Detroit vs Everybody | Detroit Pistons MyLeague Journey | NBA 2K20

[JoshNormanMane]

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Background

Hello Everyone!

I am a Realistic MyLeague Enthusiast. My first ever Realistic MyLeague experience started in NBA 2k18 where I brought back and rebuilt the Seattle Supersonics. However, I was a novice at the time and made the mistake of downloading a bunch of Real NBA Draft Classes that had every prospect set to 90+ potential and 27-28 Peak Start Age. It was nice winning 4 championships in 6-years but having 30 free agents expect $30+ million every year doesn’t create the best realistic experience.

I tried out my luck again in NBA2K19 with another expansion franchise, The Kansas City Knights. This go-around I only used fictional draft classes courtesy of BigDougSwan. It was a better experience than my NBA2K18 but I realized running an expansion franchise wasn’t challenging since I have full control of my Day-1 roster. I just had to pick a few veterans I could flip for picks and let my rookies develop for a few seasons for optimal results.

My past failures brought me to Detroit to rebuild the Pistons in the 2019-2020 Season on NBA 2K20. Here are the changes I implemented to make this experience as fun and challenging as possible.

Selecting a Team with Minimal Assets and No Franchise Player.
Remember that this Pistons squad I inherited was pre-Cade Cunningham. We were fresh off selecting Sekou Doumbouya 15th overall to complement our Big 4 of Derrick Rose, Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond…

Switching to JB’s NBA 2K Draft Classes and creating my own with his similar style
JB’s draft classes are obviously top tier due to the realism and his overall execution. However, what separates him from other creators on the NBA 2K File Share is his usage of Peak Start & Peak End. It really makes you sweat not only drafting his players but even more when it comes to paying his players in Free Agency. Nobody wants the basketball Albert Haynesworth!

Stacking the deck against myself via Full 30-Team Control
While one of my long-term goals for this MyLeague is to bring a championship to Detroit, I want to ensure it’s as challenging as possible. In order to accomplish this, I help steer the other franchises in the right direction such as editing contracts and making logical trades. There’ll be some inconsistency over the years with the Draft and Free Agency if I have complete control or not.

I started my Pistons MyLeague in January of 2020 and kept my MyLeague consistent with the NBA right until the trade deadline. After the trade deadline passed, my MyLeague became a full unique experience. Below is what you can expect from my project.

The Good

In addition to using JB’s NBA 2K20 Draft Classes for my MyLeague, I created my own classes with players that are unique to my franchise only. Attached below is the link to my personal draft class I used for the very first season.

Draft Class 2020

Since I utilized 30-Team Control I was able to save franchises from making unrealistic boneheaded decisions. This not only gave me a more realistic MyLeague experience but it made rebuilding the Pistons exponentially more difficult.

The Bad

Remember the 30-team control I used to save franchises from making unrealistic boneheaded decisions? Unfortunately I can’t save myself from making unrealistic boneheaded decisions on the behalf of those franchises. Stay tuned!

I am currently playing NBA 2K20 on PS4 which unfortunately means the servers are offline and I am unable to download another draft class. Luckily I downloaded JB’s draft class #6 before I took a hiatus in 2021. Going forward I will create all of the draft classes myself which will be a big time commitment and slow down the amount of seasons I can progress through.

Since I started this MyLeague in 2020 and have continued playing 2-years later, I don’t have the benefit of having my franchise shaping up entirely with how the league is structured today. For example, I didn’t want every 2nd round / undrafted player to reach an 80-overall since it’s likely most of those players will be out of the league within 3-4 years so I manipulated their peak start ages to stop their overall from improving.

I predicted certain players would not pan out successfully like Miye Oni for example. I predicted certain players would pan out unsuccessfully such as Carsen Edwards and Justin Foreman-Wright. Finally, you already know that I predicted certain players would not pan out unsuccessfully such as Gary Trent, Duncan Robinson, Jarred Vanderbilt and Kevin Porter Jr. (yikes). In my defense, if I did choose a lot of these players to control or not control at random but it still doesn’t look good in hindsight.

