The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

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Context: TheDominator273 put together an awesome spreadsheet to add random events to your MyLeague. I’ve used this to generate some events that will take place over the next NBA season. I have generated the following events and will be revealing them via this “Inside Scoop” post over the course of the season.
3 combine events
1 draft event
3 free agency events
2 summer league events
3 preseason events
2 pre-trade deadline events
2 post-trade deadline events

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Coming out of the NBA combine, there were a few discoveries that agents have been trying to keep quiet, though some teams have seen fit to share the information as they believe it can help them land the player they want in this draft.

Shaddean Christopher Can’t Shoot
Christopher is an athletic power forward from Fordham who finishes well at the rim, but has some defensive deficiencies. Draft Express ranks him as the 4^th best prospect in the draft, but that may change after a miserable shooting display during the combine. He was not regarded as a sharpshooter before, but those in attendance described his mid-range and 3-point display as “quite disappointing” and “it’s like all the noise coming from his camp about working on his shot were lies.”

Zachary Hunt Needs a Knee Scope
If Hunt is going to succeed in the NBA, it’s going to be because the 6’5” SG from Colorado can shoot well. To shoot well, you need your knees to work. Hunt worked hard at the combine, but it was clear something was off, and news came out later: Hunt needed a small surgery to get some scar tissue cleaned up in his knee. He’ll be ready by the time the season starts, but we’ll see how this impacts his draft stock.

Rudy Givens May Not Get Drafted
UAB’s 23 year-old Rudy Givens helped his team overperform this season, but may not even get a chance in the NBA. Currently on the bubble of being a 2^nd round draft pick, the shoot-first point guard tore his MCL during combine workouts and needed to have surgery to repair his knee.


Reminder: take the Bulgarian Brothers end of season survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/92L6TZX

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Ernesto Parkinson is the prize of this class, though there are 2-4 other players that teams are excited about, and the Chicago Bulls have the inside track to landing the shooter from Kansas. The rest of the top 3 are also made up of what seem like perpetually cursed franchises with the Knicks and Kings.

Picks five through eight are intriguing as they are held by teams that talent and aspirations to build something big on that talent: Atlanta, Minnesota, Phoenix, and Golden State. Will any of these teams get lucky and vault into the top three? Will they stay put and get a player that can help them take the next step, or perhaps trade out for some more win now?

Here are the current lottery odds:

Reminder: take the Bulgarian Brothers end of season survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/92L6TZX

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Things went pretty much “by the book” from the 14^th pick until pick #6…where Sacramento fell to. They were one of the three teams with top odds for the 1^st pick, and fell several spots. Another bad break for a franchise that has a history of them.

That was followed by another shocker: the Chicago Bulls fell to pick 5 and are officially out of the Ernesto Parkinson sweepstakes. This was a huge kick in the pants for a franchise that was looking to capitalize on their league-worst record and turn it into something positive. There were rumors they had planned to take one of the top 2-3 players, then trade back into the top 10 by dealing Zach Lavine. Their front office will need to re-think things now.

The Hawks got the 4^th pick, the Knicks grabbed the 3^rd, and the Nets and Pistons found themselves overjoyed to be picking in the top 2.

Minnesota has to be deeply disappointed as Brooklyn retained the top pick due to protections (and now Minnesota gets the Nets’ 2021 pick, which is not going to be nearly as good with Durant returning). For Brooklyn’s part, they can grab a young guard to pair with KD and Kyrie, or even shop the pick or Kyrie to see what kind of team they can build around Durant.


Reminder: take the Bulgarian Brothers end of season survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/92L6TZX

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The 2020 NBA Draft has arrived, and we’ll get started with the first pick. In what is a surprise to nobody, the Nets started the draft by grabbing Kansas phenom Ernesto Parkinson. As a rookie, he’ll have almost no pressure as he lines up next to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

The Detroit Pistons also had an easy pick to make: Mississippi State PG Trevor Merchant was clearly the 2^nd best player in this draft and they grabbed him here. I wonder what this means for Derrick Rose, but that’s not of much importance for Detroit, who now needs to find the right players to ensure Merchant isn’t miserable in the Motor City.

The New York Knicks picked Jarek Kickert. He’s guaranteed to be a fan favorite just like David Lee, but the Knicks hope that he performs better than Lee. He was a leader and a winner in college, but is that enough to help him change the team culture in New York?

Things get interesting with the Hawks pick at 4. Do they trade out and get another player to make a playoff push with Trae Young? If they stay put, do they get a great wing player like Vytas Kowalczuk, or grab the big man in Juan King?

There were no trade offers for the 4^th pick, and the Hawks decided they wanted to solidify their frontcourt and add 7’2” Georgetown center Juan King to play alongside John Collins. He is not a modern stretch 5, but his size is intimidating and he can help the Hawks’ awful defense.

After that, we saw the Bulls take Chinese PG Yunlong Chan and the Kings reach for athletic Fordham PF Shaddean Christopher. With pick 7, the Thunder offered up Danilo Gallinari and the 21^st pick to the Suns for pick #7.

Gallo will slot right into the starting PF spot on the Suns and the Thunder look to fully rebuild after a rough season. With the 7^th pick, OKC selects UNC Greensboro’s Dana Bright. Bright is a great defender and athlete with high upside, but will take some time to develop.

Warriors had choices at this pick, including some trade options. What do they want? Another shooter? A defensive big man? In the end they went with championship pedigree and chose North Carolina PG Jarrett Pressley to learn and grow behind Steph and help run the 2^nd unit for the Warriors.

