Afterwards: A Cleveland Cavs DDPB2 Dynasty

[Cap Ologist]

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?

[Cap Ologist]

We barely make it through the first month without civil war breaking out on the team. Brewer and Dalembert get into an argument. Two days later, Dalembert and Wallace get into one. Then a few days later, Brewer and Dalembert are pushing and shoving. What to do, what to do. I have the coach tell Brewer and Dalembert to quit fighting and for Wallace to chill out. We'll see how that goes.

It doesn't work. So I cut Rasheed Wallace and sign Tim Thomas instead. Now if Dalembert and Brewer could get along, we'll be ok. Eventually, I realize it's time that one of them has to go. I trade Dalembert to Dallas for Tyson Chandler and three more 2nd round picks. Chandler is also in the last year of his contract.

We're 4-26 heading into the month of January, and I have a hard time believing we even won 4 games. We stink. And it gets worse. We only win one game the rest of the season, and finish with an NBA record 77 losses. Not how I wanted to go down in the record books.

Miami and LeBrenedict advance to the NBA finals but fall to the Lakers in 6. Thank goodness something went our way. Karma continues to go our way as not only do we win the lottery, but Chicago's 1st round pick we acquired via trade turns out to be the 2nd overall pick. Looks like Chicago was pretty much decimated by injuries this season.

[Cap Ologist]

After my season ending meeting with Mr. Dalbert, I decide to make a change with our coaching staff. I want guys who are better at developing players than what we currently have because we will definitely be in a young team in the coming years.

We sign Rudy Tomjanovich to a 5 year deal as our new head coach. Welcome to Cleveland, Mr. Heart of a Champion. We also sign Mark Potter, Kim Hughes and Mike Sanders to round out our assistants, and then it's time to get ready for the draft.

We invite:
Top Prospects:
PG Kyrie Irving
C Enes Kanter
PG Brandon Knight
SF Derrick Williams
C Jonas Valanciunas
PG Kemba Walker
PF Bismack Biyombo
PF Marcus Morris

Our 2nd round hopefuls:
PF Jeremy Tyler
PF Justin Harper
SF Kyle Singler
SG Josh Selby
PF Kenneth Faried
PF JaJuan Johnson
SF Fernando Van Hook
SG Shelvin Mack
C Cory Mann

I think I'll be able to get a decent big man in the 2nd round, at least I'm hoping I will. I select PG Kyrie Irving and SF Derrick Williams with the 1st and 2nd picks. And all the bigs that I thought would be there are gone except for Cory Mann, and I'm not sold on him. We select SF Fernando Van Hook, SG Travis Leslie and SG Josh Selby.

Our summer league team goes undefeated. We were able to pick up Marc Gasol and he had a really good summer. He's a free agent and I'll be watching the market for his services. We enter free agency with an insane 42 million in cap space. Now, let's find some players.

We sign Marc Gasol to a 5 year, 55 million deal with a team option, PF Troy Murphy to a 3 year, 30 million deal with a team option, and SG Arron Affalo to a 5 year, 20 million deal with a team option. Then we try to find some role players who'll sign on 2 year, team option deals and find PG Mario Chambers and PF Tim Thomas, and then we sign C Erick Dampier and C Zydrunus Ilgauskas to a 1 year deal. We have 14 players under contract, and about $12 million in cap space. There is the potential that Carmelo Anthony will be a free agent next season, and there is part of me that would love the story of him coming in here and winning a title to show up LeBrenedict.

I think I'm done for this season in free agency. Hopefully, I've done enough to get us back into the playoffs. I send Fernando Van Hook and Josh Selby to the D-Leagues.

[Cap Ologist]

Our opening lineup:
PG Kyrie Irving
SG Arron Afflalo
SF Derrick Williams
PF Troy Murphy
C Marc Gasol
6th SG/SF Corey Brewer
7th C Erick Dampier
8th C Zydrunas Ilgauskas
9th SF Travis Leslie
10th PG/SG Ramon Sessions
11th PG Mario Chambers
12th SF/PF Tim Thomas

DLeague
SF Fernando Van Hook
SG Josh Selby

We go 9-5 in the first month of the season and are tied with Chicago for first in our division.