The Ugly

So do you remember the part where I said I have been playing this franchise for 2-years? Yep, that means I need to catch you up on the last 2-years / 6 seasons while going completely off my memory. What can go wrong?

In Conclusion

I put a lot of time and effort into this franchise so I wanted to share it on this platform. If nobody happens to ever read this series, it’ll still be nice for me to go back and remember certain events from each season that transpired.

I’m planning to release the recap of Season 1 this week. It’ll be a two-part edition, one part covering the season and one part covering the offseason. Once I finish the 6 recaps, I will begin the 2026-2027 Season.

Shoutout to JeffRuel for putting me onto the Dynasty forum, I have had a great time reading everyone’s stories and I am looking to contribute with my own now.

[JoshNormanMane]

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Detroit

The 2019-2020 Detroit Pistons were essentially eliminated from playoff contention before the season began. The team received bad news late in the offseason that Blake Griffin would miss a significant portion of the season with a severe knee injury.

After relying on Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose for half the season to be the main contributors on the offensive end, the Pistons decided to cut their losses and focus on obtaining the highest draft selection possible. At the trade deadline, Andre Drummond was shipped out to Cleveland and Reggie Jackson was bought out and free to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

There were murmurs that Blake Griffin was physically able to return to the lineup, Detroit chose to prioritize giving their young players such as Luke Kennard, Bruce Brown and Sekou Doumbouya ample playing time and opportunities to develop.

The Pistons went on to finish the 2019-2020 Season with a record of 24-58, scoring a league-worst 97.2 points per night while allowing their opponents to score 110 points per night. Luke Kennard struggled significantly as the first option and couldn’t handle being keyed in by defenses on a night-to-night basis. He finished the season shooting 37% from the field and 31% from behind the arc.

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The Pistons desperately and truly needed a franchise-changing player to add to their roster. Their main target was Montae Ealy (F) out of Tennessee. Ealy was not a prospect without flaws but he was the consensus #1 Selection amongst the majority of front offices due to his elite athleticism and transition / fast-break ability. If the Pistons couldn’t land the 1st overall selection, the team narrowed down their options to Devin Wilson (F) out of Duke, Jamie Courville (G) out of Seton Hall and Brendan Love (G) out of Kentucky due to their upside and shot creation ability.

Draft Class Guide: Year 1


The Pistons just had to wait for the Draft Lottery and hope the ping pong balls bounce their way.

Everyone (Around The League)

Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers quickly separated themselves as title contenders in their inaugural season together. Leonard, who notably has sat out games despite being fully healthy to preserve himself for the playoffs, made it his mission to suit up for every game possible. Leonard led the Clippers to 65 victories on the season, playing in 81/82 of those games and scored 28.1 Points on a TS% of .603 which was good enough for him to bring home League MVP Honors for the first time in his illustrious career. It didn’t hurt the media’s narrative that Paul George had to sit out the last 15 games of the season due to injury himself.

However, The Los Angeles Clippers were only the second seed in the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz secured the 1st Seed and home court advantage for the playoffs with a league leading 68 victories. Rudy Gobert brought home his 3rd straight Defensive Player of the Year Honors and Donovan Mitchell controversially was named to the All-NBA Second Team.

Despite Giannis Antenkounmpo missing 21 games, The Miluwakee Bucks managed to edge out The Toronto Raptors for the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference. With Giannis back healthy for the playoffs, the Bucks were the favorite to come out of the East.

