Post by carmelo115 on Jun 25, 2024 15:46:34 GMT
1. After some pretty successful seasons, your team has fallen back this year. Why do you think that's the case?
Obviously right now, we are not lighting the world on fire, but we are back to .500. We started the season 4-13. If we had even been around .500 to start, we are still in the playoffs and 4 or 5 games over .500, which would look a lot better than it currently does. At the beginning of the year, I was trying to figure out the best way to implement Julius Randle into the offense and finally found something that seems to be working a bit better. Then again, anything is better than 4-13. Aside from that, it does seem like we have had some statistical regression. Lavine was struggling a bit to start, but has picked it back up. The main reason is RJ Barrett got paid and decided he didn’t want to play anymore. I had him as one of our top options while we were trying to figure out the offense, but he has been really struggling and not scoring enough. If we were getting 14-15 points from him, I think things would look a lot better. We did lose Markelle Fultz also in the offseason and he is averaging 20 points a game now, so it would be nice to have some more options with the lineup to help offset the lack of production from players that are struggling.
2. Mark Williams has not lived up to his contract just yet. Do you have any regrets or think he can turn it around?
I regretted it the moment that I accepted the contract. I still think it was better than losing him in free agency, but I never really liked offering that much money. I think there are still a lack of serviceable bigs that can do everything or appear to be able to do everything. There are a good number of bigs that can block shots and rebound, but couldn’t score with Muggsy Bogues guarding them in the paint. Mark could give you 15+ points on any given night, but having him not be an option and running an outside focused offense does not really lend to that. He isn’t a great shot blocker, but still a solid defender. I know I would have had to pay him either way. He’s still young and I’m hoping that he improves, but I was never a big fan of giving out that much money.
3. With having your pick next season, what's your plans for the rest of this year into the offseason in terms of retooling or rebuilding?
This season I’m hoping to find a way to make it into the playoffs. Without my pick, there’s no real need to rebuild at the moment. Next season, I could see myself doing a retool. I don’t see myself doing a full scale rebuild and trading everyone away. I would lose all interest and with 5 other teams trying to burn it all down, there is no guarantee to come away with the big prize. I could see myself moving some pieces, but likely might still keep Lamelo, which I know is who everyone would want.
4. RJ Barrett has been very very bad this season after signing a relatively big contract. Have you had talks to upgrade that spot to help out the rest of the season?
Yeah, I was hoping that he could at least come close to providing similar production as in years past. He has never contributed here like he did with the Raptors, but he could still be a decent option. This year has been a nightmare. He initially shot well enough, but now everything has been an outright disaster. I would like to upgrade at small forward. It doesn’t seem like there are many available options to acquire. Many of the better small forwards in the league are younger and on rookie deals. I was looking around before re-acquiring Barrett, but some of those players were moved before I could pull the trigger. I am definitely open to upgrading and will look to see if I can find something.
5. Khani Rooths is your only young, decent player. Do you think he has a spot in this league after his rookie contract is up?
I disagree on him being the only decent young player. I still think Carlyle and Proctor could be good. I need to keep building them up also. Smith has been interesting also, because he is actually doing well in areas that I didn’t expect while struggling with areas I expected him to excel. I’m not sure what that means, but it is interesting.
As far as Rooths goes, I think he has a solid base and a good build. His pre-draft scouting report said that he was likely to be a starter in the league and I think he can still be a solid starter. He is another player that I need to keep camping and developing. He is already looking like he could be a solid interior scorer and his base ratings elsewhere are good enough to be a solid contributor all around.
6. It seems like we have over half of the league not actively trying to compete. This has always been an issue, but can you think of a way to incentivize teams to try and win a bit more?
I do wish we still had the rookie bonuses and the ability to lose those if you do not win a certain number of games. I think that would help quite a bit to make those teams try a bit harder and maybe some better teams will play some rookies more and lose a step. Otherwise, I’m really not sure. I don’t want to institute any other sort of penalty. The team would then not be able to take on salaries for cash or sign and trade veterans with the risk of having to pay a luxury tax, so it would inhibit them even further. Maybe the fact that it hasn’t been working for many of the rebuilding teams so far will force some teams to try to win.
7. There have been some huge trades since the start of the new league that have netted 6, 7, or 8 firsts for a player. Do you think the value of a first rounder has decreased or are teams just star hunting while inflation hasn't kicked in yet?
This is a cop out answer, but I think it’s a bit of both. First round picks have been readily available in almost every draft. If you can buy into any given draft, it may not scare you as much to trade some away, although you have to make sure it is worth it or you can really screw yourself. Some of the players are clearly worthy of returning a few picks. There aren’t many opportunities to get MVP caliber players so you cannot fault the teams for trading picks to obtain them. Aside from point guard, there are really only 2 or 3 top players at each position, so you have to pay up for those players.
