Tales from the front office

[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1/GAME 3 (April 17th)
Cavaliers 126, Bulls 124

Frustrating loss after being up 14 at the half. Cleveland just kept chipping away at the lead and Sexton hit a last second bucket to send the game into overtime. In overtime we traded the lead more than a half dozen times, but when Irving fouled out late in the extra period, the Cavs took advantage of his absence and sealed the game with a Tristan Thompson three. Cleveland guard Collin Sexton led all scorers with 38 points, shooting 10-24 from the field and 5-7 from three point range. As predicted, Allen's presence was surely felt, as we dominated points in the paint 54 to 34, but Sexton wasn't to be denied and he couldn't have picked a better time to have his best game of the year. As bad as it was to lose game one, this one felt worse and unless we can comeback and tie the series before heading home, I have a fear we won't make it to the second round.

PLAYOFF TREE
EASTERN CONFERENCE

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(1) BOS 124 (3)
(8) DET 106 (0)

(4) CHI 124 (1)
(5) CLE 126 (2) OT

(3) MIL  98 (1)
(6) NYK 118 (2)

(7) PHI  94 (2)
(8) IND 102 (1)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1/GAME 4 (April 18th/19th-Western Conference)
Bulls 126, Cavaliers 106

It was a dominating performance, with all five Bulls starters in double figures. Bulls guard Zach LaVine led all scorers with 28 points, shooting 11-15 from the field and 3-3 from the three point line. Cavs scored first, but that was the last time they would hold a lead and the Bulls cruised to an easy twenty point victory. With the series now tied at two games a piece, the teams will head back to Chicago for a key game five. Unfortunately for the Bulls, both power forwards Lauri Markkanen and Davis Bertans are injured and will miss the remainder of the series. This poses a major hurdle for coach Wittman and it leaves the Bulls very thin at the position. Center Wendell Carter is the obvious choice to step into the starting lineup in place of Markkanen, but the loss of Bertans means Luke Kornet will likely see increased playing time. Kornet is a better than average defender with an excellent touch at the free throw line and his defensive skills might just be what the Bulls need to shut down the Cavs Offense. Only time will tell if Kornet is up to the task.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics swept the Pistons in four and now await the winner of the Bulls/Cavs. The Knicks are a game away from upsetting the Bucks and the 76ers and Pacers are all knotted at two games a piece. In the Western Conference, the Spurs were swept by the Jazz and both the Trailblazers and Pelicans are poised to advance. The Pelicans 3-1 lead over the L.A. Lakers is the most unexpected. The Lakers finished the season a league best 69-13, while the Pelicans finished the season 41-41 and sure the Lakers are without Demarcus Cousins, due to a torn ACL, it's hard to believe that a LeBron James, Anthony Davis led team might get ousted by Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram.


PLAYOFF TREE
EASTERN CONFERENCE

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(1) BOS 122 (4)
(8) DET  96 (0)

(4) CHI 126 (2)
(5) CLE 106 (2)

(3) MIL 113 (1)
(6) NYK 128 (3)

(7) PHI  98 (2)
(8) IND 103 (2)

WESTERN CONFERENCE (April 18th)

Code: Select all

(1) LAL 108 (1)
(8) NOP 111 (2)

(4) LAC 101 (0)
(5) POR 106 (3)

(3) DEN 111 (1)
(6) MEM  94 (2)

(2) UTA 116 (3)
(7) SAS 112 (0)

WESTERN CONFERENCE (April 19th)

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(1) LAL 100 (1)
(8) NOP 103 (3)

(4) LAC 111 (1)
(5) POR 104 (3)

(3) DEN 106 (2)
(6) MEM 105 (2)

(2) UTA 109 (4)
(7) SAS  98 (0)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1/GAME 5 (April 20th/21st)
Cavaliers 127, Bulls 113

Disaster! Kyrie went down in the third minute with a broken elbow and he will miss the remainder of the playoffs. Kyrie is the key to this franchise's success and his shoes will be all but impossible to fill. Regardless, Coby White will now be asked to carry on in Kyrie's absence and it must be noted that despite the loss, White played well, scoring 21 points in the Bulls defeat. White has excellent ball handling skills, has a high basketball IQ and is a better than average defender. Unfortunately, he is also quite young and prone to rookie mistakes. At 19, he is the youngest player on the team and has not been asked to provide significant minutes all year. White is used to coming off the bench to spell Irving for a few minutes, but he now steps into the starting lineup with the team down 3-2...so...no pressure.

