State of the Union: Midwest Division
Sept 16, 2024 21:27:36 GMT
zheld32, verysilentone, and 2 more like this
Post by josephballin11 on Sept 16, 2024 21:27:36 GMT
Anybody up for a series of articles that absolutely nobody asked for? If you answered no, than too bad!
Due to it being my home division, and the weakest one currently in the NBN--Let's take a deep dive into the Midwest!
Vancouver Grizzlies:
Starting with the perennial powerhouse, that recently relocated to Vancouver. UC and his squad have had an impressive run which included a Championship, but it looks to be coming to a close with the recent trade of franchise player Zion. UC always keeps a stack of cash ($7K) and quick the assortment of draft picks (Hornets 32, Knicks 33, Knicks 34, and Mavs 34). With still Zubac, Brunson, and Leyva left on the roster, it will be interesting to see what/if he decides to bottom out the roster. Already loaded up on a bunch of prospects (MAR, Thomas, Diop, Mgbako, and Johnson) it will just be a matter of which ones elevate into quality players. Overall, there is nothing to really critique here as UC is as good of a GM as they come.
Denver Nuggets:
With the breaking news of Slim stepping down as GM of the Nuggets, they are currently needing a new leader of the franchise. Would like to commend Slim for the work he did as the team was not in the best position. With the drafting of both JRich and Bradley he was moving in the right direction. At SF they have Ariza who is on his way to becoming a very solid player in the league. They are in sole possession of all of their future picks plus the Knicks and Cavs in 2031. I think after 1 more season of tanking, they will be able to shed the Cunningham contract and head into hopefully a solid FA class with yet another lotto pick on the roster and TONs of cap flexibility. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Would love to see them
Houston Rockets:
The Hunt x NBN 3.0 experience has been quite lackluster from the get-go. He drafted the Rockets in the dispersal, and while it seems they were stacked with talent, only Jalen Green seemed to develop into a quality player. After many seasons of being quite terrible, Hunt's luck seemed to turn. In last years draft he was able to pick up Osaruyi with the 6th pick, and he might be on his way to being the most dominate player of the draft class. He didn't receive his camping until the very end of the seasons, so his number wouldn't reflect a Giannis mentorship--Yet he still went for 18ppg and 9rpg (Just don't check the shooting splits). Heading into the offseason he was positioned high in the lotto but still fell slightly. With the help of a stacked draft class he was fortunate enough to grab Alonzo Mourning to complete a dominate post pairing with Osaruyi. As mentioned previously, the FA class is straight dogshit so having $135M open doesn't do too much for the Rockets. They are looking forward to another season of being lottery bound....Then maybe they will look to change the direction of the franchise.
Minnesota Timberwolves:
Ever since being crowned the inaugural season Champs, its been rough sledding in Minny. At this point, there roster has been nickeled and dimed down the point were they don't have anything of value. They are sitting on 3 first rounders in 2031 and 2032 and 2 picks in 2033. Most of these picks are from teams that find themselves in the playoffs however. With that said I'd love for them to package the picks and try to move for a known player that can contribute. At this point in the article, I realize I have pretty much said the same thing for the last three teams---Keep tanking, pray for a good lottery pick, and a decent FA class. There is no question this division fucking sucks LOL. After that mini tangent, lets get back to the TWolves. There only max player is a guy who has never dropped over 20ppg in a season and is shooting 43% from the field. Please try to move him to a someone trying to contend and just needs a SG.
San Antonio Spurs:
The ever so polarizing GM ripkobebryant has been in a leadership position for the team since the departure of the original GM. Personally, I love Alijah Arenas, I think he could be one of the best SG's in the league in just a year or two. Outside of him though, I think Lavodrama, Wilkins, and Latrell are all interesting prospects, but unsure how/if any of them turn out to be high level players. They are proud owners of a Cavs 2032 first rounder, but thats about it. Feel RKB has been a very good proxy GM and this should be a prime team to get scooped up by a newbie. Keys to success follow suit as the other shitters in the Midwest---Tank and pray.
Utah Jazz:
Coming off back to back seasons being eliminated by the Kings in the West Semi-Finals, Wemby and company are set to run it back. The biggest roster flaw is sitting at Power Forward. They had done a 2 for 1 trade with the Thunder hours before the deadline and were unable to fill the void created by the trade. Heading into the offseason the Jazz have drafted Center McNasty in hopes of a DPOTY mentorship from Wemby giving him the boost he needs to contribute to a winning team. With what looks to be the only competitive team in the division, the Jazz will still have roughly $50M in hard cap space to try and snag an upgrade at PF or add plenty of depth in the star studded lineup. With most of the starting lineup already set, my wishlist for TC would to maybe give Egor a slight boost in efficiency as it would take his game to the next level....Or for Tran to evolve into an 20ppg scorere, as then he would be the perfect game managing SF.
Editing in
Dallas Mavericks:
Wasn't a big fan of the Mavericks last year. Felt like they jumped the gun a little on their rebuild and ended up with a hodge-podge of mediocre players. Topic, Allen, Buzelis, and Foster are all solid players, but feel like they have to be more of game managers than key star players. To Bundy's luck, he was able to capitalize off the disappointing end to the season for the Grizzlies and pry Zion from a division rival. Now Bundy has his current superstar while Eddie Jones continues to brew in the shadows. Within a season or two Eddie will be a perennial all league SG. My biggest concern for this roster will be ball security. Most PG's struggle to keep TO's under 3 a game and Topic is a repeat offender here...To make matter worse, Zion and Buzelis have high turnover rates for their respective positions. Despite these woes, they should still be positioned to win close to 50 games as long as key players don't miss time due to injury.