Detroit 112-109 W
Atlanta 93-75 W
@ Miami 106-76 L
@ New Jersey 117-98 L
@ Philadelphia 103-85 W
New York 116-113 L
@ Lakers 93-87 L
@ Clippers 113-92 W
@ Phoenix 107-92 W
@ Oakland 111-84 W
Indiana 124-114 W
@ New York 128-118 L
Minnesota 119-105 W
Toronto 107-93 W

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Marc Gasol 17.9
Kyrie Irving 16.7
Arron Afflalo 14.3
Troy Murphy 13.8
Corey Brewer 12.0
Derrick Williams 9.6

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 10.5
Troy Murphy 8.6

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 6.6
Ramon Sessions 4.7

We're 16-12 after December, one game back of Chicago in the division.

Milwaukee 113-103 L
Denver 120-113 W
@ Houston 118-113 W
Boston 105-90 L
@ Toronto 111-102 L
@ Atlanta 115-108 W
Detroit 127-109 W
@ Miami 105-73 L
Atlanta 121-110 L
Utah 102-95 L
Chicago 105-98 W
OKC 104-92 W
@ Milwaukee 106-98 W

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Marc Gasol 18.5
Kyrie Irving 14.8
Arron Afflalo 14.6
Troy Murphy 13.8
Corey Brewer 11.1
Derrick Williams 10.0

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 11.0
Troy Murphy 7.6
Derrick Williams 6.4

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 6.9
Ramon Sessions 5.3

After January, we're 23-21, 2.5 games behind Indiana and 1.5 games behind Chicago. We're going to have some work to do to ensure getting a playoff spot this season.

Orlando 112-109 L
Philadelphia 106-94 L
Lakers 114-108 L
@ Sacramento 127-106 L
@ Denver 111-102 W
@ Portland 106-94 L
@ Utah 96-78 W
Miami 115-97 L
@ Detroit 108-88 L
@ OKC 97-84 L
Memphis 115-101 W
@ San Antonio 93-82 W
New Jersey 119-110 W
New Orleans 130-91 W
Dallas 131-106 L
@ Minnesota 101-85 W

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Marc Gasol 17.5
Arron Afflalo 15.4
Kyrie Irving 14.4
Troy Murphy 13.2
Corey Brewer 11.6
Derrick Williams 11.0

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 11.1
Troy Murphy 7.3

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.0
Ramon Sessions 4.3

[Cap Ologist]

At the All-Star Break, we're 28-23, still on the bubble for a playoff spot.

New York 106-93 W
Indiana 116-92 W
Washington 107-94 W
@ Milwaukee 111-94 W
Oakland 110-103 L
@ Chicago 116-83 L
Charlotte 114-94 W

I start looking around for possible trade opportunities that will help us this season, but not kill our flexibility going forward.

I settle on SF/PF Boris Diaw from Charlotte. I like his flexibility, and we really don't have a good #2 PF right now. They want youth, SG Josh Selby who was showing some promise in the D-Leagues. I like Selby too, but we've got a pretty good group of perimeter players. I pull the trigger and hope that it won't come back to burn us.

We finish February 31-25.

Milwaukee 105-81 W
Houston 99-94 L
@ Indiana 103-97 W
@ Washington 101-89
@ Memphis 96-92 W

So, slightly disappointing finish, but it was without Gasol who missed the first four games after the break.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Marc Gasol 16.9
Arron Afflalo 16.1
Kyrie Irving 14.2
Troy Murphy 13.2
Corey Brewer 11.5
Derrick Williams 10.7
Boris Diaw 10.3

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 10.7
Troy Murphy 7.4
Boris Diaw 5.1

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.1
Ramon Sessions 3.9

We end March 38-34 and we'd be the 7th seed if the playoffs started today. With 10 games left, it's going to come down to the wire.

