NBA 2K - Georgiafan's 3 year realistic rebuilds / remasters

[georgiafan]

Lottery Results & Draft Prospects

Winners
Jazz
They had three 1st round picks last year so plenty of young guys on the roster. They likely take a F of Hill/ Garnett and could spend some $ in FA to try and win now. A franchise changing luck going from 7 to 2 as they are also armed with cap space and future 1st.

Thunder
They have so many draft picks we lost count of the protections on them. To the best of our ability's, they end up with 7, 17 and 18. This is a stacked roster with lottery picks barley even able to get minutes. They are going to have to package them all together for one of the best players in the league. They even have multiple 2nds which they will have to sell as they roster is already full. Remember they have Wembanyama, Chet, SGA, Jaylen Williams, Giddy and plenty more young guys already on the roster.

Raptors
Toronto should have been better as they have a quality roster, so the future is very bright. They don't have a obvious fit after drafting a PG last year and not needing a F. They may trade Siakam for several 1st and just go with Garnett or Hill. They could choose to sell off some vets.

Losers
Wizards
Beal is still on the roster and it's probably time to trade him and officially tank. They do hold on to their pick and don't have to give it to OKC. But go from the best odds all way down to 4th. We would project them to be back in the top 5 next year.

Bulls
They tried to tank last year and just semi did it as they couldn't find a good offer for Lonzo. They had a better record than expected so get the 10th pick. Portland was bad so they don't get that pick and Orlando pick only comes in at 29. They do have some cap space after moving Lonzo, Vucevic and DeRozan.

Spurs
Not a huge loss here, but they have one of the rosters in the league. This draft has a big 5 of Hill, Garnett, Kidd, Robinson and Wallace. They will be left taking whoever is left of that group unless they trade up. They also need a C and that's likely not coming at 5.

[georgiafan]

Magic Progression

Major Moves
Name - Key Improvement

Shaq +4 = Inside Scoring A to A+
Wagner +3 = 3's A- to A
John Barry +3 = Perimeter Defense D to D+

Small Moves
Banchero +1 = Perimeter Defense C+ to B-
Cole Anthony +1 = Perimeter Defense B to B-
Bol Bol +1 = 3's B to B+
Okeke +1 = B- to B
Perez +1 = Playmaking B- to B
Boston +1 = Playmaking B- to B

No overall changes
Vanvleet (no regression)
Lavine
Jon Isaac
Caleb Houston (disappointing)
Huber Davis (disappointing)

Major League Improvements (+3 unless noted)

Maxey - Phi
Lonzo Ball - Bulls
Jalen Suggs - Bulls
Okoro - Cavs
Tatum - Celtics (+2, 96)
Robert Pack - Grizz
Larry Johnson - Heat
Davian Mitchell - Kings
Dyson Daniles - Pelicans
Hubert Davis - Pelicans
Kendall Brown - Cruisers
Cade Cunningham - Pistons (+5)
Jaden Ivey - Pistons
S. Bey - Pistons
Ausar Thompson - Pistons
Jabri Smith - Rockets
Scottie Barnes - Raptors
Jalen Green - Rockets (+5)
Scoot Henderson - Spurs
M. Branham - Spurs
Josh Giddy - OKC
Chet Holmgreen - OKC
Victor Wimbanyama - OKC
Dale Davis - GSW
Christian Laettner - Wiz
Alonzo Mourning - Outlaws

[georgiafan]

2nd Round Picks Sign 2 Ways

We mentioned this offseason would be very low on news with the top 12 all projected to be back and that was the case. From the draft pick side Orlando didn't have a 1st round pick as that was owed Chicago for the Lavine trade. Orlando did have two 2nd round picks one in the middle and one at the end.

The 1st player took was PG Charlie Ward a 6'2 PG from FSU. His strengths is defense and A- athleticism with his defense liking being what keeps him in the league for a few years. His weakness is offense and he offers close to nothing on that end. His playmaking is also low at just C+ well below the league average. That will need to improve before he is a candidate to play in the rotation. He will also be useful incase any football games break out.

The 2nd pick is a fun and interesting one even though its likely he never makes it on the regular roster. A.C Mann is the definition of a specialist and the clear cut best shooting big in the class. When you add in 7'1 size that sounds very intriguing and then things quickly go downhill. He has zero inside offense game as in the worst in the league for his position. Then he is also pitiful at inside defense, IQ and athleticism. With a loaded young roster Orlando takes a gamble on his shooting at 7'1 and if he can shoot 40ish % from 3. If he does Its possible, he could carve out a role for a few minutes in special lineups. He should be able to dunk that's about it outside of shooting 3's.

[georgiafan]

5 Interesting Eastern Teams

We haven't spent much time talking about the other teams in the NBA. So here we will talk about 5 of them that we could see come playoff time.

