Vegas Joins NBA

[cubboyroy1826]

Inspired by the Restoring the Glory dynasty by Izulde i have decided to take over the expansion Las Vegas Aces for the 2007 season. Now i cannot promise the same quality writing that you are used to from Izulde but i will do my best. So without further adieu lets get going.

[cubboyroy1826]

Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Aces owner Steve Wynn introduced Roy Paeth today as the first GM of the expansion Aces. Paeth comes to the Aces with no NBA experience but has worked as GM of Wynn's casino empire for the past 5 years. The Aces had interviewed other experienced GMs but Wynn decided he valued the Paeth knew how to work with Wynn over experience in the NBA. Wynn stated in todays press conference that he would not be afraid to spend money and would be patient with his expectations.

[cubboyroy1826]

Las Vegas, NV - Aces GM Roy Paeth introduced his coaching staff today to the press. Doug Collins will be the head coach of the Aces with assistant coaches Chris Ford, Frank Johnson and John Kuester joining the staff. Collins comes with previous head coaching experience with the Bulls, Pistons and the Wizards. Collins most recently has been announcing NBA games on TNT. Both Chris Ford and Frank Johnson come to the Aces with previous head coaching experience which will be needed to get this new franchise going in the right direction.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well now it is time to take a look at the upcoming draft prospects. There are two players who are clearly the cream of the crop, center Greg Oden and small forward Kevin Durant. The draft experts have both players pretty even on talent but the fact that Oden is a stud center that you can build a franchise around gives him the edge in my mind. Centers who can dominate games rarely come around but we will need more than just a stud center to win games. We will have to see how our scouts grade out the two players since we have the first pick. This pick could deteremine the future of our franchise for many years to come.


Rookie Workouts -

Well according to our scouts Oden is a confirmed monster with an A in scoring and defense and Bs in rebounding and blocking. Durant comes in just a tad behind Oden with an A in scoring and a B in rebounding. So even after our scouts reports this is going to be a tough pick.

We wind up working out several other players we will target with our second round pick. We will look to add a solid small forward or power forward here unless some of the guards we like wind up slipping to us.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well the big day is here when our franchise will draft a player that will be the cornerstone of our team for years to come. We have received several calls from other GMs looking to move up to make this pick but nothing that has been overwhelming enough for us to make a move, It would take a moster deal for us to move the #1 pick but who knows stranger things have happened.

A couple of days prior to the draft we get an offer that has us thinking. Toronto offers last years #1 PF Andreas Bargnani and the #3 pick this for our number one. This trade would allow us to pickup a very good young PF and possibly pickup a young guard to team with Bargnani. This is an offer we will have to consider.

[Izulde]

Tough choice because the dropoff after Oden and Durant is pretty steep in my opinion. Honestly, I'd drop even further than #3 if you were looking at a guard to pair with Bargani.

I think it boils down to how high an opinion you have of AB, but for me personally, there's no way I could pass up on Oden.

[cubboyroy1826]

After a whole lot of talk with our scouts and coaches we are still undecided on what to do regarding the trade offer from Toronto. Well today is the day and we will likely take all of our time to make a decision.

2007 Draft

1. C Greg Oden - Las Vegas Aces - Well we couldn't pass up a center that will lead our franchise fro years to come. The offer from Toronto was very good but we just couldn't pull the trigger.

2. SF Kevin Durant - Oklahoma Twisters
3. SF Julian Wright - Toronto Raptors
4. SF Jeff Green - NY Knicks
5. SG Rodney Stuckey - Charlotte Bobcats
6. C Spencer Hawes - Portland Trailblazers
7. PG Mike Conley - Atlanta Hawks
8. SF Corey Brewer - Minnesota Timberolves
9. SG Brad Newley - Boston Celtics - the draftniks are definitely not in favor of this pick calling it a wasted pick.

10. PF Al Horford - Houston Rockets
11. PF Yi Jianlian - Golden State Warriors - looks like a good value at this spot.

12. PF Brandan Wright - Seattle Sonics
13. C Sean Williams - Orlando Magic
14. G Morris Almond - New Orlean Hornets
15. PF Joakim Noah - Philadelphia 76ers
16. PG Acie Law - Utah Jazz - not sure why they would take law when they have Deron Williams already.

17. PG Javaris Crittendon - Milwaukee Bucks
18. PG Greg Pruitt - Chicago Bulls - we had scouted this guy at best had him as an early 2nd rounder. Bad pick for sure for the Bulls, like they need another guard.

