The King's Gambit

["The Veal"]

Meta note: Making some changes to how I handle game round-ups. For the sake of extending this series I'm not going to be focusing on single games with write-ups that are basically just me finding noteworthy things in the same stats that you guys are looking at. Just takes up time, especially when I'd do it 82+ times a year.

New plan as of right now. At the end of each week I'll make a single post with the headers and picture of each game that week, along with the stats. There is a chance I'm also going to throw in little tidbits to at least get a comment in for each game, whether that be a Moss statement, a press conference, a locker room discussion, maybe some drama, etc.

Finally, some nice news, and something I wanted to do but didn't really know how to work in. I will be playing one game every two weeks. No pattern or anything, just preference. These will have longer write-ups since I'll actually know what happened, along with a handful of pictures. I did this for every game in my other dynasty, and you wonder why that failed so quickly

If anyone has tips, opinions, or anything else definitely let me know!

["The Veal"]

The Straw That Broke The Camels Back

December 7th, 2015

A ringing phone call and a hung head, that was the sight in Brickashaw Moss' office.

He glances down at the caller ID. "This is Brickashaw, what's up coach?"

"Hey man, I got some bad news." Aiden Anderson says through the line, stuttering to get the words out.

"What happened?" Moss seems concerned, knowing he wouldn't be getting a call if it wasn't serious.

"Well, a fight broke out. No one's hurt, but there was some up close and personal bickering and hollering between two players."

"Is that so." Moss' worries grow. "Who are the players?" He asks, worried at whatever answer he may get.

"Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison, sir."

Moss' hand goes up to his forehead, holding himself up. "Do you know who started it?"

"I do not. But we know Rondo's grievances and Collison's weariness on his role, and that's exactly what the fight was about."

"Was Collison arguing that he would be a better starter?"

Anderson spoke in short breaths. "Exactly that actually."

Moss sighs, his body leaning back in the chair. A moment of silence occurs.

After a few seconds Moss speaks. "Okay. I'll see what I can do. Thank you for bringing it up to me though."

"As always. See you tomorrow." Anderson hangs up the phone as Moss sulks in his chair, opening up his notebook, analyzing some papers.

["The Veal"]

A Serious Proposal

December 9th, 2015

On a muggy morning, Moss arrives to work. A missed call lights up his phone.

"Who the hell is calling me at 7:30 in the morning?" Moss exclaims. "Don't they know we had a game last night?"

Moss re-dials the number, sighing. "Hopefully it's not some telemarketer and I'm wasting my time."

The ringing stops on the other end. "Hi, who is this?" It's a deep, protruding voice.

"This is Brickashaw Moss. I received a call from this number. Who might this be?" Moss knows to act professional when the other person is unknown.

"Oh, oh! Hello Brickashaw, yes I did call you earlier. This is Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets. How are you this morning?" His enthusiasm grew as it dawned on him who was calling.

"Ahh, hello Daryl. I'm doing quite well, and yourself?"

"Doing alright. Look, I wanted to talk to you about a trade I had brewing in my head." Morey wastes no time.

"I like the sound of trades. As long as they're serious ones." Moss exclaims, already getting used to being swindled from other GM's.

"The way I see it, this one's more beneficial to you than me."

"Let's hear it." Moss doesn't want to hear the old seller talk.

"Well. We've really had our eye on Ben McLemore, and feel he can get a role on our squad. We see you guys haven't been utilizing him in a while, has he dropped out of your rotation?" Morey's pestering.

"Between you and me, I don't really know, that's coaches decision. But if I had to guess, possibly yes. I still think he needs another year before we can give him minutes."

"How about I give him minutes now and take him off your hands?" Morey asks insistent at every turn.

Moss ponders for a moment. "I can't say I'm out yet, he's definitely someone I've been keen on letting go. Who are you willing to give me?"

"Here's the full trade. I give you a solid backup big, Donatas Motiejunas, and another key prospect, K.J. McDaniels, and you give me Ben and Seth Curry, who hasn't gotten any minutes this year for you. I feel that's more than fair."

