NBA 2k19 (XB1): It's Time (Sac Kings dynasty)

[JonInMiddleGA]

This probably won't be the most scintillating dynasty thread ever. It's really more of a way for me to try to keep myself on track to do something I think might at least be fun to see play out with the names & whatnot, as this year's iteration of the game introduces built-in historic draft classes.

The feature is not quite complete. It has draft classes (with the usual mix of real & fictional players that always comes with their historic stuff) from 1960, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1974, and then 1976-2017 are supposedly at least complete.

My plan is to use a d'loadable draft class for the first offseason and then start with the oldest historic class & work my way through from there. Obviously, since this is really more about names & seeing what's actually included with this addition, my intention is to sim pretty much everything.

Normal difficulty with mostly out of the box settings, while I'll be looking to win (if not outright dominate eventually, given the usual ease with which that can be done in this series) I'm not expecting this to turn into life or death stuff either. It's more about fun than anything.

To that end, I'll be engaged with personnel decisions for my team, transactions as well as depth charts. Why? Because I tend to enjoy that part of simmed season playthroughs, it gives me something to do.

Aside from that, I figure on posting the year-end award teams, maybe do some off-season transactions highlights, that sort of thing.

edit to add: After debating back & forth a bit about it, I think I'll do this project in MyLeague rather than MyGM mode. I'll get my fill of RPG elements in this game in other dynasties/careers, no sense worrying about getting fired for some random weirdness & screwing up the main objective with this.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Why the Kings you wonder? Well good grief, why NOT?

The longest real-life current playoff drought (12 seasons)
The longest real-life current Finals drought (68 seasons)
The longest real-life title drought (67 seasons)

The roster is also arguably the weakest in this year's game. While their player ratings floor is higher than some (lowest rated is a 71) I believe they're one of only two teams in the game (ATL being the other) without a single player rated 80 or higher. And it's a stars league, something this roster pretty well lacks. (Highest rated is a 79).

Atlanta was a tempting option for similar reasons but I thought dealing with the powerhouse clubs in the West might make for a tougher challenge in the first few seasons.

edit to add: Now that I have the game open & can see, yes the Kings (and Magic) have the lowest rated rosters overall, at 77. Atlanta is 3rd lowest at 79.

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 pre-season

There really isn't a pre-season per se in this first year, as I opted to start with the real regular season instead of redoing (let's face it, LeBron in LA is a better storyline than having him return to Cleveland as I've seen him do in a couple other careers that began by re-doing the off-season).

That said, I think I deserve to make at least a move or two before kicking this off. It ain't like the roster can't use some help.

I don't want to get too caught up in house rules right off the bat but, knowing how easy it is to take advantage of the AI (moreso in FA than in trades perhaps), I'd sort of like to loosely limit myself to a move or two in the off-season, then maybe one in-season deal and one/two around the trade deadline based on circumstances.

But I'd kinda like to see what I can find here ... cause you know that's a lot of the fun in this game

Turned out, that was easier said that done with this roster. Try after try with players that I knew were easily expendable produced offers that didn't look like any help to me at all. Finally, by packaging several players together I got something I could live with (I think)

SAC receives C Javale McGee (77) and PF/SF Michael Beasley (76)
LAL receives C Kosta Koufus (76), SG Ben McLemore (73), and PG Frank Mason (71)

I save some salary, I create a roster space for an FA, I open up some minutes for rookie Harry Giles, and I get another option as the backup SF (which was what I was primarily looking for).

We sign veteran PG Ty Lawson (73) to a min sal deal for the year.

The season will begin with the following (auto) depth chart
PG DeAaron Fox (78)
SG Buddy Hield (79)
SF Bogdan Bogdanovic (77)
PF Marvin Bagley III (78)
C Willie Cauley-Stein (79)
----------------
6th Zach Randolph (78)
7th Javale McGee (77)
8th Michael Beasley (76)
9th Nemanja Bjelica (75)
10th Skal Labissiere (75)
11th Yogi Ferrell (74)
12th Ty Lawson (73)
13th Iman Shumpert (73)
---------------------
14th Justin Jackson (73)
15th Harry Giles (73)

Obviously I need to get the younger talent some more minutes / onto the active roster.

