Team By Team Observations for Preseason #2: West
May 23, 2019 4:55:49 GMT
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Post by Rog on May 23, 2019 4:55:49 GMT
Dallas Mavericks
Obviously the Mavericks have said they are ready to rebuild for multiple seasons, probably 3 or 4 more with how things are right now. They do have some interesting pieces a more proactive GM might turn into another pick or two. Cumberland Posey is a legit fill in point guard who could put in some good minutes at the 1/2, someone could absolutely give him some good cash for him. John Beckman is the same way, but that might be a tough sell given Clippers issues moving him. Otto Stangel needs to go, another cash type move most likely as would Ferene Nemeth and Ed Macauley. Those type of cash moves turn into buying pick type moves and those lottery tickets can turn into nice pieces for cheap. Nothing much to talk about on this roster beyond what could happen if Lynch is hitting the market hard enough.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets on the other hand have a lot to talk about. Dino is always a fun statline to look at with his big block and rebound games, his statline looks kind of down right now though. Willy Steveniers averaged 18 points a game on 47/87/50 pecentages proving once again how much the GM Situation in Chicago fucked him over. Oscar already looks like a 25 point, 7 rebound, 9 assist type player and his turnovers came down in a nice way this sim. You gotta think that 3 point percentage will come up and he might end up in the 27ish range scoring. I'm not a huge fan of guys who can't score more than 15 points a game staring on the wings, but Neil Patel has decent ratings that you got to wonder if he can't do 15/7/2 with 2.5-3 stocks and not turning it over at all and help a contending team while not being a star. Who knows, his numbers here aren't what you'd expect.
Houston Rockets
Everytime I look at this roster I get mad, man Bill Russell got fucking wasted. Seeing a guy like Fulks average 26 points in 26 minutes a game while only grabbing 6.3 rebounds and shooting lights out from the field is fun. Seeing Lucas average zero blocks per game and not look very good at all is not. Anthony Edwards has a chance to be pretty good if he gets camped, so he probably won't. That statline is super encouraging. Dior Johnson shooting 18.2% from three is not.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Seeing the Wolves be true contenders is so weird, but here we are. Delson Demarco takes the start and isn't a huge downgrade offensively for Vick but is an even bigger liability on defense. Dort at 32 continues to do 23 points a game with high rebounds and high stocks to be one fo the weirder stars we've had at the position in the league's history. Bill Mklvy is the star here, making 5.5 million while he does 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists a game though you expect him to shoot better. And of course Vern Mikkelsen, Mel Hutchins, George Hauptfuher, Hunter Dickerson, Vern Gardner head up the strength of this team, the bigs. They look strong in the 7 games we have to look at still.
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs pulled the plug on their contending roster and are in the middle of a rebuild. They do already have some nice pieceson the roster, mostly on the perimeter. Hot Rod Hundley is still doing too many turnovers at 25 years old to be the future at point guard I think, but his 23 points and 9 assists are things to build on. Dragan Kiecanovic also averaged a ton of turnovers, 3.9 for him, and shot the ball pretty poorly, but at 19 with his ratings you have to be excited about his future. Amniu Mohammed looks like the type of do it all small forward you'd hope fills the gaps between the bigs and guards. But you don't get a lot of burn while shooting 33% from three. There isn't much to talk about with their 29 and 35 year old starting bigs on what is a rebuilding team.
Utah Jazz
Bet you didn't see that coming zheield. The Jazz go +18 and 6-1 in their 2nd sim after trading a true contending piece and looking set to tear it down and try to go into a rebuild with the new GM. Wilt putting up 27.6 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 4.6 blocks, 0.7 steals while shooting 44.2% from the field and 68.3% from the line is an absolute insane statline that would be one of the best seasons for a big if it held up over 82 games, but you gotta imagine the scoring will come down some and the blocks will as well at least a little. Jumping from just over 59% from the line to over 68% is a huge jump that I think won't last either. Neither will a team with only 1 player averaging more than 18 points. Rudy LaRusso finishes out the biggest strength on the roster in their bigs averaging 18 and 13 in this sim. Zion Wade can still be efficient but hes not a starting shooting guard in this league anymore, and averaging under 3 rebounds and assists showed it as well. Milos continues to impress though with his high as hell assist to turnover ratio and being one of the most efficient shooters ever, though 36% this sim from there is surprising.