"Honestly, wow." Moss is thrown aback. "I haven't seen that fair a trade in, well, ever. Give me a second, I'll call you back."

Morey sounds pleased through the phone. "Sounds good to me."

Moss hangs up and proceeds to spend 20 minutes pouring through data, team match-ups, his roster before and after, and comes to his conclusion.

"Hello Daryl." Moss keeps it short. "I can't do it."

"Seriously?!" Morey is thrown off track. "I was sure you wouldn't be able to resist, it absolutely benefits you more in the short term than me." He's bargaining.

"I absolutely know that, almost too much. But here's the thing, without giving up another big I'll be absolutely logjammed down there, and some key player is not going to be able to play."

"I..." Morey tries to get out something.

"I see it like this." Moss cuts him off. "By you giving me Motiejunas, either Koufos or Acy falls out of the line-up, which only causes me more problems than any I'd be alleviating by doing the trade in the first place."

Morey waits a moment. "I see what you mean. Maybe we can go back to the drawing board and speak at a later date?"

"I would be more than fine with that. I really appreciate the offer, and on a different night might even take you up on it, but for the positions I have it would just cause more turmoil and I can't deal with that right now." Moss may be giving away too much information.

"Understandable. Well anyways, it was nice talking to you. Have a good day." Morey seems a little bothered, but not enough to throw the relationship away.

"You too, sir." Moss hangs up the phone. "Who knows, maybe I'll call him again. That was close to robbery, if I can swindle it another way, it could work out great for me."

["The Veal"]

An Uncomfortable Sit-down

December 11th, 2015

A quiet, muffled knock comes upon Moss' door. It's so quiet in fact, Moss can barely hear it, choosing instead to investigate the sound.

Moss opens the door, shocked to see a looming Quincy Acy standing over him. "Oh!" He's taken aback. "You scared me there for a second Quincy, I barely heard you.

"Sorry, sir." Acy speaks about as quiet as his knocks.

"It's alright boy, just beefen up those knocks, I know you can do it."

"Anything you say. Could I talk to you for a moment?" Acy asks, unsure as to the response.

"Of course, come sit down." The two walk to their respective seats.

"Sir..." Quincy begins.

"You can call me Brickashaw, Quincy." Moss interrupts him with politeness.

"Okay, cool. Brickashaw, I was hoping you could give me a pep talk. I played like crap against the Knicks last night, and that used to be my team. I wanted to impress them, but instead it seems like them letting me go was the right decision." Acy's pouting like no one's seen before.

Moss, in his mind, rolls his eyes through his skull. "Look Quincy. I love your role on our team. It isn't a crucial one, but you come in, bang players up, and give it all you got." Moss was never good at giving out confidence boosts.

"Yeah, but. I wanted to show them I was more than that." Acy is unswayed.

Moss sighs, agreeing with the Knicks that he really isn't. "You had an off game. You probably went out there and overthought things, when really you just needed to play within yourself." Moss throwing cliches all over the place.

"Yeah, that's true." Acy shrugs. "I just was excited that Sacramento gave me another chance, but it seems like I'm not doing enough to stay here."

"You're doing a fine job. Just go out there and keep contributing, everything will fall into place." Moss has no comment on Acy, and his sadness here sure isn't helping.

"Thank you sir, uh, I mean Brickashaw. I'll be on my way." Acy didn't get the answers he wanted, leaving almost more upset than he was.

"Sorry I couldn't help more Quincy, I'm not good at that sort of thing." Moss says to him as he wanders off.

"It's okay, I understand. Just glad to know I can come to you anyways."

"Absolutely. Any time you want to, just know I won't do as good as you'll imagine." Moss laughs off the sweat that'll soon come onto his forehead.

"That's good to know. Thanks again, see ya." Acy walks out the door and quietly shuts it behind him.

"Whew. Glad that's over with." Moss says, mumbling to himself.

[trekfan]

Moss needs to hire a sports psychiatrist for his team so that guy can handle Acy and his moods. UGH.

Trade Acy?

Trade Acy. You can find cheaper talent I'm sure.

