As someone who plays strictly as a GM, I'd like to see more interactions with the owner during the season. Like, requests for a budget increase or maybe inputs on a trade that was made, comments about how the team is playing, etc. Also, the owner is too focused on a couple demands. I understand the purpose of the owner demands, but they are a bit myopic and I think it would be great if the owner could see the bigger picture.
For example:
This past season the owner demands were get a four-star player and make a deep playoff run. As far as a four star player goes, there are only 32 four star and above players in the league and they all command $30-40 million per year, unless they are on rookie salaries. That kind of money is virtually a third of the salary cap, which is also something of a conundrum, because the owner hates going over the cap...even a little. I was $283k of my staff budget and a mere $7m over the cap, but the owner was extremely angry?
That doesn't make a lot of sense, because there are only two teams under the cap and they both ended up in the draft lottery with a combined record of 46-118. We had the fifth lowest salary and still won fifty games. Speaking of wins. In the past two season we have gone 105-59 and made it to the second round of the playoffs in both years, but my job security dropped to 80% and now 40%.
I get that the NBA is a "what have you done for me lately" league, but two NBA titles, five Division Titles and a 245-165 record should count for something. That's pretty damned successful if you ask me and it shouldn't get trumped by something as immeasurable as not having a four star rated player and a ubiquitous playoff demand. I just think that if the owner weren't so focused on a couple of demands, it would feel less canned and more realistic. A the very least, it would be nice if the owner got excited about an NBA title or two. ;-)
Just my two cents.
(What exactly is a deep playoff run anyway and why so vague?).