2019-2020 Season Awards

Most Valuable Player - Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
Defensive Player of the Year - Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Rookie of the Year - Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
Sixth Man of the Year - Devonte Graham (Hornets)
Most Improved Player - Pascal Siakam (Raptors) (Back to Back Winner)
Coach of the Year - Quin Synder (Jazz)

2019-2020 League Leaders

Scoring Champion - Steph Curry (Warriors) - 36.0 PPG
Rebound Champion - Rudy Gobert (Jazz) - 15.8 RPG
Assist Champion - Kyle Lowry (Raptors) - 10 APG
Steals Champion - Paul George (Clippers) - 2.9 SPG
Blocks Champion - Myles Turner (Pacers) - 3.5 BPG

The Playoffs

While the Pistons watched the playoffs at home, hoping in 2-months a ping pong ball would bounce in their favor, 16 other teams set their sights on a Larry O’Brien Trophy.

In the Eastern Conference, The Miluwakee Bucks lived up to their billing of favorites coming out of the East by making it to the Eastern Conference Finals to square off against the Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons-led 76ers.

In the Western Conference, the fans finally got the highly anticipated “Battle of LA” between Kawhi, PG-led Clippers and Lebron, Anthony Davis-led Lakers.

The Battle of LA went to 6-games with the Lakers winning to advance to the NBA Finals. In the regular season, Anthony Davis missed 19 games and saw his 3-point shooting regress heavily but still made the Clippers unable to find an answer for him. While Lebron was still performing at a high level, this series established a change of the guard of Lebron taking a backseat to Anthony Davis going forward.

Giannis was primed to finally make his first ever NBA Finals appearance and face off with the storied Lakers franchise. However, Joel Embiid had other plans. He led the 76ers over the Bucks in 7-games. Despite Giannis putting up legendary numbers in this series, he didn’t receive much help from Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and the rest of his supporting cast. Giannis quieted all critics that claimed the star was growing tired of the lack of support in Milwaukee in his post-game presser.

The Finals

In a rematch of the 2001 NBA Finals, The Philadelphia 76ers would attempt to avenge themselves and defeat the Los Angeles Lakers.

History would not repeat itself with the 76ers gaining home court advantage after finishing the year with 53 victories to the Lakers 52 victories. The fans of Philadelphia were desperate for their team to bring home their first championship since 1983.

In the end, History wound up repeating itself with the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in 5-games. The Lakers ended up splitting the series 1-1 and then winning 3 straight games to bring the Larry O’Brien trophy back to Los Angeles.

Anthony Davis brought home Finals MVP Honors and in the eyes of the media, cemented himself as the Los Angeles Lakers #1 Franchise Player.

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[ZSmit88]

This looks tight man! Looking forward to what this becomes.

[JoshNormanMane]

Quote: Originally Posted by ZSmit88

This looks tight man! Looking forward to what this becomes.

Appreciate it, i'm excited to get through the Prequel and start doing deep dives into the current state of my league

[JoshNormanMane]

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2020 Offseason - Pre-Draft Edition

The Detroit Pistons head into the offseason with one thing on their mind.

Who do we pray to and/or bribe in order to obtain the #1 Draft Pick in order to select Montae Ealy?

The Forward from Tennessee would not only accelerate their rebuild but the Pistons would have the opportunity to build the team from scratch to completely tailor Ealy’s strengths.

With the Draft Lottery Selection days away from happening, the Pistons were looking to add another draft selection to their arsenal. The year before the Pistons traded 4-second round selections in order to trade up to select Deividas Sirvydis, Wing from Lithuania. Sirvydis is set to join the Pistons roster this upcoming season but left the franchise completely deprived of future second-round selections moving forward as the Pistons had to trade 4-second round draft picks to move up to select him.

The Pistons were seeking to fill-out their roster with young talent who could develop into contributors down the line and then sign reliable veterans after building a formidable young core of prospects. The franchise decided to make Derrick Rose available in trade talks, specifically seeking a first-round compensation in return.

After fielding calls from multiple teams around the league, The Pistons opted to send the former MVP to a good situation where he would have the opportunity to compete for a championship next season. What team would fit that description better than the defending champion themselves?

