How's My Pick 2 Team?

[GreenFaith1819]

Even though I hated the trade for the Bulls, I can't see them not making the playoffs. I had them as my third best team as of last evaluation.

The East is just so dang good.

Here's Chicago's roster:

PG - Derek Rose, Jimmer Fredette, Eric Maynor
SG - Evan Turner, E'twaun Moore
SF - Omri Casspi, Al-Farouq Aminu
PF - Lamar Odom, JJ Hickson, Jon Leuer
C  - JaVale McGee, Jason Thompson, Aaron Gray

McGee is a bad basketball player, and Odom and Hickson are having horrific years.  Neither Casspi nor Aminu is a starting-caliber SF.  Turner is inconsistent.

Rose is an MVP, but I don't think he'd be able to lift that team over very good Atlanta, Washington, or New Jersey squads.  (I originally had NJ just missing, but if the rules are that all the teams are basically 16-16 right now, and we're doing a 30 game sprint to the finish, then I think the Nets make it.)

In terms of Memphis, who do they knock out?  Griffin and CP3?  Lebron?  The Rockets?

But anyway, as mentioned, these are far from definitive rankings.  I'd love to see the other 28 GMs put up their thoughts, so we can compare and contrast (and keep this thing going, so as to distract us from the reality of the Celtics season.)

For me, it's just speculative, but I'd rather not even do a playoff setting, here.

I'd rather go with a ranking of "Future Teams", and "Current Teams" or something along those lines.

I've seen the dislike for a few of the players on here in real-time..especially one particular player that's been rumored to  want to come to BOS. Judging by what's been said about this player _______ on the blog, there's no way that he, although very talented, could lead a team into the playoffs.

For me, I'm not going down the road of who is not good or bad as far as teams, but I am judging the teams here in my head and I certainly have thoughts on how they would work in this format.

The funny thing is that I was offered one particular player, Lebron, rather early in the drafting process. If I would've accepted, the trade would've looked good on paper, but would've gutted my team.

Lebron, while perhaps the most talented player in the game right now, is still a VERY unproven product, to me. What happened last June, to me, erased whatever immense talent he has.

Dallas' lineup, at the time, proved to me that Lebron can be negated.

I'm still a proponent of running these squads in NBA 2k12 or 11...I know that some may think this is meaningless, but from some things I've heard these games do a decent job of simming.

BUT - Thanks to Who, IP, Roy, Faf and other GMs for the experience, here. Barring some minor hiccups, it's been a fun distraction from our current team's (BOS)state.

[Rondo2287]

To clarify, I like both Ed Davis and Reggie Jackson as prospects. I was only referring to my expectations for them for the remainder of this season.

I follow.  I really do like Reggie as a prospect though, but I am pretty biased

[Who]

My playoff teams for each conference

(1) Orlando Magic
(2) New York Knicks
(3) Miami Heat
(4) Boston Celtics
(5) Cleveland Cavaliers
(6) Indiana Pacers
(7) New Jersey Nets
[8] Washington Wizards

(1) San Antonio Spurs
(2) LA Lakers
(3) Memphis Grizzlies
(4) Golden State Warriors
(5) Oklahoma City Thunder
(6) Houston Rockets
(7) Dallas Mavericks
[8] Minnesota Timberwolves

** I left New Orleans Hornets out due to injuries. They ranked 5th otherwise.

** I am very uncertain about what to do with Atlanta. I rate a lot of their individual pieces highly but I am concerned about how well they will fit together. Open to putting them in the playoffs as a bottom two seed. Not sure though.

[Rondo2287]

I agree with a bottom playoff seed for my team, I don't think they would have the motivation to play hard night in and night in during the regular season. 

I don't think any team would like to see them in the playoffs though.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

How is it?

Philadelphia Rocky Balboa

PG - Andre Miller
SG - Monta Ellis
SF - Danilo Gallinari
PF - Ekpe Udoh
C  - Spencer Hawes

Andray Blatche, Aaron Brooks, Kawhi Leonard, Wes Johnson, Terrence Williams, Jonny Flynn, Earl Clark

[Merovech]

How is it?

