Post by ucfinfan86 on Jul 15, 2024 19:02:30 GMT
Indiana Pacers
2023–2027 – StayMelo, B
StayMelo was someone who wasn’t overly active, but was around enough to do the basic roster management and field a good roster. His reign came to an end after the 2027. He made a couple of really big trades over the seasons. Season 1 he traded for Kawhi, Mitchell Robinson and Quickley and had the best record in the league. He had arguably the most complete team 1-6. Haliburton was a top 3 player in the league. He had plenty of shooting with Kawhi/Hield/Turner to go along with a good defense. Somehow they were upset in round 1 and lost vs the #8 Hornets. They ran back mostly the same squad in season 2 and lost in the CF to the juggernaut 76ers. Heading into the 2025 they lost Kawhi to the Magic in FA but rebounded by signing Cam Thomas and trading for Franz Wagner. Over the next 2 seasons they were solid teams, but were top heavy with 4 big time salaries and not much roster depth. In 2027 they made a home run swing by trading Franz Wagner for Joel Embiid, but had the same issues remain. Overall the Pacers had the 3rd highest winning percentage in the East over the 5 seasons and had some very solid runs, but lack of depth and activity really held them back from being an elite team.
New Orleans Pelicans
2023–2027 – The Slough, B+
The Slough came out of the league firing by finishing the regular season as the #3 seed winning 53 games and making it all the way to the finals. He still holds the title as the only team to beat the 76ers in the Eastern playoffs. He started the league off by making a very smart trade for Jalen Brunson to give him a lead scorer. Trey Murphy was better than anyone imagined and while Zion isn’t what he is today, he was still one of the best scoring bigs in the league. 2024 and 2025 were much of the same winning 52 and 51 games respectively but petering out in the playoffs. In 2025 he drafted a SG named Judah Mintz in the early 2nd round that would wind up being one of the steals of all drafts so far. After his 3rd straight 50 win season, Slough decided to tank and trade Brunson to Toronto and Zion to Memphis. In 2026 he drafted a “PG” at #5 overall in Labaron Philon who is looking like quite the bust (and was a strange pick at the time). Slough made up for it the following year by selecting Jared McCain at #4 who looks like he’s on his way to stardom after scoring 23ppg and winning RoTY.
Cleveland Cavaliers
2023 – Thefirstcedi, F
2024–2027 – guins, B
Thefirstcedi was replaced after the first season and can’t say I was sad to see him go. Guins came on about mid-way through season 2 if I recall correctly. Cedi went all in on an RJ trade before the league started. The problem is/was that he was banking on the Cavs matching their real life counterparts and that didn’t happen. Garland isn’t close to what he is in real life. Mobley has eventually turned into a really good player but took a few seasons to develop. Mitchell thrived at PG as opposed to SG. On paper Garland/Mitchell/RJ/Mobley/Allen looks legit, but it just didn’t materialize. Don’t get me wrong, they were still good and won 49 games, but it quickly faded after that first season. In 2024 they ran back most of the same lineup minus RJ who was traded to Charlotte. In Guins first real offseason of 2025 he tore the team down and traded everyone. Over the next few rebuilding seasons guins would find some nice lottery picks in Felix Okpara, Jalen Haralson and Dylan Harper. In 2027 he made a splash move and traded for Luka Doncic and Paolo Banchero. I thought both acquisitions were a fair price and they give him a core along with his lottery picks moving forward into the next iteration of the team.
Charlotte Hornets
2023–2027 – verysilentone, B-
I really struggled with VSO’s grade. He had 4 straight playoff appearances. Won between 47-51 games all 4 years and had the 5th highest winning percentage in the East. At the same time I don’t love the roster and didn’t think he maximized a lot of his moves. Dating back to NBN1 and NBN2 VSO has always been a very steady owner. He never had great teams and never really bottomed out, but was always in playoff contention. His teams have had a little more upside in NBN3, but has mostly followed suit. He has a star in LaMelo Ball. He has a turnover issue, but otherwise he’s excellent in every phase of the game. He added Dinwiddie in 2023 and shocked the world in 2023 by upsetting the #1 seeded Pacers before losing in round 2. His first major move was acquiring RJ Barrett in 2024. He was a decent, above average SF before falling off near the end of this half century. His best team was probably the 2025-2026 lineup that had Ball/LaVine/RJ/Richards/Williams/Fultz. LaMelo was the star and LaVine and RJ were good secondary scorers, but they lacked real low post presence. The wheels completely fell off in 2027 and they are likely embarking on a rebuild moving into the next half century. They haven’t really had any big draft pick developments or major splash moves.