Detroit Pistons Receive: Quin Cook (G), 2020 1st Round Draft Pick (#30)
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Derrick Rose (G)

The Lakers are able to bring in an upgrade at the point guard position while not trading away any of their formidable role players like Kyle Kuzma or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope while the Pistons get to take a gamble on a young prospect that could develop into a solid contributor down the road.

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With two Draft Selections heading into this year's NBA Draft, the Pistons had to maul their choices. While not selecting 1st Overall would be a detriment, the franchise still had the opportunity to select a franchise changing talent with their first 1st Round Selection.

Until the Draft Lottery occurs, The Pistons are focusing their attention on scouting players who will be on the board at #30. With the current state of the roster, the Pistons are taking a Best Player Available approach as the team lacks identity and high-potential prospects to develop.

Antonio Peters Jr. (Junior, G-F, Houston) - Wing with good length and athleticism who can bring the ball up the floor and create his own shot in half-court sets. While he’s shown he can shoot, he’s inconsistent from behind the arc. Has the tools to become a good defender but will struggle to stay out of foul trouble at the next level. Turns 22 before the 2020-2021 Season tips off.

Pro Comparison - Kent Bazemore

Silas Leventakis (19 Years Old, C, Greece) - Athletic big with great upside. While he’s only been playing organized basketball for a few years, Leventakis already possesses an ideal skill set for a big in today’s NBA such as rim-running ability and rim protection. The biggest fear with Leventakis isn’t that he’s an extremely raw talent with a low basketball IQ at this stage but that he's under contract for two more seasons with the Olympiacos of the Greek National League.

Pro Comparison - Brendan Wright

Simmie Jefferson (Junior, F, Minnesota) - Reliable 3&D Wing who has great instincts and takes smart shots. Jefferson will be able to slide into almost any team in the league due to his ability to space the floor and to score without the ball in his hands. Not the greatest athlete by NBA Standards but is a hard-nosed defender who will compete every night. Has a lack of upside and shot-creation ability.

Pro Comparison - Trevor Ariza

Jemmerio Bennett (Freshman, Big, Michigan St.) - High profile freshman coming into Michigan State that had an underwhelming season. For a big man, Bennett is a great passer who has the ability to operate out of the high and low post. Good back to the basket game with the ability to step out to the elbow or wing. Lackadaisical defender that’ll have little-to-no room to grow due to slow foot speed and a lack of intensity.

Pro Comparison - Poor Man's David Lee

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[JoshNormanMane]

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2020 Offseason - Draft Lottery Edition

The Pistons enter Draft Lottery night desperate for the 1st Overall Selection and have the second-best odds in the league only behind the New York Knicks to obtain the top selection. Tied with the Knicks and Pistons in the best draft odds are the Charlotte Hornets who are desperately in need of a franchise player after Kemba Walker departed for the Boston Celtics last offseason.

Franchises such as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans have young franchise players under contract but need to add additional talent to bolster their roster. Adding a talent like Montae Ealy or Devin Wilson to some of these franchises potentially elevates these teams to the playoffs as early as next season.

More established teams that had poor luck during the 2020 Season such as the Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls are looking for talent that’ll seamlessly fit in with their current established core of players.

With no further ado, these franchises will have their draft selections revealed.


Draft Lottery Results

Spoiler

NBA Draft 2020 - Draft Lottery Results
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	New Orleans Pelicans (9)
2	Detroit Pistons (2)
3	New York Knicks (1)
4	Memphis Grizzlies (6)
5	Charlotte Hornets (3)
6	Minnesota Timberwolves (4)
7	Phoenix Suns (5)
8	Washington Wizards (7)
9	Golden State Warriors (8)
10	Miami Heat (10)
11	Orlando Magic (11)
12	Sacramento Kings (12)
13	Cleveland Cavaliers (13)
14	Chicago Bulls (14)

Draft Lottery Recap

Spoiler

When it was revealed that the New York Knicks would select 3rd Overall, the city of Detroit rejoiced that the Draft Lottery Ping Pong Gods were finally on their side.

