Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

[Slyone14]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Big free agency update coming up this weekend -- been plotting this out for nearly two weeks to make it all work and I think I just about got it. I didn't make the life of the Flight that much easier, though ... things got *really* interesting in the Durant sweepstakes and he landed with a team I didn't expect (not St. Louis, I'm not horrible like that).

As always, thanks for keeping the faith, folks.

Woot, I will be looking forward to it. So curious to see how your cpu generated rookie performs. How many minute quarters do you play?

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story



Ch. 69


Free agency was less a crapshoot than the the draft; you knew what you were getting pretty much with any player in it. The stakes weren’t quite as high, but the short-term effects were usually greater. Free agency was the place to shore up your weaknesses, make a big splash, and win the offseason hype battle.

I didn’t give a flying *uck about hype. What teams that were “hyped” actually won the damned title? Cleveland with LeBron … Miami with LeBron … just about any team with LeBron. You know what teams were missing from that list? The Celtics with Melo. The Warriors with Durant. Hell, the ramshackle Mavericks — fresh off the first overall pick last summer — got further in the playoffs than either one of those teams that year.

Hype didn’t equal wins and, as I was looking at free agency, I knew we needed to steer away from the big moves. Our big move was drafting Bullard with the 2nd overall pick, anointing him our PG of the future (and the present), and continuing to build our young core. We needed to operate like the Spurs of old.

The Spurs, though, decided they needed to ignore that strategy. Day 1 of free agency saw the first mega-move; John Wall to San Antonio.

It shocked the league that Wall would choose to join a team that was clearly already Leonard’s, but Wall was desperate to win; the connection was obvious for anyone who cared to look, though, as Wall’s participation in the Olympic team tryouts had really cemented, in his mind, how hellishly good a coach Popovich was. The chance to join that couldn’t be passed up.

The Spurs re-signed Leonard to a five year deal, brought back Parker for a Tim Duncan-like cheap deal, and suddenly San Antonio was loaded again. A starting five of Wall, Barton, Leonard, Aldridge, and Papagiannis wasn’t even fair; add in a deep bench with young talent and the Spurs looked to be the favorites in our division.

That started a domino effect around the league as Wall was the first to sign, but he wouldn’t be the last. The Pelicans struck next, as the signed Kemba Walker — another player tired of being on a losing team — to replace Eric Bledsoe. They brought back Biyombo and then added Zach Randolph off the bench; NOLA hadn’t taken it lying down, they were ready.

The Mavericks were the next to strike, going after two former Texas players and getting them: they signed Chris Bosh to a cushy 2yr deal ($20M per), and then grabbed Corey Joseph, former Texas Longhorn, for a nice 3yr/$20M deal. Dallas’ signing of Bosh was huge, as he could provide the veteran leadership that young team needed, as well as space the floor.

The Thunder kept it simple, only bringing in Raul Neto as a backup PG, signing Wilson Chandler to start at SF, re-signing Evan Turner to be their SG, and letting Andre Roberson walk.

The Rockets brought back virtually their entire team from the last season, convinced that injuries had robbed them of a season and sure that their roster was good.

And us? I thought about getting involved in the derby, but locking up our money on a free agent wasn’t a good plan: Thon’s rookie deal was up next summer, as well as Noel’s deal, and we needed to pay them both big money to keep them … I wasn’t even sure Noel was going to stay, but I was going to keep Thon no matter what, which meant we needed to make smart, low-key deals. I cut AJ Hammons and Norman Claxton, two third-string benchwarmers (who had, in their defense, contributed a little to our title — Hammons, especially, was tough to let go).

I then went and brought Delly back for a cheap, modest deal, then signed Wesley Matthews and Marcin Gortat to be our main backups at the two and five respectively — huge upgrades over Claxton and Hammons and veterans who were hungry for a title … plus, their presence would allow McHale a chance to experiment with the second-unit, which struggled at times last season. I let Joe Young and Delon Wright walk, much as I hated to … fact was, there wasn’t a place on the team for them at this point. We had to keep up with the arms race that our division had become and they weren’t going to get any opportunities with us.

That was the first three days of free agency — exciting stuff, game-changing for our division and the West in general, but the big fish hadn’t been taken yet: Kevin Durant. Where the *uck was he going to go? The Warriors were doing their damndest to get him to come back, they could offer him more money than anyone, but Durant didn’t seem to care. He couldn’t go back to the Thunder — that bridge had been burned, chopped into little bits, and shot off into space never to be seen again.

The league wasn’t sure who was vying for his services; conflicting reports came out of every league source, but, more and more, it looked like Durant was going to head East and attempt to dethrone the Cavaliers/Pacers stranglehold on the conference.

