New York, New York! Bringing a championship home

[Tim Moungey]

Selfishly I say the Pacers, because when I'm done with my thesis and defend it this semester, I'm hoping to pick DDS3 back up and run a Nevada Neon expansion dynasty.

[AussieVilla]

Firstly, must say how I've loved following your dynasty... It's interesting to see how the league plays out in the (hypothetical) future

While I'd love you to take on the challenge of managing the Nevada Neon (a franchise and name close to my heart) I feel you need to park your managerial bus in D-Town and become part of the Cuban family... I'm sure you'll be bale to sneak a couple of great players away from the Grizz to ensure your Mavs start off on the right foot...

Anyway, best of luck for whatever lies ahead...

S.

[PointGuard]

I vote for Seattle. Maybe you can rename them the Seattle Supercolonics.

[jcomey]

I'd say Dallas, due to the ownership. Or Seattle, just to see what you could do there with a bare cupboard.

[Cleasby]

Seattle and Nevada for me!

[zike_42]

Hmm, it was close between Dallas and Seattle but I'm to go to the Big D and see if I can settle down Mark Cuban with a championship. Sorry, in this game his name is Mike English.

[zike_42]

Texas is my new home, as Dallas Mavericks owner Mike English rang back and I answered him in the positive. I’m actually really excited with this team, not because of the current squad but because of what I can do with it. Mr English LOVES basketball. He doesn’t care about money and will give me as much time as I need to construct a championship quality team. I actually want to win more just to pay him back for his amazing hospitality.

But first, how bad is this team? Here are the current Maverick players.

PG Brandon Jennings – Our superstar, and a top 3-5 PG in the league. He has grown out of his immature attitude and is now a great leader. He has a torn MCL at the moment but will be back for the start of the season. He will be here until he retires while I’m on watch.

PG Nathan Howard – A two year pro he was drafted #13 and has some passing skills but can’t score much. He is an excellent stealer but is a woeful defender which means he gambles way too much. Could be decent but I’ll try and trade him while his value is still fairly high.

PG Jevin Lindeman – Coming off his rookie season, he is the perfect bench PG in my books. He is an above average defender and has the potential to be an excellent one; he has good enough passing skills and can score when needed. The best thing about him is that everyone loves him and he doesn’t need a lot of minutes to be happy. Will be our bench PG for the future.

SG Eddie Beck – Very, very mediocre guard who is on an expiring contract and will not be back next season. Could be thrown in trades to make salaries match.

SF Pat Archie – Decent enough player that is on the last year of his rookie contract. He will most likely be traded though because of his awful defence and the one thing I hate is terrible defenders. Should get something good out of him.

SF Lorec Balosak – When he was drafted I was quite high on him but he just can’t be a good defender. Balosak is still developing but it won’t be here.

SF Nicolas Batum – Our second best player his contract is a little too much for my liking but his a very good player. Won’t put up massive amounts of points but he can do everything else. Will be our starting SF.

SF Derek Thomas – Four year pro who will never amount to his vast potential and will be on a one way trip to anywhere. There is a pattern arising here, decent SFs who have potential but aren’t good defenders which just isn’t my way.

SF Danilo Gallinari – Can put up points up in a hurry and honestly a good player. However he is owed nearly $17 million over two years which is just too much money for someone who will be our back up SF. Will also be traded.

PF Chad Barrow – Where do I start with Barrow? Firstly, he is one of the worst defenders in the league. Second, he has terrible work ethic and doesn’t want to get better. Third, his contract is enormous for a player of his talent. Fourth, he is too small to play PF and too slow to play SF. I want to trade him but I don’t know if I will be able to which sucks.

PF Markieff Morris – It’s very disheartening that a player like Morris is our likely starting PF. He can rebound and defender but he can’t do anything well. He is also paid too much for my liking. Urgh.

PF Anthony Walls – Really shouldn’t be on this team. He can score but that is it. Why did the previous GM give all these second rounders that can’t play well over the minimum? Wall is currently owed $8 million over two years and for someone of his talent that is highway robbery.

C Jason Smith – Really? Smith gets over $6 million a year just for being seven foot tall? This is getting ridiculous. I’m starting to see why the previous GM was canned.

C Kareem Baker – Another second round pick but at least this guy is decent and still on his rookie contract. He can’t score, or pass, or rebound by boy can he defend and for 10 minutes a night that’s fine with me.

C Nikola Pekovic – Our third best player and will probably stick around unless I can find something better. He can score, rebound and defend which is what you want from a C but I’m worried about his popularity, as the fans doesn’t seem to like seven foot Croatians that look like they would murder their family.

