The Story of a Young Head Coach - Coach Griff

[Jordigriffin]

Chapter 12
Calling Kobe

Well it had to come to an end at one point right?

Damn this first season was fun. Coming into the team i knew what my expectations were, Grow the youngsters, try to get a few wins, learn the squad. I would like to say all of those expections i've met and then some.

Lets track back a little though, Because i didnt fill you in yet.
We ended up 4-10, We only won against the grizzlies and we lost the other 4 games. Which was to be expected.

Lebron James was Most Valuable player, as he averaged a triple double, Shooting a career high .421% from three and a very good .535% off the field

My boy Lonzo edged it out in the Rookie of the year award, With 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and NEARLY missing out on a double-double average, 9.8 assists. He wasnt very sad about missing out on the double-double though, he was very confident in his growth and was happy with the staff, who he thanked in his acceptance speech.

Jeremy lin off the Brooklyn Nets took 6th man of the year award, DeAndre Jordan grabbed defensive player of the year award, and Brad Stevens was awarded coach of the year, Bring the Pacers to an 11-3 record.

You might be thinking, why havent i mentioned Most-Improved.
Brandon got it. Some of you might know this, but hes always been my favorite, Lonzo has always been a guy that went to the Trainer and his Father LaVar for help. While The rest of the rookies, especially Ingram came to me.
And what a season he had, he scored 24.1 points (13.1 more than last year), 5.9 rebounds(2 more than last year) and 2.4 ast, which was only 0.1 more than last year. he also got more effective from the field, recording a good .469% from the field (Previously .422%) and .481% from three (Previously .462). I couldnt be more proud.

For the rest of the awards, Lonzo got second team all-defense, for recording 2.4 Steals, and being an overall good perimeter defender.

Magic had requested me to fill in a report about every player, and so i did.
Here are the results:

Brandon Ingram 24.1ppg, 5.9rpg, 2.4apg What a player he has become, Deadly point scorer, can dribble the ball now, decent passer, uses his length and wingspan well to defend and rebound too.
Lonzo Ball 16.5ppg, 5.4rpg, 9.8apg Looking like a future triple double machine, we couldnt have gotten anything better from our number two pick.
Julius Randle 13.1ppg, 9.9rpg, 3.4apg The guy who will round out our "Big Three". Basicly Draymond Green at this point, Rebounds well, Great defender on the perimeter and inside, Good passer too. Needs to work on outside shoot a little more.

Jordan Clarkson, Alec Burks, Ivica Zubac, Nick Young Didnt average above 10 in any category, very good players that could be starters, but are amazing bench player at the very least. Burks found his form as a bench player in the second half of the season.

Sindarius Thornwell, Kyle Kuzma Rookies that did fine, Good role players, Kyle is the standout though, looking at potential wise. Sindarius in my opinion will always be just a decent scorer.

O.G. Anunoby, David Nwaba, Thomas O'BryantAmazing defensive players, Still all lack on the offensive side, O.G. was a starter for us most of the second half of the season, and shows the most potential to be atleast decent on offense.

Nenê, Nicolas Laprovittola, Robert Sacre. Didnt play much, garbage time players. Very easily replaced.

After i e-mailed Magic the report, i turned my PC off thinking for a while.
You know i was very well-liked at this point by everyone surrounding the Lakers organization. And i had some famous people in my phone list. Thats when probably one of my greatest ideas came to me. What if.... You know what, lets set up a meeting first, I dont know if he's going to want to do it.

Three days later i walked into one of the conference rooms where i decided to meet him. I was the first one.
After about 10 minutes of waiting he knocked on the door.

"Hey griff, whatsup man"
"How are you Kobe" i said.
Yeah it was Kobe Bryant, ex-Lakers Superstar and Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant.
"What did you want to talk about man" Kobe said
Now Kobe had expressed he wanted to help out in someway, with the organization, being a trainer was at this point something he desperately wanted.
"Look i've talked to Magic, and he thinks its a great idea." I started talking again
"I thought it would be a great idea for you to be Brandon Ingram's Personal Trainer this offseason, we want him to become a better 1-on-1 player, and who better to train him than the man who has never lost a 1-on-1?"
"Yeah man. You came to the right person, i can teach that kid some moves. i would love that man."
"Allright then its settled, You can call Magic for the details"

Me and Magic had talked about it, and we wanted him to become part of the Training staff for a long time, but we didnt know in what way. Our decision was to let him train Brandon, and if he showed Progress. We would offer him the job off assistant coach/personal player trainer.

The playoffs were about to begin, and eventhough we werent in it. I was excited to see what was going to happen. On the east you had the pacers who were amazing this year, MVP LeBron Leadin the Cavs, and KD Leading the young Sixers. While in the west we had the usual warriors as first seed, and the Spurs and rockets to spice things up.