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Grizzlies wrap up what should be a very competitive division going 6-2 here. Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes might be the best perimeter/post player duo out there, hell Stokes might be the best pure big in the league and averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, nearly 5 stocks, with 4 assists and only 2.4 turnovers. Just a stud. I also can't believe Twyman is only 27 years old, feel hes been around for forever, but those shooting percenages on that volume is incredible. Just an insanely good player. Jewell Young gotta shoot more, otherwise his 13 points and 1.6 assists with only 3.4 assists isn't the answer either. Lastly, shoot the fucking ball Everett Case.
Golden State Warriors
Only two of us mentioned it in my 5 on 5 and didn't feel like a lot of people talked about it, but the Warriors look solid as hell. They went 8-1 in 9 games with a +23.7 point differential to back up their performance.Wiley continues to show he can block shots with the best of them and Lump continues to show he is one of the most efficient point guards in the league history. You did wonder how much his 21.6 pionts per game will and if he still has it in his tank to lead this team offensively. So far, so good. Oh Zoran Paunovic did 29 and 11 in one of the most impressive young small forward statlines I've seen.
Los Angeles Clippers
Johnny Green is only 23 years old, the Clippers got him on the relative cheap and he comes out and does 15 points, 13 rebounds with 4.2 stocks per game. His percentages leave a bit to be desired. Dick Groat averaging 25 pionts a game is yet another thing I just didn't see coming, his ratings don't support the stats at all. Not a lot of sense other than big time inflation in limited samples. Eddie Calder is still churning out high scoring/rebound numbers at age 33, impressive.
Los Angeles Lakers
A team that I'm not all that fond of that probably is still a playoff team, the Lakers show the highs and lows of this roster very clearly. Starting from the top, Filip Petrusev is a 1 million dollar big for a reason, averaging 8 and 10 while shooting under 35% from the field. Daniel Gatford is an under MLE big for a reason as well, averaging 13 and 9, neither of these guys getting any sort of stocks. Elgin Baylor is one of the best players in the league and showed it with a 30 point, 9.5 rebound, 4 assist, big that really only needs to add top end stocks to be the best non point guard in the league. Sam Jones is a solid player, not the Hall of Famer you would have hoped for, but doing 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists with 2.5 steals while shooting 46% from three is good. And KC Jones, oh KC Jones enough has been said of you already.
Phoenix Suns
Did Spike really tell us in my 5 on 5. He went 5-0 with a +20 point differential. Again, 5 game sample but still. Walt Bellamy looks set for a total breakout in all facest of his game this year with a 16/17/4 performance. Jalen Johnson obviously has talent and the ony thing really holding him back(he did 30/7/3/4) is his turnovers. Also, no way he averages more than 3 steals a game this year and breaks the record with over 4? Right? John Isaacs and Bill Sharman combine for a steadying duo at the guards. This team should be super solid, but I'm ont sure they can make a huge run in the playoffs, time will tell.
Portland Trailablazers
With only 3 games there is no way to reliably draw any conclusions. Holy fuck Ivan Mrazek is a piece that will back up Tal Brody. He played 46 minutes a game, nothing from his statline is relativent. Kareem Queeley and Goga Bitadze lead the show with the hope Bob Ferry can chip in. Oh 35 year old Neon Boudeaux is here as well, looking for some shot blocking and rebounds. Still not sure Blanchfield is that guy for the Blazers at the small forward spot.
Sacramento Kings
Another trainwreck for a tough city that needs active GMs but really doesn't have enough. Odd came in and hasn't done much to solidify a rough roster. Dino Zucchi had a solid sim but at 23 I'm not sure how much time he has to development. Ray Scot looks to be a potentially solid piece, but good luck elsewhere.