@ Orlando 122-95 L
@ New York 110-84 L
Portland 112-105 W
Clippers 108-95 W
@ Charlotte 101-74 W
Orlando 113-110 L
Toronto 102-88 W
@ New Jersey 90-76 W
San Antonio 96-87 L
@ New Orleans 113-88 L
@ Dallas 119-100 L
Sacramento 106-84 W
Washington 100-96 L
@ Chicago 109-99 L
Phoenix 113-91 W
@ Atlanta 106-96 L

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Marc Gasol 16.9
Arron Afflalo 15.8
Kyrie Irving 14.5
Troy Murphy 13.1
Derrick Williams 11.2
Corey Brewer 11.0
Boris Diaw 9.6

Rebounds:
Marc Gasol 10.9
Troy Murphy 7.5
Boris Diaw 5.0

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.2
Ramon Sessions 3.7

[Cap Ologist]

We win 6 of our last 10 games, to finish 44-38, a 39 win improvement over our first season. But will it be good enough to squeak into the playoffs. We also get our first win over Miami since LeBrenedict took his talents there.

Boston 94-87 L
@ Indiana 102-87 L
@ Philadelphia 105-94 W
@ Boston 100-83 W
Miami 112-85 W
@ Toronto 110-99 W
Philadelphia 100-85 L
@ Detroit 95-88 W
Chicago 99-97 L
@ Washington 93-84 W

We squeak into the playoffs as the 7 seed and will draw Boston.

East:
1. Miami
2. Boston
3. Indiana
4. Chicago
5. Orlando
6. New York
7. Cleveland
8. Philadelphia

West:
1. Denver
2. Utah
3. Lakers
4. Dallas
5. Portland
6. New Orleans
7. Oklahoma City
8. Houston

Boston is going to be tough, I don't have high hopes. We're young, and really don't have a go-to guy yet. Gasol has played really well, but I'd like to have a guy I know is going to get 25 or so every night. Fortunately for us, Kevin Garnett is out with a torn MCL and Nate Robinson might miss a game or two for Boston. The only player we have out is Derrick Williams, but Diaw can hopefully step in and pick up the slack for us. If everything goes our way, we might be able to steal this series.

Game 1: @ Boston 110-107 L

Game 2: @ Boston 88-81 W

Game 3: @ Cleveland 111-89 W

Game 4: @ Cleveland 119-101 W

Game 5: @ Boston 107-91 L

Game 6: @ Cleveland 98-74 L

Game 7: @ Boston 112-83 L

So disappointing, up 3-1 and we lose 3 straight to a Boston team that got more and more banged up each game. Oh well, I should be safe for at least another season, and the fans in Cleveland have hope again. Now, if only Miami will lose.

It takes 7 games for each Eastern Conference series, Miami takes care of Philly, Chicago beats Orlando, Indiana beats New York. In the West, Denver takes Houston out in 5, Portland sweeps Dallas, New Orleans sweeps the Lakers, and Utah dispatches OKC in 6 games.

Boston takes care of Indiana in 6, Portland sweeps Denver, Utah beats New Orleans in 5, and the Bulls send LeBrenedict home in 7.

In the conference finals, Boston takes care of Chicago in 5, and Portland beats Utah in 7. In the Finals, Portland defeats Boston in 5 games. A Boston team that we had on the ropes in the first round. Detroit wins the lottery, and for the first time I wonder if we won too fast, too soon.

[Cap Ologist]

Kyrie Irving wins Rookie of the Year, and I really liked his play this season, and he and Derrick Williams both make All-Rookie 1st Team.

Mr. Danbert is thrilled when we sit down for our end of the year meeting. Not only did we give this city hope again, but the Heat didn't win the title either. To be honest, I'm not really sure which one pleased him more.

