2013 Trifecta Project XBOX 360(Roster, Draft Classes, Sliders)

[vtcrb]

I would like to thank Exogenesis for his Generous Donation. I dont do this for the Money, but it is like a 2nd(technically 3rd) job. LOL.

[mrallan]

Knicks Off-Season

Note: As Eaglerock noted in his guide, some contracts have to be manipulated to be a bit more realistic. Some guys asks for unrealistic amounts of money. So what I did was lowered some attributes and then signed them to proper contracts and then raised their attributes again. I didn't abuse this however, as you won't see Nick Young or someone like that signing for a minimum contract. I reserved minimum contracts for guys that were one of two things, unproven and/or reaching an age where money wouldn't be the main concern (i.e. Ring Chasers). I also made sure that this was the case for all 30 teams, I didn't give my Knicks a benefit that everyone else didn't receive.

Tax was 72.77
Team Salary: 70.47 (retired Kidd, waived James White's unguaranteed contract)
so I was able to get the full MLE available

First thing was the draft, the Knicks only had one pick but I would move Marcus Camby for a mid-second round pick
1st Pick: Mike Muscala (I am extremely high on this kid and I reached for him in the late first round, with Camby gone I needed a backup big. With some of my other plans in the off-season, I figured I needed youth in my front court)
2nd Pick: Myck Kabango (He was probably my second or third choice at PG. I originally was going to draft Shane Larkin but I sent him to the Pacers 1 pick before the Knicks as DJ Augustin's replacement.)

That left me with a depth chart of:
Raymond Felton-Myck Kabango
Iman Shumpert-
Carmelo Anthony-Steve Novak
Amar'e Stoudemire-
Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala

I am happy having Mike Muscala as my backup because he provides an offensive threat in the post. But I still need to upgrade my backup positions at the other four positions. I fully expect Amar'e Stoudemire to be injured at some point and I don't want to have to slide Melo over to the 4.

Elton Brand signed for a portion of the MLE. Elton Brand can step in if Stoudemire or Chandler get injured. He may not be ideal but he is a pretty decent to good defender and a capable rebounder.

Pablo Prigioni & Chris Copeland signed for a portion of the MLE. I wasn't planning on bring Pablo back but with Jason Kidd's retirement I needed a backup PG and a lot of the PG's were out of my range, money-wise. Chris Copeland is probably better suited as a 4 but I resigned him as my backup 3. My original target was going to be Dorell Wright but he accepted an offer from the Hornets to challenge and eventually backup Otto Porter, for more money.

Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango
Iman Shumpert-
Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak
Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand-
Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala

Obviously at this point my SG position was the weakest in terms of depth. I feel like at the PG position, I am going to have Pablo play about 18-20 minutes if that and then have Felton play the remainder. I'll groom Kabango throughout the year as my future backup PG. I doubt his potential will allow for him to ever become my starter but he is a strong defender who I think in a few years will be pretty good.

At SF expect me to either trade Steve Novak or bury him on the bench. Copeland is not as good of a shooter but he is a more well rounded player that can actually put the ball on the floor. I am going to bring in a veteran defense first SF to be the 3rd SF. At PF, I am looking for someone young who could potentially step in for spot minutes if either of the vets in front of him goes down. At C, I am going to look to grab a veteran big man who can rebound, who can be had for the veterans minimum. I am looking at options like Joel Pryzbilla, Desagana Diop, Shelden Williams. I'm not going to make a big impact but I like what I get for the veterans minimum as a 3rd string center.

Joel Pryzbilla signed for the veterans minimum
Malcolm Thomas signed for the minimum.

Like I said, I targeted Joel Pryzbilla and was happy to have him as the 5th/6th big. Malcolm Thomas is a young player that I had my eye on for awhile. He only put up 2-2 for the Bulls last season but I see potential in the guy. This left me with:

Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango
Iman Shumpert-
Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak
Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand-Malcolm Thomas
Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala-Joel Pryzbilla

My last slot to fill was the shooting guard position and the free agent I went after was an obvious one, JR Smith. He didn't win sixth man of the year for me but he had an impressive year, and I believe that he will have a better one this year. The game doesn't take into account Early Bird Rights, so I had to go through every team and look at what teams had what Free Agent's EBR. Then it once again became about manipulating the salaries because a player who has early bird rights can be signed regardless of your cap situation.