[Jordigriffin]

PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

by Mike Korzemba - 17th April, 2018

The playoffs are about to begin and we couldnt be more excited, after Durants departure from last years champion the Golden State Warriors, the whole league was in speculation about who were going to win this years championship. My name is Mike Korzemba, and im bringing you, "The Playoffs Preview".

Golden State Warriors (1) vs Phoenix Suns (8)
The defending Champions face off against a team that only just got into the playoffs, Led by Eric Bledsoe, Paul Millsap and Devin Booker, This Young Suns team have a tough climb against Curry and the gang, who basicly look the same as their 2015 championship team.

San Antonio Spurs (4) vs Los Angeles Clippers (5)
A very close matchup between two of the more veteran teams in the league, Can Kawhi and Gang beat Lob City? Or is Griffins new found Post-Game enough to blaze past a Assistant-Coach Griffin-less Spurs team.

Denver Nuggets (3) vs Houston Rockets (6)
The Rockets struggled in the first half of the season without the Injured Harden, But went on a 5-1 Run to end the season with him, Is that enough to beat the team-oriented Nuggets team?

Minnesota Timberwolves (2) vs Utah Jazz (7)
The regular season without Gordon was rough, but the jazz ended up finishing the season 4-0, becoming the best defensive team in the west.
The Timberwolves come off a great season, With Karl-Anthony Towns as the second best center in the league.

Indiana Pacers (1) vs Charlotte Hornets (8)
The Pacers proved perfect for Brad Stevens' system, Going first in the league being the best defensive team in the NBA. On the other hand there is the Young Charlotte Hornets, Who snuck in the playoffs on the last game of the season.

Philadelphia 76ers (5) vs Miami Heat (4)
The Heat had a great season, after Whiteside proving he was a First team all-defensive Center, and Bosh coming back from an injury, Dragic took them all the way to a 4th seed, While Durant who signed in free agency, is still mid-progress in his road to helping the 76ers one day become a title contender.

Cleveland Cavaliers (3) vs Milwaukee Bucks (6)
Giannis was on fire this year, Making a big case for top 10 player in the league, But will it be enough to surpass MVP and Best player in the League LeBron James?

Washington Wizards (7) vs Detroit Pistons (2)
Stan van Gundy did it again, he molded his team into a well oiled machine and to the praise of president Trump, Completed the building off his "Wall". But the Wizards are still a good team, Beal is healthy and Wall is playing out of his mind.

Results:

Spoiler

Warriors vs Suns - 99-101
Clippers vs Spurs - 97-80
Nuggets vs Rockets - 98-115
Timberwolves vs Jazz - 107-117

Pacers vs Hornets - 119-103
Heat vs 76ers - 114-108
Cavaliers vs Bucks - 95-147
Pistons vs Wizards - 96-82

Suns, Clippers, Rockets, Jazz go to Western Conference Semi-Finals
Pacers, Heat, Cavaliers, Pistons go to Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

[Jordigriffin]

CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS RESULTS

by Mike Korzemba - 22nd April, 2018

After the Suns Upset the Warriors, NBA Fans all over the Globe Rejoiced in knowing the fact that it wasnt going to be a Cavs vs Warriors Finals again, But who WILL we see in the Conference Finals?

Indiana Pacers defeat Miami Heat
In a battle of defensive powerhouses, the number 1 defensive team in the league, coached by the best coach in the league this year, prevailed.
Gordon Hayward lit up, as he scored 32points out of 11-16 shooting, The Heat had a good game too, But Haywards buzzer beater in the final 5 seconds send the game home, the pacers move on to the Conference Finals, after beating the Heat 97-95

Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Detroit Pistons
Even though the Pistons were a higher seeded team, everyone knew coming in they had a low chance of winning, LeBron having an MVP season, Love almost avering Minnesota Numbers, and Irving having his best Playoffs game against the Bucks (Recording 52 points). Drummond put up a fight going 21pts and 18rebounds, but it wasnt enough, as Kyrie's 32 points put the Cavs to an easy 120-95 win.

Los Angeles Clippers defeat Phoenix Suns
After Upsetting the Warriors in round 1, The Hopes were high for this Suns team, but it wasnt to be. Griffin recorded 27/7/7, Deandre notched 18/18 and Chris Paul ended the game with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 15 assists. The Only bright light for the Suns was Devin Booker, who went 29/4/7, but Bledsoe and Millsap's performances were too subpar to even get close to the clippers, getting beat out 134-94

Houston Rockets defeat Utah Jazz
It didnt matter how good the Jazz' Defence was, The beard was on a mission, scoring 44 points out of 19-24 shooting, Rockets Defeat Utah Jazz, 119-103 and move on to face the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals.