Mentorship relationships:
(this is also new to 2k19. Basically veteran players have a chance to pass along up to three of their skill badges to younger players. The closer the match at position/style, the better the chance as I understand it)

Randolph ---> Bagley
Ferrell ---> Fox
Beasley ---> Hield
Cauley-Stein ---> Giles
McGee ---> Cauley-Stein
Bjelica ---> Jackson

As the season begins, our power rating is 30th by NBA.com, 27th by 2kSports
We have $21.5m in cap space, $43.2m luxury tax room

Not much point in tanking, we have no first round pick next season, only three second round picks

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 Mid-Season

We reached the midway point of the season 17-24, 9th place in the west, 2.0 games behind Phoenix for the final playoff spot. That's after a 2-8 start that led to a lineup shakeup (Beasley at SF for Bogdanovic, fewer minutes for Fox & Stein, more minutes for Ferrell & McGee). Those changes eventually led to a 6 game winning streak that evened out some of the early struggles. Bogdanovic is missing 6-8 weeks now with a broken arm, making the pre-season deal for Beasley look even better. Hield & Bagley lead the team in scoring, Randolph has been effective in a sixth man role.

What happens between now & the trade deadline likely determines whether the Kings are buyers or sellers.

Golden State (37-4) leads the West by 6.5 over OKC
Toronto (37-6) leads the East by 7.5 over Boston

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 Trade Deadline

We reach the trade deadline in about the same situation, 3 games back of Phoenix for the 8th spot. We have decisions to make. And after looking at minutes, contract statuses, and opportunities ... we turn out to be the most active team at the deadline (all deals were as offered thru trade finder

SAC gets SF/SG OG Anunoby and PG Kay Felder
TOR gets PF Skal Labissiere & PG Ty Lawson

SAC gets PG Tony Parker
CHA gets PF Nemanja Bjelica

Bjelica might have been the highest profile player moved at the deadline, if that gives you an idea of how quiet it was.

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 All-Star Break

At the break, playoff situations looked like this
West:
In: GS (52-5), OKC (-13), HOU, DEN, LAL, UTH, MIN, PHX (-25)
Out: NO (-1), SA, SAC, LAL, DAL, MEM, POR (15-42)

East:
In: TOR (47-12), WAS (-8.5), BOS, PHL, IND, MIL, ATL, MIA (-18.5)
Out: CHI (-3), CLE, ORL, BRK, DET, CHA, NY (16-42)

All-Star teams were picked

Team Lebron:
Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Nikola Jokic, Kristaps Porzingis, Lamarcus Aldridge, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, Kevin Love

Team Giannis:
Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, K.A. Towns, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Gordan Hayward, Chris Paul, Ben Simmons, Kemba Walker

Team Lebron wins 139-135 behind Westbrook's 28/5/5. Curry led all scorers with 29 in a losing effort.

The weekend's other events included:

Dunk Contest
Donovan Mitchell wins over Marquese Chriss, Jayson Tatum, and Daniel Theis

Three-Point Contest
Klay Thompson wins over Steph Curry, Paul George, J.J. Redick, James Harden, and Bradley Beal

Rising Stars was won by Team USA 111-94.
Donovan Mitchell starred with 26 points.
Sacramento's Marvin Bagley III had 4 pts, 7 rebs, 1 blk in 18 mins for USA

Team World got 23 pts / 6 rebs from Lauri Markkanen
Newly acquired Kings swingman OG Anunoby had 3 pts/2 rebs/3 asts in 23m.

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 Regular Season End

Sacramento was still 3 games out of the 8th spot with 10 to play ... a 3 game losing streak dashed the post-season dream and the Kings were eliminated with 5 games left to play. That led to getting minutes for little used youngsters, that in turn led to a 5 game losing streak to wrap up the season.

Western Conference
GS 72-10
OKC 56-26
HOU 50-32
LAL 49-33
UTH 49-33
MIN 48-34
DEN 47-35
PHX 43-39
----
NO 37-45
SA 35-47
DAL 34-48
SAC 33-49
LAC 30-52
POR 25-57
MEM 23-59

Eastern Conference
TOR 67-15
PHL 50-32
WAS 50-32
BOS 49-33
MIL 45-37
IND 43-39
MIA 39-43
ATL 39-43
-----
BRK 35-47
CLE 34-48
CHI 33-49
ORL 32-50
NY 30-52
DET 27-55
CHA 26-56

I'll append this with the league leaders, awards, etc. later

[korme]

I will you tell you now that the first classes from '76 on have only a handful of real players... I think '77 only has 3, actually. So you get a lot of fictional guys that end up really good, which kind of kills immersion. I'm hoping someone takes those base files and fleshes them out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by korme

I will you tell you now that the first classes from '76 on have only a handful of real players... I think '77 only has 3, actually. So you get a lot of fictional guys that end up really good, which kind of kills immersion. I'm hoping someone takes those base files and fleshes them out.