Signed JR Smith for 4 years, starting at 5.5 Million

I then had one roster spot open and I realized that I had two young shooting guards, so it only made sense to grab a veteran for cheap. Someone who will probably retire next season but could potentially contribute this year.

Signed Raja Bell for the veteran's minimum.

My final team depth chart ended up as:

Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango
Iman Shumpert-JR Smith-Raja Bell
Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak
Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand-Malcolm Thomas
Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala-Joel Pryzbilla

I definitely feel that I could have done better but with the limited resources the Knicks had, I did the best I could. There will be some changes in Woody's coaching profile. He is noted as a defense first coach so that will be stressed throughout the season. I plan to play at the pace, I played at in the playoffs with a lot less 3 pointers. I will probably go 10 deep for the regular season and then drop to a core 8 in the playoffs, starting 5 + Prigioni, Smith and one of Brand/Copeland with Muscala getting spot minutes.

I've played two pre-season games and split them. I am limiting most players minutes in the pre-season as to give the end of the bench guys an evaluation. I played Al Jefferson & the Hawks first (Josh Smith went to the Rockets and Al Horford didn't play this game) and was defeated after Kyle Korver dropped 30 on me. He's in a battle to determine who the starting wings will be and pulled ahead with this performance. I was impressed by the limited minutes Muscala gave me in this game. In game two, we played the Lakers who are still determining what they'll do with Gasol now that Dwight Howard resigned. Gasol didn't help his case for staying by fouling out as the Knicks won this game in overtime. Myck Kabango missed every shot he put up but Muscala once again impressed by putting up 8-4 in 11 minutes.

[MavsManiac4Life]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrallan

*coach profile*

This is great for future generic coaches and the few classic rosters that don't have profile edits. I will definitely use these.

