Re: How’s your franchise going? NBA 2K24 thread
As someone who only really starting paying attention to the NBA in the mid 2000's it's easy to forget how much expansion happened. Feels like the teams that exist have always been here. Expansion must have been pretty exciting/entertaining when it was going on (though I guess we may get a Vegas and/or Seattle return in the next few years).
Bulls/Blazers 2073-74
When we last saw them the Blazers were in the process of dynamiting a successful team whose window had probably closed. They tank the year away and end with the 5th worst record at 30-52.
The Bulls had to shed talent for salary reasons but still have high hopes after reaching the ECF in 2073 and taking the Nets superteam to 6 games with a young roster. However the bracket is not kind to them. The East has a 'Big 4': Nets, Heat, Knicks, Bulls, and the Bulls end up having to play Miami in round1 and then the Knicks in round 2.
Miami suffers from injury issues and a disappointingly poor fit for newly arrived star Brad Willis who they'd grabbed from Portland's fire sale. After 5 games the Bulls advance to face the Knicks.
The Bulls had beaten the Knicks in 2073, and Yao Zheng is again a year older, but the young New York supporting cast has blossomed and the Knicks are humming. Yao may not be dropping 50/25 games anymore but he's still a top5 player. He goes to yet another ECF as Chicago falls 1-4, ending their season with an alarmingly low effort game 5 that seems to indicate a lack of intensity and mental toughness. Something needs to change in Chicago.
The Knicks go on to lose to the Nets in a hard fought 6 games. A strong Golden State team comes out of the West, led by superstar PF/C Denilson Viana, but Brooklyn is still heavily favored. That is until 2 of their stars go down with injuries early in the series! Golden State shows up at the right place at the right time to score a rare trophy for the Western Conference. It leaves Blazers fans wondering, if we'd just kept the band together one more year, could that have been us?
Some consolation was soon to arrive though. The Blazers win the draft lottery! From 5th to 1st! They take exciting swingman Steve Solomon Jr., a big athletic forward who they hope will turn into an all-around superstar. In free agency they wait for deals and pick up talented young C Walt Cook on a bargain contract.
Meanwhile in Chicago, coach Kalani Eriksson retires after a long 39 years on the bench, spread across several franchises. They had coached the Bulls the last 4 years and while considered a solid coach and a consummate pro, they didn't have that something extra to make them championship level. The Bulls hire Abe Byars, who plans to install a fast pace 7 seconds or less style.
2073-74
Chicago needed a change, and after a troubled 2-6 start they get it with a blockbuster trade. Allstar SF Billy Murphy and promising 4th year PG Greg Ford are going to the Timberwolves along with a 2074 first. In exchange they get back veteran PF Malik Rose and budding star 4th year SG James Johnston. From an overall value level the Bulls arguably lose, as Murphy is the best player in the exchange, but the team fit is much better, as Ford was wasted on the Bulls bench behind all-NBA PG Byrd, and Murphy was playing out of position at SG.
Whether it be fit, or simply a change of scenery, the trade ends up as a big win-win for both teams. The Bulls explode to a 67 win season and coach of the year honors for Abe Byars! In his 6th year SF Hayward makes a huge leap, averaging a near triple double of 20/9/10, while Byrd continues his all-nba level play.
In the playoffs they breeze their way to the ECF where who else would await them but the Nets. Tragically for Brooklyn, the injury gods are not on their side for a 2nd year in a row, with their MVP big man Eric Wingate going down with a collapsed lung in game 1. This doesn't mean an easy out though, as he's only 1 of the Nets 4 stars, and after 4 games the series is tied 2-2. Wingate's absence is felt on the boards and interior scoring though and the Bulls scrap their way to a 4-2 series victory, Byrd leading the way with 49 points in game 6.
In the West GSW defeated Billy Murphy's TWolves in the WCF and advance to the finals for the 2nd year in a row. But this time their eastern opponent is not injured and the Bulls easily take the series, ending a 10 year drought of finals appearances and championships! (this is a long time for a user team in 2k!) Nets fans complain that if not for injuries it would be them holding the trophy as well as a 4-peat, but that's part of the game, better luck next year.
The Blazers improve slightly to 34-48 (to my annoyance) and somehow get a playin spot but lose in a tight game to the Clippers, who should have been a high seed playoff team but former Blazer star RJ Curry is injured for the season. In the lottery they move from 9th to 2nd! Another lucky break, and they draft PF/C Pisike Szomory, a back to the basket big (an archetype which I think is kinda bad in live sim, but no other prospects really looked that good).
