Post by Sarawak on Apr 24, 2016 19:45:17 GMT
Preview Americas Roundtable
With the season finally upon us, a round table was put together to get the views of some GMs on several different issues around the league.
Here is what we are going to do given that we hav 10 participant's
The 4 American gms and Moscow will do the Preview America's RT. Cairo and the remaining Eurasian GMs will do the Eurasian Preview RT.
Each team will get 150 pp for participating w TBD bonuses for placing in the top 3.
Thee top 3 from each rt will advance to the league wide midseason rt and the top 4 from that to the year end RT.
@minnesota is going to be the grader and not participate. For this he will receive 150 PP. Scoring will be 150 PP for Participating.
Round Bonuses: 75 bonus for first, 50 for 2nd, 25 for 3rd. Each answer is worth between 1 and 5 points and will be given credit by Minnesota.
First Round Answers are due by noon on Friday 4/22/16
The Participants: Preview Americas Roundtable
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
Both Round tables will answer the same set of questions, you will ONLY answer them for the conference that you are in a roundtable for!
The Questions:
1) Looking at your conference. Which team’s do you think have has the best long-term off seasons and which one(s) have had the best short term off seasons. You can list up to two teams for each part of the question
Mexico CityThe americas is interesting this year because not a whole lot has changed up at the top of the conference this offseason looking at who had a nice long term offseason though two teams stand out to me, I like what the twolves did in the draft adding WCS and Cunningham to solidify their future up front and at the sf spot. Center especially long term is a big area of need, and now they have the flexibilty in their overall roster to move players around. They are clearly still the team to beat league wide both now and down the road. The second team who's offseason I liked would be the Chicago Bulls. They had an underrated draft adding Dick Van Arsdale and E. Mudiay both who could be nice long term starters and add some flexibility to this teams front court. Well done.
Short term I love the knicks being able to resign Porter all while keeping their young stud core front court. They are not only good now but should be down the road too all without killing themselves with the hardcap. The twolves again make this list short term after being able to resign ostertag at a good price and there draft picks should both give this team depth it did not have last year which of course is scary considering they ran away with america and the league.
Moscow
- There wasn’t a ton of action in the off-season in America but the Titans by default of drafting Towns and Howard are one of the teams who had the best long term off-season. The development of Golden State this off-season with the drafting of Goodrich and signing of Brewer is the other of note. Tom Heinsohn’s jump in training camp just put the icing on the cake. Other candidates include: Knicks (boosting Pau) and Minnesota (adding two pieces in draft).
- As far as teams who put themselves in the best situation short term, you have to note the Blazers dealing for Myshkin despite the cost. It was a short sided move that gives them another scoring threat in the frontcourt. I suspect we’ll see someone make a move at the top of the conference to chase Minnesota. Knicks, Grizzlies have been actively seeking some pieces and its possible Brazil tries to put some talent around Chuck. Off-season was quite in America.
New York
- This was a pretty boring off-season in America all things considered. If you look through the major signings, the top draft choices, the trades and other transactions you'll notice that this off-season was pretty Eurasia dominated. I don't think there are any obvious choices here since there were no home run off-seasons in America in my opinion.
(Short Term) Washington Generals: As I mentioned this was a pretty quiet off-season for America and the Generals are an example of that because they make my list from two moves only and those are bringing Michael Adams back which is great in the short term because he continues to be an all around PG for them and they would've been in big trouble if he was not brought back. His contract isn't great and that's why I can't list them as a long term victor but after starting off as the 2nd best team in the conference it's hard to argue with the short term success of this move. The second major move they made was drafting Jahlil Okafor in the middle of the lottery. This team had all the perimeter talent that they could and really only needed a legit big man to take the next step. Adding Jahlil Okafor who to this point has been the third best rookie in the league was a huge get for them both in the short term and long term.
(Short & Long Term) Minnesota Timberwolves: I am going to have the Timberwolves take my second Short Term spot and my first Long Term spot because I truly believe they had a quality off-season all around. I'm sure I won't be the only one to mention this but as a team that is coming off a title season, if you can bring in two lottery picks who both seem legit while losing nothing then that is a big success in the long term. They also were able to bring back Greg Ostertag when for all intents and purposes I believe this team had wrote him off when he hit free agency due to their cap limitations. They currently sit at 11-3 and atop the conference once again thanks to these moves so I think you have to put them on this list.
