Pardon the Interruption - Off Season Edition
Feb 15, 2016 12:41:45 GMT
Minnesota and Portland like this
Post by Tel Aviv on Feb 15, 2016 12:41:45 GMT
Welcome to Pardon the Interruption, I am the Tel Aviv GM and alongside me is the Flamengo GM. PTI is where we talk about various different
things that are happening around the league right now, lets see whats on the agenda today:
Recaping the Draft
Free Agency
Free Agency The Good
Free Agency The Bad
Odds Maker
THE DRAFT:
What did you think of the recent draft class as a whole?
Obviously there wasn't the hype of some of the previous draft classes we have had surrounding this draft, particularly at the top end, where there isn't many true franchise players, but there was still a good amount of talent available to help any team in this class, if they are developed correctly.
I don't think it is as strong as previous draft classes, like you said especially at the top outside of Isiah Thomas don't really see a true star but time will tell as usual with how some of these guys develop. Players like Larry Johnson, Mark Aguirre, Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith no doubt have talent.
Name a team who you think had a good draft
Taipei Fubon Braves had a good draft, wasn't hard to muck it up but if you could pick one guy from this draft to build around it would no doubt be Isiah Thomas. Firstly Olympiacos, thought they had a good draft, Mutombo is great value at #6 had him higher on my board, Dale Davis was a solid pick aswell. Beijing Aoshen did a solid job with their three picks aswell, coming away with Dave Bing, Tom Chambers and Danny Ainge is a good night's work.
There were a few picks I liked and some I didnt like so much. Think the Knicks did well with their picks at 9 & 11 with Larry Nance, who I particularly like and Archie Clark, both players have a chance to have very solid careers in the ABCA. Gonna go with Olympiacos too, picking up Dikembe Mutombo (#6) and Dale Davis(23). I thought both players would of been gone before their respective picks. Mutombo comes in developed well, there isn't much risk attached to him and he should become a great defensive player in the league, at 7'2 he has great size.
Name a team's draft who you didn't like
Bad draft is a tough one, but a pick I didn't like too much was Steve Smith as early as #4. You can never be too sure about how players turn out so I could be wrong but I feel there was better talent still available that could of been a building block for that team. Point guard is a tough position to fill and with someone like Dave Bing in particular still available, I think he would of been a better choice for the team, even with Conley on the roster.
See what your saying about Steve Smith but I like him as a prospect, maybe #4 was a little high but think he has the potential to be a great scorer in this league in a position which isn't the strongest in the league at the moment. But yeah there isn't a team that stands out at having a bad draft, I guess that is down to the strength of the draft class, each pick could be a hit or a miss.
FREE AGENCY:
Firstly do you enjoy the free agency period
Sure, as a GM it is always a busy time and it's good to be busy. There are two sides to it, when re-signing your own players you always want to get them signed up before hand so they don't enter free agency and if they do, then that is always a worrying time especially if it is your franchise player. But you got to have faith in your plan for the franchise and selling that to the players, make them feel wanted. The other side of that bringing in new players, you have to get your scouting right, make sure they are a good fit for your system and the franchise as a whole then make them a good offer because at the end of the day money talks. That's why the scouting is so important because you may have to slightly overpay to get a guy your interested in, so you have to be sure that they are the right fit if your signing them to a big contract.
Free agency is an exciting time during the season in my eyes, can be a bit worrying when you are trying to bring your guys back but it's a great way of adding fresh talent to your team if things go well for you. For example this year here at Tel Aviv we had to resign Pierluigi but also had the cap space to bring in a top tier free agent, so when it goes well it's a great feeling. A lot of money gets thrown around the league at this time so you do have to be careful not to overspend too much on certain players to put you at a disadvantage going forward.
Pick a signing or two that you liked from day 1
The Riva signing was great for the Trailblazers, I loved the team that Milan had put together so losing him is huge for them but a great pickup for the Blazers. He is a very versatile player on both sides of the floor who is just heading into his prime and the kind of key player that the team needed. I think the new GM in Portland has done a great job with the team since taking over, getting the best out of his players so look forward to seeing what Riva can do there. Also the Grizzlies did very well managing to bring back their 3 key guys, Jordan and Diamantidis on max contracts and Oakley also on a good
deal.
I'm with you, I love Riva as a player, not going to lie was someone we were looking at closely but I guess he thought Portland was a better fit for him and his family, great signing for the Blazers. Obviously Julius Erving was a huge pickup for you, no getting around that and getting Pierluigi back on top of that makes that a great few days of free agency, nice work. Louie Dampier was a good pickup for Barcelona to add George Mikan and Kevin McHale. Earl Manigault re-signing for Istanbul on a decent contract was a good deal, I like Earl Manigault as a player, he goes a little under the rader because
he plays in Istanbul, thought he may of signed a bigger deal elsewhere.
Pick a deal that was signed that you didn't like on day 1
Normally in free agency they are a couple of deals that stand out right away but don't really see that this season. One deal I don't really like is Juan Antonio San Epifanio deal with Beijing, I know it is only two years guaranteed but that is a lot of money to tie up. I see why they wanted to sign some players to help them out though since they don't have their draft pick plus they have a few rookie contracts so they have the room so maybe I'm being a little harsh. I also didn't like Michael Jordan re-signing with the Grizzlies and not signing with us (laughs)
Yea I'm not a fan of the Epifanio signing either really. Another one for me was the Chris Mullin signing, a guaranteed $76,860,000 over 4 years. Mullin hasn't really improved much since entering the league in the creation draft and not sure he has shown he is worth that kind of money. But saying that the Lakers did have the money to spend and needed some talent to add around their core and after standing on their hands last year during free agency it's good to see them adding to their roster.
Odds Makers
Time for the quick fire Odds Makers round, for you new to PTI this is where we give a percentage prediction on a certain event happening.
Lets go...
Chance of a blockbuster trade happening before Training Camp
Flamengo: 40%. Think teams like to stay put and see what happens in training camp before pulling the trigger on a big deal. Still would't rule it out.
Tel Aviv: 25%. You normally do see a few in the offseason but mainly as the season finishes and the draft comes around, seen your Malone trade already, as for between now and training camp, it's possible but we probably wont.
Chance of a lottery pick being moved before all star break
Flamengo: Interesting one, teams like to stand by their rookies but I could see that happening. 60%
Tel Aviv: I could see that happening for sure, teams who have been losing for a little while now could look to make that move to improve them depending on how training camps go for them. Il go with 75%.
Chance of another top 5 rookie pick winning a championship this season, Baylor, Mourning, ...?
Flamengo: 5%, no disrespect to the teams that picked in the top 5 but don't see that happening again this season. I guess if Taipei could find another piece and Green and Thomas really develop that would be the best shot in my eyes.
Tel Aviv: Only chance that happens is if they get traded to another team, don't really see a team making that jump that teams like the Timberwolves, Boston and myself have done the past few seasons. As you said Fubon have talent and also think the Generals do to but not that that level. 1%.
Thats all for now, from Tel Aviv and Flamengo, Pardon the Interruption.