["The Veal"]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Moss needs to hire a sports psychiatrist for his team so that guy can handle Acy and his moods. UGH. Trade Acy? Trade Acy. You can find cheaper talent I'm sure.

All I'll say is...stay tuned

["The Veal"]

Weekly Roundup (December 6th-12th)

A Strong Fourth Not Enough For Kings, Lose To Thunder 115-104
December 6th, 2015

Post-Game Press Conference

"Jason Jones, Sacramento Bee. A close first half led to a see-saw second that didn't see things going in your favor. What happened?"

Rajon Rondo - "We just haven't matched up well against more experienced teams coming out of the half. I commend our guys for not giving up but the ending was written by then."

DeMarcus Cousins - "Well, I for one didn't play to my potential. Out of all nights for me to go above and beyond this was the one. If it wasn't for Rudy doing his best to keep us in this, and everyone else for contributing as they always do, it would've been even more lopsided."

Jason Jones - "What positives can you take from this game?"

DeMarcus Cousins - "Umm...see that free throw percentage? Yeah, that. Can't make excuses on that front as we typically do, we killed it from the stripe tonight. Really we matched up with them fairly well, they were just being more aggressive overall. Gotta bounce back and fight fire with fire I suppose."

Box Scores & Team Comparisons

Spoiler

Boogie's 30 Helps Defeat Jazz, 97-90
December 8th, 2015

Locker Room

Aiden Anderson - "That was a solid win out there you guys, way to bounce back. DeMarcus, same to you. Good recovery. We're capable of winning you guys, we've seen it. Now we really have to focus on winning in a row, breaking the momentum swing to get in our favor."

Corliss Williamson (Assistant Coach) - "Also, good job goes out to you guys for coming out of the half strong. We've been struggling with that recently, so it's nice to see a more urgent change of pace that essentially won us this game. It's rare for another team to make 11 more free throws than you and still lose, but we did that tonight. Solid job.

Rudy Gay - "Let's make sure we get to the Knicks and take them down. This is our chance to get back to a winning streak, let's not squander it."

Box Scores & Team Comparisons

Spoiler

Knicks Defeat Kings In Slow Affair, Win 85-82
December 10th, 2015

Locker Room

Aiden Anderson - "Alright, not gonna lie, that was a rough one. 40% from the stripe? C'mon guys. They can't be making 17 more free throws than us."

DeMarcus Cousins - "Well maybe if I didn't get fouled out within, what, 22 minutes we'd have had a better shot."

Anderson - "I know DeMarcus, I think it's bull**** too. We gotta look to change up some stuff cause that can't fly anymore. But still, we made four more three's than them which offset the lead a bit."

Corliss Williamson - "Still a pretty awful game though, from both sides. If it weren't for the Knicks' 78% from the stripe, every shooting percentage would've been below 42%."

Rudy Gay - "Damn man. We definitely didn't deserve that win, but it sucks cause they didn't either."

Box Scores & Team Comparisons

Spoiler

["The Veal"]

Around The League

Injury Report

San Antonio Spurs | Danny Green | Torn Right ACL | Season
Cleveland Cavaliers | J.R. Smith | Broken Right Forearm | 6-8 Weeks
New York Knicks | Arron Afflalo | Left Knee Tendinitis | 2-4 Weeks

Transaction Report

Orlando Magic | Evan Fournier | SG - 6'7" | OVR 77 | 3 years / $19.06 mil

Top 5 Performances

Milwaukee Bucks | Jabari Parker | 39 Pts, 10 Rebs, 18-23 FG | W 121-101
Cleveland Cavaliers | LeBron James | 24 Pts, 18 Rebs, 11 Asts | W 119-118
Oklahoma City Thunder | Kevin Durant | 47 Pts, 6 Rebs, 8 Asts, 3 Stls, 3 Blks | W 142-102
Oklahoma City Thunder | Kevin Durant | 34 Pts, 13 Rebs, 6 Asts, 13-17 FG | L 118-112
Portland Trailblazers | Damien Lillard | 46 Pts, 15-21 FG | L 103-99