So out of 15 players I would love to trade all but four of them. It’s easier said than done though as their contracts are really going to make it hard. I’m almost certain I won’t be drafting in the first round this year, even though we have a lottery pick.

[zike_42]

Onto the expansion draft with Seattle drafting before Nevada. I can protect up to eight players but I hold onto five – Jennings, Batum, Lindeman, Baker and Pekovic. I hope that at least some of the others get picked up.

Here are Seattle’s selections –

SF Danilo Gallinari
C Brad Ryan
PF Glen Davis
PF Gustavo Ayon
PF Taj Gibson
C Donnie Hankins
PG Marcus Collins
C Thomas Boone
PF Kareem Rhodes
SF John Bragg
SF Brandon Rush
PG Nate Nixon
PF Antonio Haginas
PF Quyn Cox

Thoughts – They selected six PFs so this is a fail in my opinion. Only two PGs and zero SGs is also a fail. On the plus side they took Gallinari’s contract off our hands.

Here are Nevada’s selections –

PG Riyad Burke
PF Jason Chambers
SG Wesley Matthews
SG Billy Huld
PF Bernard Neal
PG Trello Price
PG Brian Taylor
SG Steve Anderson
C Jeremy Tyler
SG Charles Gaines
PG Jose Juan Barea
PF Jermaine Gadzuric
C Jerrance Hicks

Thoughts – No SFs on the team because Seattle stole them all at least they have some young guys to build with. Huld, Neal and Price aren’t going to set the world on fire but they are decent and will probably start the season. Much better draft than Seattle.

We need a new head coach and even though there were some decent established coaches I decided to go with a guy who is 71 years old and has never coached an NBA game. Jaymes Bekale stood out for me with his excellent offensive and defensive skills and his strategy is off the charts. He isn’t the best developer but for a team constantly stuck in ‘win now’ mode he is the best choice. And he’s cheap. He signs the next day and is over the moon about it. Memphis decides that they don’t want to win the championship by signing Mike D’Antoni to be their head coach. I’m not sounding bitter, am I?

We have been shunted down to #11 in the draft with the addition of Seattle (#4) and Nevada (#5) so I’m not really confident that we will get much out of the draft as it is very top heavy. C Ronnie Howard is intriguing as he is super raw but has oodles of potential.

2019 NBA Mock Draft
1 – Boston – SF Raul Lopez
2 – Phoenix – SF Ryan Garris
3 – LA Lakers – PF Chad Dickenman
4 – Seattle – SG Ross Lampley
5 – Nevada – SF Sean Morris
6 – Miami – SG Clarence Telly
7 – Portland – PG Matt Brown
8 – LA Clippers – PG Tate McKenzie
9 – Orlando – C Eryk Charnowski
10 – Chicago – PF Brandon Anderer
11 – Dallas – SG Roman Tiggs
12 – Golden State – C Ronnie Howard
13 – Philadelphia – PF Dylan Hahn
14 – Brooklyn – PG Darius Nolan

Out of the top 10 the only one that probably shouldn’t be there is Clarence Telly, otherwise looks pretty good.

[zike_42]

2019 NBA Draft

Going into this draft I wanted to trim down our SF stocks as well as improve our starting SG and PF. No small task with these contracts.

1 – Boston – SF Raul Lopez
No surprise here, he is already a star and will be a superstar soon enough.

I try and pry the #2 pick off Phoenix but they don’t have a bar of it.

2 – Phoenix – SF Ryan Garris
The second best player in the draft all year, I’m surprised it has taken this long for him to be put there. Amazing defender which Lopez just doesn’t have.

As I’m familiar with Memphis’ squad I see if I can steal a few guys off them. The Grizz weren’t having any of it until I decided to include Chad Barrow, and for some reason they jumped at it. I don’t know why as Barrow really isn’t a good player but oh well, good for us.

Dallas trade:
SF Lorec Balosak
PF Chad Barrow

Memphis trade:
SG Joe Abney
C Andrew Bogut
PF Ekpe Udoh
2021 1st round pick

Winner – Dallas. They get two probable starters and one sixth man for two guys they didn’t want.

I’m delighted with this deal as Abney will finally get a chance to start and Udoh is for now our starting PF. The pick shouldn’t be too high in two years time but at least it is ammunition.

3 – LA Lakers – PF Chad Dickenman
Great pick here and will most likely start with whoever the Lakers decided they want to start at centre.

