this far didn't. Lavoris is the best option available and can play a good role for us. He doesnt excel in any area but is a good all round option.

14 - Memphis - John Jones (PF)
15 - Brooklyn - Dominique Wise (SF)

That completes my buisness for the draft. Another very busy one and another blockbuster trade! Bosh goes to Miami (again) exactly a year after he joined and in return we get one of the best Guards to grace the league in recent memory. Wonderful!

[IWWROCKS]

I'd just like to say...having now drafted him and seen his stats...my number 1 pick Vassillides looks a REAL player

[zike_42]

Awesome about your Greek dude but I reckon you gave up too much for Wade but it looks like your team is much more balanced without Bosh.

[IWWROCKS]

Contract Decisions

I have submitted an offer sheet for DeMar DeRozan but am unlikely to match any big money offers. If I can keep him for another year relitively cheap though, i'm happy.

I have not renounced Calderon's contract. I will look to keep him.

I have given up the draft rights to Festus Ezeli

Summer League

Michalis Vassillides (PF)
Lavoris Ashbury (SF)

Invitees

Devin Harris (SG)
Ben Hansborough (PG)
Hasheem Thabeet (C)
Timofey Mozgov (C)
Festus Ezeli (C)
Trey Thompkins (PF)
Sergio Llull (PG)
James Kamara (SG)
Dennis Harrington (SF)

@ Pacers - W 90-81

Player of Game: Michallis Vassillides - 21 Pts, 14 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 Stl

Vs. Mavericks - W 82-88

Player of Game: Michallis Vassillides - 22 Pts, 1 Ast, 9 Reb, 2 Blk

@ Clippers - W 98-88

Player of Game: Timofey Mozgov - 25 Pts, 2 Ast, 7 Reb, 4 Blk

Vs. Magic - W 94-99

Player of Game: Sergio Llull - 20 Pts, 8 Ast, 4 Reb, 2 Stl

@ Nuggets - W 120-72

Player of Game: Sergio Llull - 28 Pts, 9 Ast, 6 Reb

GM Notes

An undefeated pre-season leaves me very satisfied. I may have to look at a couple of invitees who impressed me aswell. Free agency will be an interesting one. We dont have cap room, but im hoping Calderon may take a little less money.

[IWWROCKS]

Awesome about your Greek dude but I reckon you gave up too much for Wade but it looks like your team is much more balanced without Bosh.

Cheers for reading

Yeah I did give up alot and losing Jonas to an eastern team could come back to haunt me but with DeMar's contract up, and the Greek coming in, Bosh seemed unneeded and I wanted a star SG to come in. D-Wade hopefully will do just that and rebounding is going to be majorly improved this year with Gortat and the Greek (who's rebounding is 9/10 for both Offensive and Defensive)

[IWWROCKS]

Off to the Olympics for the weekend so won't be posting for a few days. Can't wait to get into free agency and get the season started. Big things coming

[IWWROCKS]

Free Agency

Having had a slight change of heart i've now renounced Calderon's contract. It leaves me 10 mil under the cap and I wouldnt want to offer more than that to him anyway. It also gives me the oppurtunity to put feelers out for a couple of other options in that position.

Day 1 - 5

No Activity

Day 6

LA Clippers re-sign Blake Griffin to a 5 year/79mil deal

Day 7

San Antonio Spurs sign Dwight Howard to a 4 year/65mil deal

New York re-sign Landry Fields to a 3 year/21mil deal

Day 8

Dallas re-sign Marreesse Speights to a 3 year/20mil deal

Day 9

Orlando sign Chris Paul to a 4 year/55mil deal

Memphis re-sign Tony Allen to a 4 year/34mil deal

Day 10

Toronto sign Ty Lawson to a an offer sheet for a 4 year/44 mil deal

Our efforts to go for Chris Paul were as expected fruitless. Ty Lawson is a guy I like alot though and I think could be a very good fit. Defensively he's very talented, can pass the ball well and put up some points when needed. Now we just need to hope the offer isn't matched.

