European Sellouts | O.N. Thugs | Sparty Rules |
O.J. Mayo | Deron Williams | Chris Paul |
LeBron James | Brandon Roy | Richard Hamilton |
Nate Robinson | Ben Gordon | Hedo Turkoglu |
Shaquille O'Neal | Ron Artest | Boris Diaw |
Rashard Lewis | Carlos Boozer | Troy Murphy |
Jose Calderon | David West | Andrea Bargnani |
Gerald Wallace | LaMarcus Aldridge | Chauncey Billups |
Marc Gasol | Antonio McDyess | Grant Hill |
Manu Ginobili | Brook Lopez | Rasheed Wallace |
Tracy McGrady | Tyrus Thomas | Brad Miller |
Raymond Felton | Mario Chalmers | Matt Barnes |
Matt Bonner | Russell Westbrook | Marcus Camby |
Luke Ridnour | Monta Ellis | Marvin Williams |
Andrew Bynum | Jermaine O'Neal | Samuel Dalembert |
IAmJabrone | Westy's Ballers | Chowtime |
Derrick Rose | Jarrett Jack | Tony Parker |
Joe Johnson | Andre Iguodala | Danny Granger |
Al Horford | Devin Harris | Kelenna Azubuike |
David Lee | Paul Pierce | Pau Gasol |
Anthony Randolph | Andres Nocioni | Chris Andersen |
Carmelo Anthony | Caron Butler | Dirk Nowitzki |
Josh Smith | Al Jefferson | Vince Carter |
Dwyane Wade | Mike Miller | Mike Bibby |
Charlie Villanueva | Steve Blake | Zydrunas Ilgauskas |
Jason Thompson | Nene Hilario | Jamal Crawford |
Ronny Turiaf | Luis Scola | Ronnie Brewer |
Al Thornton | Kevin Garnett | Chris Kaman |
Gilbert Arenas | Tyson Chandler | Thaddeus Young |
Michael Redd | Luol Deng | Jameer Nelson |
Dribbling Balls | Floor Burns | Milwaukee Bricks |
Jason Kidd | Leandro Barbosa | Baron Davis |
Kobe Bryant | Kevin Martin | Eric Gordon |
Rafer Alston | Lamar Odom | J.R. Smith |
Mickael Pietrus | Shawn Marion | James Posey |
Jeff Green | Tayshaun Prince | Luc Mbah a Moute |
John Salmons | Kendrick Perkins | Michael Beasley |
Dwight Howard | Paul Millsap | Mehmet Okur |
Tim Duncan | Stephen Jackson | Emeka Okafor |
Rudy Fernandez | Mo Williams | Andris Biedrins |
Corey Maggette | Joakim Noah | Jason Terry |
Andrei Kirilenko | Marquis Daniels | Jason Richardson |
Derek Fisher | Richard Jefferson | Ramon Sessions |
Greg Oden | Rodney Stuckey | Al Harrington |
Mike James | Peja Stojakovic | Elton Brand |
Love Timberwolves | Phatsnapper |
Andre Miller | Allen Iverson |
Kevin Durant | Randy Foye |
DeShawn Stevenson | Steve Nash |
Linas Kleiza | Antawn Jamison |
Chris Bosh | Amar'e Stoudemire |
Kevin Love | Wilson Chandler |
Yao Ming | Andrew Bogut |
Zach Randolph | Spencer Hawes |
Josh Howard | Kenyon Martin |
Rajon Rondo | Drew Gooden |
Anthony Parker | Ray Allen |
Mike Conley | T.J. Ford |
Rudy Gay | Mike Dunleavy |
Cuttino Mobley | Francisco Garcia |
Lots of interesting choices, just based on the rosters. For example, there's a good chance that of Michael Redd, Gilbert Arenas, and Charlie Villaneuva, two of the three will be available. But there are also interesting changes in the dynamics, based on how the players' situations have changed (or not changed) in real life.
Obviously, injuries to people like Yao make for a tough situation. Do you just drop him, or do you hold on to him for the entire year? But an interesting thing comes up with you have free agents change locations. For example, we can start with Vinsanity going from Jersey to Orlando. If I had to guess, his numbers will probably stay roughly the same. And the void he leaves in Jersey probably means that Devin Harris gets a couple more shots, and that Brook Lopez gets more shots. But if you look to Orlando, this also means that Hedo Turkoglu (aka MJT, or the Michael Jordan of Turkey) is going somewhere else. If he had gone to Portland, the Blazers probably would have had a better team. However, there's a good chance that the numbers for Turkoglu, Brandon Roy, and LaMarcus Aldrige all decrease. That would have been a decidedly bad thing for the O.N. Thugs. Happily, it appears that MJT's taking his act up north to the Raptors... where this probably doesn't affect anyone a whole lot, and may even get Chris Bosh a couple more layups.