Well hrmph.

I actually Googled repeatedly trying to find actual lists & struck out completely. I knew there'd be a fair bit of that based on past historical efforts but I didn't think it'd be THAT low.

As a side note here (since I'm posting something anyway) ... the combination of my diminishing eyesight & the layout of my Xbox/computer are a serious bitch for doing this sort of thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 Playoffs

Round 1:
#1 GS 4-2 over #8 Phx
#5 UTH 4-1 over #4 LAL
#3 HOU 4-0 over #6 MIN
#2 OKC 4-2 over #7 DEN
----
#1 TOR 4-1 over #8 ATL
#5 MIL 4-3 over #4 BOS
#3 PHL 4-1 over #6 IND
#7 MIA 4-2 over #2 WAS

2nd round
#1 GS 4-0 over #5 UTH
#2 OKC 4-1 over #3 HOU
-----
#1 TOR 4-0 over #5 MIL
#3 PHL 4-1 over #7 MIA

Conference Finals
#1 GS over #2 OKC 4-1
#1 TOr over #3 PHL 4-0

NBA Finals
#1 GS 4-0 over #1 TOR
Finals MVP: DeMarcus Cousins, 26.7 ppg / 13.9 rpg

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 Awards

MPV: Steph Curry 28.1p / 5.0r / 7.6a
ROTY: Luca Doncic
6th Man: Tyreke Evans
DPOTY: Draymond Green
Most Improved: Ricky Rubio
Coach of the Year: Steve Kerr

PPG: Curry 28.1
RPG: Andre Drummond 16.5
APG: Chris Paul 11.5
SPG: Jimmy Butler 2.5
BPG: Kristaps Porzingis 2.6
MPG: Curry 38.79

Curry set a new NBA record with 428 3 pointers in a season
Trae Young tied for 2nd all-time with 12 3 pointers in a game
Curry tied for 2nd all-time with 9 3 pointers in a playoff game
Kawhi Leonard tied for 2nd all-time with 8 steals in a playoff game

All-NBA Team
1st: Curry, Westbrook, Antetokounmpo, James, Cousins
2nd: Harden, Paul, Leonard, Griffin, Jokic
3rd: Butler, Booker, George, Porzingis, M.Gasol

All-Rookie Team
1st: Doncic, Ayton, Sexton, Jackson,Jr, T. Young
2nd: BAGLEY III, Bamba, Carter, Jr, Okobo, Porter, Jr

All-Defensive Team
1st: Oladipo, Butler, Antetokounmpo, Leonard, Gortat
2nd: Wall, Jrue Holiday, Green, James, Whiteside

[JonInMiddleGA]

2018-19 off-season

Retirements
Vince Carter -- HOF
Dirk Nowitzi -- HOF - Jersey retired by DAL
Manu Ginobli -- Jersey retired by SA
Jason Terry
Udonis Haslem
Kyle Korver
Richard Jefferson
Nick Collison
Tony Allen
Damian Wilkens

Staff retirement
Gregg Popovich

Draft Lottery
Won by CHA - 15% chance
DET,MEM, POR, LAC follow
BOS gets SAC pick at #9
ATL gets the #10 & #11 picks

Staff Hiring/Firing (notables)
This is one of the more screwed up aspects of NBA 2k, as you will see. I'll include a few moves made during the previous season for illustration
12/29 POR fires Terry Stotts, hires Michael Stauffer
2/2 ORL fires Steve Clifford, hires fictional asst
2/24 NY fires David Frederick, hires fictional asst
3/3 CHA fires James Borrego, hires fictional asst
end season DET fires Dwane Casey
end MEM fires J.B. Bickerstaff
3/18 DET hires fictional asst
3/20 MEM hires fictional asst
7/8 ORL hires Michael Stauffer from POR
7/8 MEM hires J.B. Bickerstaff
7/9 POR hires Terry Stotts
7/9 CHA hires Steve Clifford
7/9 DET hires Dwane Casey