Day 11

LA Lakers re-sign Andrew Bynum to a 5 year/75mil deal

Utah re-sign Al Jefferson to a 5 year/64mil deal

Atlanta re-sign Josh Smith to a 5 year/64mil deal

Utah re-sign Paul Milsapp to a 5 year/63mil deal

Sacremento re-sign Tyreke Evans to a 5 year/56mil deal

San Antonio re-sign Tiago Splitter to a 5 year/55mil deal

Day 12

Indiana sign Milla Pedroso to a 4 year/53 mil deal

Minnesota sign Tim Duncan to a 1 year/10mil deal

Orlando sign Nikola Perkovic to a 4 year/37mil deal

Orlando sign Jeff Teague to a 4 year/34mil deal

Charlotte sign DeMar DeRozan to a 4 year/20mil deal

I won't be matching the offer for DeMar. On another note, anyone know why european players like Pedroso dont show up on the free agency list? sucks Indiana could sign him but not me.

Day 13

Brooklyn sign Kevin Garnett to a 1 year/8mil deal

Milwaukee re-sign Brandon Jennings to a 1 year/3mil deal

Torotno sign Ty Lawson to a 4 year/44mil deal

Minnesota sign Manu Ginobili to a 1 year/7mil deal

We got him! very happy. Jose had a great year last year but I never truly had full confidence in him. Ty is the player I feel more comfortable with for the foreseeable future so let's see how it goes!

Day 14

Detroit sign Serge Ibaka to a 4 year/42mil deal

Minnesota sign James Harden to a 4 year/37mil deal

Day 15

Cleveland sign Jrue Holiday to a 4 year/38mil deal

Denver sign Samuel Dalambert to a 3 year/19mil deal

Toronto sign Sergio Llull to a 1 year/440k deal

He impressed me in summer league so i'll give him the oppurtunity but in all reality he will fill the 12th spot on the roster.

Day 16

Milwaukee sign Step Curry to a 4 year/33mil deal

Toronto sign Antwan Jamison to a 1 year/1mil deal

An experienced backup for the young rookie we drafted. He should do a decent job in the role we need.


Day 17

Toronto sign Johan Petro to a 1 year/1mil deal

Johan will play backup to Gortat. He was the best available for the price. We tried a couple of other guys who took money elsewhere so he will do.

Day 18

No activity

Day 19

LA Lakers re-sign Steve Nash to a 1 year/3mil deal

It seems he really has no intention of joining us. We offered him more money and he still wouldn't join us. Ah well. With free agency over there is still some good players without teams.

Post Free Agency Signings

Devin Harris 1year/1mil

Stephen Jackson 1year/1mil

Opening Day Roster

PG - Ty Lawson
SG - Dwayne Wade
SF - Andrei Kirilenko
PF - Michalis Vassillides
C - Marcin Gortat
6 - Antwan Jamison
7 - Devin Harris
8 - Stephen Jackson
9 - Johan Petro
10 - Lavoris Ashbury
11 - Shane Battier
12 - Sergio Llull

Conference Prediction - 4th

I like our starting lineup alot but the concern is going to be bench production. Hopefully they can do the job but it's certainly going to be our biggest challange.

[IWWROCKS]

November 2013

Vs. Bucks - W 85-103

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 31 Pts, 6 Ast, 7 Reb, 3 Blk, 6 Stl

Vs. Pacers - W 85-98

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 23 Pts, 5 Ast, 3 Reb, 1 Stl

@ Pistons - W 109-99

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 30 Pts, 5 Ast, 6 Reb, 4 Blk

@ Hornets - L 90-101

TOR Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 22 Pts, 2 Ast, 5 Reb, 2 Stl

@ Trailblazers - L 89-122

TOR Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 24 Pts, 5 Ast, 6 Reb

Vs. Cavaliers - W 84-100

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 21 Pts, 8 Ast, 6 Reb, 1 Blk, 3 Stl

@ Bulls - L 82-93

TOR Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 23 Pts, 1 Ast, 5 Reb, 1 Blk, 2 Stl

Vs. Celtics - L 113-109

TOR Player of Game: Ty Lawson - 28 Pts, 6 Ast, 4 Reb, 2 Stl

Vs. Magic - W 101-106

Player of Game: Marcin Gortat - 24 Pts, 2 Ast, 10 Reb, 4 Blk, 2 Stl

Vs. Nuggets - W 97-114

Player of Game: Michalis Vassillides - 24 Pts, 3 Ast, 11 Reb, 1 Stl

@ Cavaliers - L 88-96

TOR Player of Game: Marcin Gortat - 18 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 Stl

Vs. Knicks - W 81-100

Player of Game: Marcin Gortat - 27 Pts, 1 Ast, 8 Reb, 3 Blk, 1 Stl

Vs. Bulls - W 70-106

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 22 Pts, 2 Ast, 1 Reb, 1 Blk, 2 Stl