4 – Seattle – SG Ross Lampley
They have a bazillion forwards on the team so getting a nice SG is a good pick here. Not the best defender but at 6’8” has the length to trouble other SGs.

5 – Nevada – SF Sean Morris
Hmm, I’m not sure about this pick. If they were going for BPA they should have got Brandon Anderer or Matt Brown.

I send #11 and #44 to the Clippers for #8 and then #8 and a future second rounder for #6 from Miami and now I have a conundrum on my hands. Should I pick the best young PG in the draft and see what I can get for Brandon Jennings? Or should I go safe and pick Anderer? What to do...

I go back on my word and get both.

Dallas trade:
PG Brandon Jennings
PF Markieff Morris
2021 1st round pick
2020 2nd round pick

Portland trade:
PF LaMarcus Aldridge
#7 pick

Winner – Both. Portland get an All NBA PG while although Aldridge is a bit older he can still pack a wallop. They also get the #7 pick in the draft.

I’m not proud of trading Jennings even after I said that he was going to be here until he retires but this deal was too good to pass up on.

6 – Dallas – PG Matt Brown
Let’s hope he can withstand the pressure of living up to Brandon Jennings.

7 – Dallas – PF Brandon Anderer
Not a good passer but is still young. He will be able to learn from LaMarcus Aldridge to get better.

Urgh, I feel sick after that trade.

What the hell, while I’m completely destroying this team I’ll make another trade.

Dallas trade:
C Nikola Pekovic
C Jason Smith
2021 1st round pick

Washington trade:
C Joakim Noah
SF Dylan Peterson

Winner – Dallas. After their very iffy trade to Portland the Mavs have bounced back here. Noah is a better C than Pekovic while Peterson is a great addition to the bench. The pick will be low for the Wizards while Smith is just a big body to take up space.

I like this trade as Noah will do everything that Aldridge won’t. I also really like Peterson as a bench SF as he can do everything at least competently. I think I’m done for now.

8 – Miami – C Eryk Charnowski
He may be very raw but if the Heat stay with him he could get to All Star talent. Probably tied as the best C in the draft.

9 – Orlando – C Ronnie Howard
Here is who was tied with. Another super raw big man and also has All Star talent. I’m going to enjoy seeing how these two play in the future. Could be a good rivalry down in Florida.

10 – Chicago – PF Robert Arnold
The man with two first names is a decent, if unspectacular player. Look for him to be an average player for his career and probably not worth a top ten pick.

11 – LA Clippers – PG Tate McKenzie
The second best PG behind Matt Brown and a good pick here at #11. Finally the Clips have a proper PG and Dion Waiters can go back to his preferred SG position.

12 – Golden State – C Chris Watkins
I think the Warriors wanted either Charnowski or Howard to fall to them as this is a reach. Not a massive reach but a reach nonetheless.

13 – Philadelphia – C Austin Huge
Huge is a good term for him at 6’11” and 280lbs he is really good at pushing people around. He might not be able to do that here in the NBA and could struggle early.

14 – Brooklyn – PF Leone De Niro
The Italian fell to the end of the lottery but this is a great pick here. Unfortunately the Nets are loaded with PFs and he will have to scrap for minutes behind Blake Griffin and Donte Rock.

15 – Boston – PF Scott Woodruff
16 – Atlanta – SG Clarence Telly
I didn’t think he would go top six but at #16 it is a good pick.

17 – Sacramento – PF Dylan Hahn
Another great pick here, I would have thought he would go in the lottery so the Kings have a steal here.

18 – Toronto – PG Anthony McKie
19 – Milwaukee – SG Sean Gilmore
20 – Indiana – C Peter Neal
21 – Denver – PG Darius Nolan
22 – New York – SG Roman Tiggs
23 – Philadelphia – PG Arthur Evans
24 – New Orleans – SF Dermek Mouton
25 – Charlotte – PF Stanley Carter
26 – San Antonio – PF Brad Owens
27 – Oklahoma City – SF Brian Jenkins
28 – Washington – PG Kyle Brown
29 – Minnesota – PF Barron Haynes
30 – Utah – PF Loren Gandy
31 – Boston – PG Corsley Walton
32 – Detroit – C Sviatoslav Guseinev

We didn’t have any second round picks so I snoozed after the first round. There were heaps of draft day trades not including our five deals but of course I’ll only mention the ones with good players in them.

Indiana trade:
PG Darren Collison
2019 2nd round pick

Philadelphia trade:
SF Gary Gravitt

Winner – Both. Both teams get something out of it as Collison is not the starting PG for the Sixers after an atrocious deal they made later.

