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Old 06-16-2011, 09:29 AM   #1
Cap Ologist
College Prospect
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Flower Mound, TX
Afterwards: A Cleveland Cavs DDPB2 Dynasty

My head still hurt the next morning. I'd had a few too many, but hey, who wouldn't? Last night, was the greatest display of narcissism that I've ever witnessed. An hour long special that ripped the collective hearts out of city. But hey, at least the proceeds were donated to charity, right? Our local hero, LeBron James was taking his talents to South Beach.

He'd been drafted by the previous general manager, and our entire team had been built around him. Now, the centerpiece of our team was leaving, and our future seemed bleak. My phone rang, it was the office. My head still pounding, I answered.

"Mr. Danbert wants to see you at 8:00," the voice on the phone said. I mumbled that I would be there, and took a quick shower, fixed some coffee and scrounged around for a frozen waffle. I felt a sickening feeling coming over my stomach. I knew Mr. Danbert would be very upset, and I knew someone would be the scapegoat for this mess. I just hoped it wouldn't be me.

On my way, out to the garage, I grabbed a few empty boxes and put them in my trunk. Better safe than sorry, I thought. A few minutes later, I pulled into my parking spot and walked into the building, past security, down the hallway on the right, into the reception area of Mr. Danbert's private office.

"He'll be with you in a moment," the receptionist said.

The door opened, and the moment was here. I walked into his office, trying to hide the feelings of fear and panic that were boiling inside. I didn't know what to say, there would be nothing pleasant in any pleasantry today.

Quietly, I waited. Finally, he spoke and said, "I met with John Scott this morning, and told him he was relieved of his duties. He never should have allowed it to get to this point."

I nodded, but I didn't agree. John had offered the best deal he could, he was just rejected by LeBrenedict. Was he supposed to leave a horse's head in his bed or something?

Danbert continued, "You've got 15 minutes to convince me why I should keep you and promote you from assistant to general manager."

I swallowed and thought quickly. Damn this headache. "Sir, it's too late this offseason to find another star player to come in and even if we could find one, all of our players under contract were chosen to complement him. If I was your general manager, I'd tell you this year is going to stink, and it's going to hurt after the success we've had the past few seasons. But, we need to rebuild, and we need to rebuild around a team identity, not a superstar and his minions."

"Go on," he said.

"I'll start working the phone lines and try to find the best deals possible. I want us to get rid of as many multi-year contracts as we can. I want draft picks, not scrubs. If we can find a piece or two for the puzzle, that's great, but I want flexibility going forward. We can't duct tape this thing together, we've got to blow it all up and start over."

I waited, he leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. I could see the wheels turning inside his head. Finally, he said, "Ok, let's do it. I'm ok with stinking this year, but I want to be back in the playoffs next season. Do what you have to do, but don't forget, I don't want to become a cellar dweller again."

We shook hands, and that's how I became the new general manager of the Cleveland Cavs. By the end of the day, I'd blown up our roster. We only had one player left who had a contract for longer than one season, Ramon Sessions, a point guard. Fortunately, his deal wasn't terrible, peaking at around 4.5 million in the 3rd and final year. If I have my way, he won't be here by then, but for now, nobody wants him.

We end up with an extra first round draft pick, 10 second round picks over the next three seasons, Samuel Dalembert Stanley Robinson and Corey Brewer and a few other scrubs on one year deals. Dalembert, Robinson and Brewer are the only two who have the potential of being on the team next season, and both are in the final years of their deal.

Our opening day roster is:
PG Allen Iverson
SG Corey Brewer
SF Stanley Robinson
PF Rasheed Wallace
C Samuel Dalembert
6th Ramon Sessions
7th Jarvis Hayes
8th Kurt Thomas
9th Antonio Daniels
10th Daequan Cook
11th Joey Graham
12th Leon Powe
13th Jawad Williams

The oncourt product might be disappointing, but surely we'll have some great comedy with Iverson and Wallace on the team, right? Surely, we'll win at least one game, hopefully?

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