19. SG Sam Mejia - Indiana Pacers
20. PF Jason Smith - Washington Wizards
21. SF Al Thornton - Sacramento Kings
22. PG Deshaun Wood - Denver Nuggets
23. PF Josh McRoberts - Los Angeles Lakers
24. SF Thaddeus Young - Los Angeles Clippers
25. C Aaron Gray - Memphis Grizzlies - Not a great pick here for a guy we had rated as a 2nd rounder.

26. PG Jared Jordan - New Jersey Nets
27. SF Glen Davis - Cleveland Cavaliers - I was hoping this guy might make it to our pick in the 2nd.

28. SG Nick Young - Miami Heat
29. PF Tiago Splitter - Phoenix Suns
30. SG DJ Strawberry - Dallas Mavericks
31. C Kyrylo Fesenko - San Antonio Spurs
32. PG Ramon Sessions - Detroit Pistons

We have the first pick of the second round and there are still a couple of players we liked earlier available.

33. SG Jameson Curry - Las Vegas Aces - We like Curry's scoring, handling and defense. Hopefully his outside shooting can help keep defenders on Oden honest. The draftniks like our pick and think he may be a high risk but high reward choice.

[cubboyroy1826]

Just a quick note regarding scheduling. Apparently with the two expansion teams the default schedule has 92 games. Until i can find someone who has come up with an 82 game schedule for the 32 teams this will have to do. Okay now back to our regularly scheduled program.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by cubboyroy1826

Just a quick note regarding scheduling. Apparently with the two expansion teams the default schedule has 92 games. Until i can find someone who has come up with an 82 game schedule for the 32 teams this will have to do. Okay now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Depends on how much flexibility you have to create the schedule and divisions.

For instance, with 32 teams and 82 games, here's a plausible arrangement:
*8 divisions of four teams each in two conferences
*play in division six times each for 18 games
*play two other divisions in conference 3 times each for 24 games
*play remaining conference division 2 times each for 8 games
*play other conference 2 times each for 32 games

That's 82 games.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well since we only have two players right now both C Greg Oden and SG Jameson Curry will participate in the summer league.

PG Dee Brown - former 2nd round pick who might get a chance to make our team

PF Justin Williams
SG Mike Gansey
PF Vladamir Veremeenko
SG Andre Barrett
PF Ronny Turiaf
PG Roger Mason
SF Josh Davis
PF James Thomas
PG Travis Diener

Not a great bunch but we should be able to audition some bench players

[cubboyroy1826]

Wolfpack i have 4 divisions of 4 teams each and would love to try out your sched but i cannot seem to get the scheduler program to work so for now i will have to stick with the 92 games.

[cubboyroy1826]

@ Chicago Bulls

We lose to the much more talented Bulls 89-83 who are led by Chris Duhon with 27 points and 9 assists. Greg Oden does all he can to keep us in the game with 19 points and 21 rebounds. Jameson Curry chips in another 12 points.


@ Utah Jazz

We pickup a W against the Jazz 88-83 led by you guessed it Greg Oden with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Justin Williams adds 16 points and 12 rebounds and Vladamir Veremeenko chips in 10 points and 4 boards off the bench. Ronnie Brewer leads the Jazz with 15 points and Acie Law adds 12 points.


vs Miami

We demolish Miami with six players in double figures led by you guessed it Greg Oden with 27 points 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Justin Williams has 17 and Jameson Curry adds 12 points the final score 112-86. The Heat get a strong performance from Seth Chambliss with 28 points.


vs Seattle

Oden gets into foul trouble early and finishes with a quiet 14 point 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Justin Williams picks up the slack scoring 21 and Travis Diener scores 11 off the bench. We still are not getting any assist production from our point guards but i guess considering the players that is to be expected. Brendan Wright is the top Sonic with 15 points and 13 rebounds. We pull away in the 4th quarter and win the game 87-75.


vs San Antonio

The old Greg Oden leads the way in a 83-79 loss to the
Spurs with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Justin Williams continued his solid summer league with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Spurs are lead by Jackie Butler (who?) with 15 points



We go 3-2 in the summer league as Oden shows he was worth the #1 pick. Justin Williams showed some solid play and will definitely get a chance to earn a longer try out. Jameson Curry our 2nd rounder was up and down and will definitely be a project. No one else really stood out but we may bring Dee Brown back for his outside shooting depending on how free agency goes.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well we go after a couple of the big names out there, PG Chauncey Billups, SF Gerald Wallace and Rashard Lewis but Billups appears to be the only on who will even listen to us.