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 Draft and Player Movement

2019-20 Draft
*This was a draft class via downloaded file, the most popular one available

#1 CHA - Romeo Langford (78)
#2 DET - R.J. Barrett (79)
#3 MEM - Kira Lewis (71)
#4 POR - Zion Williamson (78)
#5 LAC - De'Andre Hunter (76)
#6 NY trades this pick & a 2021 2nd to POR ... for just-drafted #4 Zion Williamson
POR selects Cameron Reddish (77)
#11 ATL - Bol Bol (76)
#19 MIN pick traded to CHA for Batum and (former King) Bjelica

SAC takes
#41 - Jalen McDaniel PF/C (72)
#49 - Josh Reaves PF (later corrected to SG) (70)
#51 - pick traded another 2020 2nd to MIN for 2nds in 2020 and 2021

Options Declined
Kevin Durant - player
Kyrie Irving - player
Jimmy Butler - player
Khris Middleton - player
Paul Milsap - team

Kings Movement
We picked up pretty much all the team options on our guys, then dealt disgruntled SG/SF Justin Jackson to MEM for PG Jevon Carter & a 3.28m trade exception

We renounced the rights to PG Kay Felder
We resigned Iman Shumpert to a min sal deal (beats the $11m+ he was on)
We signed SF/PF Luc Mbha a Moute
We signed SG/SF Tyreke Evans - the reigning 6th Man of the Year - to a $10m 1 yr deal with a team option

Largest FA signings
Durant to GS for 5/$193.59m
Irving to IND for 4/$132.71m
Towns to MIN for 5/$158.95m
Cousins to DAL for 4/$132.71m
Butler to MIN for 5/$169.79m

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bear with me a bit if you will, I'm still trying to get both the rhythm & formatting for posting stuff worked out.

2019-20 Pre-season (Kings)


The season will begin with the following depth chart
PG DeAaron Fox (80) +2
SG Buddy Hield (80) +1
SF Tyreke Evans (79)
PF Marvin Bagley III (82) +4
C Willie Cauley-Stein (80) (+1)
----------------
6th Bogdan Bogdanovic (77)
7th Zach Randolph (77) -1
8th Harry Giles (75) +2
9th Tony Parker (75)
10th OG Anunoby (75)
11th Jevon Carter (75)
12th Jalen McDaniels (72)
13th Yogi Ferrell (75) +1
---------------------
14th Iman Shumpert (74) +1
15th Josh Reaves (67)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just a quick FYI ... haven't abandoned this or anything. 4 games left to sim to complete season 2.

Work followed by an internet outtage lasting over 36 hours kinda slows progress to a crawl on a bunch of stuff.

[bbgunn]

Wow, the coaching thing looks very screwed up!

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 Midseason update

After a lackluster 8-17 start, the (my) Kings fire coach David Joerger
His replacement is (fictional I assume) assistant Trent Pederson (A off, B- def, B potential). We hire Sidney Lowe as his new ass't coach

The team responds with three straight wins and go 6-5 in the next 11 games ... and Willie Cauley-Stein goes down for a month with a collapsed lung
That's followed by TWELVE straight losses, with a couple of wins as Stein returns ... for all of 7 minutes before a broken thigh sidelines him for 6-8 weeks. From 14-22 to 16-34, so we're toast

2019-20 Trade Deadline
We deal (at their initial request)
OKC gets PG Tony Parker & SG Iman Shumpert
SAC gets SG Andre Roberson & young (77) PG Devin Dotson

We also work a three team deal
SA gets PG Elfrid Payton
CHI gets PG Yogi Ferrel & SF Josh Reaves
SAC gets Chi 2020 2nd, PF Davis Bertans

Other trades of "note" (such as they are)
MIN trades Nemanja Bjelica & a '22 1st to
PHIL for SF Reggie Bullock & a '20 2nd

OKC trades Wesley Matthews & a 2nd to
DET for Glenn Robinson III

UTA trades Joe Ingles & '22 1st (lottery protected) to
POR for Carmelo Anthony & '21 2nd

and in an amusing deal under the circumstances
OKC trades PG Dennis Schroder & '21 1st to
ATL for PG Jeremy Lin & PF John Collins