So as we enter our third season, we really need to find a go-to scorer, either via trade or free agency. This draft is very weak, so I don't expect much out of it.

I forgot to list who we worked out before the draft started. San Antonio approaches us with a deal for Travis Leslie, they offer us James Anderson. I like their offer and then notice that they have the 12th overall pick, so I add SF Fernando Van Hook and our 1st round pick and have them add their 12th and 42 selections.

We come out of the draft with 6'8" SF Mike Oster, he was the best guy available with an A in scoring. We grabbed 5 or 6 project players in the 2nd round. I'll probably retain their rights and let them play in Europe and see if they develop.

[MizzouRah]

Good read thus far!

[Swaggs]

Enjoyed reading this first chunk of posts.

Looking forward to see what kind of pieces you can add to the puzzle. I recently bought DDPB2 and have found that I'm very good at taking a team from poor to respectable/playoff-bound, but have trouble taking that next step. I guess it is pretty much like the real NBA where you need to have a combination of luck + high draft picks in order to get that alpha dog that can really make your team into a bonafide contender.

[Cap Ologist]

Thanks for reading guys, update coming shortly.

[Cap Ologist]

We definitely have options, almost too many. Carmelo is a free agent, and I'm very tempted to go after him. But, I reconsider, I've got a boatload of talent at the 2 and 3 positions, and while Carmelo is special, he'd eventually end up costing us some depth if Mr. Dambert doesn't give the green light to go over the cap. I decide to see what the trade market has and work out a couple of deals that keeps us flexible with the cap, help us today and prepare us for the future.

I send:
PG Ramon Sessions
C Emmanuel Forest

to Houston for:
PG Aaron Brooks.

I've been dying to get rid of Sessions, and finally do. Brooks makes a little more this season and next, but is a much better player overall. He'll hopefully help us improve with our ball security, we were 29th in the league in turnovers committed last season. Forest was one of the developmental picks I grabbed in the 2nd round, he'll be a solid reserve center most likely.

I send:
C Nate Betz

to Chicago for:
C Omer Asik

Betz might have more upside, but is raw, where Asik can step in right now and give us some quality minutes I think. He was the 2011 MVP for the d-leagues, and was 1st team all d-league and 1st team defense, so I like his upside.

I send:
SG Connor Diggs
SF George Riley

to Portland for:
C Marcus Camby
PF Jeremy Tyler

Camby is old, but still solid at what he does. I now feel very good about my frontcourt with Gasol, Murphy, Diaw, Camby and Asik. I'm going to send Tyler to the d-leagues this season, and he'll figure in to our plans more next season, because I'm probably not going to pick up Murphy's $10 million option.

I'll probably also sign the remaining 2nd round draft pick, the one I'm most excited about, 6'9" SF Kyle McCoy and send him to the d-leagues also. The only free agent signing we end up making is to PG Jerome Randle, he's a barely decent scrub, and I'm hoping he never sees the court, but in a pinch, he'll hopefully be serviceable.

Our talent level has definitely improved all the way around, and we'll most likely have about $15 million in cap room going into next year's draft. Pretty much the only way I'll pick up Murphy's option for next season is if he plays lights out and Camby is in the final year of his deal. So, we're in good shape.

One more thing, I really wanted to get a #1 scoring option, but I'm really hoping that Derrick Williams takes that step forward this season. He's definitely got the potential to be a 20+ point scorer.

[Cap Ologist]

Our opening day roster:
PG Kyrie Irving
SG Aaron Brooks
SF Derrick Williams
PF Troy Murphy
C Marc Gasol
6th: SG/SF Mike Ostler
7th PF/C Marcus Camby
8th SF/PF/C Boris Diaw
9th SG/SF Arron Afflalo
10th SG/SF Corey Brewer
11th SG/SF James Anderson
12th PG Jerome Randle
13th C Omer Asik

DLeague
SF/PF Kyle McCoy
PF Jeremy Tyler

We open the season with on a 12-4 clip, highlighted with a win over Miami on the road and are tied with Milwaukee for first in our division and with Miami for top overall record in the conference.