(Long Term) Chicago Bulls: This probably isn't a team that is going to be talked about much for the long term and some may focus on the teams that drafted higher in the draft than them (Titans & Warriors) but I think this team set themselves up nicely moving forward. Emmanuel Mudiay, Dick Van Arsdale, and Myles Turner was their trio in the draft and I was a fan of all three of those picks. While they maybe could've come away with Russell - Mudiay - Turner and really crushed the draft in terms of potential, DVA appears to be legit himself on both sides of the ball and this team is setup nicely for the future. They even had small additions like Benji Wilson on a cheap deal which you have to consider a plus for them. They won't win many games this season but now after their off-season they are looking at a group of Mudiay, Griffith, DVA, Turner, Joe Barry Carroll, Al Horford not to mention another top 10 pick to build with long term.
Portland
I'll start with the Warriors who I think had the best long-term off-season. Not good enough to launch them into the
ABCA elite but still encouraging for that franchise. Steve Smith had a good TC (which I predicted!) and Heinsohn continues to develop, while the addition of Gail Goodrich
provided a nice influx of potential. Only the acquisition of the execrable Eddie Lee Wilkins casts a pall over the offseason, but the team's average age is 24 and they're
on the upswing.
The Sonics get honorable mention for adding Melo and benefitting from Saric's favorable TC.
The Bulls nice draft is also worth noting with their selection
of Mudiay and DVA.
Among the 'already-good' teams, the Wolves were tops to me... augmented their future nicely by adding Billy C. and Willie Cauley-Stein. Dumping Kirkland
and Wilkins was addition by subtraction. I also like my own off-season in Portland, bringing in Myshkin and seeing Riva and McGill have nice TC's.
Vancouver
To be completely blunt, I don’t believe many teams in my conference made any dramatic moves this off-season that impacted their franchises short and long term. I really like what the Spurs did, moved around a lot of talent and were able to obtain Mikan & Sabonis, who are stars – Mikan was subsequently dealt for Lillard +, which gives him a good mix of present + future. SA also did what they do best and trade away their future first the second it was available but overall, the return this time was significantly stronger than years past. Minnesota stood pat, which bodes well for their long term success and was even able to retain Ostertag, even with limited financial flexibility due to some GMs not being competitive and trying to hurt the reigning champs squad. So to summarize, I don’t think many teams moved the needle forward much in our conference, long or short term.
Graders Thoughts:
Grades (1-5 Points):
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
2) Looking at your conference, which team’s do you think had the most questionable off seasons and why? You can analyze up to three teams for this question.
Mexico City
I'm not 100% sure what boca is doing with his team. He looks like he wants to completely rebuild yet has yet to really move the main guys on his team to do so. I totally get the KD love, hes an elite scorer, but he's also flawed on defense and while it does not kill his value it certainly hurts it in terms of being able to get a stud younger player for him. IMO moving KD and what he gets from that move will dicate what happens to this team.
Another team I look at in a similar situation is the GS warriors. They didnt really sign any FA's they continue to take the long slow rebuild approach. Problem now is just at they will free up the salary spend on Mike Conley, Tommy H hits FA, and with the TC he had he could very easily walk. Now the gm has said he might look to trade him, but imo hes more talk than actual substance. Like Boca before him what he does with Tommy could decide where this team is truely headed.
Finally the NO Jazz to me are a team thats right there to contend if nothing else in his division. He clearly has the best one two punch there with Drummond and Tony Parker but he needs to find a way to add to that duo, yet really did nothing to do that. Now he's kinda stuck with the two guys and few ways to add to them. Im curious how he deals with that going forward.
Moscow
- The Spurs made moves to put themselves in position to compete but shortly after dealt their best player for a young prospect yet again while not having any of their firsts. The inability to pick a direction and stick to it makes their off-season the most questionable. Trailblazers aren’t even close to competing but decided to deal this 1st next season away without any real talent or pieces to develop. They further their time in the middle and removed an opportunity to deal pieces for assets. Washington with yet another monster deal for a player trending downwards hurts as well. When they coupled that with the drafting of two players at the center position while they already have multiple viable centers on the roster makes it an ugly off-season for the Generals.