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 All Star Weekend

Team Giannis beats Team LeBron 111-110 behind 23 points from James Harden

Team LeBron:
Kevin Durant, John Wall, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Nokola Jokic, Devin Booker, Ben Simmons, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward

Team Giannis:
Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embid, Anthony Davis, Kemba Walker, Andre Drummond, Paul George, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bradley Beal, Kyle Lowry

Other events from the weekend

Young Stars game saw World beat U.S. 115-108, led by ORL Charles Bassey 20p/9r. Other notables included
SAC Marvin Bagley had 14p/6r in 28 mins
ATL Bol Bol 16p/10r
ATL Trae Young 17p/5a
PHX Deandre Ayton 15p/10r

Dunk contest was won by Donovan Mitchell over Zion Williamson, Marquise Chriss, and Daniel Gafford

3 Point contest was won by Kemba Walker over Steph Curry, Paul George, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 Awards

MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo
ROTY: R.J Barrett
6th Man: Dennis Schroder
DPOY: Kawhi Leonard
Most Improved: Isaiah Thomas (NY)
Coach of the Year: Mike Budenholzer (MIL)

PPG: Harden 27.7
RPG: Towns 12.4
APG: Paul 11.4
SPG: Kris Dunn 2.2
BPG: Gobert 2.3
MPG: George 38.22

All NBA
1st: Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, G.Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic
2nd:James Harden,Devin Booker,Paul George,Kevin Durant,DeMarcus Cousins
3rd: John Wall, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Ben Simmons, K-A Towns

All Defensive Team
1st: Victor Oladipo, Wall, Leonard, Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert
2nd: Dejounte Murray, Jimmy Butler, LeBron, P.George, Embiid

All Rookie Team
1st: R.J. Barrett (DET), Bol Bol (ATL), Keldon Johnson (NO), Romeo Langford (CHA), Lindell Wigginton (IND)
2nd: Quentin Grimes (MIL), Moses Brown (BKN), Nazreon Reid (UTH), Zion Williamson (NY), Jontay Porter (SA)

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 End Regular Season

Western Conference
MIN 57-25
HOU 55-27
GS 52-30
OKC 51-31
LAL 49-33
DEN 47-35
UTH 42-40
SA 41-41
-------
NO 41-41
PHX 41-41
DAL 36-46
POR 35-47
SAC 31-51
MEM 23-59
LAC 19-63

Eastern Conference
MIL 57-25
TOR 56-26
PHL 48-34
DET 46-36
WAS 46-36
CHI 43-39
IND 42-40
ORL 41-41
---------
NY 38-44
CLE 37-45
ATL 36-46
BOS 32-50 (without Kyrie remember)
MIA 31-51
CHA 29-53
BKN 28-54



Coaching changes in/end season
12/14 SAC fires David Joerger, hires ass't Trent Pederson
12/22 CLE fires Tyronn Lue, hires ass't Jacob Underwood
12/22 LAC fires Doc Rivers, hires Tyronn Lue
12/26 NO fires Alvin Gentry, hires ass't Aiden Anderson
2/8 MEM fires J.B. Bickerstaff, hires Doc Rivers
4/5 BKN fires Kenny Atkinson, hires Logan Schmidt

[JonInMiddleGA]

2019-20 Playoffs

Round 1
#1 MIN 4-2 over #8 SA
#5 LAL 4-3 over #4 OKC
#3 GS 4-2 over #6 DEN
#2 HOU 4-3 over #7 UTH
------
#1 MIL 4-3 over #8 ORL
#5 WAS 4-2 over #4 DET
#3 PHI 4-1 over #6 CHI
#2 TOR 4-0 over #7 IND

Round Two
#5 LAL 4-1 over #1 MIN
#3 GS 4-2 over #2 HOU
-----
#1 MIL 4-2 over #5 WAS
#2 TOR -1 over #3 PHL

