Post by ucfinfan86 on Oct 17, 2019 11:44:05 GMT
Always trying to think of different article ideas to write about and decided to do a Decade in Review for every divison. This will cover the 2036 - 2045 season.
| Team | 2036 | 2037 | 2038 | 2039 | 2040 | 2041 | 2042 | 2043 | 2044 | 2045 | Average Wins |
| Cavaliers | 62 | 57 | 46 | 48 | 25 | 15 | 61 | 58 | 60 | 57 | 48.9 |
| Pacers | 45 | 48 | 49 | 49 | 60 | 58 | 54 | 29 | 39 | 29 | 46 |
| Raptors | 28 | 34 | 14 | 47 | 48 | 58 | 57 | 48 | 56 | 32 | 42.2 |
| Hornets | 55 | 33 | 24 | 11 | 18 | 42 | 62 | 53 | 61 | 54 | 41.3 |
| Pistons | 54 | 52 | 42 | 59 | 62 | 29 | 32 | 25 | 14 | 20 | 38.9 |
| Hawks | 29 | 34 | 44 | 38 | 51 | 41 | 25 | 28 | 33 | 41 | 36.4 |
| Bucks | 53 | 39 | 42 | 42 | 30 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 11 | 29.1 |
| Bulls | 26 | 27 | 19 | 34 | 21 | 23 | 34 | 19 | 10 | 34 | 24.7 |
-The (#) represents the league rank for that category
-Best Draft pick is a combination of best player and best value in the draft
Cleveland Cavaliers
Most Wins: 62(6) Least Wins: 15(16) Average Wins: 48.9(9)
Playoff Appearances: 8 Conference Finals Appearances: 3 Finals Appearances: 2
Titles Won: 1 MVPs: 1 All Leaguers: 7 Best Draft Pick: C Perry Crosswhite 2.1
JCog was voted the #1 GM in the NBN during the last round of GM voting and the numbers support that. He’s had 6 seasons of 57+ wins in the last 10. He built a dynasty in the 2030s on the back of Joe Marshall and Bob Davies and then went through a 2 year rebuild in 2040-2041 and tanked the right way. Quickly stripped it down for 2 seasons, gathered assets and used those assets to acquire an MVP and 2 great supporting players. He’s now threatening to build a 2nd dynasty behind Nico Mannion, Jalen Green, and John Havlicek. The current trio hasn’t gotten over the hump yet, but have had the opportunity. I’m going to highlight 2 different versions of what I think his best teams where. In 2037 he won a title with a core of Bob Davies, Harlan Page, Luguentz Dort, Joe Marshall, and Essome Miyem. In 2043 he won 58 games with a core of Nico Mannion, Jalen Green, John Havlicek, Fuzzy Vandivier, Chia Chungchang, Salah Mejri and Arnie Risen. As for the best draft pick, I think Crosswhite has been the best value as an above average big man in the 2nd round. Dragan was drafted 1.3 and was key in their acquisition of Nico and obviously Havlicek at 1.1
Indiana Pacers
Most Wins: 60(13) Least Wins: 29(6) Average Wins: 46(10)
Playoff Appearances: 7 Conference Finals Appearances: 1 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 9 Best Draft Pick: PF Willie Naulls 1.2
Putting all of these numbers together and I think the most surprising team of the decade is probably the Pacers. Donny’s title falls outside of this stretch, but the recency bias of the past few years overshadowed his consistently good teams he built from 2036-2042. He only made 1 conference finals and only had a few teams that were true title contenders, but he consistently was a 4 or 5 seed and threatening 50 wins while making the playoffs 7 straight seasons. His best team didn’t make the conference finals, but it was a 60 win team in 2040 that was built around prime Paul Arizin, Dick McGuire, Bill Sharman, and Willie Naulls. Donny didn't have many draft picks during the early part of this decade and it's to early to know of any of his recent drafts. While Naulls isn't the type of big man that I build a team around, there's no doubt he turned into a good player as a 3x Allstar and arguably the best player from his draft class.
Toronto Raptors
Most Wins: 58(14) Least Wins: 14(18) Average Wins: 42.2(13)
Playoff Appearances: 6 Conference Finals Appearances: 1 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 8 Best Draft Pick: SG Miki Berkovich 1.9
Frosty seems to go in waves. He started off the 10 year stretch in a rebuild and then went on a 6 year stretch where he was a playoff team and even a title contender for a few of those years and now has gone back into a rebuild. One of his best moves of the decade was resurrecting Booboo McAdoo’s career who appeared to fall off at the end of his Grizzlies tenure. Frosty’s 2042 conference finals squad featured Booboo, Miki Berkovich, George Yardley, and Tom Barlow and was a defensive juggernaut. He's now trying a different approach after trading Miki + in a deal for Wilt Chamberlin. He now has a clean cap sheet to try and build a contender around the future hall of famer. Frosty has had some big hits in the draft and I think getting Miki at 1.9 was the best one. He also drafted PG Ja Morant at 1.3 who was later traded for C Jean Paul Beugnot. His best draft pick may just fall just outside this range with Modestas Pauluskas at 1.9.
