Pardon the Interruption - Off Season Edition
May 23, 2016 10:47:04 GMT
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Post by Tel Aviv on May 23, 2016 10:47:04 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:
Season Recap
Offseason Trades
Draft Class
Free Agency
Odds Maker Round
SEASON RECAP
What are your thoughts on the season just gone?
First thing I want to mention is Charles Barkley, named league MVP again for the 5th time. He has made a huge impact on the league for someone who was chosen 11th overall in the creation draft. A lot of teams are probably kicking themselves for letting him go. Also Dwayne Wade picking up the Rookie of the year award ahead of LeBron James, I said it before the draft last year that he was the 2nd best prospect in the draft and he had a great season.
No doubt on Charles Barkley, 5th straight MVP's is impressive going to be interesting to see who is going to be the first guy other than Barkley to win the MVP trophy. Something stood out to me was Belgrade's season, a few people were tipping great things for that squad of Olajuwon/Korac/Jones/Stockton but with the lack of depth around them it never worked out and ended up with a firesale. They got good value out of Sam Jones but honestly didn't like the Olajuwon or Stockton trades at all for them.
Yea that’s a good point on Belgrade, although I thought depth would be a problem for them I was very interested to see how they were going to play together, with the quality that those 4 players possess I thought it would of had better results than what happened. Also just moving one of those guys for some depth would of been a good move too. But they do have the #1 overall pick now to look forward too.
Charles Barkley won his 5th MVP award.
Talk about the Playoffs, did it go as you expected any surprises?
I don't think they were too many surprises in the playoffs, they was a few good series in the American conference but before the start I was expecting the Knicks to come out the America and Tel Aviv to come out Eurasia and that's what happened. 4 straight final appearances for yourself and Tel Aviv is impressive, and Knicks have been pushing on the door for a while so good for that franchise to win a championship.
First thanks for the kind words, Yea not too many surprises, only one really was the Celtics beating the Timberwolves but the Celtics are talented just had a disappointing regular season. I thought the Knicks would win it, they had a great year. They were missing Stockton for the first two rounds but managed it well without him, getting the #1 overall seed helped there making it easier on themselves in the 2nd round. That's 4 out of the 5 titles won by the American conference now. It was nice to see Barkley get out of the 1st round this time around.
Oh yeah that Charles Barkley stat has always surprised me, with him winning those four MVP's and never getting out the first round especially back when he was on the Bulls when they had a talented team around him getting 60 win seasons. Even know it was our rivals Sao Paulo, guess it was good to see him getting out the first round finally, I'm sure he wants more than that though and time is running out for him to get the Championship he deserves.
John Stockton helped the Knicks to their first title.
OFFSEASON TRADES
We have seen a few offseason trades already, what do you make of them?
Well the obvious one to talk about is the Seattle Supersonics, they have done well early in the offseason to surround Carmelo Anthony with talent. Adding Sabonis, Christie and Slavnic alongside Carmelo and Saric gives them a very strong starting five. With the 6th pick in the coming draft to add to that the fans in Seattle should be set for their best season and should be set for their first playoff appearance. Eric Snow is a player I have always liked so thought that was a good fit for you in Rio.
Thanks, yeah think Eric Snow fits in well with what we are building and no doubt Sonics have done a decent job so far this offseason. An obvious trade to talk about is the Lakers/Grizzlies trade, I've heard people saying the Lakers overpaid, I agree they did but if I could take one guy in that trade on my team it would be Rick Barry. Porzingis is a good talent but I think Barry is the better prospect, it was only this time last year where Barry was a lock for #2 overall and no one had KP higher than #7 on their board. Also Patrick Ewing and Julius Erving were good veteran pickups for Spurs and Bamberg respectively.
Sabonis has joined the new look Seattle Supersonics.
DRAFT CLASS
What do you think of the upcoming draft class?