Philadelphia Rocky Balboa

PG - Andre Miller
SG - Monta Ellis
SF - Danilo Gallinari
PF - Ekpe Udoh
C  - Spencer Hawes

Andray Blatche, Aaron Brooks, Kawhi Leonard, Wes Johnson, Terrence Williams, Jonny Flynn, Earl Clark

I like Ellis, Miller, and Gallo very much, but I'm not sold that Hawes' season isn't a fluke.  If it is, you're in big trouble in the frontcourt.  If it isn't, well, you have a solid but not great team, in my opinion.

[theswitch]

What does everyone think of my decision and moves to build for two years from now?  I still might swing Carter and Davis, but for now, I turned Chris Andersen(33) + Mo Williams(29) + Shawn Marion(33) + Gustavo Ayon(26) into Patrick Peterson(22) + Ryan Anderson(23) + Baron Davis(33) + Ivan Johnson(27).

I really like the new direction of your team but to be honest I was surprised you were so willing to let go of Ayon. It remains to be seen if this season is a fluke so far but he's been phenomenal in his first year in the league.

[StartOrien]

Brandon Jennings (35) / JJ Barea (13)
Paul George (35) / Mickael Pietrus (8 ) / JJ Barea (5)
Wilson Chandler (35) / Daquan Cook (13)
Derrick Williams (25) / Charlie Villanueva (12) / Mickael Pierus (11)
Tyson Chandler (30) / Bismack Biyombo (18 )

DNP: Arenas, JaJuan Johnson

Biyombo would drop 10 minutes a game when Kwame returns.
Pietrus only plays the 4 when Chandler's in.

[Edgar]

My playoff teams for each conference

(1) Orlando Magic
(2) New York Knicks
(3) Miami Heat
(4) Boston Celtics
(5) Cleveland Cavaliers
(6) Indiana Pacers
(7) New Jersey Nets
[8] Washington Wizards

(1) San Antonio Spurs
(2) LA Lakers
(3) Memphis Grizzlies
(4) Golden State Warriors
(5) Oklahoma City Thunder
(6) Houston Rockets
(7) Dallas Mavericks
[8] Minnesota Timberwolves

** I left New Orleans Hornets out due to injuries. They ranked 5th otherwise.

** I am very uncertain about what to do with Atlanta. I rate a lot of their individual pieces highly but I am concerned about how well they will fit together. Open to putting them in the playoffs as a bottom two seed. Not sure though.

I really thank the appreciation of deffense
and I couldnt agree more
i know age and injuries can keep Narwhals from being super elite
but i know this guys on playoff are dangerous as hunting knives

Good work Who

I knwo all people that isnt on the least make better job than most of league GMs so Everyone deserves tps
TPs palloza for all starting this evening

dont forget to show up

[Lucky17]

Brandon Jennings (35) / JJ Barea (13)
Paul George (35) / Mickael Pietrus (8 ) / JJ Barea (5)
Wilson Chandler (35) / Daquan Cook (13)
Derrick Williams (30) / Charlie Villanueva (10) / Mickael Pierus (8 )
Tyson Chandler (30) / Bismack Biyombo (18 )

DNP: Arenas, JaJuan Johnson

Biyombo would drop 10 minutes a game when Kwame returns.
Pietrus only plays the 4 when Chandler's in.

Why not bench CV, and give all the remaining minutes (Pietrus' too) to JJJ?

[StartOrien]

Brandon Jennings (35) / JJ Barea (13)
Paul George (35) / Mickael Pietrus (8 ) / JJ Barea (5)
Wilson Chandler (35) / Daquan Cook (13)
Derrick Williams (30) / Charlie Villanueva (10) / Mickael Pierus (8 )
Tyson Chandler (30) / Bismack Biyombo (18 )

DNP: Arenas, JaJuan Johnson

Biyombo would drop 10 minutes a game when Kwame returns.
Pietrus only plays the 4 when Chandler's in.

Why not bench CV, and give all the remaining minutes (Pietrus' too) to JJJ?

I like what Villanueva does for my team as far as stretching the floor, I'm not really sure JJJ is ready for regular meaningful minutes, and I don't like the idea of two rookies in the front court at any point.