[vtcrb]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrallan

Knicks Off-Season Note: As Eaglerock noted in his guide, some contracts have to be manipulated to be a bit more realistic. Some guys asks for unrealistic amounts of money. So what I did was lowered some attributes and then signed them to proper contracts and then raised their attributes again. I didn't abuse this however, as you won't see Nick Young or someone like that signing for a minimum contract. I reserved minimum contracts for guys that were one of two things, unproven and/or reaching an age where money wouldn't be the main concern (i.e. Ring Chasers). I also made sure that this was the case for all 30 teams, I didn't give my Knicks a benefit that everyone else didn't receive. Tax was 72.77 Team Salary: 70.47 (retired Kidd, waived James White's unguaranteed contract) so I was able to get the full MLE available First thing was the draft, the Knicks only had one pick but I would move Marcus Camby for a mid-second round pick 1st Pick: Mike Muscala (I am extremely high on this kid and I reached for him in the late first round, with Camby gone I needed a backup big. With some of my other plans in the off-season, I figured I needed youth in my front court) 2nd Pick: Myck Kabango (He was probably my second or third choice at PG. I originally was going to draft Shane Larkin but I sent him to the Pacers 1 pick before the Knicks as DJ Augustin's replacement.) That left me with a depth chart of: Raymond Felton-Myck Kabango Iman Shumpert- Carmelo Anthony-Steve Novak Amar'e Stoudemire- Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala I am happy having Mike Muscala as my backup because he provides an offensive threat in the post. But I still need to upgrade my backup positions at the other four positions. I fully expect Amar'e Stoudemire to be injured at some point and I don't want to have to slide Melo over to the 4. Elton Brand signed for a portion of the MLE. Elton Brand can step in if Stoudemire or Chandler get injured. He may not be ideal but he is a pretty decent to good defender and a capable rebounder. Pablo Prigioni & Chris Copeland signed for a portion of the MLE. I wasn't planning on bring Pablo back but with Jason Kidd's retirement I needed a backup PG and a lot of the PG's were out of my range, money-wise. Chris Copeland is probably better suited as a 4 but I resigned him as my backup 3. My original target was going to be Dorell Wright but he accepted an offer from the Hornets to challenge and eventually backup Otto Porter, for more money. Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango Iman Shumpert- Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand- Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala Obviously at this point my SG position was the weakest in terms of depth. I feel like at the PG position, I am going to have Pablo play about 18-20 minutes if that and then have Felton play the remainder. I'll groom Kabango throughout the year as my future backup PG. I doubt his potential will allow for him to ever become my starter but he is a strong defender who I think in a few years will be pretty good. At SF expect me to either trade Steve Novak or bury him on the bench. Copeland is not as good of a shooter but he is a more well rounded player that can actually put the ball on the floor. I am going to bring in a veteran defense first SF to be the 3rd SF. At PF, I am looking for someone young who could potentially step in for spot minutes if either of the vets in front of him goes down. At C, I am going to look to grab a veteran big man who can rebound, who can be had for the veterans minimum. I am looking at options like Joel Pryzbilla, Desagana Diop, Shelden Williams. I'm not going to make a big impact but I like what I get for the veterans minimum as a 3rd string center. Joel Pryzbilla signed for the veterans minimum Malcolm Thomas signed for the minimum. Like I said, I targeted Joel Pryzbilla and was happy to have him as the 5th/6th big. Malcolm Thomas is a young player that I had my eye on for awhile. He only put up 2-2 for the Bulls last season but I see potential in the guy. This left me with: Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango Iman Shumpert- Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand-Malcolm Thomas Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala-Joel Pryzbilla My last slot to fill was the shooting guard position and the free agent I went after was an obvious one, JR Smith. He didn't win sixth man of the year for me but he had an impressive year, and I believe that he will have a better one this year. The game doesn't take into account Early Bird Rights, so I had to go through every team and look at what teams had what Free Agent's EBR. Then it once again became about manipulating the salaries because a player who has early bird rights can be signed regardless of your cap situation. Signed JR Smith for 4 years, starting at 5.5 Million I then had one roster spot open and I realized that I had two young shooting guards, so it only made sense to grab a veteran for cheap. Someone who will probably retire next season but could potentially contribute this year. Signed Raja Bell for the veteran's minimum. My final team depth chart ended up as: Raymond Felton-Pablo Prigioni-Myck Kabango Iman Shumpert-JR Smith-Raja Bell Carmelo Anthony-Chris Copeland-Steve Novak Amar'e Stoudemire-Elton Brand-Malcolm Thomas Tyson Chandler-Mike Muscala-Joel Pryzbilla I definitely feel that I could have done better but with the limited resources the Knicks had, I did the best I could. There will be some changes in Woody's coaching profile. He is noted as a defense first coach so that will be stressed throughout the season. I plan to play at the pace, I played at in the playoffs with a lot less 3 pointers. I will probably go 10 deep for the regular season and then drop to a core 8 in the playoffs, starting 5 + Prigioni, Smith and one of Brand/Copeland with Muscala getting spot minutes. I've played two pre-season games and split them. I am limiting most players minutes in the pre-season as to give the end of the bench guys an evaluation. I played Al Jefferson & the Hawks first (Josh Smith went to the Rockets and Al Horford didn't play this game) and was defeated after Kyle Korver dropped 30 on me. He's in a battle to determine who the starting wings will be and pulled ahead with this performance. I was impressed by the limited minutes Muscala gave me in this game. In game two, we played the Lakers who are still determining what they'll do with Gasol now that Dwight Howard resigned. Gasol didn't help his case for staying by fouling out as the Knicks won this game in overtime. Myck Kabango missed every shot he put up but Muscala once again impressed by putting up 8-4 in 11 minutes.

Awesome recap. Is there anyway you could post the Draft Results. Interested to see who went where. If you dont have time i understand.

[mrallan]

Quote: Originally Posted by vtcrb

Awesome recap. Is there anyway you could post the Draft Results. Interested to see who went where. If you dont have time i understand.