Our first free agent signings are:

PG Dee Brown
PG Seth Chambliss
SF Eric Hicks

All of these players sign for 800k to $1 million per year nothing exciting obviously

The big signing of the day goes to New Jersey signing Vince Carter for 6 years $108 million. We are still in the Billups sweapstakes offering 5 years and $84 million.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well one big and one pretty big signing today.

Rashard Lewis re-ups with Seattle for 6 yrs and $79 mill

Jerry Stackhouse signs with Oklahoma City for 3 yrs and $20.4 million giving the Twisters their first big signing. At almost $7 million per year this isn't a terrible signing and at least gives the Twisters a name player.

On the home front we continue to get positive feedback from Billups agent who says that it would take a pretty huge offer for Billups to change his mind and go elsewhere. Yeah i will believe it when he signs on the dotted line.

[cubboyroy1826]

Andreas Nocioni re-signs with the Bulls for $28.7 million over 4 years. We had made some offers to Nocioni's camp but unfortunately were obviously never an option.

We get another backup role player type to sign when Matt Carroll agrees to a 2 year contract for $1 million per year.

The big free agents just do not seem to be interested in starting with a new franchise and leading us thru the lean years. Lets hope that Billups is interested in teaming with superstar in training Greg Oden.

[cubboyroy1826]

We Billups decides to take less money to stay in the motor city. Billups resigns with the Pistons for 5 years and $58 million taking $26 million less than we offered. Well easy come easy go. It looks like we will have to boost our offers to get some of the bigger free agents to come to Las Vegas.

We pickup the following three players and still do not have a stud to team with Oden.

Desmond Mason 3 years $3 million
Kevin Pittsnogle 3 years $2.5 million
Joe Smith 3 years $4.5 million

There really are no big names left out there so we will have to fill our rosters with role players and go from there.

[cubboyroy1826]

We pickup some more solid but not spectacular players and so do the Twisters picking up their starting point guard in Boykins and Weber to man the power forward spot short term. We had made a run at Grant Hill but there was no way we were going to give him 3 years.


Las Vegas Aces sign Steve Blake to a 3-year contract worth $2,556,898

Oklahoma City Twisters sign Earl Boykins to a 3-year contract worth $20,162,074

Phoenix Suns sign Grant Hill to a 4-year contract worth $24,783,616

Las Vegas Aces sign Ruben Patterson to a 3-year contract worth $13,771,800

Oklahoma City Twisters sign Chris Webber to a 1-year contract worth $6,873,058

Las Vegas Aces sign Eric Williams to a 3-year contract worth $2,509,528

[cubboyroy1826]

Well we are pretty much finished in free agency as Morris Petersen signs with Oklahoma City as does veteran PJ Brown. It looks like Oklahoma City may have a pretty competitive team.

We do manage to pickup Jalen Rose for some added scoring punch at the forward position and Robert Archibald for some additional competition with the big men.

Oklahoma City Twisters sign P.J. Brown to a 1-year contract worth $4,657,946

San Antonio Spurs sign Darko Milicic to a 2-year contract worth $1,603,935

Oklahoma City Twisters sign Morris Peterson to a 4-year contract worth $19,403,368

New Orleans Hornets sign Chris Mihm to a 3-year contract worth $8,360,430

Washington Wizards sign Rodney Rogers to a 1-year contract worth $1,138,500

Las Vegas Aces sign Jalen Rose to a 2-year contract worth $3,030,000

Las Vegas Aces sign Robert Archibald to a 1-year contract worth $700,000

We will start the season with total salaries of $19 million placing us way under the cap. Our total contracts for next year are $19 million so we should have plenty of room to be very active in the free agent market.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well we will definitely not dominate anyone but you gotta play with the cards you are dealt. So without further delay here are the Aces.

PG - Steve Blake - Blake is a very good outside and free throw shooter. He is decent ballhandler and passer who plays average defense.

SG - Roger Mason - Mason is an average player who can play some excellent defense. He really is not much of scorer which will definitely be a weakness. I would rather see a better shooter here but Doug Collins is the coach so we will go with his pick.

SF - Ruben Patterson - Patterson is a good scorer and inside shooter who excels on the defensive side. Unfortunately Patterson is not much of a rebounder.

PF - Joe Smith - Well we definitely go with experience in Smith who has played in 12 NBA seasons. Smith will provide us with some scoring, good rebounding and very good defense.

C - Greg Oden - Oden will be a monster that will need to carry the team offensively and shutdown the opposition in the paint. I expect Oden to dominate the rookie of the year voting and would be disappointed if he doesn't win the award.