Indiana 118-100 W
@ Boston 102-90 L
Dallas 107-99 L
@ Miami 119-105 W
@ Chicago 115-106 L
Oakland 99-88 W
Chicago 121-93 W
Atlanta 119-98 W
Houston 108-93 W
Detroit 111-81 W
@ Phoenix 103-88 W
@ OKC 105-91 W
@ Clippers 114-85 W
@ Denver 113-94 W
@ Minnesota 89-86 W
@ San Antonio 116-92 L

I'm not terribly thrilled with Brooks starting, I'd much rather him come in off the bench, but for now it's hard to argue with Rudy T's madness.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 18.1
Kyrie Irving 16.9
Marc Gasol 15.3
Derrick Williams 12.6
Troy Murphy 11.4
Arron Afflalo 10.3

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 12.4
Troy Murphy 7.7
Derrick Williams 5.8

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 6.6
Aaron Brooks 5.1

We've also made some improvements in ball security, we've improved from 29th to 12th in TOPG, I hope we continue to climb, would love to be in top 8.

We close out the month of December with a 22-8 record.

@ Philadelphia 98-88 W
Philadelphia 103-100 W
@ Indiana 107-88 L
Washington 95-89 W
New Jersey 100-91 W
@ Dallas 115-93 W
Toronto 121-93 W
@ Charlotte 82-71 W
Lakers 102-94 L
@ Boston 104-96 L
Minnesota 126-120 W
@ Milwaukee 122-90 L
@ Orlando 115-112 W
@ Atlanta 104-91 W

We're still tied for first in our division with Milwaukee and a game behind Miami for top overall record.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 18.6
Kyrie Irving 16.8
Marc Gasol 16.3
Troy Murphy 11.7
Derrick Williams 11.6
Arron Afflalo 7.9

Rebounds:
Marc Gasol 11.9
Troy Murphy 8.1
Derrick Williams 6.0

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.0
Aaron Brooks 4.3

Our point guards might be the Dean Smith for Derrick Williams.

[Cap Ologist]

We end January with an overall record of 33-13.

@ Toronto 104-102 W
Miami 110-91 L
@ Chicago 100-94 W
Portland 119-111 W
Sacramento 120-113 W
Washington 92-82 W
Utah 108-89 W
OKC 108-95 L
@ New York 123-108 W
Chicago 98-77 W
San Antonio 129-91 W
@ New Jersey 117-97 W
Atlanta 129-99 W
New York 126-122 L
@ Portland 107-91 L
@ Lakers 121-104 L

An ugly 3-game losing streak to end the month really stinks.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 19.2
Kyrie Irving 17.5
Marc Gasol 15.9
Derrick Williams 12.6
Troy Murphy 11.2
Arron Afflalo 8.0

Rebounds:
Marc Gasol 11.4
Troy Murphy 8.3
Derrick Williams 5.9

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.6
Aaron Brooks 4.2

We now have a 5.5 game lead in our division and are 2 games out of first place in the conference behind Miami.

[Cap Ologist]

A new month and hopefully an end to our losing streak as we have five games left in our seven game road trip.

@ Sacramento 91-84 W
@ Oakland 102-91 W
@ New Orleans 107-95 W
@ Memphis 125-114 W
@ Houston 115-103 W
Milwaukee 124-114 W
Orlando 112-101 W

Nice seven game win streak as we hit all-star weekend, and that helps settle me down somewhat. Getting five in a row on the road was huge for us as we now have a 10 game lead in our division, and are a game behind Miami for first place.

We're in good shape for the stretch run, but I'll definitely check out the trading blocks and see if I can find anybody who could improve us.

[Cap Ologist]

We make one trade, not much of a blockbuster but it helps us this season and in seasons to come I think.