New York
Much like I don't think anyone had a truly home run off-season, I don't think anyone in America truly flopped this off-season because there just honestly wasn't much major movement.
- San Antonio Spurs: I've never been one to pile onto the "Bash The Spurs" bandwagon but I just personally wasn't a fan of their off-season. They weren't in an amazing spot heading into the off-season but I think it is imperative that this team hangs onto their first and we saw them trade away a future first this off-season again. Also while I definitely believe Lillard will play better than he has and I was excited to see the Mikan - Sabonis duo but it was tore down before we ever got to see it.
Portland
Boca Juniors immediately springs to mind. Their nucleus looks solid but the loss of admittedly-aging UPM in FA will hurt and new additions like Kendrick Pancake House Perkins,
Arron Afflalo, and Adreian Payne don't inspire me. I just would have like to see more aggressive moves from this team.
The Lakers shook things up this offseason, with
Mikan's acquisition being the big splash. It wasn't a bad move for a team trying to move into playoff contention, but I think the cheaper Lillard was going to turn into something special for them, and Zach Randolph wasn't chopped liver. Depth wise I think they could have done more. If Mikan pays off, I'll be wrong about the Lakers, of course.
Vancouver
I’m going to go with the Washington Generals as #1 and then Brazil a distant #2. The reason I put the Generals #1 on here is because they now have 2 contracts worth 34+million guaranteed each season for the next 4 years for average or worse players by significantly overpaying to retain Michael Adams. With their young studs about to enter contract years, they have severely limited themselves to any financial flexibility necessary to retain the majority of these assets, all of whom are better than the 2 guys making 34million. They may need to trade some talent to jettison those contracts in order to keep the young guys around, which is only necessary due to their frivolous spending this offseason. I put Brazil a distant #2 because they traded for Chuck last year, missed the playoffs and then did absolutely NOTHING to get better. The 3 (or 4) time reigning MVP needs some help and they dropped the ball on this badly.
Graders Thoughts:
Grades (1-5 Points):
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
3) PLAYOFFS! Pick the division winners for your conference and tell us why. Afterword’s, list your projected playoff seeds with no more than one sentence for each team.
Mexico CityEast= Knicks, clearly they are the class of this division, they have a front court that is as good as anyone assuming they don't get any long term injuries they should run away with this division espeically if the celtics continue under the CPU rule.
South= Brazil. Really my heart wants to pick the Jazz, im just not sure they make a move to get themselves over the top. So ill go with the vet group of the division and say Brazil. They have some great starting talents but really are limited in the moves they can make to get better. They might win this division by default but i do not give them much of a shot in the playoffs
West= Minnesota. The defending champs are clearly the class of the league and unless they make a step backwords deal, or deal everyone but KG and wiggens for KAT theyre going to win this division. They have depth, talent at every spot and can deal with injuries better than anyone.
Playoff Seeds
1- Minnesota- Easily the best team right now
2- New York Knicks- Love there front court
3- Grizzlies- MJ and Hill are very very good. I'm not in love with there front court and that hurts them come playoff time, but they have enough in the regular season to be good
4- Brazil- Best team by default in the weakest division
5- Boston Celtics- Even the cpu cannot screw up Ewing, Paul and Morning that bad.
6- Washington- Adding Okafur helps a huge need for this team.
7- New Orleans- Drummond and Parker could be the best duo in the league.
8- Toronto- They are good enough to get in.
Moscow
- East Division: New York Knicks. The frontcourt of the Knicks with Gasol, Oden, and Nance will be unstoppable and once they figure out how to best limit other teams on the defensive end, they’ll be even better. Could use a true shooting guard to instead of playing Chandler there but will have plenty to win the division.
- South Division: Rio de Janeiro Flamengo. The battle of Brazil between them and a Chuck led Franca BC club will be fun to watch. The overall depth and defensive ability for Rio will carry them in the regular season over a Franca team who needs to move a few pieces around. Anthony Davis is an MVP candidate this year.