8. PGs still reign supreme in FBB's eyes, but the value of a big man has stayed super high with the new league. If you had to choose between a guy like Tyrese Maxey or Victor Wembanyama to start your team with, who would it be and why?
I mentioned it in the last answer. Right now, there are probably 8 point guards at a certain level. There are maybe 5 bigs at the same level. I think if I could get an elite big, I would probably go with that. Getting one of those point guards may be a bit easier to do than trying to get an elite big. I probably would go with Wemby. He is still 23. He can do a bit of everything and still has some potential left. I think it would be really hard to turn that down. It doesn’t hurt that I had him in the last version, but he was never as good as he has become in real life.
9. All of the top rookies had pretty good TCs to start their careers. With your current roster build, if you could take any rookie off another team, who would it be and why?
This one is easy because the #1 pick plays a position that I’m getting zero production from. AJ Dybantsa would be my pick. I run an outside offense and he is shooting 45% from 3. He is turning it over a bit, but with Lamelo and Randle turning it over, I don’t think he would be able to turn it over himself. He helps on the glass. He distributes the ball well. I think he would be a perfect compliment to Lamelo and a great fit on the team. Aside from him, I’d go with Alex Toohey. I think he fits the timeline with Mark Williams and Lamelo. He is also shooting well from 3, so I think it would be a pretty good fit as well.
10. Give me your East winner, West winner, and Champsionship winner predicitons half way through the season?
I think I will go with Lakers in the West. I think they are a bit deeper in the post than the Grizzlies. It could benefit them. We know players love to foul out in FBB. I think I’d rather have Capela or Robert Williams than Bruno Fernandez if it comes down to it. I also love how every guard that plays has A- outside or better. That is not easy to pull off.
I want to pick the 76ers for the 4 peat, but they are the only team without a star big in the top of the East. I think the Raptors are just too much to handle. You know they will reach out to every team to get some help at shooting guard and he will likely find one to help out a bit. I think if he finds a capable fourth scorer, it will just be a really difficult team to defend.
I think I will pick the Lakers to win it all. They do not have any glaring weaknesses in the starting lineup. They have 4 capable big men. I’m sure he will find more help if needed. The Raptors defense is going to be very tough to beat, but maybe the Lakers have enough size to stop the twin towers to a certain extent.
verysilentone
Obviously right now, we are not lighting the world on fire, but we are back to .500. We started the season 4-13. If we had even been around .500 to start, we are still in the playoffs and 4 or 5 games over .500, which would look a lot better than it currently does. At the beginning of the year, I was trying to figure out the best way to implement Julius Randle into the offense and finally found something that seems to be working a bit better. Then again, anything is better than 4-13. Aside from that, it does seem like we have had some statistical regression. Lavine was struggling a bit to start, but has picked it back up. The main reason is RJ Barrett got paid and decided he didn’t want to play anymore. I had him as one of our top options while we were trying to figure out the offense, but he has been really struggling and not scoring enough. If we were getting 14-15 points from him, I think things would look a lot better. We did lose Markelle Fultz also in the offseason and he is averaging 20 points a game now, so it would be nice to have some more options with the lineup to help offset the lack of production from players that are struggling.
2. Mark Williams has not lived up to his contract just yet. Do you have any regrets or think he can turn it around?
I regretted it the moment that I accepted the contract. I still think it was better than losing him in free agency, but I never really liked offering that much money. I think there are still a lack of serviceable bigs that can do everything or appear to be able to do everything. There are a good number of bigs that can block shots and rebound, but couldn’t score with Muggsy Bogues guarding them in the paint. Mark could give you 15+ points on any given night, but having him not be an option and running an outside focused offense does not really lend to that. He isn’t a great shot blocker, but still a solid defender. I know I would have had to pay him either way. He’s still young and I’m hoping that he improves, but I was never a big fan of giving out that much money.
3. With having your pick next season, what's your plans for the rest of this year into the offseason in terms of retooling or rebuilding?
This season I’m hoping to find a way to make it into the playoffs. Without my pick, there’s no real need to rebuild at the moment. Next season, I could see myself doing a retool. I don’t see myself doing a full scale rebuild and trading everyone away. I would lose all interest and with 5 other teams trying to burn it all down, there is no guarantee to come away with the big prize. I could see myself moving some pieces, but likely might still keep Lamelo, which I know is who everyone would want.
4. RJ Barrett has been very very bad this season after signing a relatively big contract. Have you had talks to upgrade that spot to help out the rest of the season?