Seattle Supersonics
Another team that looks set to rebuild another year without lottery or free agency luck, though Frank Selvy was a good get it only ended up with a pick. Ja Morant is fun, but still shooting really bad from three kills all confidence in him for me. Other than Belus Smawley, there isn't a lot of win now pieces on the roster, if any. Also have a lack of shooting, which inevitably hurts their future value. The Sonics will be back soon enough, with Thunder at the helm, but its gonna take another season most likely
Obviously the Mavericks have said they are ready to rebuild for multiple seasons, probably 3 or 4 more with how things are right now. They do have some interesting pieces a more proactive GM might turn into another pick or two. Cumberland Posey is a legit fill in point guard who could put in some good minutes at the 1/2, someone could absolutely give him some good cash for him. John Beckman is the same way, but that might be a tough sell given Clippers issues moving him. Otto Stangel needs to go, another cash type move most likely as would Ferene Nemeth and Ed Macauley. Those type of cash moves turn into buying pick type moves and those lottery tickets can turn into nice pieces for cheap. Nothing much to talk about on this roster beyond what could happen if Lynch is hitting the market hard enough.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets on the other hand have a lot to talk about. Dino is always a fun statline to look at with his big block and rebound games, his statline looks kind of down right now though. Willy Steveniers averaged 18 points a game on 47/87/50 pecentages proving once again how much the GM Situation in Chicago fucked him over. Oscar already looks like a 25 point, 7 rebound, 9 assist type player and his turnovers came down in a nice way this sim. You gotta think that 3 point percentage will come up and he might end up in the 27ish range scoring. I'm not a huge fan of guys who can't score more than 15 points a game staring on the wings, but Neil Patel has decent ratings that you got to wonder if he can't do 15/7/2 with 2.5-3 stocks and not turning it over at all and help a contending team while not being a star. Who knows, his numbers here aren't what you'd expect.
Houston Rockets
Everytime I look at this roster I get mad, man Bill Russell got fucking wasted. Seeing a guy like Fulks average 26 points in 26 minutes a game while only grabbing 6.3 rebounds and shooting lights out from the field is fun. Seeing Lucas average zero blocks per game and not look very good at all is not. Anthony Edwards has a chance to be pretty good if he gets camped, so he probably won't. That statline is super encouraging. Dior Johnson shooting 18.2% from three is not.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Seeing the Wolves be true contenders is so weird, but here we are. Delson Demarco takes the start and isn't a huge downgrade offensively for Vick but is an even bigger liability on defense. Dort at 32 continues to do 23 points a game with high rebounds and high stocks to be one fo the weirder stars we've had at the position in the league's history. Bill Mklvy is the star here, making 5.5 million while he does 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists a game though you expect him to shoot better. And of course Vern Mikkelsen, Mel Hutchins, George Hauptfuher, Hunter Dickerson, Vern Gardner head up the strength of this team, the bigs. They look strong in the 7 games we have to look at still.
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs pulled the plug on their contending roster and are in the middle of a rebuild. They do already have some nice pieceson the roster, mostly on the perimeter. Hot Rod Hundley is still doing too many turnovers at 25 years old to be the future at point guard I think, but his 23 points and 9 assists are things to build on. Dragan Kiecanovic also averaged a ton of turnovers, 3.9 for him, and shot the ball pretty poorly, but at 19 with his ratings you have to be excited about his future. Amniu Mohammed looks like the type of do it all small forward you'd hope fills the gaps between the bigs and guards. But you don't get a lot of burn while shooting 33% from three. There isn't much to talk about with their 29 and 35 year old starting bigs on what is a rebuilding team.
Utah Jazz
Bet you didn't see that coming zheield. The Jazz go +18 and 6-1 in their 2nd sim after trading a true contending piece and looking set to tear it down and try to go into a rebuild with the new GM. Wilt putting up 27.6 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 4.6 blocks, 0.7 steals while shooting 44.2% from the field and 68.3% from the line is an absolute insane statline that would be one of the best seasons for a big if it held up over 82 games, but you gotta imagine the scoring will come down some and the blocks will as well at least a little. Jumping from just over 59% from the line to over 68% is a huge jump that I think won't last either. Neither will a team with only 1 player averaging more than 18 points. Rudy LaRusso finishes out the biggest strength on the roster in their bigs averaging 18 and 13 in this sim. Zion Wade can still be efficient but hes not a starting shooting guard in this league anymore, and averaging under 3 rebounds and assists showed it as well. Milos continues to impress though with his high as hell assist to turnover ratio and being one of the most efficient shooters ever, though 36% this sim from there is surprising.