PLAYOFF TREE
EASTERN CONFERENCE

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(1) BOS --- (4)
(8) DET --- (0)

(4) CHI 113 (2)
(5) CLE 127 (3)

(3) MIL 126 (2)
(6) NYK 110 (3)

(7) PHI 107 (3)
(8) IND  95 (2)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Code: Select all

(1) LAL 131 (2)
(8) NOP 104 (3)

(4) LAC 127 (2)
(5) POR 112 (3)

(3) DEN 111 (3)
(6) MEM  92 (2)

(2) UTA --- (4)
(7) SAS --- (0)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1/GAME 6 (April 22nd/23rd)
Cavaliers 126, Bulls 108

Despite all five Bulls starters being in double figures, the game was never in doubt. The Cavaliers opened up an early lead and never trailed in the 126-108 victory. The highlight of the game for the Bulls was guard Denzel Valentine, who came off the bench to score 21 points in 25 minutes. Valentine, a good long range shooter, could never have imagined having such a great night. Valentine shot 8-10 from field and 5-6 from the three point line, but unfortunately for him and the Bulls, Jordan Clarkson and Kevin Love combined for 53 points and Collin Sexton added 24 points of his own. It was just too much to over come and the season sadly comes to an early end.

In the Eastern Conference the Knicks upset the Bucks and will face the winner of the 76ers/Pacers series. In the Western Conference, both the Lakers and Clippers stave off elimination, sending their respective series to a seventh game. The Nuggets finally put away the Grizzlies in a game that set back the NBA by approximately four decades. Neither team shot better than 32% from the field and Memphis could only muster 31 points by the half. That's only one point more than Memphis guard Jamal Murray had for the entire game. Denver didn't play much better and if not for Jaren Jackson's 24 points, the series would surely have gone to a game seven...and nobody wanted to see that.

PLAYOFF TREE
EASTERN CONFERENCE

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(1) BOS --- (4)
(8) DET --- (0)

(4) CHI 108 (2)
(5) CLE 126 (4)

(3) MIL 106 (2)
(6) NYK 120 (4)

(7) PHI  96 (3)
(8) IND 109 (3)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Code: Select all

(1) LAL 133 (3)
(8) NOP 120 (3)

(4) LAC 131 (3)
(5) POR 124 (3)

(3) DEN  84 (4)
(6) MEM  79 (2)

(2) UTA --- (4)
(7) SAS --- (0)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS (Completing the 1st Round)

The 76ers win game seven and both the Lakers and Clippers come back from 3-1 deficits to advance to the next round. Now I don't necessarily follow the other games as closely as my own, but I was very interested to see how the Lakers avoided getting bounced in the first round. I'm not a LeBron hater per se, but I must admit that I was routing for a Pelicans upset. When I glanced at the box score I noticed that LeBron put up 37 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Just one rebound away from a triple-double.

Impressive...then I looked a little closer and noticed he made less that half of his 25 shots from the field and he was only 1-9 from three point range. How did he manage to score 37 points? I'm glad you asked. LeBron went to the free throw line no less than 19 times! NINETEEN! He was 12 of 19 from the charity stripe. The next closest player in the game was Zion Williamson who was 2-6 for New Orleans. For perspective, the entire Pelicans team only shot 16 free throws! That's three less that LeBron alone. Who said the NBA doesn't play favorites. [Insert eye roll here]

The crazy thing, he isn't even the most fouled player on the team. LeBron is only averaging 9.0 FTA per game, while Anthony Davis is a whopping 10.4 FTA per game, which is highest in the league. As a matter of fact, way back on November 21st we played the Lakers, losing 132-123. Davis went to the line 24 times! He was 20-24 from the free throw line...yea...he scored twenty points from the line and that's not all. Rondo went 10-14, James 8-14, Howard 3-4 and McGee 1-2. The Lakers shot 58 free throws to our 29...Did somebody let Tim Donaghy back in the league!?! ;-)

PLAYOFF TREE
EASTERN CONFERENCE

Code: Select all

(1) BOS --- (4)
(8) DET --- (0)

(4) CHI --- (2)
(5) CLE --- (4)

(3) MIL --- (2)
(6) NYK --- (4)

(7) PHI 110 (4)
(8) IND 101 (3)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Code: Select all

(1) LAL 123 (4)
(8) NOP 115 (3)

(4) LAC 131 (4)
(5) POR  93 (3)

(3) DEN --- (4)
(6) MEM --- (2)

(2) UTA --- (4)
(7) SAS --- (0)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS (2nd Round)

PLAYOFF TREE

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EASTERN CONFERENCE
     GAME 1     |    GAME 2   |    GAME 3   |    GAME 4   |    GAME 5   |    GAME 6   |    GAME 7   |
(1) BOS 122 (1) | BOS 113 (2) | BOS 122 (3) | BOS 144 (4) |
(5) CLE 103 (0) | CLE  98 (0) | CLE 115 (0) | CLE 105 (0) |