Everyone’s first bet was the Knicks, but New York didn’t grab Durant; they got Jokic. New York shocked the league by passing on Durant, signing Jokic to a huge 4yr/$97M deal (along with a huge five year deal for Porzingis), then they re-signed Rondae Hollis Jefferson for a team-friendly 3yr/$33M deal, then brought in Austin Rivers to be their two-guard. In the span of a day the Knicks had clearly defined who was their team centerpiece and had grabbed the best center on the market in Jokic, a bruiser who would work wonderfully with KP.

New York went off the list and then, shockingly, Durant picked his destination, a place no one expected: the Raptors.

Toronto had snuck into the conversation and agreed to terms with Durant — they had the space because, at the same time, they shipped off Kyle Lowry.



Tossed to the Suns for Brandon Knight and a pick, Lowry got shipped to Phoenix to provide the Suns with a guard who was a huge upgrade over Knight. Toronto used that cap space to sign Durant to a max four year deal, then brought back Valanciunas. DeRozan moved back to his natural position as a two, Durant took over the three, and the Raptors had the makings of a title contender.

Why Toronto? Durant got that question a lot and his answer was simple: the team was his favorite as a child and Vince Carter, with the Raptors, was one of his childhood idols. He had a chance to live out a dream he had as a kid … and, he noted, the Raptors dribbling dinosaur uniforms were his favorites ever.

Not coincidentally, Toronto switched to an updated version of that uniform in 2019 that was a huge hit with the fans. The Raptors and Durant had come together to help one another out in a lot of ways — to help each other win, to help them dispatch LeBron, but most importantly to help rehab their images. The Raptors hadn’t been very good for two seasons and had no one to blame but themselves. Durant had signed with the Warriors and hadn’t gotten close to the title, failing repeatedly in the playoffs.

They needed one another and, low and behold, they got one another. Durant was a Raptor and it was one of the shrewdest moves of the decade, one even Pat Riley had to be jealous of.

Once Durant went off the board, the rest of free agency proceeded quickly. Kevin Love signed with the Warriors (3yrs/$90M), giving Golden State the player they nearly gave up Klay Thompson for and someone who A) loved California and B) was absolutely fine with being the third-cog on the team. The Warriors went out and brought back Andre Iguoldala, then signed George Hill away from the Lakers, and finally added Andre Roberson from the Thunder to fill out their bench.

Cleveland, with no Kevin Love, was able to finally get out of the cap hell they were buried in for years. The Cavs brought back Kyrie Irving for a max five year deal, then signed Patrick Patterson, Ryan Anderson, Joakim Noah, and CJ Miles to fill out their bench and give them the most depth they’d had in years. Anderson was likely to be the starter at the four, a diet version of Love for much cheaper money (2yrs/$12M).

With the Warriors and Cavs done, the Clippers made a small trade to free up some cap-space and get some depth.



They then went out and brought back Tobias Harrison for 3yr/$39M, and then signed Dwight Howard to a 3yr/$28M deal. The lineup of Paul, Reddick, Harris, Griffin, and Howard was among the more veteran in the league, but LA had done enough to stay in the conversation.

Howard’s former team, the Blazers, responded to Dwight’s defection with nabbing Vucevic and bring back Noah Vonleh. The Magic signed Greg Monroe to replace Vucevic (giving them another low-post dominant five) and also signed Festus Ezeli as a backup, continuing Orlando’s obsessive search for a D12 replacement that had stretched on for nearly a decade.

The Wizards — who looked like they were just going to coast into last place — made news by signing Eric Bledsoe to be their newest lead guard and they brought in Mighty Joe Young to be their backup at the one as well.

The Grizzlies made the sneaky good move of bringing back Chandler Parsons and then signing TJ Warren to play as a stretch four, a role that suited him within the Grizzlies offense. Ricky Rubio headed to Charlotte to take the starting job there, his lack of shooting apparently not a concern for the Hornets, and former Hornet, Nic Batum, headed to Atlanta to join that up and coming club.

Those were the big moves in free agency that summer — and, yeah, I’ll admit, we got our *sses handed to us in the news for how laid back we were. People were looking at the rest of our division and screaming that we had let everyone move ahead of us — especially the Spurs and Pelicans — and that we were going to get destroyed next season.

It sure felt that way, I admit that, but we did what I wanted and — more importantly — we held true to our strategy. We were going to build this the right way, hype or no hype.

But hell, the mega-moves our division rivals made were in response to us winning the title … and they were some damned good moves.

Our lives were not going to be easy next season.

[AC]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Can we see those Raptors unis?

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Can we see those Raptors unis?

Working on them; I love that dribbling dinosaur, they were the best Raptors unis ever. I've seen some really good ones for download, but I wanted to take a crack at it myself first -- if it doesn't turn out good, I'll just use one someone else made.

But, Durant in Toronto! Get excited, the Raptors have a real chance this year if they can get by the Cavs, Pacers, Celtics, and Knicks (who, with Jokic and KP, are going to be very tough I think).