Bench:

SF Jalen Rose
PF Eric Williams
C Kevin Pittsnogle
SG Matt Carroll
SF Erick Hicks
PG Seth Chambliss
PF Robert Archibald

Well we have a decent mix of scorers and solid defenders. Rose provides the veteran leadership for the second unit who will definitely log a lot of minutes. Jameson Curry our second round pick was sent to the Developmental League to get some seasoning and we will continue to comb the free agent market to look for upgrades to our team.

[cubboyroy1826]

The experts have us picked for last in a tough Southwestern Division of the Western Conference. We will be competing with the Phoenix Suns, the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz.

We open on the road against the Utah Jazz on Halloween. Well nothing like the schedule makers throwing us into the fire right off the bat.

10/31 @Utah

Greg Oden serves notice that he is going to be one mean SOB in the opener as he scores 22 points and grabs 22 rebounds and blocks three shots. Mason chips in 12 and Blake scores 13, Jalen Rose adds 9 off the bench as we score our first franchise win 88-87 on an Oden tip in as time expires. The Jazz are led by Deron Williams 22 and Carlos Boozer's 25 and 12 rebounds but it is not enough. Welcome to the NBA Las Vegas.

11/3 vs Sacramento

Sacramento comes to town and lays a butt kicking on us as Oden gets in foul trouble and winds up sitting most of the 3rd quarter as the extend a 4 point lead out to a 20 point lead. Oden finishes 10 points 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 blocks. Mason adds 16 while Rose contributes 14 off the bench. Eric Williams pours in 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and has had two solid games. In the end we are outclassed 96-76.

11/5 @ Denver

We travel to Denver and get pummeled by the Nuggets. Oden scores 8 and has 13 rebounds but is outplayed by Marcus Camby who scores 16 and add 16 rebounds. Desmond Mason add 16 and Rose scores 110 off the bench. We only shoot 32% from the field and fall 86-63.

11/7 vs Sacramento

The Kings come to town for the second time in less than a week and prove that the victory last week was no fluke. Mike Bibby torches us for 39 points as we fall 108-82 in another unimpressive performance. Greg Oden has another bad game scoring 12 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. Steve Blake scores 10 points but has no assists and 3 turnovers. Matt Carroll is the only bright spot with 15 points off the bench. It is becoming clearer that Blake is clearly overmatched at the point so far and may not be long for the starting lineup. I do not agree with Doug Collins starting Blake but that is his decision still.

11/8 vs Utah

The Jazz come to town for the second of four straight games. Utah is our only win on the young season and we hope to right the ship tonight against the Jazz. Desmond Mason leads the team in scoring with 16 points and Joe Smith is the only other player in double figures with 10 points. Greg Oden add 8 points and 14 rebounds but the real Jazz show up holding us to 67 points in an 88-67 loss. Steve Blake plays a little better with 8 points and 8 assists.

11/9 vs Memphis

We pickup free agent point guard Tierre Brown who was an undrafted free agent who has some potential. Desmond Mason has a monster game to lead the team in scoring with 28 points, Rueben Patterson adds 11 and Greg Oden get 9 points and 14 rebounds. Steve Blake has another decent game with 8 points 8 assists and only 2 turnovers. We are able to build an early lead and smother the Grizzlies 84-71.

11/10 @ Toronto

The Raptors are 4-2 on the season and are expected to snag a playoff spot this year. The last game of a four consecutive game stretch proves to be our best effort of the year. We have 5 players in double figures led by Jalen Rose's 16, Steve Blake has 15, Joe Smith 14, Matt Carroll 11 and Greg Oden adds 10 points and 14 rebounds. We hold off a late rally by the Raptors and come away with a W 97-93.


Well this was a decent 4 day stretch where we seemed to come together and play a lot better. November 11th is our off day and Doug Collins gives the guys a short easy workout. I get a call from the Bulls GM John Paxson asking if i am interested in Ben Gordon. I tell Pax that of course i am interested but it depends on the price. Paxson says that the Bulls would need our #1 pick in the 2008 draft. Wow with the outside game of Gordon and the inside game of Oden that would be a tough combo to stop. The only drawback is that Gordon's contract is up at the end of the year and the Bulls have not been able to come to an agreement. I ask Paxson what kind of offers they have made to Gordon and after a while he give me some ballpark numbers. Our pick at this point is bound to be pretty high but you never know how a young player will turnout but you know what Ben Gordon can do. I tell John to let me sleep on it and i will get back to him tomorrow. As i hang up the phone i try to picture what this team would look like with Gordon, man it sure is tempting.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well after a bad nights sleep i still am undecided on what to do about the Bulls offer of Ben Gordon for our 2008 #1 pick. While i really like the fact Ben would bring his current 28 point per game average the true question is what will a high pick bring us in the draft? What kind of contract will it take to keep Ben Gordon with the Aces once he gets here? I decide to fire a counteroffer back to Paxson and offer up our 1st and 2nd for Ben Gordon and the Bulls first. Yeah i know there is probably a snowballs chance in hell that will be accepted but i figured it cannot hurt.