However, as revealed, the Detroit Pistons would select 2nd Overall in the draft, which isn't a death sentence by any means but is a huge blow as the franchise most likely misses the opportunity to select Montae Ealy.

The New Orleans Pelicans obtain back-to-back #1 Overall Selections with the opportunity to add another blue-chip prospect to an already impressive core albeit they are in a predicament in regard to how these prospects will fit alongside each other. For starters, if New Orleans selects Montae Ealy first overall, they’ll have two uber-athletic players who both have ineffective outside shots, need to play close to the rim and need the ball in their hands to be effective. On top of that, Brandon Ingram is eligible for a max contract extension this offseason and there’s been no sample size on how he’ll fit alongside Zion Williamson let alone Montae Ealy.

New Orleans has made this pick available but for a starting asking price of 3-Unprotected 1st Round Draft Selections and an All-Star Caliber player. This price is already too hefty for Detroit to pay so we’ll have to hope that New Orleans opts to select for fit rather than best available. Jamie Courville may be the best selection fit-wise next to Zion and Brandon Ingram as he can serve as a subsidiary ball-handler and open up the floor with his outside jumpshot, but analysts think it’s ludicrous if he gets selected before Ealy or Devin Wilson.

If Montae Ealy is indeed the selection at #1, The Detroit Pistons have a tough choice ahead between Devin Wilson and Jamie Courville. While Wilson is the better prospect, he plays the same position as Detroit’s best player (Blake Griffin) and best young prospect (Sekou Doumbouya). Wilson has a compelling game as he possesses great size at 6’10 with a deadly outside jumper and post game but the franchise has greatly entertained the thought of selecting Jamie Courville with their 2nd overall selection. Courville was an under the radar prospect before he broke out at Seton Hall, drawing comparisons to Manu Ginobli with his combination of size, speed, ball-handling and shot-creation ability. Jordan Enoch (C, UCLA) has refused to workout with Detroit as he hopes to be selected by New York or Memphis.

Speaking of the New York Knicks, one-year after selecting R.J Barrett 3rd Overall they find themselves with another Top-3 selection. Julius Randle had a down season in his first year in New York and the franchise will not consider him a part of their long-term plans when selecting in this year’s draft. Reports have indicated the franchise will look to select Devin Wilson or Jordan Enoch as they look to pair R.J Barrett with a bigman.

While many scouts and analysts are down on this year’s draft, there are talented prospects who could have their potential unlocked if they are selected to the right situation. We will have answers shortly as the draft is just right around the corner.

Prospects in Pre-Draft Workouts with Franchises leading up to the Draft

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[JoshNormanMane]

Detroit vs Everybody
The Prequel
Season 1
Episode 4

Draft Day Edition

As the 2020 NBA Draft approaches the Pistons maul multiple difficult situations as they kick start their rebuild. The Pistons had multiple glaring weaknesses last season, but the team’s biggest weakness was shot creation. A big part of that was due to their star player Blake Griffin missing all of last season due to a severe knee injury. The franchise will not rely on Griffin as it’s not guaranteed he regains his prior form as he's had an extensive injury history that's piled up throughout the years.

The Pistons look to select either Jamie Courville (G, Seton Hall) or Devin Wilson (F, Duke) with their #2 selection.

Jamie Courville gives the Pistons a main ball-handler and long-term upside at the guard position moving forward. Currently the Pistons only have Luke Kennard as a long-term piece at the guard position and he struggled greatly as a first option last season. Kennard could thrive alongside Courville, especially if the franchise decides to extend his contract next year.

Devin Wilson is the player that the majority of franchises would select at the #2 position due to his size, shooting and winning pedigree at the college level. He was the best player on a Duke Blue Devils team that came up short in the National Championship game. Wilson is the safer pick here but at the current stage of the Pistons rebuild, he may not properly develop playing alongside Griffin and as both players aren’t suited to play the 5 full-time.