We send:
SF Kyle McCoy
PF Jeremy Tyler
PG Jerome Randle

to Atlanta for:
PG Shawn Washington

McCoy and Tyler have spent all season in the d-leagues, and weren't exactly tearing it up, so they became expendable. Washington is leaps and bounds better than Randle. With Irving and Brooks as my starters, losing one of them to injury could have been catastrophic without a decent backup point guard. Now, if one of them goes down, we'll be able to weather it a lot better. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with that.

Other than that, there really isn't much else out there. Carmelo is already on the trading block in his new town of Charlotte, and while it's tempting to make a big splash, I can't convince myself it really makes us better. We've got a lot of depth, and we'd lose that putting a trade together to land him.

@ Indiana 119-104 W
Denver 103-98 W
@ Detroit 116-91 W
Miami 124-116 W
@ Toronto 93-90 W

Nice to see us continue our win streak after the all-star break. We sit at 45-13, with 1 13.5 game lead in our division and are half of a game behind Miami. I think. We're breathing down their necks for sure.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 19.2
Kyrie Irving 17.6
Marc Gasol 16.1
Shawn Washington 15.4 (only counting the 5 games he's played for us so far)
Derrick Williams 12.9
Troy Murphy 11.3

Rebounding:
Marc Gasol 11.4
Troy Murphy 8.2
Derrick Williams 5.9
Marcus Camby 4.2

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.7
Aaron Brooks 4.0

@ Washington 106-86 L
New Orleans 108-80 W
@ Charlotte 102-83 W
Clippers 106-85 W
Indiana 112-99 W
@ Orlando 84-97 L
@ Miami 106-103 W (we win 3 out of 4 on the season!)
@ Philadephia 99-84 W
Memphis 117-99 W
Boston 97-87 L
@ Utah 101-87 W
Phoenix 121-77 W
@ Washington 125-91 W
Milwaukee 105-96 L
Orlando 86-80 W
Detroit 123-107 W

We're 57-17, a crazy 18 game lead in our division with 8 games to go, I think it's safe to call it for us. Miami is 57-15, but we have the head-to-head tie breaker, I really want the top seed.

Team Leaders:
Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 19.0
Kyrie Irving 17.0
Marc Gasol 15.7
Shawn Washington 14.5
Derrick Williams 13.2
Troy Murphy 11.0

Rebounds:
Marc Gasol 11.2
Troy Murphy 8.3
Derrick Williams 6.1

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.4
Aaron Brooks 4.0

@ New York 111-100 W
@ Detroit 104-100 L
Toronto 120-109 W
New Jersey 118-93 W
Philadelphia 92-83 W
Charlotte 94-79 W
@ Milwaukee 123-95 W
New York 114-92 W

That loss to Detroit keeps us from clinching the top overall seed. Oh well.

Scoring:
Aaron Brooks 18.7
Kyrie Irving 17.3
Marc Gasol 15.9
Shawn Washington 14.2
Derrick Williams 13.4
Troy Murphy 11.0

Rebounds:
Marc Gasol 11.1
Troy Murphy 8.0
Derrick Williams 6.2

Assists:
Kyrie Irving 7.5
Aaron Brooks 3.9

We draw Milwaukee in the first round.

[Cap Ologist]

Game 1: @ Cleveland

Derrick Williams scores 25 and grabs 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol chips in with 24 points and we have 4 other players reach double digits. Milwaukee is led by Jason Richardson's 21 bench points but we hold all of their starters to 14 points or less as we cruise to a 121-93 victory.

Game 2: @ Cleveland

Troy Murphy continues the trend of our frontcourt dominance with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Kyrie Irving scores 17 points and has 11 assists, and we have 4 other players reach double digits in scoring. Jamar Crocker scores 22 and Corey Magette adds 18, but they have little help from the rest of the team and we take another victory 109-95.

Game 3: @ Milwaukee

Derrick Williams scores another 25 points, Shawn Washington adds another 24, Gasol scores 10 but pulls down 14 rebounds. The home crowd watches as Milwaukee puts forth another lackluster offensive effort led by Jamar Crocker with 17, and we roll to another easy win 112-82.