(6) NYK 114 (1) | NYK  87 (1) | NYK 109 (2) | NYK 103 (2) | NYK  98 (2) | NYK  93 (2) |
(7) PHI 107 (0) | PHI 100 (1) | PHI  94 (1) | PHI 126 (2) | PHI 115 (3) | PHI  97 (4) |

WESTERN CONFERENCE
     GAME 1     |    GAME 2   |    GAME 3   |    GAME 4   |    GAME 5   |    GAME 6   |    GAME 7   |
(1) LAL 114 (1) | LAL 139 (2) | LAL 133 (3) | LAL 113 (3) | LAL 126 (4) |
(4) LAC  86 (0) | LAC 127 (0) | LAC 121 (0) | LAC 124 (0) | LAC 115 (1) |

(3) DEN  92 (0) | DEN  85 (0) | DEN 114 (1) | DEN 123 (2) | DEN  91 (2) | DEN 106 (3) | DEN 113 (4)
(2) UTA 105 (1) | UTA 106 (2) | UTA  98 (2) | UTA 119 (2) | UTA 102 (3) | UTA  88 (3) | UTA 108 (3)

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS (CONFERENCE FINALS)

PLAYOFF TREE

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EASTERN CONFERENCE
     GAME 1     |    GAME 2   |    GAME 3   |    GAME 4   |    GAME 5   |    GAME 6   |    GAME 7   |
(1) BOS 122 (1) | BOS 105 (1) | BOS 103 (2) | BOS 110 (3) | BOS 100 (3) | BOS 114 (3) | BOS 104 (4) |
(7) PHI 119 (0) | PHI 115 (1) | PHI  92 (1) | PHI  99 (1) | PHI 113 (2) | PHI 126 (3) | PHI  90 (3) |

WESTERN CONFERENCE
     GAME 1     |    GAME 2   |    GAME 3   |    GAME 4   |    GAME 5   |    GAME 6   |    GAME 7   |
(1) LAL 113 (1) | LAL 119 (2) | LAL 103 (2) | LAL 122 (3) | LAL 116 (4) |
(3) DEN 110 (0) | DEN  98 (0) | DEN 117 (1) | DEN 120 (1) | DEN  99 (1) |

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[daltontr]

PLAYOFFS (FINALS)

Code: Select all

NBA FINALS
     GAME 1     |    GAME 2   |    GAME 3   |    GAME 4   |    GAME 5   |    GAME 6   |    GAME 7   |
(1) BOS 105 (0) | BOS 115 (0) | BOX 104 (1) | BOS 109 (1) | BOS  96 (1) |
(1) LAL 121 (1) | LAL 119 (2) | LAL  98 (2) | LAL 120 (3) | LAL 122 (4) |

GAME 1 (Staples Center)
Boston versus Los Angeles for the NBA title. Adam Silver must have been thrilled at his good fortune. Obviously, with two storied franchises meeting in the finals, the marketing machine was on full tilt. In the early going, the game seemed destined to live up to all of the hype and the two teams end the first period all knotted at 24 a piece. Unfortunately, the Celtics came unraveled in the second period and were outscored 42-19. The Lakers went in the locker room with a 66-43 lead. The game was never really in doubt at that point.
POTG: Anthony Davis - forward (LAL) 37 points / 4 assists / 19 rebounds / 5 blocks / 4 steals

GAME 2 (Staples Center)
Well LeBron haters, your greatest nightmare is nearly upon you, as the Lakers inch ever closer to an NBA title. Once again the Lakers jumped out to a big halftime lead (67-50) and then held off a late Celtics charge to go up two games to none. Although neither team could have been happy with the officiating, there were a total of 57 fouls called between the two teams, James once again seemed to get more than his fair share of calls. James was 11-17 from the free throw line, which was more than twice as many as Kemba Walker, who went to the line only eight times.
POTG: LeBron James - forward (LAL) 35 points / 11 assists / 3 rebounds / 0 blocks / 2 steals

GAME 3 (TD Garden)
Although Boston fans will rejoice in the Celtics 104-98 victory, Laker fans will point to their teams horrendous 3-point shooting as the reason for the loss. L.A. shot a dismal 1-17 (5.9%) from three, with Rajon Rondo making the lone three pointer for the team. The game was once again a festival of fouls and although the 81 total fouls doesn't come close to a league record, the referees were once again at the forefront of the post game banter.
POTG: Kemba Walker - guard (BOS) 38 points / 8 assists / 2 rebounds / 1 blocks / 2 steals

GAME 4 (TD Garden)
LeBron James scored 31 points and moved one step closer to his fourth NBA title, as the Lakers thumped the Celtics 120-109. Javale McGee dominate the paint, scoring a series high 26 points and Anthony Davis provided 28 points of his own in the victory. The only bright spot for the Celtics was guard Kemba Walker, who went 15 of 30 from the field and 6 of 14 from three to finish the game with 38 points.
POTG: Anthony Davis - forward (LAL) 28 points / 6 assists / 15 rebounds / 5 blocks / 1 steals