[Stout]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Former Sonic and best-mohawk-in-the-league Marcin Gortat is back in the house!!

I will admit to being a bit surprised that the Knicks pursued Jokic if only because it's looking like KP's future at the five, but eh. I guess not having to deal with the Melo rumors anymore clears that issue up...

And KD on the Raptors...I'd call it dangerous enough to run away with the East, but Cleveland is still probably my bet on paper. LeBron's hungry for one last ring..

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

UPDATE:

Must apologize for the lack of updates -- been having car issues the past few weeks and I've been spending my weekends fixing that, so it's left almost no time for anything fun. Thankfully, it's FINALLY back in ship-shape and I'll have time to get back into this.

It appears in my absence, however, that 2K has unleashed multiple patches that don't appear to be doing the game any favors, so I'll be taking a look at my sliders and seeing where that stands.

As for the Raptors, I haven't come up with a good uniform of my own so I'm going to choose one off the servers -- the dribbling dinosaur will soon return.

Thanks for keeping the faith, folks.

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

RAPTORS ANNOUNCE NEW UNIFORMS:



After Toronto's surprise signing of Kevin Durant (and trading of Kyle Lowry), the Raptors announced a new uniform to coincide with the new look of the team. Returning to their roots as a mid-90s squad, the Raptors have brought back the infamous (and loved) dribbling dinosaur.

Response to the uniforms has been overwhelmingly positive as NBA.com reports that the official merchandise has already reached 50,000 preorders since the site made them available earlier this morning.

[Tekkonkinkreet]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Those jerseys, man I want one

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

UPDATE

Folks, once again must apologize for the long absence. I haven't had any time to do anything with this or any other project of mine in recent weeks -- we're really swamped at work (in a good way, lots of new business but SO MUCH) and my life is in a semi-complicated, confusing state otherwise (also, in a good way -- I think).

Between those two things, I haven't had much free time to focus on anything else. I'm afraid I'll have to put this on hold until I reach a point that I can catch up on things.

Thanks for keeping the faith.

[ThreeBallisLife]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Still trying to catch up on this one. I just finished your Sonics dynasty. Great Job. I am doing my first attempt at a dynasty, but it will be a similar style to yours, I was even going to throw in some storytelling like you, but mine will be more basketball oriented while yours has more storytelling than mine will.

I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't mind me using your style of writing in my dynasty.

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Still trying to catch up on this one. I just finished your Sonics dynasty. Great Job. I am doing my first attempt at a dynasty, but it will be a similar style to yours, I was even going to throw in some storytelling like you, but mine will be more basketball oriented while yours has more storytelling than mine will.

I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't mind me using your style of writing in my dynasty.

Not at all. Everyone has their own style, so as long as you're not blatantly copying/pasting my stuff, it's all good.

[ThreeBallisLife]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Yeah I got you. I wasn't even going to use the same style of story. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me doing that.

In terms of the rules in 2k17 do you allow all changes or do you veto some that were approved like removing goaltending?


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Yeah I got you. I wasn't even going to use the same style of story. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me doing that.

In terms of the rules in 2k17 do you allow all changes or do you veto some that were approved like removing goaltending?


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

I pretty much vetoed anything I didn't like. The only rule change I've actually approved is the removal of backcourt violations, but that was because I kept getting stuck back there because of the AI riding me so hard -- more a gameplay issue than an actual rule change I wanted.

With it gone, it allows me to ignore the AI ride animations and play more regular-like. The AI doesn't take that much advantage of it either, and neither do I, so it all works out.

[trekfan]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

KNIGHTS UNVEIL NEW UNIFORMS:

The much-maligned Kansas City Knights, the other expansion team added in the 2016 offseason, have unveiled their newest uniforms, representing a complete overhaul of their logo and colors.



The Knights have gone away from their previous colors and instead have focused on red, black, and gray -- colors that are accentuated within their new logo and uniform scheme.







Fan response has been good to the new duds, with Knights star Markelle Fultz calling the uniforms "much-improved" and posting on social media how much he looks forward to winning a title in them.

Word out of the league office indicated that the Knights uniforms went through a rigorous review process before being approved, the main issue the league had was a lack of a front number on the Knights home uniforms. After much pushing back and forth between the organization and the league, a shorts number was introduced as a compromise.

The Knights brought their announcement forward a few days to beat out the Orlando Magic, who will be announcing a new logo and uniform set in the coming days for their 30th anniversary season.

Kansas City will debut the new uniforms against the rival Flight, opening night in St. Louis, on October 31st, 2019, where the Flight will be presented their championship banner and rings.

[satam619]

Re: Through The Storm: A St. Louis Story

Guess who's back, back again, trekfans back, tell a friend. Good to have you back sick jerseys aswell