Phoenix trade:
C Spencer Hawes
2019 2nd round pick

Brooklyn trade:
SF Derrick Williams

Winner – Both. Wow, two good deals in a row. The Nets finally get a proper C while Phoenix get a stopgap SF until Ryan Garris can take over the starting position.

Cleveland trade:
C Brook Lopez
2019 2nd round pick

Philadelphia trade:
PG Brooks Badu

Winner – Cleveland. I don’t really understand this trade from either team. The obvious point is that the Sixers just traded away the reigning Rookie of the Year for Lopez who isn’t going to light the world on fire and Cleveland traded for a good, young PG who won’t get much court time behind Kyrie Irving. Strange.

Miami trade:
SF Marcello Locatelli

Philadelphia trade:
C Austin Huge
2019 2nd round pick

Winner – Neither. Miami trade their best SF for an average C while the Sixers now have Gabe White, Andrew Owens and Marcello Locatelli at SF which just doesn’t make sense. What are Philadelphia doing?

Denver trade:
C Cedric White

Chicago trade:
SG Varlam Cherkezov

Winner – Both. Each team gets a young, brimming with potential guy who will be their sixth men. Another decent trade.

I don’t understand what the Sixers are doing, it seems like a monkey is just pressing buttons and hoping things work.

Matt Brown is rawer than I thought but he has the potential to be a great passing point guard, even leading the league in assists in a few years. Brandon Anderer is better than I thought but not a very good rebounder while LaMarcus Aldridge has dropped off a bit too much for my liking because of age. He is still an outstanding PF but not as good as I thought. This could be an interesting season.

[zike_42]

I have a few contract decisions to make this year but in my opinion they are pretty easy. With Nic Batum and Dylan Peterson at SF I can get rid of Derek Thomas and Pat Archie who I didn’t want on this team anyway, as well as renouncing Eddie Beck for a couple of million. The good thing about this team is that LaMarcus is a massive $18 million expiring contract while it looks like both Joakim and Nic have team options next season which will also open up loads cap space next off season.

It’s weird to think that Joe Abney has only been in the league three years and is still available for the Summer League but it’s true. He is joined by Nathan Howard, Jevin Lindeman, Matt Brown, Brandon Anderer and Kareem Baker from our squad.

Our first SL game is a 107-97 loss to Phoenix but the score never matters. Matt Brown was fantastic with 14 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds while Joe Abney was not, with 10 points on 3/13 shooting. D-Leaguer Cory Stanfield had 19 points and 9 rebounds off the bench for us which was nice. Kwame Cravens had 23 points for the Suns while #2 pick Ryan Garris had 26 points.

Detroit aren’t very interested in the summer league and it showed in our 105-89 victory over the Pistons as only Bart Flanders playing who is on their regular squad. Joe Abney turned his game around with 23 points while Matt Brown had 11 points and 6 assists. Shawn Thompson had 25 points for the losers.

The next night we blew Atlanta out of the water with a 101-76 win with Joe Abney again leading the way with 18 points but it was Lee Harris who took the honours with 13 points in 10 minutes on 6/6 shooting. Bret Davis had 12 points for the Hawks but shot 4/13 from the floor.

We’re now at 2-2 after a 111-94 loss to Houston as Joe Abney shoots poorly for 18 points and 9 rebounds but it was good to see Brandon Anderer do something with 15 points and 8 rebounds. For the Rockets Devin Davis had 20 points off the bench.

Our last game was a 94-91 loss to Nevada but the main thing was that Joe Abney was unstoppable with 29 points and Matt Brown was a great distributor with 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Other than that it doesn’t really matter.

Going 2-3 isn’t too bad for this team but it was good to see some of our young guys play well. Joe Abney averaged 19.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game, Brandon Anderer put up 10.6 points and 5.2 rebounds but unfortunately broke his elbow in that last game. Matt Brown didn’t shoot well but finished with 8.2 points, 8.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds which is a big tick in my book.

It’s free agency time and as we have 13 players under contract I’m not looking for a game changer so I’ll look for a bench SG and call it a day. Here are the top 10 free agents.

C DeMarcus Cousins
SF Paul Orvis*
PF Greg Monroe
C Drew McAfee
SF Wesley Fields*
PF Jared Arenas
C Camara Brinker*
PF Trevor Booker
SF Jamal Howell*
C Ben Chambers

It may not be the most explosive but it has amazing depth, here are some other names on the list – Antoine Martin, Nate Roberts, Jeremy Lin, Kawhi Leonard, Chandler Parsons, Iman Shumpert, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, DeAndre Jordan, Paul George, Rajon Rondo and Eric Gordon. I’m sure there will be a lot of happy teams with this list.