Yeah, I was hoping that he could at least come close to providing similar production as in years past. He has never contributed here like he did with the Raptors, but he could still be a decent option. This year has been a nightmare. He initially shot well enough, but now everything has been an outright disaster. I would like to upgrade at small forward. It doesn’t seem like there are many available options to acquire. Many of the better small forwards in the league are younger and on rookie deals. I was looking around before re-acquiring Barrett, but some of those players were moved before I could pull the trigger. I am definitely open to upgrading and will look to see if I can find something.
5. Khani Rooths is your only young, decent player. Do you think he has a spot in this league after his rookie contract is up?
I disagree on him being the only decent young player. I still think Carlyle and Proctor could be good. I need to keep building them up also. Smith has been interesting also, because he is actually doing well in areas that I didn’t expect while struggling with areas I expected him to excel. I’m not sure what that means, but it is interesting.
As far as Rooths goes, I think he has a solid base and a good build. His pre-draft scouting report said that he was likely to be a starter in the league and I think he can still be a solid starter. He is another player that I need to keep camping and developing. He is already looking like he could be a solid interior scorer and his base ratings elsewhere are good enough to be a solid contributor all around.
6. It seems like we have over half of the league not actively trying to compete. This has always been an issue, but can you think of a way to incentivize teams to try and win a bit more?
I do wish we still had the rookie bonuses and the ability to lose those if you do not win a certain number of games. I think that would help quite a bit to make those teams try a bit harder and maybe some better teams will play some rookies more and lose a step. Otherwise, I’m really not sure. I don’t want to institute any other sort of penalty. The team would then not be able to take on salaries for cash or sign and trade veterans with the risk of having to pay a luxury tax, so it would inhibit them even further. Maybe the fact that it hasn’t been working for many of the rebuilding teams so far will force some teams to try to win.
7. There have been some huge trades since the start of the new league that have netted 6, 7, or 8 firsts for a player. Do you think the value of a first rounder has decreased or are teams just star hunting while inflation hasn't kicked in yet?
This is a cop out answer, but I think it’s a bit of both. First round picks have been readily available in almost every draft. If you can buy into any given draft, it may not scare you as much to trade some away, although you have to make sure it is worth it or you can really screw yourself. Some of the players are clearly worthy of returning a few picks. There aren’t many opportunities to get MVP caliber players so you cannot fault the teams for trading picks to obtain them. Aside from point guard, there are really only 2 or 3 top players at each position, so you have to pay up for those players.
8. PGs still reign supreme in FBB's eyes, but the value of a big man has stayed super high with the new league. If you had to choose between a guy like Tyrese Maxey or Victor Wembanyama to start your team with, who would it be and why?
I mentioned it in the last answer. Right now, there are probably 8 point guards at a certain level. There are maybe 5 bigs at the same level. I think if I could get an elite big, I would probably go with that. Getting one of those point guards may be a bit easier to do than trying to get an elite big. I probably would go with Wemby. He is still 23. He can do a bit of everything and still has some potential left. I think it would be really hard to turn that down. It doesn’t hurt that I had him in the last version, but he was never as good as he has become in real life.
9. All of the top rookies had pretty good TCs to start their careers. With your current roster build, if you could take any rookie off another team, who would it be and why?
This one is easy because the #1 pick plays a position that I’m getting zero production from. AJ Dybantsa would be my pick. I run an outside offense and he is shooting 45% from 3. He is turning it over a bit, but with Lamelo and Randle turning it over, I don’t think he would be able to turn it over himself. He helps on the glass. He distributes the ball well. I think he would be a perfect compliment to Lamelo and a great fit on the team. Aside from him, I’d go with Alex Toohey. I think he fits the timeline with Mark Williams and Lamelo. He is also shooting well from 3, so I think it would be a pretty good fit as well.
10. Give me your East winner, West winner, and Champsionship winner predicitons half way through the season?
I think I will go with Lakers in the West. I think they are a bit deeper in the post than the Grizzlies. It could benefit them. We know players love to foul out in FBB. I think I’d rather have Capela or Robert Williams than Bruno Fernandez if it comes down to it. I also love how every guard that plays has A- outside or better. That is not easy to pull off.
I want to pick the 76ers for the 4 peat, but they are the only team without a star big in the top of the East. I think the Raptors are just too much to handle. You know they will reach out to every team to get some help at shooting guard and he will likely find one to help out a bit. I think if he finds a capable fourth scorer, it will just be a really difficult team to defend.
I think I will pick the Lakers to win it all. They do not have any glaring weaknesses in the starting lineup. They have 4 capable big men. I’m sure he will find more help if needed. The Raptors defense is going to be very tough to beat, but maybe the Lakers have enough size to stop the twin towers to a certain extent.
verysilentone
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