At the #30 Selection, the Pistons maul whether to select a prospect with a high-floor or high-ceiling. This team needs an upgrade at every position after only managing to win 24 games last season. Although, early in the rebuild stage it’s important to bring in the right players in order to establish the proper culture. It’s up in the air what decision the franchise will make here.

2020 NBA Draft - Notable Selections
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	New Orleans Pelicans	Montae Ealy	F	6'8	228
2	Detroit Pistons	Jamie Courville	G	6'5	196
3	New York Knicks	Devin Wilson	F	6'10	238
4	Memphis Grizzlies	Jordan Enoch	C	6'11	248
5	Charlotte Hornets	Cam Harmon	G-F	6'5	229
6	Minnesota Timberwolves	Kai Sattler	G-F	6'7	207
7	Phoenix Suns	Brendan Love	G	6'1	189
8	Washington Wizards	Timmy Ntolo	F-C	6'7	260
9	Golden State Warriors	Denzel Garrett	G	6'3	191
10	Miami Heat	Yannick Sosa	F	6'9	234
11	Orlando Magic	Kevin Bogan	F-G	6'7	204
12	Sacramento Kings	Scottie Larrimore	F	6'9	221
13	Dallas Mavericks (via Cleveland)	K.J Roberts	G	6'5	179
14	Chicago Bulls	Oto Marek	F	6'9	228
15	New Orleans Pelicans	Rakeem Freeman	F-G	6'8	217
16	Oklahoma City Thunder	Gordan Skoric	F	6'10	236
18	Cleveland Cavaliers (via Dallas)	Kenny Baccari	F	6'8	208
21	Portland Trailblazers	Stefon Layton	C	7'0	243
24	New York Knicks	Jerrick Banks	G	6'4	199
25	Boston Celtics	Mike Labron	C	6'9	244
26	Toronto Raptors	Trevor Reese	C	6'11	233
27	Memphis Grizzlies	Mikah Kotka	G	6'5	188
28	Brooklyn Nets	Julian McWilliams	G-F	6'7	203
30	Detroit Pistons	Simmie Jefferson	F	6'7	200
31	New York Knicks	Antonio Peters Jr.	F-G	6'6	193
34	Sacramento Kings	Derek Carson	C	7'1	255
36	New Orleans Pelicans	Jelani Washington	G	6'3	170
46	Philadelphia 76ers	Cory Blount	G	6'4	190
47	Milwaukee Bucks	Silas Leventakis	C	7'1	221
51	Oklahoma City Thunder	Jemmerio Bennett	F	6'9	236

Detroit Pistons Draft Selections
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*pictured left to right, Jamie Courville, Simmie Jefferson, Deividas Sirvydis

Draft Selections Around the League
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*pictured left to right, Montae Ealy, Devin Wilson, Jordan Enoch, Brendan Love

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*pictured left to right, Timmy Ntolo, Denzel Garrett, Yannick Sosa, Kevin Bogan

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*pictured left to right, Scottie Larrimore, K.J Roberts, Kenny Baccari, Mike Labron

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*pictured left to right, Antonio Peters Jr., Jelani Washington, Cory Blount, Jemmerio Bennett

Editor's Note

While this series hasn't gained much traction, thank you to anyone who has read so far. Just a reminder that for the season recaps leading up to my current present-day franchise, I am going solely off of my memory which is the reason for this draft recap I only linked the 'Notable Selections'.

Currently I have my franchise paused in the Summer League of the 2026 Offseason. I'm hoping to take the next month to finish recapping the next 5 years and then begin going into greater detail with this series as I'll able to log the season in real-time.

Finally, I'm still getting the hang of using OS but I've noticed the picture attachments I link don't appear if I'm viewing my posts in incognito or not logged into an account. If anyone has a solution, I'll greatly appreciate it.

[studbucket]

I like the format of your draft recap, good work