Post by ucfinfan86 on Jul 25, 2024 14:48:39 GMT
Denver Nuggets
Michael 2023-2026, F
Rog (interim) 2027, N/A
It’s a shame that we lost Micheal so early into NBN3. He was a big part of NBN2 and would have provided good GM competition in the Midwest. The Nuggets started off the league with 2 nice seasons on the back of Nikola Jokic who won the 2023 MVP. Unfortunately for Denver the rest of their lineup didn’t translate to FBB with Murray and Porter both less relevant than their real life counterpart. Michael did add Porzingis to their core. They were a good mostly because of Jokic and that led them to the #2 and #1 seed, but ultimately ended up losing in the 2nd round both seasons. Michael really started checking out after this. They remained rudderless in 2025 and 2026 where they mostly saw their depth continue to dissolve without any replenishments. In 2027 Rog traded Jokic for 3 1sts to start a rebuild on their way to 23 wins. This is a team that badly needs a reset and looks in promising hands now with slim taking over in 2028.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Ronin, B
Ronin hadn’t completely quit yet at the end of 2027, so I will provide him a real grade. The Wolves won the inaugural NBN title in 2023 after making a few guard upgrades with Russell/Suggs to go along with their big 3 of Edwards, KAT, and Gobert. In 2024 they missed the playoffs behind a similar lineup but using rookie Baba Miller at SF, who wasn’t ready for that role yet. In 2025 they signed Josh Giddey to a massive deal in free agency. At the time it looked like a massive overpay, but over the years Giddey has continued to improve and as mostly lived up to the contract. The team was very top heavy though with 4 big salaries and not much depth. They won 47 games before losing in the 1st round. In 2026 they made the playoffs with 38 wins and this is where Ronin’s activity level started to fall off and it showed. His team basically evolved into a 3 man team with not much talent around them. Overall the Wolves had a solid first 3 years before they fell off. I think they overpaid a few free agents like Jalen Suggs and Giddey, which ultimately prevented them from filling out the roster completely. I don’t think Ronin can go any lower than a B as one of only 3 GMs with an NBN3 championship.
Dallas Mavericks
Bundy, B-
Bundy started off the league trading 4 picks for Jayson Tatum, which in retrospect was a home run move. We now we similar young players going for much more. That first year the Mavs had Irving, Luka and Tatum and not much else. Lively was still a little too young and Kornet was little more than a rebounder. They ended up winning 49 games and finishing as the #4 seed before losing in the first round. For some reason heading into 2024 the Mavs decided to break up the Luka/Tatum duo. They did acquire a nice group of talent adding Dejounte Murray, Paul George, Paolo Banchero, Walker Kessler and Josh Giddey, but I would have preferred to keep the 2 allstars. Overall though this was still a very attractive roster and they ended up winning 46 games on their way to losing in the conference finals. The future looked pretty bright at this point, but they were going to start facing FA problems. In 2025 Paul George ended up leaving in free agency, but they resigned Banchero and traded for Jaren Jackson. They had a solid season in 2025 before they started down a rebuild path which has led to a full on rebuild in 2027. Overall I loved the Tatum move. Didn’t love the subsequent Luka/Tatum moves but liked the team they put together in 2024, but they just weren’t able to keep that team together before it sputtered out the last 2-3 seasons.
Utah Jazz
Josephballin11, C+
It’s been a rough start to NBN3 for joseph. The initial team was solid after acquiring Westbrook and Lavine to pair with a Lauri/Kessler frontcourt and winning 46 games. Their big move was in 2024 trading LaVine/Lauri/Kessler for Luka Doncic. I thought it was a A++ move and a no brainer. Unfortunately the Jazz then proceeded to do absolutely nothing to surround him for the next 3 seasons. The Jazz won 48-44-35 with Luka and the rotating supporting cast of underwhelming role players. VanVleet, Rupert, Biyombo, Edey, Kleber, Mikal, Alvarado, Tiller are who surrounded him for 3 seasons….Finally in 2027 Jazz ended the Luka experiment by trading him to Cavs for picks and starting a rebuild that looks very promising heading into 2028. On a positive note, they did make the playoffs for 3 straight seasons. Overall though it’s hard to say the Jazz run has been anything but disappointing. Does joseph have any magic left without the NBN2 late bloomer camp?
Vancouver Grizzlies
Ucfinfan86, N/A
It’s been a whirlwind first 5 years for the Grizz. They started the league off very disappointing and missing the playoffs. They started the league with Morant suspended and Adams/Clarke out for the season. Season 2 saw Ja Morant shipped to the Lakers as we decided to rebuild for next season after another slow start to the season. Prior to the deadline we capitalized on a reduced price for Scottie Barnes as he head into free agency in a few days. In 2025 saw the Grizz rise to power with a few big moves that vaulted them into title contention. Grizz traded 6 picks for SGA, 3 picks for Allen, and absorbed Gobert into their cap space prior to free agency. An SGA/Leyva/Barnes/Allen/Gobert/Bane was thought to be enough to win the West after earning the #1 seed, but they were upset in the 2nd round by the Lakers in 7. Bane was shipped off in the 2026 offseason with draft capital and Carson Tarrant for Zion Williamson who proceeded to explode once he arrived. The #2 seeded Grizz lost in the 2nd round again to the Kings. In 2027 the Grizz were able to land the #1 seed again and finally break through and defeat the 76ers in 7 in the finals. It was a slow start for Grizz, but they were among the best teams in the league the last 3 years winning 55+ all 3 seasons and in total have the 2nd most wins in the West just behind the Kings.
Houston Rockets
Hunt, C-
Another disappointing team in the Midwest. The Rockets were one of the most attractive teams coming into the team draft with a young nucleus of Sengun, Jabari Smith, Amen, and Jalen Green. Smith and Amen have mostly fizzled out. Sengun has developed into good center and Jalen Green is among the best SG in the league, but it took this core a while to get going. Hunt just also hasn’t been as engaged as he was in NBN2 without really making significant moves and maneuvers to make his team better. The most games they’ve won has been 42 and they’ve only made the playoffs once when they won 37 games. They inexplicably traded their first in 2027 for Jaylen Brown when they did nothing else to try and build a winner. They haven’t nailed any draft picks with their best one probably being PG Trey Alexander. Overall I think they’ve been one of the worst handful of franchises in the first 5 years.
San Antonio Spurs
Charles, C-
It was a welcome site when Charles returned to NBN3 as he’s one of my favorite GMs to work with. He hit a home run by getting the Spurs in team draft and getting the #1 asset in the league in Victor Wembanyama. He tanked in year 1 which was smart to get another high asset to put around Victor before trying to compete. He drafted a dud at #8 in Justin Edwards that was a helluva reach….and then he traded Victor in 2024 for 8 draft picks. WTF!?! 8 picks is a lot, but most of them weren’t projected to be very good. Spurs would then go on to make the playoffs winning 42 games that season in a disastrous turn of events. 2025 finally started to show some promise after he made 2 pretty good draft picks with Derron Reid/Tahaad Pettiford. 2026 was the most promising season. He signed Trey Murphy in FA and drafted Xavier Booker. He then traded Reid and 2 good picks for Evan Mobley in a move to start trying to win before going MIA and letting the depth fall apart in 2027. Overall I thought it was a struggle for Charles. Trading Victor wasn’t great and if you did trade him I thought he needed more of a return. Murphy signing was great, but the Mobley traded was ehh and then obviously going MIA isn’t great.
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