Conference Finals
#3 GS 4-2 over #5 LAL
#2 TOR 4-1 over #1 MIL

NBA Finals
#3 GS 4-1 over #2 TOR
Finals MVP: Stephen Curry, 33.8 ppg in finals

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020 Offseason

Retirements
Tyson Chandler
Pau Gasol
Jamal Crawford
Joe Johnson
David West
Jose Calderon,Raymond Felton,Devin Harris,J.J. Barea,Channing Frye,Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat,Gerald Green,Jarrett Jack,Josh Smith,Jared Dudley, Arron Affalo,Emeka Okafor,Jodie Meeks,Bobby Brown,Aaron Jackson,Andre Ingram

League Meetings
Rule Change: Opposing teams will enter 1+1 bonus after 5 team fouls and a full Bonus after 10 team fouls in a single quarter

Draft Lottery
Boston has the #1 chance (via LAC), the #2 chance (via Mem), and the #7 chance (their own). A total of 49.2% chance for #1. We're 6th in the ping pong balls with a 7.5% chance

Celtics end up 7th ... 4th ... and .. 3rd
SAC will pick ... 2nd
Brooklyn gets the #1 overall

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020 Off-Season continued

Staff movement
NY fires GM Terrence Brooks and hires ... GM Terrence Brooks (smdh)
CLE hires head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, take fictional ass't from CHI
BOS hires assistant coach Dirk Nowitzki
LAC hires Doc Rivers (!!!) from MEM
MEM hires Larry Drew from CLE as head coach
NY hires new head coach Francis Woods
BKN hires Wyatt Zimmerman from MIL as head coach
NO hires head coach Alvin Gentry (!!!!!)
DET hires Ass't GM Vince Carter

2020 NBA Draft
Brooklyn goes first and selects ... Jerry West

That makes our choice at #2 simple ... SAC selects Oscar Robertson

BOS takes Lenny Wilkens at #3, Tom Sanders at #4

Pick #13 for NO is traded to ... BOS, for Marcus Smart & a '24 2nd
(this makes Boston's 4th 1st rounder in the first 13 picks)

Pick #20 for DET is traded to MIA for Dwayne Wade

Into the second round where SAC has three picks
We deal the 36th overall to DEN for a '21 2nd and a '22 2nd
We deal the 38th overall to ATL for the 39th and a 2nd rd pick swap in '21
At #39 we take 6'9" 223lb PF/SF Charles Chandler, 20 y/o from Wisconsin
A rebounding specialist by & large
We deal the 46th pick & a '23 2nd to DET for two '22 2nds and we're done.

Draft summary says
West 84
Roberston 85
Wilkins 78

2020 Options
We exercise our option on all players except O.G. Anunoby, who was disappointing in his time in Sacramento. For now, at least, Bagley, Fox, Evans, Giles, and McDaniels are still Kings.

Virtually all the options - team or player - around the league were exercised
No notable players declined really, though recognizable ones to us included Josh Reaves (the draft pick we swapped to CHI) and Justin Jackson, former King who played in 51 games for MEM (5.4 ppg / 2.0 rpg)

Aaaaand then it gets weird going into the moratorium negotiation period
Players waived around the league include Joel Embiid by PHL, Bol Bol by ATL, DeAndre Jordan by LAL, and Andre Drummond by DET.

We have a bit of a logjam in the backcourt with decisions to make.
And we make one pretty quickly after making some calls

MIL gets PG De'Aaron Fox (81)
SAC gets SG Quentin Grimes (78) and MIL's '22 1st Rd pick (top 3 protected)

Fox had one year left on contract & was expected to look for north of $27m/yr to stay
Grimes was 2nd Team All-Rookie and has a year + 2 team option years

[JonInMiddleGA]

And yeah, if you're reading the details, the pretty significant AI fails going on very quickly in campaign mode are pretty obvious

The AI roster management is maybe the worst I've seen in the series to date, and the coaching thing is outright comical.

I still think I'll continue on for a while (how far, who knows) cause seeing the universe evolve over time -- mostly through the end of year awards & such -- is at least somewhat interesting.

But, frankly, as "campaign dynasties" go, this is really pretty bad.
edit to add: The game's handling of that sort of thing I mean. The dynasty itself, eh, it was never gonna be an award nominee anyway

[JonInMiddleGA]

Discovery made last night:

The imported draft classes don't classify the real players as rookies. Had to edit West, Robertson, Wilkins, Sanders to having 1 Years Pro in order to get them properly considered for rookie of the year (missed it for them to make the young stars game but {shrug} honestly). The drafted version of players had them with 4 - 12 years Pro already

That was fine enough for this first imported class which had less than a half dozen real players in it. Going to suck going forward though.