TLDR:
Will be interesting to see how/if the Grizzlies completely tear down the roster and what they will get. Can the Jazz add a PF and depth to their team to be legit contenders? Will any other team in the division stop sucking ass?
Due to it being my home division, and the weakest one currently in the NBN--Let's take a deep dive into the Midwest!
Vancouver Grizzlies:
Starting with the perennial powerhouse, that recently relocated to Vancouver. UC and his squad have had an impressive run which included a Championship, but it looks to be coming to a close with the recent trade of franchise player Zion. UC always keeps a stack of cash ($7K) and quick the assortment of draft picks (Hornets 32, Knicks 33, Knicks 34, and Mavs 34). With still Zubac, Brunson, and Leyva left on the roster, it will be interesting to see what/if he decides to bottom out the roster. Already loaded up on a bunch of prospects (MAR, Thomas, Diop, Mgbako, and Johnson) it will just be a matter of which ones elevate into quality players. Overall, there is nothing to really critique here as UC is as good of a GM as they come.
Denver Nuggets:
With the breaking news of Slim stepping down as GM of the Nuggets, they are currently needing a new leader of the franchise. Would like to commend Slim for the work he did as the team was not in the best position. With the drafting of both JRich and Bradley he was moving in the right direction. At SF they have Ariza who is on his way to becoming a very solid player in the league. They are in sole possession of all of their future picks plus the Knicks and Cavs in 2031. I think after 1 more season of tanking, they will be able to shed the Cunningham contract and head into hopefully a solid FA class with yet another lotto pick on the roster and TONs of cap flexibility. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Would love to see them
Houston Rockets:
The Hunt x NBN 3.0 experience has been quite lackluster from the get-go. He drafted the Rockets in the dispersal, and while it seems they were stacked with talent, only Jalen Green seemed to develop into a quality player. After many seasons of being quite terrible, Hunt's luck seemed to turn. In last years draft he was able to pick up Osaruyi with the 6th pick, and he might be on his way to being the most dominate player of the draft class. He didn't receive his camping until the very end of the seasons, so his number wouldn't reflect a Giannis mentorship--Yet he still went for 18ppg and 9rpg (Just don't check the shooting splits). Heading into the offseason he was positioned high in the lotto but still fell slightly. With the help of a stacked draft class he was fortunate enough to grab Alonzo Mourning to complete a dominate post pairing with Osaruyi. As mentioned previously, the FA class is straight dogshit so having $135M open doesn't do too much for the Rockets. They are looking forward to another season of being lottery bound....Then maybe they will look to change the direction of the franchise.
Minnesota Timberwolves:
Ever since being crowned the inaugural season Champs, its been rough sledding in Minny. At this point, there roster has been nickeled and dimed down the point were they don't have anything of value. They are sitting on 3 first rounders in 2031 and 2032 and 2 picks in 2033. Most of these picks are from teams that find themselves in the playoffs however. With that said I'd love for them to package the picks and try to move for a known player that can contribute. At this point in the article, I realize I have pretty much said the same thing for the last three teams---Keep tanking, pray for a good lottery pick, and a decent FA class. There is no question this division fucking sucks LOL. After that mini tangent, lets get back to the TWolves. There only max player is a guy who has never dropped over 20ppg in a season and is shooting 43% from the field. Please try to move him to a someone trying to contend and just needs a SG.
San Antonio Spurs:
The ever so polarizing GM ripkobebryant has been in a leadership position for the team since the departure of the original GM. Personally, I love Alijah Arenas, I think he could be one of the best SG's in the league in just a year or two. Outside of him though, I think Lavodrama, Wilkins, and Latrell are all interesting prospects, but unsure how/if any of them turn out to be high level players. They are proud owners of a Cavs 2032 first rounder, but thats about it. Feel RKB has been a very good proxy GM and this should be a prime team to get scooped up by a newbie. Keys to success follow suit as the other shitters in the Midwest---Tank and pray.
Utah Jazz:
Coming off back to back seasons being eliminated by the Kings in the West Semi-Finals, Wemby and company are set to run it back. The biggest roster flaw is sitting at Power Forward. They had done a 2 for 1 trade with the Thunder hours before the deadline and were unable to fill the void created by the trade. Heading into the offseason the Jazz have drafted Center McNasty in hopes of a DPOTY mentorship from Wemby giving him the boost he needs to contribute to a winning team. With what looks to be the only competitive team in the division, the Jazz will still have roughly $50M in hard cap space to try and snag an upgrade at PF or add plenty of depth in the star studded lineup. With most of the starting lineup already set, my wishlist for TC would to maybe give Egor a slight boost in efficiency as it would take his game to the next level....Or for Tran to evolve into an 20ppg scorere, as then he would be the perfect game managing SF.
Editing in
Dallas Mavericks:
Wasn't a big fan of the Mavericks last year. Felt like they jumped the gun a little on their rebuild and ended up with a hodge-podge of mediocre players. Topic, Allen, Buzelis, and Foster are all solid players, but feel like they have to be more of game managers than key star players. To Bundy's luck, he was able to capitalize off the disappointing end to the season for the Grizzlies and pry Zion from a division rival. Now Bundy has his current superstar while Eddie Jones continues to brew in the shadows. Within a season or two Eddie will be a perennial all league SG. My biggest concern for this roster will be ball security. Most PG's struggle to keep TO's under 3 a game and Topic is a repeat offender here...To make matter worse, Zion and Buzelis have high turnover rates for their respective positions. Despite these woes, they should still be positioned to win close to 50 games as long as key players don't miss time due to injury.
TLDR:
Will be interesting to see how/if the Grizzlies completely tear down the roster and what they will get. Can the Jazz add a PF and depth to their team to be legit contenders? Will any other team in the division stop sucking ass?
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