Post by The Slough on Oct 10, 2019 0:46:22 GMT
Slough: Welcome Donny to the Second Addition of Slough and You
.Lets start off with telling a little bit about yourself, so some of the new gm's know who you are. (Can be funny of made up, I don't care,haha).
Donny: My name is Donovan, but most people call me Donny. I am an NBN Champion! Currently in college, working on a degree in marketing/communications. In my free time, I watch sports (big hockey guy here) and go to sporting events, listen to music (mostly rap but I've got a lot of Spotify playlists for every situation), hang with friends, and try to rip people off in NBN trades. Not a lot of free time here though, with work and school, but I find a way to do everything I've gotta!
Introduce yourself and say three things that you love about the NBN!
Slough: I am known as The Slough, and more of the body of water, not 'the Slew' for the horse that many probably think.
Work as a Product Development and Cost Analyst Manager for a health food company, called Chosen Foods.
I actually went to school to be a sports writer, but after five years nothing quite panned out around the economic downfall.
I love sports, teams are; Cowboys, Mariners, Zags basketball, UW football, Sonics if they ever comeback, USMNT and USWNT for soccer, plus will be an NHL fan next year when Seattle gets its expansion.
I love reading, writing, and long walks on the beach.....er.....wrong interview.
NBN is the best league, since it takes a lot of all the good things from past leagues I have been in with A. Silver since 2005. Hard to say only three things, think this is one of the most well run leagues in the community.
Lets get into our teams, is your season going as you planned or what are some positives and negatives so far to your season?
Donny: Maybe not exactly how I planned but the rebuild is going smoothly as is. I’m very much hoping that we get near the deadline and teams are willing to offer more “future” based trades for my assets. That would be a big positive. Another positive is seeing the growth of my youth. Seen a ton of positive adjustments out of my team so far this year, and the productivity has been exactly what I’ve looked for. Some negatives are obviously the fact that when you make the best lineup possible as the rules state, it’s a bit difficult to actually grow your youth and see what you’ve got. The trade offers have been pretty mediocre thus far, so that doesn’t help what I’m looking for at all.
How do you feel about the future direction of your team and what are a few things you’d like to do better in the coming season or two?
Slough: My team this year hasn't gone as planned for sure. However, I have liked what I am seeing with a few changes recently which bodes well for the future of this team.
Recently I benched Galis for Heyman and have been on a 7 game win streak, including wins against some top talent. Per what you said about the rules, you can still try out your players for at least two sims without being called out or something for tanking, which really is kind of monitored by community gm's (most likely other tanking teams,haha) and the commish only steps in when this arises.
The key to rebuilding and seeing your young pieces is very much about trying different types of strategy and seeing the strengths and weaknesses I believe.
For my future I like it a lot, only which I would have Guy Rodgers on a long term deal at that salary,haha. I have a lot of young pieces, all my 1sts, plus the Mavs 1st next year, so things are looking fine, however I haven't been able to mold up a SF yet, which concerns me, I have dropped picks on Don Nelson, Herrera, and now Kolokithas.**, so hopefully one of the latter two works out. I also got a solid 25 year old SF in Aminu who isn't a star, but very solid starter from what I have seen so far.
In the next season or two, I think I need to land a superstar with the Mavs 1st,haha. It actually depends more on development of SF and Heyman at SG for me, plus keeping the PG spot consistent, but as you saw my block, I can either be trying to win or rebuilding again by seasons end, so still undecided, but loving the 7 game win streak right now.
How are you feeling about the change to the current salary cap rules for the league? What are the benefits and setbacks you might think this new rule causes?
Donny: I like the salary rules from a league competition standpoint. Makes it easier for teams to build winning teams and allows more parity among the top contenders. Still waiting to see a stacked free agent class so I can really make my best judgement on that one.
Absolutely not a fan of the one year maxed out deals. FBB really seems to lean heavily towards them and it’s not a good time for GMs who offer long term deals with double or triple the max money in that deal and still get shafted on those deals.
The positives mostly outweigh the negatives in this situation however which is cool with me. Anything new and fresh will keep the league running smoothly and we have a good core of GMs here so there’s not a problem at all with trying new things.
In your opinion, who are the five best players in the NBN right now and why?
Slough: In no particular order here are the players I would say are in my top 5:
Bob Cousy PG
Jerry West PG
Kresimir Cosic C
Elgin Baylor SF
Nico Mannion PG
Definitely hard question to answer, as there are so many good PG's in this league. There are an entire 'Slough'(slew
of players that I could name as well to add into this, that all hold high value, but this is what I have for now. The 3 pg's happen to be 3 top players. Baylor I think knows he needs to earn that contract and is doing and Cosic is one of the best front court players that does everything in the league (Can I have Spurs ? 
)Do you have any upcoming players in draft classes that you are looking forward to landing?
Donny: WALT. Absolutly Walt. His skillset should be a perfect definition of a player anyone would love to have if he looks anything like he did in real life. Sad part... I don't anticipate being bad enough to ever land a top 2 pick. I think the upcoming draft classes with guys like Frazier, Monroe, and Barry should be extremely exciting for re-building teams, ushering in the league's future stars and making things exciting with some massive names altogether.
Also, I'm always a fan of seeing who becomes big steals in drafts. I feel like I've been a big beneficiary of the G-League + late picks, so as someone who grabs a bunch of picks every year, it's always a big positive having deep drafts.
Who do you think is going to win the NBN title this year and why?
Slough: Its hard not to say the Nets at the moment, but I think the Grizz will make a run at the title this year, which would create a last years finals.
Right now edge has to be the Nets with how they are doing so far and being the reigning Champs.
I'm curious what you think about some Dark Horses?
For me I have Rockets and Knicks, who aren't being talked about enough, thoughts?
Donny: My favorite dark horses in the league are no doubt the Celtics and the Sonics. The Celtics have one of the best starting 5's in the league in my opinion and I feel like they're extremely strong defensively. The Sonics on the other hand? Awesome big 3. Morant, Simons, and Chia are nasty and can win games on their own, so I wouldn't doubt the Sonics surprising some people and winning a few big games in the playoffs, maybe even winning a series or two.
Are you happy that your team is currently a playoff team?
Slough: eh, I thought it would be better, but recently I have switched it up and have been more in line for a playoff spot, however anything below .500 for a playoff spot bothers me, so definitely not as happy as I would like to be.
Final Questions: What year and timeline do you give yourself for being a contender again?
Donny: Give me two seasons. Frankly speaking, I think I've got good building blocks and a superstar big man in Naulls, so I just need my youth to progress. Kojis looks like he's taken the next step and I've got a ton of cap space to work with, along with a few firsts along the way including my own which should be pretty good. I'm a big fan of what I've got in Serrato, Nix, Massoni, Rostov, Hudson, and the G-Leaguers.
Final question: Do you anticipate having major lineup changes next season or do you think you'll be running a similar core for a while?
Slough: Great Question, I have no clue at the moment, whatever can bring me wins, which isn't exactly happening how I thought even this year. So the way I work is might change the team next year, but who knows, part of being a wildcard gm, at any moment I can strip it down and start over, I don't mind and is always fun,haha.
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