I'll post that soon. I already have it typed up out but I want to clean it up a bit.

[Eaglerock562]

Hands down one of the most contested and hard fought games played yet. This is how NBA 2K games should be played.

Opening night matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, no Dirk Nowitzki (out for 2 months, knee surgery) so it's the star-studded starting five of the Lakers vs. the revamped lineup of the Dallas Mavericks. First half Lakers opened up a double digit lead early in the second quarter and got some distance between them and the Mavericks. Dwight and Kobe were locked in and focused, however Gasol looked like he was spaced out, getting in early foul trouble. The Mavericks cut two points off the Lakers largest lead of the half, eleven points heading into halftime, the Lakers held a 49-40 lead. Kobe had 15 points in the first half.

Second half however was a much different story. Third quarter saw the Mavericks engage in an offensive attack that the Lakers seemed unable to stop no matter what they did, the Mavericks found the open man on the perimeter for the jump shot or dribble penetration to the basket for a layup or free throws. The Lakers saw a 49-40 halftime lead turn into a 77-65 deficit as the Mavericks routed the Lakers, outscoring them 37-16 (the third quarter, I turned on Coach Mode as I was trying to get other things done).

I switched Coach Mode off for the fourth quarter seeing how I was down by twelve at the start of the quarter, but I had been down by as many as 17 points in the third, 77-60. To start the fourth quarter I had no choice but to be aggressive and try to get dribble penetration from Kobe or have Howard or Gasol post up and then run weak side screens on the defense and hopefully get a guy curling and hit him for a layup, but something close to the basket. Being down by twelve, I told myself that we got to cut this lead in half, down to six points by at the midway point of the quarter in order to give myself a chance at one final run. I was able to hit Howard for a couple of layups and he knocked down two out of four free throws on the offensive end and was able to come up with a timely block on the defensive end. Bryant was able to turn the corner on his defender and drive baseline to the basket, getting a few layups and a few and ones. Despite Gasol fouling out with four minutes left to go, the defensive intensity was starting to become contagious throughout the players on the floor and those shots that Dallas was able to get so easily in the third were now being contested and dribble penetration was being cut off by the weak side help and then the second opportunties were non existent as Howard and the other players boxed out their man and retrieved the ball and made sure they outlet it to Nash who passed it up to Kobe or Metta and it was either (1) quick score in transition or (2) set up a quick hitter or a give and go and look for the man on the weak side if his defender sinks in to stop the dribble penetration. The Lakers had cut the Mavericks twelve point lead to start the fourth quarter down to five, 97-92 with just a little over three minutes go. After a Dallas miss, Kobe got the ball in transition and after a sweet crossover, he pulled up and hit a 17 footer right in O.J. Mayo's face and was fouled on the play (hitting the free throw, drawing the Lakers to within two points). After an O.J. Mayo missed jumper and a rebound by World Peace, the Lakers got the ball down low to Howard who beat the double team with a spin move to the baseline and was fouled, scoring on the reverse layup and hitting the free throw giving the Lakers the lead 98-97 with 1:15 left in the game. Following a Mavs timeout, O.J. Mayo took a three point attempt with 57 seconds left (it was a pretty good look), but was short and Steve Nash came up with the rebound and the Mavs committed the intentional foul sending Nash to the free throw line for the first time in the game. Following a pair of made free throws by Nash, the Lakers had a 100-97 lead. On the next possession Shawn Marion had a clear path to the basket (when I overplayed the picked and roll) and he scored on a layup cutting the Lakers lead to one point, 100-99. They intentionally fouled Kobe Bryant, who went to the line and knocked down both free throws, putting the lead back up to three points, 102-99. Again the Mavs were able to get dribble penetration, this time on Nash from Collison and a layup to stay within striking distance, 102-101 with 13 seconds left. They intentionally fouled Nash again who went to the line and knocked down both free throws, giving the Lakers a 104-101 lead. The Mavs got the last shot of the game, but O.J. Mayo's potential game tying three pointer hit the front right side of the rim and came off, but with still time on the clock 1.4 seconds left, Chris Kaman came off the weakside to grab the rebound and put the ball back up and in at the buzzer, but it didn't matter as the Lakers held on and rebounded from a terrible third quarter to win their opener by the final score of 104-103. They outscored the Mavericks 39-26 in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard, the player of the game, finished with a game high 31 points, 10 rebounds and 3 block shots and Kobe Bryant added 28 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists including a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line. Steve Nash added 14 points and 9 assists. The new backcourt of the Dallas Mavericks led them in scoring with Darren Collison finishing with 19 points and 6 assists, hitting 9-10 from the free throw line and O.J. Mayo had 19 points and 9 assists, but was a disasterous 4-22 from the field, including 1-8 from the three point line, but was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