1. Pistons
It fills like Detroit has to be a playoff team as Cade is maybe MVP a level player. Ivey and Thompson make for a amazing young trio at G. Killen Hayes didn't develop into what was expected still is a solid backup PG. The SF is trick the veteran shooting of Bogdanovich is still here but is a expiring contract. Stackhouse this years 1st likely isn't ready to start on a playoff team. The PF/C are solid yet doesn't look like any of them will breakout. It may be time to declutter some of them as you have Bey, Duran, Stewart and Bagley.

2. Raptors
Toronto fielded offers for Siakam this summer and decided to hang on to him at least for now. They have a pretty loaded roster at top just lack some depth. The big story is drafting Kevin Garnett 1st overall and joins Siakam, Barnes, O.G and Amen Thompson for your best 5. Fultz and Trent are quality rotation G's and Precious is a odd yet valuable defense C. How they do will be interesting to start the year as they could trade some veterans and grab a bunch of future assets.

3. Outlaws
The biggest surprise was the 2nd year expansion team going all in to win. They traded a unprotected 1st and some other stuff for Kawhi and he will team with the promising 2nd year C Alonzo Mourning. They key players could be rookie PG Damian Stoudamire and young SG Christopher as both will start. They have a pretty strong veteran bench as well with Looney, Diallo, Alavardo, Niang and THT. They also have some cap space and can make another move at the deadline.

4. Celtics
Boston may not be interesting, but did win a title 2 years ago and we seem to always play them in the playoffs. One of the best rosters in the league lead by Tatum and Brown. They are loaded at G with Smart, Brogdon and Derrick White. Oubre and 3-point shooting of Hauser have been solid bench players for them. They didn't make any moves last year and it's probably time to soon likely at the 4. They have the expiring contracts of Horford and White to use and throw a future 1st round pick in. They need Robert Williams because the PF/C room is pretty thin.

5. Nets
Brooklyn sneaks on the list after making some high profile moves. They move on from Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas and bring in Bradley Beal and Christian Wood. They have good shooting at F with Bridges, Cam Johnson and Wood. The C position is average with Sharpe and Claxton. The PG position is very weak with old Lowry and a pair of late 1st round picks now. Kennard can also play PG who has shoot well over 40% from 3 lately. They have a 18 million trade exception so look for them to use that early in the year.

[georgiafan]

Nightmare Start To Season

Orlando split the first several games of the season most notable opening night to a good Atlanta team. Thats not what made it a nightmare start that happened a few weeks into the season.

Shaq and Banchero both suffered major injuries in the same game. Shaq severely sprained his ankle and will mis 8-10 weeks. Banchero broke his left leg and will miss 6-8 weeks. Easily the worst game for injuries we have ever had.

Orlando does have two quality backups in PF Jonathon Issaac and C Bol Bol and both will move into the starting lineup. Also Kevin Love was still a FA and Orlando had there MLE so was able to sign him. Love is now 36 and can still shoot and rebound hopefully he has enough leave in the tank to get by for 6 weeks. This is just a killer night and one that likely takes Orlando out for one of the top 3 seeds in the East.

[georgiafan]

Update Rotations

After the news of the devasting injuries in the same game to Banchero and Shaq the latest rotations have came out. As expected, Issaac and Bol slide into the starting lineup with 30 minutes per game

Hubert Davis started the year off as the 9th man, but wasn't producing enough. 3rd PG and 2-way player Perez was giving that spot. His per 36 stats are really good so we will give him more time to see if that's legit. The newly signed veteran Kevin Love gets 19 minutes as the backup 5.

Okeke joins the rotation while listed at PF his perimeter defense is his best skill. This will likely be a trial by fire approach and some changes will need to be made. Another option would be to start Wagner at the 4 and move Isaac to the bench as the backup 4/5.

[georgiafan]

Post Injury Scores

Outlaws blow out Magic
Kawhi 30-13-4-4

FVV 24-4-5
Bol 3-6-2 on 1/5 shooting


Hawks blow out Magic
Trae 34-10-17

Bol 20-10
Love 13 and 4 in 17 minutes


Magic beat Raptors by 6
Lavine 24
Bol 15 and 15

Garnett out with injury

Magic blow out Lakers
FVV 33-5-6
Love 13 and 7
Cole Anthony 19-5-6


Magic lose by 2 to Wizard
Wagner 28-5-4
FVV 22-5-5
Laettner 20 and 8

Lavine injured will miss a few games

[georgiafan]

Magic Struggle Without Shaq & Banchero

It's been 14 games since the major injuries and the results are pretty bad yet not disastrous. Orlando is 6-8 in those games so overall 10-10 the 8th best record in the East.

We are disappointing to see Lavine under 20 points per game and FVV just in the mid-teens. Perez the UDFA is a bright spot he is scoring 8 points per game in 17 minutes. He is shooting 53% from 3 on 1.6 per game and is an + defender. Without Shaq points in the paint has been a issue 2nd worst in the league while 3% is 2nd best at 40%.

Banchero will be back in 1-2 weeks so they are brighter days ahead.