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Grizzlies wrap up what should be a very competitive division going 6-2 here. Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes might be the best perimeter/post player duo out there, hell Stokes might be the best pure big in the league and averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, nearly 5 stocks, with 4 assists and only 2.4 turnovers. Just a stud. I also can't believe Twyman is only 27 years old, feel hes been around for forever, but those shooting percenages on that volume is incredible. Just an insanely good player. Jewell Young gotta shoot more, otherwise his 13 points and 1.6 assists with only 3.4 assists isn't the answer either. Lastly, shoot the fucking ball Everett Case.
Golden State Warriors
Only two of us mentioned it in my 5 on 5 and didn't feel like a lot of people talked about it, but the Warriors look solid as hell. They went 8-1 in 9 games with a +23.7 point differential to back up their performance.Wiley continues to show he can block shots with the best of them and Lump continues to show he is one of the most efficient point guards in the league history. You did wonder how much his 21.6 pionts per game will and if he still has it in his tank to lead this team offensively. So far, so good. Oh Zoran Paunovic did 29 and 11 in one of the most impressive young small forward statlines I've seen.
Los Angeles Clippers
Johnny Green is only 23 years old, the Clippers got him on the relative cheap and he comes out and does 15 points, 13 rebounds with 4.2 stocks per game. His percentages leave a bit to be desired. Dick Groat averaging 25 pionts a game is yet another thing I just didn't see coming, his ratings don't support the stats at all. Not a lot of sense other than big time inflation in limited samples. Eddie Calder is still churning out high scoring/rebound numbers at age 33, impressive.
Los Angeles Lakers
A team that I'm not all that fond of that probably is still a playoff team, the Lakers show the highs and lows of this roster very clearly. Starting from the top, Filip Petrusev is a 1 million dollar big for a reason, averaging 8 and 10 while shooting under 35% from the field. Daniel Gatford is an under MLE big for a reason as well, averaging 13 and 9, neither of these guys getting any sort of stocks. Elgin Baylor is one of the best players in the league and showed it with a 30 point, 9.5 rebound, 4 assist, big that really only needs to add top end stocks to be the best non point guard in the league. Sam Jones is a solid player, not the Hall of Famer you would have hoped for, but doing 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists with 2.5 steals while shooting 46% from three is good. And KC Jones, oh KC Jones enough has been said of you already.
Phoenix Suns
Did Spike really tell us in my 5 on 5. He went 5-0 with a +20 point differential. Again, 5 game sample but still. Walt Bellamy looks set for a total breakout in all facest of his game this year with a 16/17/4 performance. Jalen Johnson obviously has talent and the ony thing really holding him back(he did 30/7/3/4) is his turnovers. Also, no way he averages more than 3 steals a game this year and breaks the record with over 4? Right? John Isaacs and Bill Sharman combine for a steadying duo at the guards. This team should be super solid, but I'm ont sure they can make a huge run in the playoffs, time will tell.
Portland Trailablazers
With only 3 games there is no way to reliably draw any conclusions. Holy fuck Ivan Mrazek is a piece that will back up Tal Brody. He played 46 minutes a game, nothing from his statline is relativent. Kareem Queeley and Goga Bitadze lead the show with the hope Bob Ferry can chip in. Oh 35 year old Neon Boudeaux is here as well, looking for some shot blocking and rebounds. Still not sure Blanchfield is that guy for the Blazers at the small forward spot.
Sacramento Kings
Another trainwreck for a tough city that needs active GMs but really doesn't have enough. Odd came in and hasn't done much to solidify a rough roster. Dino Zucchi had a solid sim but at 23 I'm not sure how much time he has to development. Ray Scot looks to be a potentially solid piece, but good luck elsewhere.
Seattle Supersonics
Another team that looks set to rebuild another year without lottery or free agency luck, though Frank Selvy was a good get it only ended up with a pick. Ja Morant is fun, but still shooting really bad from three kills all confidence in him for me. Other than Belus Smawley, there isn't a lot of win now pieces on the roster, if any. Also have a lack of shooting, which inevitably hurts their future value. The Sonics will be back soon enough, with Thunder at the helm, but its gonna take another season most likely
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