[Merovech]

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, no, I'm not planning on playing Westbrook, Splitter, or Andreson 40 minutes a night. I'm content to let my bench lose games (not that I want them to lose games...but I'd rather not kill the players I'm building around, and the higher draft picks won't hurt)

[theswitch]

Brandon Jennings (35) / JJ Barea (13)
Paul George (35) / Mickael Pietrus (8 ) / JJ Barea (5)
Wilson Chandler (35) / Daquan Cook (13)
Derrick Williams (25) / Charlie Villanueva (12) / Mickael Pierus (11)
Tyson Chandler (30) / Bismack Biyombo (18 )

DNP: Arenas, JaJuan Johnson

Biyombo would drop 10 minutes a game when Kwame returns.
Pietrus only plays the 4 when Chandler's in.

See, I like your team and the pieces individually but you've got a lot of guys playing out of position. Cook hasn't really played SF in the past two years, he's playing 99% of his minutes at SG. Biyombo has barely, if at all, played center this year. Pietrus is getting 11 minutes as a PF? I know he's played there the last couple games for us, but that's pure necessity. I don't think anyone actually wants him to play 1/4 of the minutes at PF. If you moved Pietrus to playing backup 3, Cook to the backup 2, Biyombo to the backup 4 and got yourself a different backup center by trading Cook and Charlie (Cook is a little redundant with Pietrus and Barea both there anyways), your team would look a lot better.

[slamtheking]

Even though I hated the trade for the Bulls, I can't see them not making the playoffs. I had them as my third best team as of last evaluation.

The East is just so dang good.

Here's Chicago's roster:

PG - Derek Rose, Jimmer Fredette, Eric Maynor
SG - Evan Turner, E'twaun Moore
SF - Omri Casspi, Al-Farouq Aminu
PF - Lamar Odom, JJ Hickson, Jon Leuer
C  - JaVale McGee, Jason Thompson, Aaron Gray

McGee is a bad basketball player, and Odom and Hickson are having horrific years.  Neither Casspi nor Aminu is a starting-caliber SF.  Turner is inconsistent.

Rose is an MVP, but I don't think he'd be able to lift that team over very good Atlanta, Washington, or New Jersey squads.  (I originally had NJ just missing, but if the rules are that all the teams are basically 16-16 right now, and we're doing a 30 game sprint to the finish, then I think the Nets make it.)

But anyway, as mentioned, these are far from definitive rankings.  I'd love to see the other 28 GMs put up their thoughts, so we can compare and contrast (and keep this thing going, so as to distract us from the reality of the Celtics season.)

I have to disagree with the overall assessment of Chicago -- and not just because I'm the GM.  Although I completely agree about needing a better SF tandem (which I'm using Odom there for now with Casspi as backup--I desperately tried grab someone young and good in the draft but man the prospects were wanting), my C/PF depth is pretty significant.  

The backcourt is young but I think Rose is good enough to elevate a lot of his teammate's games.  As mentioned, it's a team for the future and I have no doubt my backcourt as well as frontcourt will improve over the next couple of years.  That frontcourt depth will provide trade chips for a legit SF which would make this team a real powerhouse.  

However, if you feel this team is lottery bound, I'll gladly take a nice high pick for next year and fill that SF hole with a really good player to continue building a perennial contender.

[Lucky17]

Brandon Jennings (35) / JJ Barea (13)
Paul George (35) / Mickael Pietrus (8 ) / JJ Barea (5)
Wilson Chandler (35) / Daquan Cook (13)
Derrick Williams (30) / Charlie Villanueva (10) / Mickael Pierus (8 )
Tyson Chandler (30) / Bismack Biyombo (18 )

DNP: Arenas, JaJuan Johnson

Biyombo would drop 10 minutes a game when Kwame returns.
Pietrus only plays the 4 when Chandler's in.

Why not bench CV, and give all the remaining minutes (Pietrus' too) to JJJ?

I like what Villanueva does for my team as far as stretching the floor, I'm not really sure JJJ is ready for regular meaningful minutes, and I don't like the idea of two rookies in the front court at any point.

I see your point. I think theswitch has some good insights there too (although I do think that Biyombo can play center).