Toronto Raptors
2023-2027 - Yourkers15, B+
It has been an up and down 5 years in Toronto and I don’t think anyone would have expected anything less. It’s impossible to mention all the big swings that have been made. Year 1 was a doozie going big in deals for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and they ended up missing the playoffs despite winning 45 games. In year 2 Barnes was dealt as he was nervous of his pending free agency and Durant was sent to the Bucks for enticing future picks. Later on that season a massive trade of 8 1sts for Wemby was constructed and was a home run trade for Toronto (I still don’t know what Charles was doing). In 2025 Yourkers was able to build a true contender around Wemby and an assortment of bad contracts that he was able to acquire for cheap in Garland/Jaylen Brown and Nic Claxton. This team would win 53 games and lose in the conference finals to carlos. In 2026 he was able to capitalize on a Slough rebuild and get Brunson for good value. He also filled out the roster with Brandon Ingram and Dereck Lively. The team would go on to win 62 games behind the Wemby/Brunson duo. Unfortunately they faced an equally good Wizards team in the 2nd round and lost in 7. In 2027 they had a Jokic/Wemby duo at one point but again scared off my an impending free agency, he dealt Jokic mid season for a package around Sengun and Vassell. Brunson was also moved the prior offseason and they brought in another bad contract in Cade Cunningham for cheap. Overall there was just a massive amount of moves. The #1 by far was the acquisition of Wemby. He should have probably kept Barnes, but if he did I don’t think he would have had the assets to acquire Wemby. He made some good moves to acquire overpaid but talented guys on the cheap, but I also think he moved off of a few guys too quickly. Yourkers is going to trade and its going to happen fast and he’ll win some and lose some. Overall it’s hard to argue with 3 straight seasons of 53+ wins and being legit title contenders. I would give him an A-, but there was just too many questionable moves (Beal, Cade, Jokic trade, failed 2023).
Milwaukee Bucks
2023-2026 – zjd, F
2027 – ucfinfan86 (interim), N/A
Arguably the 2nd worst franchise in the NBN along with the Celtics as one of 2 teams to never make the playoffs. It could be argued they are worst since they went all in on a Dame trade in season 1 and missed the playoffs despite winning 41 games. Dame just wasn’t his real life self and had a terrible season 1, although did get a little better the next few season. In year 2 they decided to add another old veteran in Kevin Durant who at PF just wasn’t a good fit on this team with Dame and Giannis. Zjd made a couple of big moves but wasn’t overly active otherwise and never tried to rectify his mistakes or really add depth around his so called stars. Giannis is a flawed star and really these teams were more built on name value than FBB value (If KD was at SF and Giannis PF, it could have been different). I took over as interim in 2027 and was able to re-stock the cupboard and will be handing it off to a new GM to rebuild the franchise. Can they make the playoffs sometime in the 2nd half of the decade?
Detroit Pistons
2023 – tyger, F
2024 – ucfinfan86 (interim), N/A
2025-2027 – cop, C
Pistons started out with another one of that failed GM crew that dipped after 1 season. I took them over on an interim bases for about 1.5 seasons before cop joined the league. Tyger didn’t really do much year one and the Pistons were predictably awful. In 2024 they inexplicably chose PF Izan Almansa at #6 who was a clear reach at that spot. I took over mid-way through 2024 and essentially just held the fort down until the offseason. With the #9 pick I chose Ismaila Diagne*** because he was overseas and I didn’t have the cash to camp the Pistons young core and another draft prospect. The jury is still out on him, but it’s not looking great right now. In the 2025 offseason I was able to sign Giannis in free agency and able to acquire Tyler Herro in a trade for some spare parts and had hopes of putting a playoff team contender. After tanking for 2 years I thought the team was ready to move forward. Cop joined during the season and the team won 47 games, marking their highest win total to date. They made the playoffs, but lost in the first round. It was a similar story in 2026, although cop did make a few moves acquiring Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle and Lauri Markkanen to give the team a solid looking team on paper. After losing in round 1 again cop decided to rebuild for the 2027 season. He is stockpiled with picks heading. We’ll see if he’s able to hit on some draft picks or flip them for some veterans and get the Pistons some wins.
Atlanta Hawks
2023-2027, vanimmer, B
For awhile it just felt like van couldn’t catch a break. Bad lottery and TC luck seemed to be the M.O. for a few seasons, but I think his luck started to turn around. Van is consistent in how he’s going to play this game. He’s going to stock pile cash, he’s going to keep his salary as close to the soft cap as possible, and he’s going to create a youth farm system that he’ll continue to develop talent and then trade off when they get too old/expensive and rinse and repeat. In 2023 he started off with a tank and sold off whatever veteran talent he had. His best deal was acquiring Shaedon Sharpe in a deal from Rog who has turned into one of the best SGs in the league. In 2024 he dropped in the lottery to #5 and took Carrington who has failed to develop into a superstar, but is a solid PG. In 2025 he again fell in the draft but landed in retrospect the 2nd best player from the draft in Dame Sarr. In Carlton/Sharpe/Sarr a nucleus was starting to form. In 2026 he has his first sign of good luck jumping into the top 2 and grabbing Ja’Kobe Walter (and later Koa Peat). That season he also made his first splash move by trading Sarr and other pierces for Jayson Tatum. He won 51 games and had Tatum/Sharpe with a bunch of lottery prospects. He ran the same lineup back hoping for continued development, but won 48 games. He did make it to the conference finals before losing to carlos (who doesn’t?). Overall, I think the moves that van made that he can control have been pretty good. I can only give you so high of a grade though when you won a combined 75 games in the first 3 seasons.
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