[Jordigriffin]

CONFERENCE FINALS RESULTS

by Mike Korzemba - 25th April, 2018

Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Indiana Pacers
King James. King James. King James. All Hail King James. The Pacers played well all game long but were absolutely no match for LeBron on a mission, Scoring 47! points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists. All the rest of the Cavs roster had to do was watch and Pray to their King. As the Cavaliers move onto their fourth eastern conference Finals in a row. Beating Pacers 110-93.

Los Angeles Clippers defeat Houston Rockets
The Clippers did it, Their first ever appearance in the Finals, we all know what brought them here, Blake finally produced to be the second guy behind Chris Paul, and DeAndre had an amazing season too, becoming defensive player of the year. The Beard put up a fight going 23/10/7 but it wasnt to be, as blake's 22/11/3 shoots them to play the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Beating the Rockets 123-93

[Jordigriffin]

KING JAMES DOES IT AGAIN, BEATS CLIPPERS IN NBA FINALS WIN

He is now 4-5 in the Finals and 4th time Finals MVP. Lebron James brings in another championship to "The Land".

In the end, it was all LeBron James. One of the most dominant individuals in NBA history overcame one of the league’s most dominant teams, when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Clipeprs on the road in a thrilling 100-90 win in the NBA Championship Finals, the second in Cavaliers history.

Going 34/11/8 in his second title season with Cleveland, he brought the Cavaliers fans another year to cheer about. On the Road to beating the Clippers, The Cavaliers went through the Bucks, Pistons, and eventually favored number one seed Pacers to win the NBA Finals for a second time in Cavaliers History.



But most important, this keeps LeBron in the all-time discussion of, is he better than Michael Jordan? the ghost in chicago he has been chasing his whole career.

Simple View BoxScore:

Spoiler

Cleveland Cavaliers 100
Lebron James 34/11/8 (Finals MVP)
J.R. Smith 19/1/1
Ian Clark 13/1/3
Tristan Thompson 8/13/0
Kevin Love 8/16/5
Jason Smith 7/5/1
Kyrie Irving 6/3/8
Iman Shumpert 5/4/0
Tony Allen 0/2/0
Richard Jefferson DNP
Kyle Korver DNP
Kay Felder DNP

Los Angeles Clippers 90
Chris Paul 25/1/5
Blake Griffin 18/8/8
Austin Rivers 17/2/3
J.J. Hickson 12/9/1
DeAndre Jordan 7/18/0
Tony Snell 5/4/3
Brice Johnson 4/2/1
Lance Stephenson 2/6/4
Jamal Crawford 0/0/2
Diamond Stone DNP
Luis Scola DNP
Luc Mbah a Moute DNP
Wesley Johnson DNP

[Jordigriffin]

Other Notable Retirements
Vince Carter - Free Agent
Jamal Crawford - Clippers
Mike Miller - Free Agent
Richard Jefferson - Cavaliers
Matt Barnes - Bucks
Mike Dunleavy - Free Agent
Boris Diaw - Celtics
Tayshaun Prince - Free Agent
Staff Retirements
Earl Watson - 24 Years in League - Suns - Head Coach

Hall of Fame Inductees

Dirk Nowitzki - 2018 - 1,368GP, 21.8PPG, 7.8RPG, 2.5APG, 0.8SPG, 0.9BPG

Vince Carter - 2018 - 1,287GP, 18.7PPG, 4.6RPG, 3.4APG, 1.1SPG, 0.6BPG

[Jordigriffin]

Chapter 13
Draft Day Deals

It was a very busy morning in our Headquarters, the lottery had given us chances to get the 7th pick, through our own pick, and the number 19th through the milwaukee trade for Brook Lopez. Now we all pretty much knew what we wanted, we didnt want any more undeveloped rookies on our team, we wanted talent, so everyone had to chip in to get a deal on the table some way. This included Strategy meetings, Trade Proposals, and even Talking about the actual players in the Draft, Because you didnt want to draft something without Value if you were forced to draft.

The Draft Lottery came along and we got what we expected, 7th and 19th.
The Thunder got first, Trail Blazers second, Grizzlies third, Celtics fourth via Billy king himself, and the Knicks got 5th.

We also knew that if it came to actually drafting a player, he would be a 3 and D player that was ready to play, preferably ofcourse, but the main plan was to just pick the most valuable player really.