Game 4: @ Milwaukee

Aaron Brooks scores 23 off the bench to lead us and we get solid outings from most of our starters. Milwaukee knows they have to win this game and they play with desperation. They outscore us 55-41 during the 2nd and 3rd quarters and hold us off for a 108-100 win.

Game 5: @ Cleveland

We find ourselves in the same situation as last season, a 3-1 lead in the opening round. Last season we couldn't close out a tough Boston team as they came roaring back to take the last 3 games of the series. Kyrie Irving comes out on fire and scores 31, fellow backcourt mate Shawn Washington adds 28. Milwaukee gets 24 from Magette and 18 from Andrew Bogut as they fight to stay alive. This time its us who puts on the defensive intensity as we outscore the Bucks 63-41 in the second half as we roll to a 121-91 win and a ticket to the 2nd round.

Miami needs 6 games to send New Jersey home, Indiana upsets Orlando in 7 games, Boston sends New York home in 5 and we get a rematch from last season. In the West, the Lakers sweep Denver, San Antonio holds off Utah in 7, Oklahoma City sends Golden State home in 7 and New Orleans dispatches Portland in 6.

Game 1: @ Cleveland

Marc Gasol scores 28 and pulls down 10 rebounds, Kyrie Irving scores 13 but has 10 assists and all 5 starters hit double digits for us. Boston gets 24 from Avery Bradley and 16 points and 13 rebounds from Jermaine O'Neal. We jump out to a 35-16 lead after the first quarter and hold on for a 110-99 victory.

Game 2: @ Cleveland

Shawn Washington scores 22 and Aaron Brooks adds 23 off the bench as once again all five of our starters score in double digits. Boston matches us with balanced play as well, once again led by Avery Bradley's 25 points. And just like in game 1, we jump out early on Boston and never look back as we roll 112-95.

Game 3: @ Boston

Gasol scores 16 and pulls down 19 rebounds, Troy Murphy adds 16. This time Boston jumps out to the early lead playing in front of their fans and they hold us off for a 91-82 victory.

Game 4: @ Boston

Ugly. We score 9 points in the 3rd quarter. Boston ties the series with a 96-81 win. Now it's a best of 3 series. Luckily, we've got two of them at our place.

Game 5: @ Cleveland

Marc Gasol scores 22, Washington and Irving score 18 and 15 respectively. We remember how to play in the 3rd quarter and get a little revenge as we outscore the Irish 35-17 in that period to open a lead we hold on to, 112-100.

Game 6: @ Boston

Shawn Washington scores 25, Murphy adds 19. Kevin Garnett plays like he used to and powers the Celtics with 25 points and Boston holds on to force a game 7 with a 105-99 win.

Game 7: @ Cleveland

Derrick Williams scores 19, Aaron Brooks scores 15 in relief of Washington who was injured in Game 6. Troy Murphy is our only other player of note with 10 points. Boston gets 21 from Avery Bradley and 13 points and 15 boards from Jermaine O'Neal. They also get the win, 85-75, and send us home again.

Miami swept Indiana and will now face the Celtics, in the West, the Lakers will host the Hornets.

Miami sweeps the Celtics and the Lakers win a tough 7 game series. Fortunately, the Lakers take only 5 games to dispatch LeBrenedict. Toronto wins the lottery, and we hit the offseason.

Shawn Williams wins Rookie of the Year and All Rookie 1st Team and Marc Gasol makes All Defense 2nd team.

[Cap Ologist]

I move through the draft quickly, we have 1 first round pick and 4 second round picks. We pick 29th so we're not going to have many options. I take a flyer on 6'7" SF Rodney Roy. He was the best looking player still on the board, and we'll ship his butt to the D-Leagues for the next 2 seasons. We've got a glut of players at the 2 and 3, so he wouldn't see much playing time. I let our scouts pick in the 2nd round and they pick 2 point guards and 2 bigs, neither look like much to get excited about. I'll hang on to their rights for now, and see if I can't use them to maybe sweeten a trade or something.

