Celticsblog Mock GM Press Conferences: Central Division

[Roy Hobbs]

Here, each of the GMs representing a team in the Central Division will provide an introduction / summary of their team, draft strategy, etc.  Other members should ask questions (directed to one or more GMs), and those GMs should attempt to answer the questions as well as they can.

For those participating, the opening blurbs can include some or all of the following:

1. Roster / depth chart
2. Statistics
3. Pictures
4. Statement regarding drafting philosophy (building for the future, contending now, etc.)
5. Toughest decision
6. Best move (trade, pick, etc.) / worst move
7. Your outlook for this coming season

It can be as substantial or as abbreviated as you want it to be.  These threads are open to all members, not just those posters who participated in the draft.  The more participation we get, the better.

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Chicago press conference
Cleveland press conference
Detroit press conference
Indiana press conference
Milwaukee press conference

[wdleehi]

Slowest division so far. 

[Roy Hobbs]

Slowest division so far. 

Yep.  All the relevant GMs / co-GMs have been contacted, so hopefully we see some movement soon. 

Preliminarily, I like Detroit to take the division; I don't know the other rosters well enough to speculate on playoff contention yet.

[ChampKind]

Your 2008/09 Cleveland Cavaliers:

Starters:

C - Nick Collison
PF - Hakim Warrick
SF - Manu Ginobli
SG - Dwyane Wade
PG - Louis Williams

Bench Rotation:

Bigs: Josh Boone, Mikki Moore, Serge Ibaka
Wings: Bobby Simmons, Desmond Mason, Wilson Chandler
Guards: Jamaal Tinsley, Luther Head, Javaris Crittenton

Overseas: Shan Foster, Sofoklis Schortsianitis

Philosophy: We essentially went with a best player available philosophy throughout the draft, hoping to package and trade some guys later for need.  The strength of this team is that it would have lots of cap space, even with Wade's max contract and Manu getting 8 digits a year.  Unfortunately, that's because the other 12 players all basically all role players.  If there were a salary cap, I'd like this team's chances of improvement a lot more.  

Toughest decision: The original trade for D-Wade was a tough one, especially since we already had Manu.  However, the offer basically boiled down to a 2nd and 3rd rounder for Wade and a 5th, which was something we couldn't pick up.  With Wade's stock rising after a great Olympic performance, we're confident that he'll be a top 10 (or even top 5) player in the league next year.

Best Move: Drafting Bobby Simmons, Jamaal Tinsley, and Des Mason in the late rounds.  While these guys aren't young, they are good athletes who can defend well and fill valuable roles off the bench.  If Mason and Simmons can return to form after some injury plagued years they could become solid starters...that is, if I didn't already have my best 2 players at the 2/3.

Worst Move: Josh Boone in the 5th round.  I needed bigs and I picked him ahead of where he probably should have gone.  Still, he's a young guy who averaged over 7 rpg last year and plays good D.  Hopefully he'll continue progressing with more minutes.

Outlook: As it says in my profile, we're not good.  We've got a superstar, and the league's best complimentary player, who alone should get us into the playoffs.  At the very least, we'll sell a ton of tickets and merchandise.

Injuries, especially with Wade and Manu could be a major factor, and if either one goes down for more than 5 games at a time we're in trouble (I like our depth behind those two, and I think we can win with guys like Mason and Simmons filling in, but just not for an extended period.  That said, I think this roster will be very different at the end of the season, with hopes of reeling in a legitimate big man and an upcoming wing player.

Unfortunately, I actually have to accomplish things at work today, so I have to end this report here.  I may add some more later, but I think you get the basic gist of my team - it's the Wade and Manu show until we can get some more help...a 3rd star player would make us a title contender, but as it is now I think we're fighting for a playoff spot.

[wdleehi]

I was looking at your lineup.


Any thought of moving Warrick to SF?  He was much better there then PF last year (offensively and defensively).  http://www.82games.com/0708/07MEM12C.HTM



That way, you can move Manu to the 6th man where he does great while saving a little wear and tear on him at SF.

Then you can start Boone at C (who I liked where you picked) and Collison to PF. 



Do you have enough big body bangers to deal with Yao? 

[JSD]

Cavs - Manu is set for surgery and due to be out for the first half of next season.  Who are you looking at to fill his shoes?

[ChampKind]

I was looking at your lineup.


Any thought of moving Warrick to SF?  He was much better there then PF last year (offensively and defensively).  http://www.82games.com/0708/07MEM12C.HTM



That way, you can move Manu to the 6th man where he does great while saving a little wear and tear on him at SF.

Then you can start Boone at C (who I liked where you picked) and Collison to PF. 



Do you have enough big body bangers to deal with Yao? 

Hmmm.  The thought had crossed my mind, as it would give Manu more time off and force him to bang at the 3 less often, make him a scorer off the bench, which is his best role, and give me a more natural starting 5.  My concern is that I don't really see where the offense comes from with a frontcourt of Collison and Boone with Warrick at the 3.  The frontcourt is suspect as it is right now, so tweaking it could make it crumble.  On the same note, it could be bad enough in its current incarnation that moving Manu to the bench is the logical next step with little risk.