[Izulde]

Gordon for your 1st rounder I wouldn't do. Not when you're pretty much guaranteed to be a lottery pick and a high one at that.

Now, Gordon and the Bull's 1st rounder for your 1st rounder and 2nd rounder I would do in a heartbeat. The Bulls are going to be hurting without Gordon in their backcourt and I suspect the pick will be higher than you think. And I've always had contempt for 2nd round picks anyway.

[cubboyroy1826]

Well John Paxson called back with another counteroffer. Pax said because of how much Gordon will help our team he is not realy excited by our 2nd round pick in 08. Paxson asked about the availability of Jameson Curry and i countered that Jameson might be had. After about another hour of haggling back and forth we finally came to an agreement. The Bulls send Ben Gordon and their 1st round pick in 08 for our 1st round pick in 08, 2nd round pick in 08 and Jameson Curry.

While i think we got the better of the Bulls in this deal that will really hinge on whether or not we can sign Gordon to an extension. If Gordon winds up leaving via free agency then we definitely lose unless of course the Bulls go in the tank. Curry was very expendable since he was assigned to the Developmental League and wasn't going to see playing time this year. So now we have a solid outside scorer to team with Oden on the inside. I have been talking with Gordon's agent all along and now that he is an Ace the talks will get serious.

[cubboyroy1826]

11/14 vs Rockets

Well the 8-1 Rockets come to town as a great test for our new Star Ben Gordon. This will definitely be a good test for our new lineup. At halftime we are up 48-36 led by Ben Gordon's 16 points. Our defense continues to hold Yao Ming and company in check as we coast thru the second half and come out on top 94-73. Ben Gordon leads the team with 26 points and Greg Oden has a strong game scoring 17 points pulling down 17 rebounds and 7 assists. Demond Mason and Jalen Rose add 16 and 13 points. Steve Blake has a solid game with 10 assists.

11/15 vs Lakers

The 1-10 Lakers come in with a hot Kobe Bryant but a team that is not playing to its ability. We fall behind early and do not recover. Ben Gordon scores 24 points in 25 minutes but is in foul trouble most of the game. Steve Blake and Joe Smith add 16 points and Greg Oden has a quiet 10 point 8 rebound night. We fall due to some terrible rebounding 116-107. The Lakers out rebound us 43-31 and Kobe Bryant torches us for 37 points.

[cubboyroy1826]

11/22 at Sonics

Ben Gordon earns his keep and player of the game with 25 points. Desmond Mason score 17 off the bench and Steve Blake has 13 points but also 6 turnovers. We have 5 players in double figures and edge the Sonics 98-92.


11/26 vs Sonics

The Sonics come to our house and blow us out 113-95. Ben Gordon does his job pouring in 35 points but is outdone by Ray Allen with 38 points. Greg Oden, Jalen Rose and Steve Blake score 12 points each but in the end it is not enough.


11/27 vs Trailblazers

The lowly Blazers come in 1-13 but remember what happend when the Lakers came in 1-10 and whipped us. Ben Gordon leads the way with 30 points and 8 rebounds while Joe Smith and Greg Oden add in double doubles with 13 points 13 boards and 13 points 10 boards ad 6 blocks repectively. Greg Oden goes down with a sprained toe which may cut his minutes.

[cubboyroy1826]

11/29 at Warriors

Golden State comes to town and is greeted by another big night from Ben Gordon who score 32 points. Steve Blake has a solid game with 15 points and 8 assists with no turnovers. Greg Oden 3 points and 9 rebounds in limited minutes but Kevin Pittsnogle pciks up the slack with 9 points and 7 rebounds. We get the win 97-92 and move our record to 7-6. Up next a home an way with Utah.


11/30 at Jazz

Well we hed to Utah with a 4-1 record on the road which means absolutely nothing in this game as the give us a 27 point thumping 108-81. Ben Gordon has an off night on 6-22 shooting scoring 15 points. We are outscored 56-16 in the paint with Greg Oden playing limited minutes due to his injury. Steve Blake is our #2 scorer with 14 points and our bench is shutdown. After the game we find out that Ben Gordon has sprained his wrist which will affect him for the next 13 days.