In any case, the O.N. Thugs have choices. We're keeping 8 out of 14. Here's how things look:
Must-Keep (6): Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Carlos Boozer, David West, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brook Lopez.
Basically, there are a few obvious choices. D-Will and Roy are stone cold locks. Boozer was hurt, but is a 20 and 10 guy. David West is a 20 and 9 guy, who makes FT's. Aldrige comes in at 18 and 8. And Brook Lopez's 13, 8, and 2 blocks (and efficient scoring) becomes a must keep because of the scarcity of quality at C, even if Vince stays in Jersey. And truth be told, I was committed to Lopez, when I dropped Tyson Chandler last season to make a run at the championship.
Looking at this roster, it looks like there will be good scoring (at and efficient rate), very good rebounding, and slightly above average shot blocking and steals. D-Will can make up ground on assists, and only Lopez turns the ball over too much. However, the outside shooting is so-so. D-Will and Roy are OK from 3, but none of the bigs really shoot from 3. So who will round things out?
Probably Set Free (4): Antonio McDyess, Jermaine O'Neal, Mario Chalmers, Ron Artest
And as you look down the roster, you see two bigs that you can't keep: McDyess (age, uncertain where he'll play), and Jermaine O'Neal (showed some glimpses, but age has gotten to him, as well). Mario Chalmers would help with the STL and 3PM, but at 10 points and 5 assists (D-Wade has the ball too much), you just can't go down that road with a keeper. Same for Artest, since he has gotten a little old, and you have no idea where he'll fit w/ the Lakers. So who's left?
Question Marks (4, keep 2): Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Monta Ellis, Russell Westbrook
Gordon puts up 20 a game, makes his FT's, and makes a lot of 3's. He would definitely keep the O.N. Thugs competitive in 3PM. But, he's also moving to a Pistons team that already has Stuckey (who needs the ball in his hands), and Rip Hamilton (who needs a lot of shots). Not sure what to think about that lineup.
Tyrus Thomas really came into his own toward the end of the season. Since February, he was about 13.5 PTS, 7.5 REB, 2.2 BLK, 1.2 STL, and was reasonably efficient from the floor (47.1%/77.5%). He should be improving, and getting a couple more shots with Gordon moving on. But where he really adds value is with the hustle stats. If he's getting the 31 minutes per game that he got toward the end of last season, you almost have to keep him.
Monta Ellis is coming off injury, but did put up 19 per game and was good from the line, though his shooting was a little off from the previous year (down to 45%, from 53%). You also saw some struggles for him at the point, and his AST numbers actually went down, despite the move to point. Nellie Ball runs fast, but that offense goes through Captain Jack... You'd forgive this if he was good in another category, but he doesn't shoot 3's, and his peripheral stats are mediocre. But he's young, and ultra talented, just like
Russell Westbrook. The comparison is to a young D-Wade. He was about 15 PTS, 5.5 AST, 5 REB, and 1.2 STL. He makes his FT's (81.5%), but is really bad from the floor (39.8%), and doens't shoot 3's often or well, but he can score in bunches (5 games over 30 points). The most important thing for Westbrook was that the Thunder didn't pick a PG in the draft. This means that Westbrook will be running the show for these guys.
At this point, I'm probably going to keep Tyrus Thomas, since he'd really stabilize the STL and BLK numbers. Gordon's the safe choice, but even with him, I was bad at 3PM last year. Westbrook's got the most upside, since he gets all sorts of hustle numbers. But Ellis has the potential to be a 25 point guy, as well... I think that part of it depends on where I end up drafting (side note - I've got a plan for the lottery, just haven't had a chance to post the idea).
In any case, the rosters are posted here. We'll get the lottery taken care of in a couple weeks, and I'll assign keepers about a week before the draft (which will be about a week before the start of the season).
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
3 comments:
Arghh, I still can't believe I didn't win this past year. Stupid injuries.
I suppose that this is just more evidence that it's not just the players, but the management of the players, as well :-)
Well, I'm pretty sure I'll keep the wrong guys.
Post a Comment