Draft night was starting and our wishlist was narrowed down to basicly 6 people.
Rudy Gobert - Would give us some much needed defence, but is important for Jazz, might be too costly
Harrison Barnes - Too valuable for Cuban, who as we all know, doesnt like to tank
Andre Drummond - He was a very valuable option for us, Pistons were ready to accept that Drummond isnt going to be a top 15 player. 25 years old, fits into our plan.
DeMar DeRozan - Raptors didnt even make playoffs, he wants out. Maybe a little to old.
Klay Thompson - Basicly the best Three and D shooting guard in the league, would be perfect, but i dont think the Warriors are ready to give up yet.
Bradley Beal - Wizards are done after another first round elimination. They dont trust this core anymore, and this would fill up an All-star quality role in our Guard Position. Also only 25 years old, fits well into our plans.

Well, For Rudy they didnt even want to answer, he was untouchable. Same for Harrison Barnes, Actually we dont know, when we offered him picks to start his rebuild we could only hear him laughing. The Pistons told us they wanted to see good value for Drummond, Young talent and Picks. Same for the Wizards. The Raptors wanted to clearly start a small rebuild because after not reaching playoffs and Kyle Lowry getting on in age they realised this core wasnt working for them , and DeMar really wants out. Oh and the Warriors politely declined aswell for Klay.

After a great deal of discussing we decided Andre wasn't going to be worth it, if we are going to be running this 5 out lineup with Randle at the 5 we didnt think it would be smart to have a $25 million dollars a year guy sitting on the bench in the fourth.

We placed offers for DeMar and Beal, and waited. It was finally our turn to pick when the phone rang.

"Yes?" I heard Magic say.
i couldn't exactly hear who it was or what he was saying on the other side of the line, but it made me incredibly nervous.
After some talking Magic hung up the phone and said
"We got our guy"

[Jordigriffin]

Chapter 14
DeMar DeRozan

"DeMar will be joining our team guys."
Two seconds of silence was followed up by a loud cheer

I mean i was happy with the Acquisition, We got a veteran All-Star, Who has another like 5 years in his prime.

The Total package included Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Kuzma, Our number 7, 19 and second round 23rd pick. We kept the number three in the second round and selected some sharpshooter out of... i dont even remember, Now keep in mind, we are giving up a good amount of players here. Jordan Clarkson was basicly the perfect backup Point Guard, scored about 10 points a game, 4 assists and like 2.5 rebounds. Kyle Kuzma had a great first season, show a real good amount of potential, and im sure the Raptors are happy they got him, and then theres the picks. Who turned into Michael Porter Jr. which was a complete steal for them at 7, as he was rumoured to go first for a long time. Killian Tillie, a face-up four out of Gonzaga, Similair to Kuzma's Potential. And Gary Trent Jr. a very good scorer out of Duke.

But we got back DeMar DeRozan, 4 time All-Star, Was Ranked third best shooting Guard behind Harden and Butler, Just edging out Klay. Because almost all of his career DeMar has had bad shooting from Three, but he actually improved a good amount, notching a career high .391%. But lets quickly go over his strengths. i personally like doing that more. He scored 26.5PPG, had 5.9Rebounds and recorded 5.2 assists. He is a driving Maniac, to say the least, he gets to the rim with easy and shoots the midrange like almost no other in the league. Getting him a fantastic .547% from the field.

I Would say hes easily going to fit into the system, Like Brandon, he can but doesnt need to handle the ball, Which is a perfect thing to have. We have seen in recent years with the raptors that, whenever lowry was dribbling, DeMar was most effective, as with his speed he can cut inside very easily, which will be even better in our 5 out system.

With a couple role players gone, we really had to focus down as Free Agency was about to start, We took up the team options on Ingram, Zubac, and Nwaba, While we let Thornwell, Laprovittola and Sacre go. Eventhough we were probably going to call them back on summer league duty. We also send a qualifying offer towards Randle, but were willing to Talk to him about a new contract.

Then Free Agency finally hit and we decided that two positions were in desperate need of help. We offered Kyle o'Quinn a two year $10.84M deal, we really wanted him because he was the perfect sub for Zubac. He had a breakout year for the knicks, recording double digit rebounds, becoming a paint protecter and shooting higher than ever in his career. On the other hand as a replacement for Clarkson we went in for Patrick "Patty" Mills, we offered him a 1 year $1.55M deal, with a team option for a second year.
They both ended up accepting on the third day.

On the fourth day we went in for Jamychal Green, who also had a good year for the grizzlies, and we wanted the Stretch four to join us on a 2yr/$2.50M deal. He did end up accepting the fifth day.

Thats when the news hit, The Bulls had offered Julius Randle a 4yrs/$72.31M deal. Which meant that he was going to earn about 18million a year. Which we thought was fair, so we decided to Match. Randle was happy that we did.

And that meant the end of free agency for us. We still had one spot left to fill though, and that was going to be decided in Summer League.