[ChampKind]

Cavs - Manu is set for surgery and due to be out for the first half of next season.  Who are you looking at to fill his shoes?

Mason looks like the frontrunner over Bobby Simmons, but these two will battle it out in camp.  Hakim Warrick will also log some minutes at the 3, where, as wdleehi pointed out, he's a more natural player.

[StartOrien]

pg: derrick rose / bobby "my perrogative" brown
sg: monta ellis/ karim rush/ fred jones/ alando tucker
sf: james jones/ rodney carney / jared jeffries
pf: rasheed wallace/ brandon bass
c: sam dalembert/ kosta koufos

Good Morning,

First and foremost, I would like to deny reports that the Indiana Pacers are looking into investigating Monta Ellis' injury. I have spoken to  Monta several times since, and I 100% believe him when he told me that his ankle injury in a Skip-It tournament.

While the Ellis injury certainly does hurt us, we hope that the injury will be shorter than expected and allow Monta to rejoin the Indiana Pacers sometime in December. And when he does come back we expect BIG things. We're looking for Ellis to have a HUGE breakout season; consistently displaying the flashes of brilliance he showed last year.

What we have left is a very exciting team, highlighted by what we believe to be the strongest front court in the NBA today. Sheed and Dalembert perfectly compliment each other; On defense Rasheed will take the opposing teams strongest post player allowing Sam to become the best weak side defender this league has EVER seen. And on offense Rasheed will help us spread the floor as Samuel patrols the paint to create the havoc we're used to seeing out of him.

Leading the team will be the 2008's number one pick; Derek Rose. We're fully confident that not only will Derek become a truly great point guard, which are by no means in abundance, but he's ready to compete, and more over, win, today. I am fully confident that Derek has recovered from all injuries back in Orlando and is ready to dazzle immediately. Which is why we were extatic when we were able to get Derek and Rasheed in exchange for Ben Gordon, 2 4ths, and 2 6ths.  

Besides the Rose/Sheed trade, I believe the best move we made was being able to pick Bobby Brown in the 14th round. Brown dazzled us all in the summer league, and outperformed point guards who were picked over ten rounds before him.

We also feel good about our front court depth, with Calvin Booth able to keep our level of defense when Sheed/Dalembert need a breather, and we fully believe that Koufos will one day become a very, very good player.

As far as weaknesses go, I'm sure I won't be catching anyone by surprise when I admit that our depth at the swing positions appears to be an issue, and without Monta for the first two months this could create some problems on the offensive end.  We're hoping that players like James Jones can really step it up, while we're looking for some consistency behind his back ups. We're also hoping that Jared Jeffries will show some of the promise he displayed before he got absorbed into the black hole that is the New York Knicks.

With Jimmy O'Brien bringing his unique style to our team, we're hoping to see a great 2008 out of our Indiana Pacers.

We're also pleased to announce that the Indiana Pacers have come up with TWO new jerseys, which promise to be 400% less lame than the rumored OKC Thunder/NY Liberty logo that has leaked to the internet, which will hopefully be uploaded by JGod in the very near future.

[Roy Hobbs]

Indiana:  Is Rasheed Wallace the leader you want around such an impressionable, young roster?

Cleveland:  In an ideal world, what direction do you take with your roster?  Do you trade Manu for a big?  Can Wade stay healthy enough to be the centerpiece of a team?

[ChampKind]

Indiana:  Is Rasheed Wallace the leader you want around such an impressionable, young roster?

Cleveland:  In an ideal world, what direction do you take with your roster?  Do you trade Manu for a big?  Can Wade stay healthy enough to be the centerpiece of a team?

Manu for an established big and a young wing would be ideal.  A lineup of

C - All star caliber big
PF - Collison
SF - Warrick
SG - Wade
PG - Williams

With a our bench bolstered with a young wing would make us a contender now and several years down the road.  A former deal would have sent Manu for Yao and Marvin Williams, but fell through.  We hope to field similar offers in the near future, although that may not be realistic in light of Manu's latest injury.

[StartOrien]

I do believe Sheed is the leader we want around this team. From a skill level; he nearly embodies everything this team is about. He's a tremendous defender and helps spread the floor in our uptempo style. And while he's always said to have had "character issues" he's always shown to be a guy his teammates like.

[Gainesville Celtic]

I do believe Sheed is the leader we want around this team. From a skill level; he nearly embodies everything this team is about. He's a tremendous defender and helps spread the floor in our uptempo style. And while he's always said to have had "character issues" he's always shown to be a guy his teammates like.

That may be true, but I agree with the original concern about Rasheed on this team.  Wallace has been a (relatively) good egg when surrounded by veterans and put in a situation to win.  With all due respect, this is not that team.  At 36 y.o. I suspect Wallace will have little patience as the losses mount.  I think you'd be better off trading for a different kind of veteran (i.e. a Ray Allen type) or moving Wallace for young-un's to join to core of Rose/Ellis/Dalembert...

[jgod213]

let's just say last week was a little slow at work....

[Gainesville Celtic]

let's just say last week was a little slow at work....

I love these bottom ones -- TP for great work!
(are you a designer at work or just for fun?)