I am a little undecided on this draft class, I do think they is some talent to had but overall don't think it is as strong as previous draft classes. George McGinnis is one guy that stands out and if I had the #1 overall he would be someone I'd strongly consider. He doesn't have the "name" power of a guys like Dirk, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce but his skillset speaks for itself and he is ready to make an impact day one. Lower down the draft there looks to be decent depth players until around early/mid 20's so overall it looks like a solid enough draft.
A lot of people are down on this draft class and it definitely doesn't have the star power that you see most years, and is probably the worst draft class we have had but looking at the players that have declared there is some potential there. Quite a few guys that I think can go on to have great careers in the league if they are developed right. It should definitely be an interesting draft day to see how General Managers around the league rate the players this year.
Dirk Nowitzki is reportedly the #1 overall pick.
FREE AGENCY
Discuss the Free Agency Class.
5 of the top 7 picks from the 2001 draft have all decided to test Free Agency so there is talent in the pool with the likes of Chris Paul, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Andrew Bynum but how many decide to change franchises is a different question. Like most years there are quite a few teams with cap space to target them, I am sure it will be an exciting time of the season like it usually is. Will definitely be a busy offseason for me, having a few players testing the waters.
Yeah this free agency class does look to be a good one to have cap space which a few teams do seem to have and a few teams have been making moves to create space. Like you said those five guys are the main attraction but betting on a star guy coming off their rookie contract jumping ship isn't a good bet. Outside of that there is some good veteran talent and like a lot of other teams we will be busy talking to some of these guys to sell them on coming to Rio, we have a couple of main targets hopefully we can come away with one.
Chris Paul and Andrew Bynum are both free agents.
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 another top 10 lottery pick being traded
Flamengo - It was a big trade to see Olympiacos moving #3 and #7 for McHale (a deal I really like for them), I do think it's possible to see more movement given the lack of true superstar potential in the draft but haven't heard much chatter of lottery picks being shopped and the value may not be as high as previous years for teams looking to move them. 30%
Tel Aviv - Not sure, I think they fact that there isn’t true superstars at the top might make it less likely for a move to happen as teams won’t want to pay the price to move up into the top of the draft but there is always the possibility for a trade to happen. Right now I don’t think it will but who knows, gonna go with 20%.
Chance of Chris Paul, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell, John Havlicek or Andrew Bynum signing elsewhere in FA.
Flamengo - Like I said earlier that sort of thing doesn't happen often and these guys are coming from good franchises going in the right direction so I would be surprised but I wouldn't completely rule it out. 15%
Tel Aviv - It’s a tough one to say, who knows what will happen during free agency but we usually see some movement of guys you might not of expected, I am going to say higher than that, lets go with 45%.
Chance of a rookie to average 22+ppg?
Tel Aviv - Not easy to say right now as training camps will play a factor, we have seen a number of rookies do it in recent years but as we said earlier this draft doesn't really have the elite talent at the top so I think it's unlikely from this class. 10%
Flamengo- I don't think this class is as talented as last years class and no rookie averaged over 22PPG so not liking the chances of it happening this year. There is a couple of guys who could be capable with the right training camp and landing on the right team like the Perth Wildcats who need a go to scorer, a Vince Carter comes to mind with his crazy athleticism, so I wouldn't rule it out completely. 15%
Chance of Charles Barkley winning MVP again next season?
Flamengo - No one has managed it yet and Charles Barkley shows no signs of slowing down. Sao Paulo have moved his running buddy Earl Monroe to clear some cap so it looks like he could be getting even more touches so I think he has a great shot. Course there are plenty of guys who are talented enough to win it, guys like Anthony Davis, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Kevin McHale to name a few so it won't be easy but I like his chances. 70%
Tel Aviv - I think next season will be the year that one of the younger players around the league will beat out Barkley for the award. With Barkley another year older and the amount of talent in the league I think we will have a new MVP but saying that I thought that it would happen this year. I will go with 50%.
That’s all for now, from Tel Aviv and Flamengo, Pardon the Interruption.