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020 Off-Season (more continuation)

Decisions, decisions.

Early negotiating period, we've got several potential RFA/UFA on the roster. Hield,Randolph, Cauley-Stein, Jevon Carter, JaMycheal Green. There's a few top FA's out there, mostly big men.

So we make an offer ... and on day one of three, it's accepted.

SAC signs Joel Embiid ... 3y / $93.93m
(yep, he signed for $20m less than max deals were going for later ... presumably because I WAS THE ONLY TEAM TO MAKE HIM AN OFFER ON THE FIRST DAY)

After that, honestly, most of FA was a blur to me. We let Randolph go to HOU (1y/$4.44m), Cauley-Stein heads to TOR (1y/$9.1m). Hield has an 2/$18m offer sheet from somewhere ... but never signed it or something I guess.

When the dust settled, here are the bigger names/contracts
CHI - Ben Simmons 4y/ $111.43m
CHI - Al Horford 1y/$15.58m
CHI - Dwight Howard 1y/$12.27m
ATL - Myles Turner 4y/$111.43m
MIL - DeAndre Jorand 1y/$21.33m
MIL - Dario Saric 3y/$54.56m
PHL - Darall Imhoff 1y/$18.73m
PHL - Jahlil Okafor 1y/$9.24m

We extend Bogdanovic to 2/$15.96m (not quite a $1m/yr raise)
Hield returns for a year on our $6.48m QO
Likewise Jevon Carter takes the QO 1/$1.77m
We eventually pick up Mason Plumlee for a reasonable amount, as well as Al Jefferson to fill out the roster ... which looks like this:

2020-2021 Sacramento Kings
PG - Oscar Robertson (85)
SG - Buddy Hield (81)
SF - Tyreke Evans (80)
PF - Marvin Bagley III (85)
C - Joel Embiid (92)
------
6th - Quentin Grimes 80
7th - Bogdan Bogdanovic 78
8th - Devon Dotson 78
9th - Harry Giles 77
10th - Jevon Carter 77
11th - Mason Plumlee 77
12th - Jalen McDaniels 76
13th - Al Jefferson 75
14th - Charles Chandler 67

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020-2021 Season (first half)

We start the year 11-9 through the first twenty games. Attempts to make Embiid the primary offensive option were less successful (including a spectacular 0-17 from the floor night), much better to let things flow naturally it seems.

We make only one move prior to the deadline, sending promising (and much cheaper) big Jalen McDaniels & a '22 2nd to CHI for John Henson & a '21 1st (top 3 protected).

We continue to hover around/just below .500 as the trade deadline approachs, hampered by a string of 2-6 week injuries to our swing corps of Evans, Bogdanovich, and Giles. Basically no more than two of them were healthy at the same time for weeks on end.

We signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from FA just to try to find some options beside the highly regarded but generally underperforming Quentin Grimes. (KCP would ultimately be next to useless to us & see extremely limited action)

At the trade deadline we make a couple more moves:
GS gets Al Jefferson & Charles "Don't Call Me Chris" Chandler
SAC gets Kyle O'Quinn & a '23 1st

we also undid a previous move -- one that was costing minutes for the surprisingly more productive Mason Plumlee

BKN gets John Henson, '22 2nd (OKC), and the better of our '25 2nds
SAC gets Jarret Allen, 2-way PF Jack Cooley, and the worst of our '25 2nds

We explored a number of other possibilities -- would have moved impending FA Evans or Giles but nothing really felt like an improvement -- so that's how we wind up the wheeling & dealing

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020-2021 All Star Weekend

So we reach the all-star break, still alive but barely

West
OKC 43-14, HOU -2, GS -5, PHX -9, SA -11, LAL -11, MIN -15, SAC -16
----
DEN -17, NO -18, MEM -18, UTH -19, POR -21, DAL -22, LAC -24

East
TOR 40-19, ORL -2, MIL -5, BOS -.5.5, CHI -6.5, PHL -7, ATL -7.5, CLE -12.5
----
IND -13.5, NY -14.5, WAS -15, BKN -16.5, MIA -18.5, CHA -20.5, DET -22.5