As someone who only really starting paying attention to the NBA in the mid 2000's it's easy to forget how much expansion happened. Feels like the teams that exist have always been here. Expansion must have been pretty exciting/entertaining when it was going on (though I guess we may get a Vegas and/or Seattle return in the next few years).
Bulls/Blazers 2073-74
When we last saw them the Blazers were in the process of dynamiting a successful team whose window had probably closed. They tank the year away and end with the 5th worst record at 30-52.
The Bulls had to shed talent for salary reasons but still have high hopes after reaching the ECF in 2073 and taking the Nets superteam to 6 games with a young roster. However the bracket is not kind to them. The East has a 'Big 4': Nets, Heat, Knicks, Bulls, and the Bulls end up having to play Miami in round1 and then the Knicks in round 2.
Miami suffers from injury issues and a disappointingly poor fit for newly arrived star Brad Willis who they'd grabbed from Portland's fire sale. After 5 games the Bulls advance to face the Knicks.
The Bulls had beaten the Knicks in 2073, and Yao Zheng is again a year older, but the young New York supporting cast has blossomed and the Knicks are humming. Yao may not be dropping 50/25 games anymore but he's still a top5 player. He goes to yet another ECF as Chicago falls 1-4, ending their season with an alarmingly low effort game 5 that seems to indicate a lack of intensity and mental toughness. Something needs to change in Chicago.
The Knicks go on to lose to the Nets in a hard fought 6 games. A strong Golden State team comes out of the West, led by superstar PF/C Denilson Viana, but Brooklyn is still heavily favored. That is until 2 of their stars go down with injuries early in the series! Golden State shows up at the right place at the right time to score a rare trophy for the Western Conference. It leaves Blazers fans wondering, if we'd just kept the band together one more year, could that have been us?
Some consolation was soon to arrive though. The Blazers win the draft lottery! From 5th to 1st! They take exciting swingman Steve Solomon Jr., a big athletic forward who they hope will turn into an all-around superstar. In free agency they wait for deals and pick up talented young C Walt Cook on a bargain contract.
Meanwhile in Chicago, coach Kalani Eriksson retires after a long 39 years on the bench, spread across several franchises. They had coached the Bulls the last 4 years and while considered a solid coach and a consummate pro, they didn't have that something extra to make them championship level. The Bulls hire Abe Byars, who plans to install a fast pace 7 seconds or less style.
2073-74
Chicago needed a change, and after a troubled 2-6 start they get it with a blockbuster trade. Allstar SF Billy Murphy and promising 4th year PG Greg Ford are going to the Timberwolves along with a 2074 first. In exchange they get back veteran PF Malik Rose and budding star 4th year SG James Johnston. From an overall value level the Bulls arguably lose, as Murphy is the best player in the exchange, but the team fit is much better, as Ford was wasted on the Bulls bench behind all-NBA PG Byrd, and Murphy was playing out of position at SG.
Whether it be fit, or simply a change of scenery, the trade ends up as a big win-win for both teams. The Bulls explode to a 67 win season and coach of the year honors for Abe Byars! In his 6th year SF Hayward makes a huge leap, averaging a near triple double of 20/9/10, while Byrd continues his all-nba level play.
In the playoffs they breeze their way to the ECF where who else would await them but the Nets. Tragically for Brooklyn, the injury gods are not on their side for a 2nd year in a row, with their MVP big man Eric Wingate going down with a collapsed lung in game 1. This doesn't mean an easy out though, as he's only 1 of the Nets 4 stars, and after 4 games the series is tied 2-2. Wingate's absence is felt on the boards and interior scoring though and the Bulls scrap their way to a 4-2 series victory, Byrd leading the way with 49 points in game 6.
In the West GSW defeated Billy Murphy's TWolves in the WCF and advance to the finals for the 2nd year in a row. But this time their eastern opponent is not injured and the Bulls easily take the series, ending a 10 year drought of finals appearances and championships! (this is a long time for a user team in 2k!) Nets fans complain that if not for injuries it would be them holding the trophy as well as a 4-peat, but that's part of the game, better luck next year.
The Blazers improve slightly to 34-48 (to my annoyance) and somehow get a playin spot but lose in a tight game to the Clippers, who should have been a high seed playoff team but former Blazer star RJ Curry is injured for the season. In the lottery they move from 9th to 2nd! Another lucky break, and they draft PF/C Pisike Szomory, a back to the basket big (an archetype which I think is kinda bad in live sim, but no other prospects really looked that good).
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