@ Jazz - W 125-115 OT

Player of Game: Ty Lawson - 29 Pts, 9 Ast, 3 Reb, 2 Stl

@ Celtics - W 117-114 OT

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade - 27 Pts, 5 Ast, 10 Reb, 2 Stl

Vs. Clippers - W 93-115

Player of Game: Dwayne Wade: 35 Pts, 7 Ast, 4 Reb, 1 Blk

Month Record: 11-5

Overall Record: 11-5

Team Leaders

Points - Dwayne Wade (22.0)
Assists - Ty Lawson (6.5)
Rebounds - Michalis Vassillides (11.0)
Blocks - Marcin Gortat (1.8)
Steals - Andrei Kirilenko (1.4)

Player Stats

Minutes-Points-Assists-Rebounds-Blocks-Steals

Ty Lawson: 35.8m - 15.5p - 6.5a - 4.4r - 0.1b - 1.2s

Dwayne Wade: 36.4m - 22.0p - 4.9a - 4.9r - 1.2b - 1.4s

Andrei Kirilenko: 33.8m - 8.9p - 1.6a - 4.0r - 1.1b - 1.4s

Michalis Vassillides: 37.1m - 14.1p - 2.1a - 11.0r - 0.8b - 0.4s

Marcin Gortat: 36.4m - 18.0p - 1.1a - 8.8r - 1.8b - 1.2s

Antwan Jamison: 15.2m - 6.9p - 1.1a - 3.4r - 0.2b - 0.4s

Devin Harris: 12.0m - 7.0p - 1.9a - 1.1r - 0.1b - 0.4s

Stephen Jackson: 13.0m - 4.5p - 0.8a - 2.2r - 0.0b - 0.7s

Johan Petro: 12.3m - 2.9p - 0.3a - 2.4r - 0.3b - 0.6s

Lavoris Ashbury: 5.9m - 2.8p - 1.1a - 1.0r - 0.1b - 0.3s

Shane Battier: 3.8m - 0.8p - 0.0a - 0.5r - 0.0b - 0.2s

Sergio Llull: 7.5m - 2.0p - 1.5a - 0.5r - 0.0b - 0.0s

Trades

BKL Get: Lester Hudson (PG)
PHI Get: 2014 2nd Round Pick

GM Notes

A very good start to the season. Our home record is excellent at 8-1. We can imporve away but at the end of the day we're just a game back from the top of the conference. It's early but encouraging. Vassillides has made a wonderful start and is picking up rebounds like it's change in the street. Wade also has made a fantastic start to the season. His numbers are a bit diminished by the fact he was playing through injury for 2 months. All in all, very pleasing.

[Myles Nelson]

Congrats on going to the Olympics, must have been fun to watch!

Ty Lawson was a good pickup, he's definitely earning that money right now, though probably a bit overpaid, 11M a year for him might be a little much.

Also, to be honest I thought you got fleeced in the Wade deal. Bosh + Waiters is equal to Wade, in my opinion, and then giving up Jonas and a pick as well and only getting Battier back? You may have had players in place (Gortat in front of Jonas, a new PF coming in, Battier replacing Waiters), but I still think Miami got the better of you there.

You're playing well though, so that's all that matters!

[IWWROCKS]

Congrats on going to the Olympics, must have been fun to watch!

Ty Lawson was a good pickup, he's definitely earning that money right now, though probably a bit overpaid, 11M a year for him might be a little much.

Also, to be honest I thought you got fleeced in the Wade deal. Bosh + Waiters is equal to Wade, in my opinion, and then giving up Jonas and a pick as well and only getting Battier back? You may have had players in place (Gortat in front of Jonas, a new PF coming in, Battier replacing Waiters), but I still think Miami got the better of you there.

You're playing well though, so that's all that matters!

It was brill! Unfortunately GB couldnt pull off a win (beating China with 2 mins to go atm so looks like we might gain a win at least!) It was good seeing stars like Deng, Ginobili, Scola. My first time seeing NBA players so a great experience.

Yeah well I offered a bit more than I wanted purely because he was a RFA and I wanted to put them off matching the offer. Hopefully it proves wise.

Yeah I did give up too much looking back on it but hey it's working out good, and it'd be boring if I was a perfect GM who got everything right :P

EDIT: GB win!!!! Almost feels like a gold medal just winning a game. Such a great acheivement