[b]Despite the obvious third quarter played by the A.I., to be able to comeback after that meltdown was pretty exciting.

The last three minutes of the game had the feel of an NBA game being played by two competitive teams.

Despite the obvious difference in the free throw shooting, I was able to knock down all six free throws in the final minute of the game and with Howard making his final attempt, finished the game hitting seven straight.

Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
Oct 30, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Dallas Mavericks 18 22 37 26 103 Los Angeles Lakers 24 25 16 39 104 Top Performers Dallas Mavericks O.J. Mayo - 19 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl Darren Collison - 19 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl Los Angeles Lakers Dwight Howard - 31 pts, 10 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk Kobe Bryant - 28 pts, 6 reb, 10 ast, 1 stl	Team Stats Comparison   DAL LAL FG Made-Att 33-95 40-87 3PT Made-Att 2-16 4-12 FT Made-Att 35-37 20-24 Rebounds 59 49 Assists 23 31 Turnovers 12 18 Steals 17 5 Blocks 4 8

 

Dallas Mavericks (0-1)
		FIELD GOALS			REBOUNDS
	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Darren Collison	39	5-12	0-0	9-10	2	2	4	6	2	0	2	19
O.J. Mayo	39	4-22	1-8	10-10	1	4	5	9	2	0	3	19
Shawn Marion	27	6-11	0-1	6-6	0	10	10	0	1	0	2	18
Elton Brand	30	3-4	0-0	0-0	3	10	13	1	3	2	0	6
Chris Kaman	31	5-14	0-0	5-5	5	9	14	1	3	0	1	15
Vince Carter	25	4-14	1-6	2-2	0	1	1	1	2	1	2	11
Jae Crowder	13	1-8	0-0	3-4	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	5
Brandan Wright	12	1-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	2	1	0	2
Rodrigue Beaubois	10	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	2
Dahntay Jones	8	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
Bernard James	7	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	2
Eddy Curry	5	2-2	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	4
Totals	240	33-95	2-16	35-37	16	43	59	23	17	4	12	103
		34%	12%	94%
Los Angeles Lakers (1-0)
		FIELD GOALS			REBOUNDS
	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Steve Nash	40	5-11	0-3	4-4	0	5	5	9	1	0	4	14
Kobe Bryant	41	8-19	1-2	11-11	2	4	6	10	1	0	4	28
Metta World Peace	31	4-9	1-2	0-0	2	6	8	3	1	1	1	9
Pau Gasol	31	2-11	0-0	0-0	0	9	9	3	0	2	0	4
Dwight Howard	38	13-18	0-0	5-9	1	9	10	1	0	3	6	31
Antawn Jamison	23	3-7	1-3	0-0	0	6	6	1	0	1	1	7
Jodie Meeks	11	2-5	1-1	0-0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	5
Earl Clark	10	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	2
Steve Blake	9	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	2	1	1	2	0
Jordan Hill	9	2-4	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	4
Devin Ebanks	DNP - COACHES DECISION
Chris Duhon	DNP - COACHES DECISION
Totals	240	40-87	4-12	20-24	5	44	49	31	5	8	18	104
		45%	33%	83%

[mrallan]

That looks real good Eaglerock, love when games have that real NBA feel.