- West Division: Minnesota Timberwolves. This is a race between possible the best two teams of all of ABCA with them and the Vancouver Grizzlies but at the end of the day, the defending champions are better behind their stars than the Grizzlies are and a bit better suited to deal with an injury. That’ll likely give them the regular season crown.
Seeds:
1. Minnesota – Wiggins + KG + Zoran + Smart + O + Rookies = Scary.
2. Vancouver – MJ, Hill, and Damon is a scary trio and Benjamin is a great anchor with them.
3. New York – See above but that top 5 that includes Oden, Gasol, and Nance is unfair.
4. Rio de Janeiro – Anthony Davis will be a force while Malone and Bowen are no slouches.
5. Boston – Ewing, Zo, and Paul make them a dangerous team despite lacking depth on the wings.
6. Brazil – Chuck returns to the playoffs as a guy nobody wants to face as he looks for first series win.
7. Toronto – Larry Johnson has taken the step into stardom and has plenty of defense around him.
8. Washington – There is loads of talent on this roster and it’ll be enough to get them in the playoffs.
New York
- East Division: New York Knicks
- South Division: Rio de Janeiro Flamengo
- West Division: Minnesota Timberwolves
1. Minnesota Timberwolves
They're the champs, they added talented and didn't lose anything so they'll take #1 again
2. New York Knicks
Slow-ish start but I don't think you can deny that between Oden/Gasol/Nance/Chandler/Porter/Snyder/Robinson this team has the most talent of any non-Minny team in the conference
3. Vancouver Grizzlies
Jordan/Hill/Stoudamire are a high quality trio and while I don't think they can knock off Minny I think they'll give them a fight and eventually come in at the #3 spot overall
4. Brazil Franca BC
I don't think this team will necessarily have the 4th best record but with Barkley they'll have enough to win their division and get the 4th spot (but probably be the road team).
5. Toronto Raptors
- This team has beaten Minnesota, Vancouver, and Boston and with how LJ has looked they could win their division but I am going to slot them in at 5 (but with the 4th best record).
6. Washington Generals
They are probably the favorite to win the division right now but I am slotting them at 6 which is the same seed as last season but they'll be a better 6th seed thanks to Hondo & Okafor along with their other young pieces.
7. Boston Celtics
For the 2nd year in a row, four teams from the East division will make the playoffs (3rd time in 4 seasons) because despite this team being on the outside right now I don't think you can keep Ewing & CP3 on the outside.
8. Portland Trailblazers
The Myshkin deal seems to be working out for this team and I am going to stick with them because between Myshkin, McGill, Dino, and Riva this team definitely has playoff talent.
Portland
Knick in the East because he's on the cusp and will make the key mid-season move at just the right time; Franca BC in the South because they're solid and Barkley
covers a multitude of sins, and Mexico City may or may not be serious about pushing them this season; and Minnesota in the West because their core is outstanding.
My seeds are:
1. Minnesota. An injury could sink them if that doesn't happen, who's better?
2. New York. Watching them battle Boston for this spot will make for an entertaining season.
3. Vancouver. Jordan, Hill, and Stoudamire can carry this team a long way even if the supporting crew looks a little suspect
4. Brazil. Barkley will just win so many games by himself, it's hard to put the Franca BC and lower than this despite their geriatric supporting cast.
5. Boston. Chris Paul and Patrick Ewing cause problems for opponents on both ends of the floor and if anything the Celtics will outperform this prediction.
6. Rio de Janeiro. Less middling than the other middling teams in contention for this slot, thanks to AD.
7. Portland. Another veteran team led by athletic playmakers on the wings, the under-appreciated Dino Meneghin inside, and their trademark bench depth.
8. San Antonio. This is the year it happens in San Antonio, baby, as long as Sabonis can carry the team on his back.
Vancouver
East = NY Knicks --- With Pau Gasol’s upgrades, Oden & Nance developing further, a fully healthy season will allow the Knicks to be a powerhouse. They are going to dominate the paint and the boards and will be a nightmare for any team. I think they will stay healthy and beat out GMless Boston.
South = Rio De Janiero Flamengo --- The weakest division of the Americas, I went with Rio simply due to Anthony Davis. I think he has the best supporting cast in an overall weak division and this will be the year he usurps Chuck to be the MVP.