Troy Murphy and Marcus Camby are our only two free agents. Murphy wants ridiculous money to resign after we didn't pick up his option for $10 million for this season. I'm pretty confident I can get the same production out of Boris Diaw who is signed for 3 more seasons at about $2.5 million per. Ideally, I'd like to find a young PF and a veteran PF/C.

There are several interesting names at PF and C: Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard to name a few. They all want max deals, and while we could afford them now, we'll have to extend Irving and Williams in the near future. Mr. Danbert is very willing to spend, but he's also very fickle. I could see him selling the team especially if we continue to improve, and I don't want to have to blowup our team just because we get a cheapskate owner.

So, while it would be intriguing to make a splash with one of the marquee free agents, I decide to pass again. The second tier of players are definitely not struggling with low self-esteem. They have a much high value of themselves than what I can justify paying.

The trade market is my next option. I find a few players with decent contracts who can fulfill a role for me on the team.

I send:
PG Jamal Sanders

to Atlanta for:
PF Jeremy Tyler
2014 2nd Rd Pick

Sanders has upside, but with Irving and Washington ahead of him, he's not going to have much of an opportunity with us. Tyler is still pretty raw, but he's also cheap and willing to sign a 3 year extension for about a million a season, so he's now under contract for 5 seasons at a very decent reserve salary. He'll be Diaw's primary backup this season.

I send:
SG Corey Brewer
PG Adam LaPointe

to Houston for:
SG Kevin Martin

Brewer is the last remaining Cav from my first season, and he was a solid player for us that year. However with each season, his role was reduced on the team. LaPointe is another uber-raw player with upside, but he's more of a scoring point guard than a pass-first point guard. Martin is a solid scorer in the league, averaging 21 points last season. He's under contract for three more seasons at just over $5 million a season.

We've got 15 players on our roster, but only 13 are under contract. Project bigs Art Watkins and Dickey Henderson are pretty raw, with limited upside. I don't think they'll ever contribute much to us. They would have been some of the best players on the team my first season. I'm going to look and see if I can flip them for a developmental rookie to plug in the d-league who might be more useful down the road. I ship them to Memphis for PG Matt Shin, a player I'd worked out and wanted to pick in this past draft, but they picked him in the slot before me. Shinn is a little more polished either of the two PGs I just traded, and I think he'll have a nice career as a backup. He'll be in the D-League this season. I'm hoping he'll develop enough to give me confidence to let Aaron Brooks walk next season. He's my #3 PG at the moment and is in the last year of his deal. He'll free up another $5 million in cap room which will keep us in good shape financially going forward.

I offer extensions to PG Kyrie Irving and SF Derrick Williams. Irving is well on his way to becoming a special player in this league, and Williams continues to improve each season. I wish he was developing as quickly as Irving, and he might not be the player I envisioned, but he's not asking for crazy money, so we keep him. I also offer extensions to SG James Anderson, 3 years @ 1.7 million each.

We'll only have two free agents next offseason, Brooks and backup C Omer Asik. He's not eligible to sign an extension right now unfortunately. We'll have to take our chances in free agency or maybe try to trade him for another comparable player.

[Cap Ologist]

As I zip through free agency, I realize I only have 4 bigs on my roster, so I sign C Nikola Pekovic to a 5 year, 17.5 million deal with a team option for the last season. He'll be a solid contributor, and now we have two expiring deals we can possibly shop at the deadline in Brooks and Asik.

We hit training camp with a lot of confidence, and are looking forward to good things this season. Then we make one more move, one that nobody sees coming. Rudy Tomjanovich is relieved of his coaching duties the day before the season begins. I'd gotten frustrated over his lineups and finally had had enough. I name myself head coach and realize there's no going back now.