GAME 5 (Staples Center)
This wasn't a basketball game in as much as it was a coronation for LeBron and obnoxious Laker fans. For Boston fans and LeBron haters around the world, the loss certainly was a difficult pill to swallow, but they way the Celtics laid down in the second half made it all that much worse. Trailing 63-55 at the half, Boston was very much still in the game, but a 38-31 third quarter put the Lakers up by 14 and the fourth quarter was a complete debacle. The Lakers only managed 21 points, but that more than doubled the Celtics paltry 10 points...yes...a professional basketball team in the NBA finals could only manage 10 points in the final quarter. Pathetic.
POTG: Anthony Davis - forward (LAL) 34 points / 9 assists / 21 rebounds / 6 blocks / 2 steals

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[daltontr]

2019-2020 SEASON AWARDS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Stephen Curry (Guard GSW) 32.7 ppg / 5.5 apg / 5.8 rpg / 1.7 spg / 0.6 bpg.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Forward MIL) 21.5 ppg / 6.4 apg / 11.8 rpg / 2.3 spg / 1.9 bpg

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Hassan Whiteside (Center POR) 11.1 ppg / 0.8 apg / 7.5 rpg / 0.6 spg / 1.4 bpg

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Ja Morant (Guard MEM) 22.1 ppg / 7.3 apg / 4.3 rpg / 1.5 spg / 0.4 bpg

COACH OF THE YEAR
Quin Snyder - Utah Jazz 62-20

ALL-LEAUGE 1st TEAM
G Stephen Curry (GSW)
G Devin Booker (PHO)
F LeBron James (LAL)
F Anthony Davis (LAL)
C Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)

ALL-LEAGUE 2nd TEAM
G Damian Lillard (POR)
G Bradley Beal (WAS)
F Paul George (LAC)
F Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)
C Nikola Jokic (DEN)

ALL-LEAGUE 3rd TEAM
G Kemba Walker (BOS)
G Jrue Holiday (NOP)
F Kawhi Leonard (LAC)
F Kristaps Porzingis (DAL)
C Joel Embiid (76ers)

ALL-DEFENSIVE 1st TEAM
G Kemba Walker (BOS)
G Jrue Holiday (NOP)
F Paul George (LAC)
F Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)
C Joel Embiid (76ers)

ALL-DEFENSIVE 2nd TEAM
G Stephen Curry (GSW)
G James Harden (HOU) **cough**bullshit**cough**
F Kyle Anderson (MEM)
F Kristaps Porzingis (DAL)
C Rudy Gobert (UTA)

ALL-ROOKIE 1st TEAM
G Ja Morant (MEM)
G R.J. Barrett (NYK)
F Rui Hachimura (CHI)
F Brandon Clarke (MEM)
C Bruno Fernando (ATL)

ALL-ROOKIE 2nd TEAM
G Darius Garland (CLE)
G Kendrick Nunn (MIA)
F De'Andre Hunter (ATL)
F P.J. Washington (CHA)
C Goga Bitadze (IND)

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[daltontr]

OFF SEASON REPORT

League News
The salary cap for the 2020-2021 season has been set at $115.5 mil and the luxury cap is now $140.9 mil. That puts us $13.1 mil under the cap.

Contract News
I decided to pick up the rookie options for guard Coby White, forward Rui Hachimura and center Wendell Carter. I can still option a fourth year for both White and Hachimura later. Chandler Hutchison, forward, also has a rookie option available, but I don't plan on picking it up.

Contracts for forward Davis Bertans, guard Denzel Valentine and guard Isaiah Thomas are expiring at the end of the year. Bertans played significant minutes for the team and was a valuable player. Is he worth $7 mil a year, maybe not, but he was solid coming off the bench. I'm sure he is going to test the free agent waters, but I wouldn't mind having him back at a reasonable price. Valentine is also a solid contributor off the bench, logging solid minutes all year long. He is a bargain at $3.3 mil a year, but I'm certain he is going to demand a lot more. Like Bertans, he would be a welcome addition at a reasonable price. Thomas played less than ten minutes all year long and although his contract is a mere $2.3 mil a year, there might be better options available. Thomas, Bertans and Hachimura were part of the Young, Felicio trade with the Wizards.

Meeting with Jerry Reinsdorf
If I had to sum up my meeting with Jerry in one word, the word would be pleasant. Surprisingly, Jerry is quite affable when your not throwing away his money. He was not thrilled about us getting bounced in the first round, but who would be. Jerry actually asked me rather nicely if I'd like to return as the Bulls GM and I didn't hesitate to accept his offer.

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