After what seems like an eon Paul Orvis re-signs with Toronto for five years but the big news of the day was that Murman Andronikov signed an offer sheet to Golden State for nearly $10 million a year over four which may be overpaying now but he is on the right track to fulfil that contract.

The next day DeMarcus Cousins re-signs with Sacramento for the max while Jared Arenas goes back to Phoenix for over $10 million a year which is too much in my opinion.

Greg Monroe, Ben Chambers and Rudy Gay all go back to their respective teams but there was a lot of turnaround today with Antoine Martin signing an offer sheet to Chicago while Dion Waiters goes to New Orleans to give them a massive boost at SG. I offer Corey Willie a two year deal to be our back up SG and I think he will excel there. He is a decent shooter but is a great defender which is what I love to see.

Unfortunately he signs with Sacramento the next day which sucks so back to the drawing board. Kendall Marshall signs with the Lakers which should be good. He is such an underappreciated PG because he can’t score in bunches but he is an amazing passer and will do wonders in LA.

It’s tending offer day with all the big young names accepting a one year deal, such as Drew McAfee, Nate Roberts, Wesley Fields, Camara Brinker and Jamal Howell. The biggest news of the day was Paul George signing with Orlando for $38 million over four years which is a steal. Kemba Walker, Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert and Jeremy Lin re-sign with their respective teams.

Orlando hasn’t stopped spending as they steal Klay Thompson from Charlotte for $44 million over 4 years. Chandler Parsons decides to go to Miami for four years, as does DeAndre Jordan. The Grizzlies are finished as they don’t match Antoine Martin’s deal to Chicago so he becomes a Bull for four years.

Damn, Eric Gordon who I had my eye on all free agency decides to sign with Miami to join Parsons and Jordan. I don’t understand what Memphis is doing; they let Nikola Vucevic go to Houston and instead sign Omer Asik who is a worse player. I still need a SG and the stocks are awfully bare so I offer Rodney Stuckey a two year minimum deal and hope he bites.

Yes! I don’t know why I’m so excited about Stuckey coming here but I am. At least we have a back up SG now. That is 14 players on the team so I’m done.

Training camp comes and goes and I’ve got my future PG rotation. I know it’s still early but I cannot be happier with Matt Brown and Jevin Lindeman at the moment and although I did say previously that an unnamed PG would be here forever I’m certainly content with those two. Brandon Anderer isn’t game ready just yet so I’m going to send him down to the D-League while Joe Abney should be the starting SG going forward.

For some reason the pre-season rankings have us at 13th out of 16 teams in the West which is just preposterous. I believe with this squad we can sneak into a playoff berth but whatever. With the league expansion there has been some conference rearranging with New Orleans and Memphis going to the East and Milwaukee joining the West. With all their losses Memphis are slotted in at 6th in the East.

Eastern Conference Pre Season Rankings
1 - Detroit Pistons
2 - Brooklyn Nets
3 - Cleveland Cavaliers
4 - Toronto Raptors
5 - New Orleans Hornets
Last - Chicago Bulls

Of course Detroit are first because they are awesome but I don’t see Brooklyn second. They have two guards on the roster with one of those being old JR Smith. I would put Cleveland second and New Orleans third and Orlando will be in the playoffs. Philadelphia are even worse, here is their starting line-up –

PG – Marcello Locatelli (SF)
SG – Darren Collison (PG)
SF – Andrew Owens (SF)
PF – Brook Lopez (C)
C – Vitaly Ekomov (C)

Just terrible balance with no PG off the bench.

Western Conference Pre Season Rankings –
1 - Utah Jazz
2 - Oklahoma City Thunder
3 - Minnesota Timberwolves
4 - Sacramento Kings
5 - Los Angeles Lakers
Last - Nevada Neon

The top five look OK, not sure about the Lakers but they could surprise me. I’m not happy about being picked 13th so hopefully our team plays with a chip on their shoulders.

Here is your 2019-2020 “Start of a new dynasty” Dallas Mavericks –
PG – Matt Brown
SG – Joe Abney
SF – Nicolas Batum
PF – LaMarcus Aldridge
C – Joakim Noah
6th – Dylan Peterson
7th – Ekpe Udoh
8th – Andrew Bogut
9th – Rodney Stuckey
10th – Anthony Walls
11th – Jevin Lindeman
12th – Nathan Howard
13th – Kareem Baker
D-League – Brandon Anderer