West = Minnesota Twolves --- I mean when the reigning champions return the exact squad plus 2 lotto picks, how do you go against them? Cunningham Looks great and they are now even more dangerous. Great for Minnesota, terrible for the rest of us.
1. Minnesota – Reigning Champs
2. Knicks - #1 contender
3. Grizzlies – Star studded but lacks depth
4. Celtics – Constantly overlooked but still a powerhouse
5. Rio – AD takes a leap and puts them on his back
6. Raptors – LJ is a boss and should not be trifled with
7. Franca BC – Chuck is still Ultimate GOAT, so not counting them out
8. Trailblazers – always gets the best out of his team, will squeak in over washington
Graders Thoughts:
Grades (1-5 Points):
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
4) You can pick an All Conference Team that becomes your starting 5. The only stipulations is you must pick at least two players still on their rookie deals, one of which is a rookie this year. Who is your starting 5 and why?
KAT- Id pick Oden here if i did not have to have a rookie in this top five, so I'll take my own, hes clearly the best overall big in this past draft and if nothing else holds his own even as a rookie on D
KG - Best player on the defending champs, love his flexibilty, defense and overall game.
Nance- Larry Nance Sr is very good only in his second year. Put him with KG and you have two forwards who can play either spot and pose huge issues for teams.
Jordan- Still the best SG in the league, and on a team thats rugged, flexibile and defensive minded this guy brings it on offense for them.
Parker- If parker had a more outspoken GM everyone would take about him daily, hes a beast, signed, and still young. Love him.
Moscow
My starting five will have the play both sides of the ball and/or bring the athleticism to match that of others. There are certain positions you just can’t afford to have a less talented guy at despite him possibly being the best rookie in the conference (Towns). So without further ado, here is the starting five.
C: Anthony Davis – The big man has taken the jump to be a leader and is still on that rookie deal. He can dominate both sides of the ball.
PF: Charles Barkley – He’s still likely the best player in the league and this would be his chance to finally get the wins with talent around him.
SF: Carmelo Anthony – This is tough because he doesn’t play the defense you’d like but with an inside focus and the defense around him, we’ll survive.
SG: Michael Jordan – He’s still the best wing player in the game both ways and that’ll go a long way with Melo next to him on the wing.
PG: Tony Parker – Parker may have surpasses Stockton for the best point guard in the ABCA and I can only imagine his assist numbers with this group.
New York
C: Anthony Davis (Rookie Deal)
PF: Charles Barkley
SF: Andrew Wiggins
SG: Gail Goodrich (Rookie Year)
PG: Tony Parker
- The C and PG spots were pretty easy to figure out because you have the best player in the league in my opinion at Center in Anthony Davis and you have the best point guard in the league in Tony Parker. At Power Forward I feel you have to go with the reigning MVP because I don't think it's possible to defend Barkley and Davis with Parker feeding them the ball.
The tricky part was finding a rookie to place on the team because 1) All the best rookies (LBJ, Wade, Porzingis, etc) are in Eurasia and 2) The best rookies in America (Oakfor, Towns, Turner, etc) are all bigs and while they are good the gap between them and Davis/Barkley is too large to place any of them on the team over those two. So for our rookie we are going to go with someone who hasn't had much hype because they've been injured and that's Gail Goodrich. I definitely believe once healthy he's going to be a quality rookie (14/7/1 in his four healthy starts this season) and we can slot him in next to Tony Parker at Shooting Guard.
The final spot came down to three guys for me (Kevin Durant, Andrew Wiggins, and Larry Nance). Nance gives you the rebounding and shot blocking from the SF spot, Durant is probably the best scorer of the three, but in the end I am choosing Andrew Wiggins. I may not take him if I was starting a team based on this player (that'd probably be Nance) but I believe in this role with Davis, Barkley and Parker already on the team, Wiggins gives you the best balance of offense and defense from the Small Forward position.
Portland
C Patrick Ewing, Boston Celtics - Ewing's phenomenal inside game appeals to me and gives him starting role at center over Anthony Davis. Despite all the offensive
firepower in my lineup it will be the Mad Gorilla's defense and rebounding that holds us together.