Here were picks 9 through 19, before our next trade happened at 20:
#9 – Charlotte Hornets: Dor Pettyjohn, SG, Tennessee
#10 – Washington Wizards: Freie Holt, PG, Kansas
#11 – New Orleans Pelicans: Zakee Roberson, C, Rider
#12 – Oklahoma City Thunder: Vytas Kowalczuk, SG, Tennessee
#13 – Boston Celtics: Stephen Bathie, C, Nebraska
#14 – San Antonio Spurs: Ulf Enqvist, SG, Sweden
#15 – Milwaukee Bucks: Matt Forney, PG, Michigan State
#16 – Miami Heat: Zachary Hunt, SG, Colorado
#17 – Portland Trail Blazers: Christophe Perben, PF, France
#18 – Minnesota Timberwolves: Gheorghe Paven, PF, Romania
#19 – Utah Jazz: Raitis Engle, SF, Texas Tech

The Nuggets picked up another aging PF who can shoot (alongside Millsap) to complement Jokic, while the Kings continue their youth movement by drafting SF Ervin Zamore from UAB.

Here’s the rest of the first round:
#21 – Phoenix Suns: Iker Glover, PG, Kentucky
#22 – Atlanta Hawks: Quentin Stallworth, C, California (traded 2022 OKC 1^st and 2021 SAC 2^nd to Atlanta for this spot)
#23 – Cleveland Cavaliers: Roderick Christian, SG, Marquette
#24 – Boston Celtics: Bruno Radja, PG, Croatia
#25 – Toronto Raptors: Sarunas Dabanovic, C, Lithuania
#26 – Brooklyn Nets: Clint Wheless, PF, Texas A&M
#27 – Dallas Mavericks: Kelvin Ingram, SF, Rhode Island
#28 – New York Knicks: Robby Laudato, PG, Virginia
#29 – Los Angeles Lakers: LaForest Mance, SG, Washington State
#30 – Boston Celtics: Londrick Helms, C, Wisconsin


Selected 2^nd Round Highlights
The 2^nd round started off with a trade, as Boston traded to grab Bengaly La Torre, Puerto Rican SF. They sent Washington C Vincent Poirier in return for the 31^st pick and a 2022 2^nd rounder.

The Chicago Bulls took Big Sky big man Maarty Pinkalla. Talented but raw, Pinkalla had a solid college career, not counting his final game where Oggy’s bears kept him from taking a shot.

Brooklyn caused cheers to ring out from all the Dragomirov family members as they took PF Will Frandsen from Robert Morris in the 2^nd round. He did not perform as one would expect in the NEC, but he has a solid bases to build on.

[kibaxx7]

Of course, the Spurs had to pick someone from Sweden! Tough luck for the Bulls falling down...

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Quote: Originally Posted by spiderxx7

Of course, the Spurs had to pick someone from Sweden! Tough luck for the Bulls falling down...

Yeah, terrible break for Chicago, and Brooklyn is really fortunate to add Parkinson to their team. It's like when the Spurs got Duncan when they already had a good team.


The Spurs picked 2 players from Europe that won't be able to join them for 1-2 years, but both seem quite talented and were good value, if they can wait.

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It turns out that more than draft picks were being made while the draft happened, teams were also dealing with each other. Here’s 5 moves that didn’t involve picks on draft night.

Immediately after making the pick for Parkinson, Brooklyn made a trade with the Nuggets to shake up their bench and perhaps the Nuggets starting lineup: Spencer Dinwiddieand a 2022 2^nd rounder for Will Barton. Dinwiddie may start at the 2 for the Nuggets while Barton will be a great bench option at the 1, 2, or 3.

With Merchant on board, the Pistons had no need for another starting point guard and dealt Rose to the Knicks for Julius Randle, who wouldn’t be starting with Kickert in town.

After Atlanta drafted 2 rookie centers, there was no room for Bruno Fernando, who was dealt to Milwaukee for some veteran leadership in Ilyasova.

The Thunder are having a fire sale and the Pelicans want to accelerate their chance to compete with Zion. By grabbing Adams they get at least 1 year of great leadership and the kind of self-less player that can thrive alongside Zion and Ingram. Derrick Favors is now a 6^th or 7^th man for New Orleans.

In a trade that may not have made sense for either team, San Antonio parts ways with LaMarcus Aldridge while Houston makes one more attempt to make a run with a “big 3.” The Spurs are fully in tanking mode with 1^st year head coach Jacob Underwood in charge.


Reminder: take the Bulgarian Brothers end of season survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/92L6TZX

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With the draft over, let’s quickly recap which teams look to have gotten the best value for their picks.

Brooklyn Nets - #1 Ernesto Parkinson. It may have been pick #1, but it was the right one. The Nets have 2 of the league’s best players in Durant and Irving and grabbed a player who could be the best SG in the NBA in 7 years.

Golden State Warriors - #8 Jerrett Pressley. Pressley will probably be better than the 8^th best player in this draft and is good enough to contribute right away. He’ll probably run Golden State’s second unit and bring some of that championship pedigree leadership to the team.

Oklahoma City Thunder - #12 Vytas Kowalczuk. The Tennessee Volunteers may have underperformed, but Kowalczuk is a dangerous shooter and could develop into an All-Star.

New York Knicks – #28 Robby Laudato. The All-American was disappointed to go this late, but brings poise and has little pressure on him as he’ll begin his career behind Derrick Rose.

Philadelphia 76ers - #32 Dario Gadzuric. The Latvian won’t be a superstar, but can probably develop into a starter for the 76ers at PF.

New Orleans Pelicans - #36 Napheesa Palo. The Congolese center is 7’1” and looks like he may be play better than you may expect a 19 year old to play.

Memphis Grizzlies - #39 Issa Leslie. Leslie was a star for UCLA and a top high school prospect. Some scouts saw limited upside for him, which is why he fell, but the Grizzlies may have gotten a steal here.