-----------
All Star teams were picked
Team Lebron - James, Harden, A.Davis, B. Simmons, Westbrook
Embiid, Cousins, Lillard, Oscar Robertson, Hayward, Randle, D. Russell

Team Giannis - GFreak, Durant, Irving, Kawhi, Wall
KAT, Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Beal, Griffin, Paul, Jerry West

Team LeBron wins 146-143
Harden 26 pts / 10 asst
LeBron 23 pts / 12 asst
Embiid 14 pts / 5 reb in 21 mins
Big O 5 pts / 3 asst in 16m
Westbrook just misses triple double with 11p/9r/10a

Kawhi led all scorers with 27 points & 10 rebs
Giannis had a rough one, just 3 points but 9 rebs & 9 asst

-----
In other AS weekend activities
USA wins the Stars game 93-78
BKN Center Moses Brown led the way with 26 points

Kevin Durant won the 3 Point Contest over Harden, Thompson, Lillard, Kyrie, and McCollum

Zion Williamson won the Dunk Contest over Mitchell, Antonius Cleveland (MIN) and Ben Moore (GS)

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020-21 Season (second half)

So, much like two years ago before last season's injury woes, we come out of the break in the hunt for a playoff berth. You know, that thing that hasn't happened for Sacramento in (now) 14 seasons.

The starters have played well on the whole, though the only stable fixtures have been the rookie Robertson & the superstar Embiid, and usually Hield. Injuries have kept players rotating through the other spots, which in turn forces us to use players farther down the depth chart for more minutes off the bench. It all feels very tenuous.

We come out of the break hot winning six of the first seven, eventually taking us from 27-30 to 33-31, meaning that we'd won more games than the year before with 17 to play. But we want more than just "not sucking as much". A loss, two wins, a loss, so we go, leaning on the starters more & more, shortening the bench.

And in game 81, we beat MIN 126-105 behind 26 points from The Big O and 29/31 free throw shooting (they were 8/8 at the line) to clinch a trip to the post season. A game 82 loss was anti-climatic but after 14 seasons wandering the wilderness the Kings are playoff bound.
2020-21 Regular Season final standings

Western Conf
HOU 59-23
OKC 57-25
GS 56-26
PHX 51-31
SA 47-35
LAL 45-37
SAC 43-39
MIN 43-39
------
DEN 40-42
UTH 38-44
MEM 34-48
DAL 32-50
NO 32-50
POR 30-52
LAC 28-54

Eastern Conf.
TOR 59-23
MIL 52-30
ORL 47-35
CHI 47-35
PHL 45-37
ATL 44-38
BOS 43-39
WAS 40-42
-----
IND 39-43
CLE 34-48
MIA 34-48
NY 33-49
BKN 32-50
CHA 26-56
DET 20-62

[JonInMiddleGA]

2020-21 Regular Seasons Awards/Leaders

MVP - James Harden
RoTY - Jerry West
6th Man - Gordon Heyward
DPOY - Anthony Davis
Most Improved - Deandre Ayton
CoTY - Mike D'Antoni

PPG - Curry 30.0
RPG - KAT 13.6
APG - Paul 10.5
SPG - Leonard 2.3
BPG - Davis 2.4
MPG - KAT 37.84

All NBA Team
1st - Harden, Westbrook, Giannis, LeBron, Jokic
2nd - Paul, Curry, Davis, Durant, EMBIID
3rd - West, Wall, SImmons, Leonard, KAT

All Defensive Team
1st - Oladipo, D. Murray, Davis, Giannis, Gobert
2nd - Bulter, Westbrook, LeBron, Covington, EMBIID

All Rookie Team
1st - West (BKN), ROBERTSON, L.Wilkens (BOS), T. Sanders (BOS), Weaver (CHA)
2nd - Shillu (PHL), Jefferson (MIA), Hands (CLE), Williams (PHL), Richardson (CLE

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm going to stick an O-O-C note here. I had simmed up to the finals before stopping in my last session. When I reloaded the game tonight, all those results were gone & we were back to the beginning of the playoffs.

I'm not sure whether the game didn't save upon exit like normal OR if there's now something about not being able to save mid-playoffs or what.

No, I didn't make the finals in that sim or anything but the situation was ... interesting and I'm hoping to get at least something that resembles it when I go around again.