PF Larry Johnson, Toronto Raptors - teaming LJ and Barkley makes us lethal in the paint. I think Larry is the best American Conference player still on his rookie deal, so
he gets the nod here over veteran options like KG.
SF Charles Barkley, Brazil Franca BC - The no-brainer to end all no-brainers. Might as well pick a physical guy at SF to match the physicality of the rest of the
frontcourt. He's just a spectacular basketball player.
SG Michael Jordan, Grizzlies - Just as much a no-brainer as Barkley. MJ's thirty points a night will come from all over the floor, no matter who defends him, and if he
stays hot from the arc like he's started this season... I pity the fool who comes out on him to defend it and opens up a lane to the basket.
PG Gail Goodrich, San Francisco Warriors. My rookie, chosen over Tony Parker because this team could probably play with no PG whatsoever so a rook won't hurt us. What he
will do is score, as if we needed another guy to do that. Long term, skill wise, I don't think he ever quite catches Parker or Chris Paul so their exclusion here is a bit
unfair, but for a rookie who can step in and play right now, I don't see a better option out there in the American.
Vancouver
C– Anthony Davis – my love affair for him is too high
PF – Kevin Garnett – best player on best team
SF – Billy Cunningham – love his overall game and rebounding, perfect compliment
SG – Michael Jordan – The best SG in the game
PG – Tony Parker – Top 3 PG in the game
I put together an all defense beast that is extremely athletic, young and full of great size all around. The tough choice here was Cunningham over Melo but I prefer Cunningham’s rebounding, passing and defense as the glue guy that makes the rest of this team work.
Graders Thoughts:
Grades (1-5 Points):
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
5) A superstar goes down on a team in your conference and that team will immediately struggle. Who is that player and team and why will they struggle so hard without them.
Mexico CityIf the raptors lose larry johnson they are done. He does everything for this team and the fact he can play pf and sf means they can move him around and hurt teams. Without him this team could be a bottom of the conference team. Honarible mention is Anthony Davis.
Moscow
I think the answer is obvious with Charles Barkley on Brazil but I’m not so sure they won’t struggle with him as well so let’s look at other options. I think this conference is a three team race with Minnesota, Vancouver, and New York so anyone else doesn’t really matter when it comes to losing a star. Minnesota could survive a KG or Wiggins injury thanks to Cunningham and WCS and the Knicks could survive an injury to the big three since it would mean Chandler gets to play his natural small forward position. However, if Vancouver loses MJ, there is little to no chance they could compete and could even lose homecourt advantage in the first round. There is no other option at SG on the roster and the others, while uber talented, just couldn’t carry the load he does.
So my answer in short is Michael Jordan on Vancouver.
New York
- This comes down to two players that I was just discussing in the previous question, Anthony Davis and Charles Barkley. Both are players that carry their teams from being lotto groups to playoff threats. I am going to have to go with Davis though because while Monroe gets bashed a bit for being super expensive, I believe he is the next best player between the two teams when just considering talent and he'd be able to keep Brazil afloat without Barkley a bit better than anyone on Rio would be able to without Davis.
Portland
Tony Parker of the Utah Jazz. For starters... Parker's loss would absolutely kill his team's playoff chances; Freddy Boyd isn't going to carry the Jazz to immortality. He leads the team in virtually every stat category (he's even 2nd in offensive rebounds right now) and he's sixth in the entire conference in scoring. He almost scores as many points leading the Jazz than Drummand & Kaman score combined as the #2 and #3 options. He's a four-time all-star with 114 POG performances in his career. Tony is playing crazy minutes for Utah so far this season (second in the league!) so this scenario to me could quite possibly happen. I hope not, because without Parker you wouldn't be able to find the Utah Jazz if they glowed in the dark.
Vancouver
Easy – Franca BC – This team is comprised of Chuck and over the hill Monroe. If Chuck goes down, they easily become one of the worst teams in the league.
Graders Thoughts:
Grades (1-5 Points):
Mexico City
Moscow
New York
Portland
Vancouver
Final Standings
*First Place (100 PP Bonus): ()
*Second Place (75 PP Bonus): ()
*Third Place (50 PP Bonus)
Fourth Place (75 PP Bonus): ()
Fifth Place: ()
*Means the team advances to the next roundtable