Here's the Lottery from my draft. The other 46 picks won't be detailed but I wanted to give a few draft notes behind each lottery pick

Lottery Odds
Charlotte Bobcats 25%
Orlando Magic 19.9%
Washington Wizards 15.6%
Minnesota Timberwolves 11.9
Phoenix Suns 8.8%
New Orleans Hornets 6.3%
Detroit Pistons 4.3%
Cleveland Cavaliers 2.8%
Sacramento Kings 1.7%
Dallas Mavericks 1.1%
Portland Trail Blazers 0.8%
Toronto Raptors 0.7%
Philadelphia 76ers 0.6%
Golden State Warriors 0.5%

2013 Draft Order
Wizards: Nerlens Noel
Lottery Notes: The Wizards already have two starting quality bigs and could potentially make the playoffs. The obvious pick would have been Porter, rumor has it that one of their two bigs could be on the move for an extra 1st round draft pick. They are also convinced that Webster (who they plan to resign)-Ariza can handle the SF duties for the year.

Hornets: Otto Porter
Lottery Notes: This was the obvious pick after the Hornets jumped 4 spots during the Draft Lottery. The only other prospect that was considered at this pick was Trey Burke but they decided to pursue a veteran free agent point guard, so it only made sense to lock up your future small forward in the draft.

Timberwolves: Ben McLemore
Lottery Notes: For all intents and purposes, the Timberwolves are a playoff team next year that were hurt by injuries. Neither of their stars (Rubio or Love) made it to 60 games, and love didn’t even make half of that. This pick would only serve to strengthen their core as they had starting caliber players at every other position. The decision came down to defense (Oladipo) vs. offense (McLemore) and the team felt that they already had an elite guard defender in Rubio so they needed to address scoring from the backcourt.

Bobcats: Anthony Bennett
Lottery Notes: The Bobcats (much like in real life) had the worse luck of the lottery by dropping completely out of the top 3 picks. They eyed Nerlens Noel the entire year as they only won 18 games and felt they could land a franchise cornerstone. With Byron Mullens impending free agency and hopes for a large contract they felt that they needed to replace him and so they looked to the UNLV forward, Anthony Bennett.

Magic: Trey Burke
Lottery Notes: The Magic get their guy. The Magic were rumored to pick Trey Burke even if they stood pat at #2 but when they dropped down they were sure he’d be off the boards. However 3 out of the 4 teams that drafted ahead of them felt they already had the future PG, and the Hornets felt it was more important to fill a different need. Burke will probably come off the bench his first year, but a future core off Burke/Harkless/Harris/Vucevic + a potential star PF next year is definitely magical.

Suns: Victor Oladipo
Lottery Notes: For as long as some people can remember the Suns were known for their offensive prowess. However the Suns are looking towards a culture change and drafting the best defensive SG available. There has been talks that one of Marcin Gortat or Luis Scola could be on the move for a late lottery pick as the team looks to add a big that impressed them during workouts.

Pistons: Shabazz Muhammad
Lottery Notes: There was a lot of talk about the Pistons drafting big PG Michael Carter Williams to pair with Brandon Knight. However it seems the potential of Muhammad and positional need was too much to pass up on. There has also been talks that Brandon Knight will at some point move to the bench and be replaced by a more traditional PG. Last year when they many analyst said that he would either be a steal or a bust for them. Well those same analyst get a similar vibe from Shabazz. Can the Pistons strike gold a second time?

Cavaliers: Alex Len
Lottery Notes: The Cavaliers were really hoping for some lottery luck as they looked to grab either Otto Porter or Nerlens Noel. Even when they didn’t move up, they pushed hard for a trade involving Anderson Varejao that would have sent him to a contender and some extra pieces to either the Wizards or the Hornets but had no luck. Then they mad up their mind that they’d go for the second best forward in the draft, in Shabazz Muhammad but he’d be pick one spot before them. So the Cavaliers had to dig deep on their draft board which brought them to the conclusion of Alex Len. He is expected to start the year off by playing behind Anderson Varejao but could move into the starting spot if Varejao stays healthy long enough to be moved at the trade deadline.