Charlotte Hornets
Most Wins: 62(6) Least Wins: 11(24) Average Wins: 41.3(17)
Playoff Appearances: 6 Conference Finals Appearances: 2 Finals Appearances: 1
Titles Won: 1 MVPs: 2 All Leaguers: 6 Best Draft Pick: PG Jerry West 1.1
Rog has been the GM and has had some real peaks and valleys. The Hornets have been a great team since acquiring West, but I had forgotten that they went on a 4 year stretch where they were really bad and it shows in their average wins. The tanking paid off since Rog hit the lottery and won the West sweepstakes, but it’s fair to wonder if they would have recovered had they not landed that pick. Rog has won 1 title with Jerry West so far with a team of West, Eddie Palubinskas, Paul Arizin, Luka Samanic and Leroy Edwards. Outside of West, I was surprised at only 6 All-Leaguers (2 of which are West) shows he hasn’t really had a lot of top end talent this decade. Rog has had quite a few swings at the top of the draft during his 4 year non-playoff stretch which included PG Taj Brody 1.4, PG RJ Hampton 1.4, and C Teofilo Cruz 1.10, but anytime you draft the GOAT in Jerry West he has has to be considered your best pick.
Detroit Pistons
Most Wins: 62(6) Least Wins: 14(18) Average Wins: 38.9(17)
Playoff Appearances: 4 Conference Finals Appearances: 1 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 4 Best Draft Pick: PG Hot Rod Hundley 1.10
Yourkers was the GM for most of the decade but has gone MIA and the team has been mostly inactive the past couple of seasons. Yourkers built a nice roster in the late 2030’s, peaking in 2040 with a 62 win team that was the 1 seed that made the conference finals. The team had a core of Trae Young, Frank Ramsey, Djordje Pazin, Tyler Ringgold, and Leroy Edwards with some nice depth pieces. The past 5 years the team has been left for dead and has really struggled. Under Yourkers the team didn't have very many draft picks and the couple he had were busts like SG Kevin Loughery and SF Kevin Porter but Hot Rod turned out to be an above average PG. The recent draft picks since have all stalled out.
Atlanta Hawks
Most Wins: 51(20) Least Wins: 25(9) Average Wins: 36.4(20)
Playoff Appearances: 3 Conference Finals Appearances: 0 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 3 Best Draft Pick: C Connie Dierking 1.10
John is a staple of the league and is very consistent, but it just doesn’t translate into good teams. He posts lineups and sportsbooks, is usually pretty active on press conferences, and posting trade blocks, but he just can’t seem to put a good team together. He never straight up tanks as evidence by his least wins of just 25, but average wins of just 36 is pretty far down in the league ranking. He’s only finished above .500 twice and 2040 was by far his best year. He finished 5th in the conference with a team of Larry Costello, Manuel Raga, Otto Stangel, Slim Wintermute and Clyde Lovellette. His most notable move of the decade was probably signing Elgin Baylor away from LA to a massive contract and he’s been unable to build a proper squad around him. As far as draft picks, it's pretty ugly here too. When the Hawks do make selections, it's usually in the late lottery and the results have not been pretty. Connie Dierking is a fine big man, but if he's your best one in the past 10 years that's not good.
Milwaukee Bucks
Most Wins: 53(18) Least Wins: 11(24) Average Wins: 29.1(25)
Playoff Appearances: 2 Conference Finals Appearances: 0 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 2 Best Draft Pick: SF Chet Walker 1.3
Bucks have been in a mess since Godfather was kicked out. It’s been a never ending rebuilding since 2036 when they had their best season. Mattfaria was around for a few seasons and did absolutely nothing. We’ve had a new GM slicknick for a few seasons now, but haven’t really seen much. That 2036 Bucks team that made the playoffs was a veteran group that I was believed put together since they didn’t own their pick. It has Dwon Odom, Nelson Demarco, Don Barksdale, Ivo Daneu and pretty surprised that squad squeaked out 53 wins. Draft pick wise the Bucks didn't have any while under Godfather or the 3 years after he left as he always traded his picks. This left the Bucks in a very difficult spot. Recent draft pick Chet Walker has turned out pretty good and that's without being camped.
Chicago Bulls
Most Wins: 34(29) Least Wins: 10(27) Average Wins: 24.7(28)
Playoff Appearances: 0 Conference Finals Appearances: 0 Finals Appearances: 0
Titles Won: 0 MVPs: 0 All Leaguers: 0 Best Draft Pick: SF Don Kojis 1.5 or SG Willy Steveniers 1.7
Sadly Chicago has been manned by the computer the whole decade. Not a lot of accomplishments here except to say they aren’t the worst team of the decade!
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