Kings: CJ McCollum
Lottery Notes: The Kings admittedly weren’t enamored with anyone left of the board. They came into the draft with a list of potential needs to fill. 1) Find a frontcourt mate for Demarcus Cousins, 2) Find a potentially elite defensive wing, 3) Find a PG who was either a really good passer or a a really good shooter. They struck out on the first when Noel was taken, they struck out on the second when Oladipo & Porter were selected, so their last chance was to find an elite shooter (which would allow them to resign Evans and allow him to focus on slashing) or a really good passer. They settled on the best prospect left on the board in CJ McCollum who has been compared to a poor mans Stephen Curry by some analyst. He is not a pure point guard by any means but boy can he score.

Mavericks: Michael Carter Williams
Lottery Notes: The Mavericks were rumored to be looking to trade whoever they selected here to clear capspace for Paul or Howard. However they have reportedly received signals that neither man is coming. They have supposedly turned their attention to second tier free agent, Monta Ellis. This pick would certainly suggested that those rumors are accurate. Michael Carter-Williams length and defensive ability would make him a strong candidate for Ellis’ backcourt mate. He also has the point guard abilities that would help in getting Dirk the ball.

Trail Blazers: Cody Zeller
Lottery Notes: This pick was made by the Portland Trail Blazers but Zeller will not be in a Trail Blazers jersey next year. The Blazers’ reportedly want to win now so they dangled this pick in front of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns for their starting centers. It would be the Phoenix Suns who bit though as they agreed to a trade that would send Marcin Gortat & the 28th Pick to Portland in exchange for Joel Freeland & Cody Zeller. The Suns have their eye on next years lottery and thought it’d be best to move Marcin Gortat early instead of limiting his minutes and hurting his value, which is what they did at the end of last year.

Thunder (via Raptors): Steven Adams
Lottery Notes: The Thunder received this pick from the Houston Rockets in the James Harden trade. They were hoping that it was immediately out of the top 3 and not late lottery but any lottery pick for a team that made the conference finals is just icing on the cake. The biggest weakness on this team at the moment is the center position as Kendrick Perkins has regressed quite a bit. Steven Adams clearly won’t contribute or play from day one but his potential is high and if there is one team that can ensure that a project pans it, it’s the Thunder.

76ers: Kontavious Caldwell-Pope
Lottery Notes: The 76ers don’t have a starting quality SG on their roster. They also need shooters to surround a resigned Andrew Bynum and that is where Pope comes in. He may not start right away but he will definitely get a shot to prove that he deserves the starting job, with the only SG in front of him at this moment in time being, Jason Richardson.

Jazz: Dennis Schroeder
Lottery Notes: With the Jazz planning on letting Al Jefferson walk and signing & trading Paul Millsap to the Bucks (more on that later), they looked to officially enter their rebuilding process. Right now they have three pieces that they really like (Favors, Kanter, Hayward), and one they’d like to keep around (Alec Burks). They do not have any PG prospects on the roster, or any PG for that matter. So they decided that they would grab the best PG that was still on the board and that was far and away, Dennis Schroeder. They plan on bringing in a veteran PG who can challenge him in his first year but they hope that at some point in the near future he steps up as the obvious starter for them.

[Bajney]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrallan

2013 Draft Order Wizards: Nerlens Noel Lottery Notes: The Wizards already have two starting quality bigs and could potentially make the playoffs. The obvious pick would have been Porter, rumor has it that one of their two bigs could be on the move for an extra 1st round draft pick. They are also convinced that Webster (who they plan to resign)-Ariza can handle the SF duties for the year.

Lol Wizards got the first pick in my 30 team association as well. They are who I'm focusing on rebuilding so I was thrilled to select Nerlens (Kentucky fan, Wall is the reason why I'm using the wizards)

Btw is their any thread to discuss trades using these association tools? I'm in year two and approaching the trade deadline. I would like input/feedback from other NBA fans/2K Sim ballers.