The King's Gambit
 An Intro Hey guys. I'm a very infrequent poster here, one who comes around in a blue moon to see how things are going, and this year was no exception. Thanks to Fallout 4 consuming my life, along with a handful of other games that I needed to finish, I decided not to purchase NBA 2k16 right off the bat, the first time I've done so since I started playing in 2007. Thankfully with the Playstation Plus deal I'm back in it! A few of you might know me from my Reclaiming The Throne dynasty, aka the overly ambitious, extremely short franchise that ended early thanks to me being in over my head. That or my 2k13 Brooklyn's Finest which also met the same fate. Due to my immense stupidity and supreme OCD, I deleted every image from those dynasties on my Imgur account to make it nice and clean for this one. Meaning, yes, those dynasties now look like crap. I'm still proud of what I created with those, and hope to carry over many elements found there, but unfortunately there's ones I'll need to cut back on in hopes of continuing this dynasty beyond a year. I'm going to focus my resources, trim the fat, and only provide things that I feel are necessary. Outdated statements contained in the spoiler. Accurate for roughly first two months. Revised gameplan below that.
Spoiler
Update: Change of pace. I am playing one game every two weeks now. Couldn't resist. However it'll mean a dip in output for the other games, which will be quick sum-ups instead of written content. This brings me to my attempt at combining MyLeague & MyGM. It probably won't work but I'm going to try it and just see what happens. I love the business, financial, and 'drama' aspects of MyGM but hate the constant autosaving and limitations of it. So my dynasty is going to be based in MyLeague with a MyGM working concurrently so that any 'drama' that arises, along with GM pertinent things, I can slyly include in my dynasty as a way of combining both. What else? I'm aiming to make this story based, centered around the GM, but don't have it fully planned out yet, which I think will be beneficial as we can make it up as it unfolds. Oh, and full disclosure, I like to keep my dynasty a couple weeks ahead of when I post here in case I get snagged up in the real world and aren't able to actually play the game for a bit. So yes, I have likely pre-written at least two in-game weeks worth of content by the time you see a post. Don't let that dismay you from offering critiques, comments, or opinions as I'll certainly take them all into account from that point onwards. In fact, if I start to include too much detail, which I've been prone to do, please tell me! It'll help me stay on course when people tell me what no one besides me really cares about. It may be petty on my part but I'm not going to make any promises with this one. No, I don't promise to go 80 years or win 20 finals, because most who do, myself included, give up far too early. And guess what? That could happen here. So promises are none as for right now. And one more thing on an unrelated note, while this dynasty will be inspired by some of my older work, it's also inspired by trekfan's incredible Second Coming dynasty, which I've begun reading through, and a few other quality works here and there. Lastly, as is tradition here, here's who's rosters, sliders, and draft classes I'm using: Review's Rosters EccentricMeat's Sliders & MyLeague Settings EmbraceThePace's 2016 Draft Class These are all, in my experience, ridiculously good so very little changes have been made. In fact, the roster and draft class hasn't been touched at all, while only a few settings and sliders here and there have for EccentricMeat's. All in all, great stuff. From here on out the meta speak is gone. This will be the only post of its kind, apart from replies to comments of which I'll answer as myself. For my dynasty though, it's all in character. If you've made it this far, I'm not doing any saved posts off the top, trying to sidestep the rudimentary things for this one, so feel free to post away! So, enough of me babbling on with formalities, let's get to the dynasty! |
Re: The King's Gambit
The King's Gambit July 16th, 2015 It was a boring time for NBA fans. Sure, there's the summer league, following the newly drafted rookies, and the last few free agents still there to snag up, but for the most part hype from the Finals has worn off and the pre-season seems long away. This made what happened on a typical summer Thursday so fascinating. The Sacramento Kings are not strangers to controversy, both on court and behind the scenes. To general fans, the loud mouth duo of DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo are enough entertainment to satisfy their drama, but what little know, apart from diehard followers, is the ramshackled management team. With bubbling problems between coach and player and a handful of egos competing for team making decisions, the Kings have always been in troubled waters. And then, with no warning whatsoever, current owner Vivek Ranadive fired former King great and current general manager Vlade Divac. The butting heads meant one needed to go, and being in control of all financial decisions it was clear Ranadive wasn't going to be the one stepping down. The question immediately cropped up, "who's going to fill Divac's role?" The answer, Brickashaw Moss. A complete unknown to all in the NBA know, Moss was exactly the guy Ranadive wanted. Someone bold enough to go in blind, not follow the rites and rituals of a tradition-centric association, and new enough to not associate with anyone outside his club. Moss was the clueless rebel, Ranadive the riskiest owner. When asked by The New York Times what credentials he could possibly have for managing an NBA team, Moss answered "well, I've played every 2k game since 2007. You know, with Shaq on the cover?" Ranadive, standing next to him guiding his answers, replies with a smirk "isn't he perfect?" The world will soon find out. Throwing a chaotic wrench in a structured system will either run a franchise into the ground or build one up to championship levels. With Moss in control, the NBA will have its wildcard.  |
Re: The King's Gambit
Behind Closed Doors July 21th, 2015 "Come in, come in" Ranadive spoke as he ushered in Brickashaw Moss. "Make sure you close the door behind you, don't want any secrets getting out!" The two chuckle to each other. "Oh, I don't think we'll have to worry about that now, we've already confused the league enough." Moss stated with a smirk on his face. "That's for sure. I'm just glad I could drop the dead weight and start fresh. Now, take a seat, let's get down to business." Moss approaches the cushioned leather seat, looking over to the trophy case, sighing and shrugging his shoulders at the sight. Ranadive follows his eye line. "A sore sight isn't it? Every team has to have one, it's just others can actually say it's there with purpose. Hell, some even have entire rooms devoted to their accomplishments." Moss responds quickly just as he sits down. "I want that." "As do I" Ranadive nods in agreement. "It'll take time, but it's also the exact reason I want you on board. You see, the league has gotten so obsessed with getting everything right they've completely ignored going with your gut, doing what's right and not what's polite, and taking every step they can to advancing up the ladder quickly." "So, what you're telling me is, you don't want to be the 76ers." Moss retorts. Ranadive responds, laughing through his first sentence "Ha, no I do not. But I also don't want to be the Kings. Or at least what the league thinks of us. And yes, I know bringing you on hasn't helped matters, but that's only in the short term. If we can prove your effectiveness right away many, including fans eager to find narratives, will turn quickly in our favor." "I wholeheartedly agree. We're rebuilding, but let's do it with style." Moss exclaims. "Exactly." Ranadive says while leaning over to grab a pen. "Now, while I've taken care of a problem with upper management we still have a few looming issues we need to take care of. First up is the dilemma on our bench, specifically between George Karl and DeMarcus Cousins." "Say what you will about Karl, he's undoubtedly a great coach, but no NBA team has ever won the championship without an extremely talented team on the floor. For me, and don't let our staff know this, the players come first." Moss fears no evil. "I like your confidence in this matter, I'll sit back and let you sort it out." Ranadive seems pleased. "Don't cheapen out on a replacement though, Karl was a wonderful asset, we can't substitute him for someone of lesser quality and merit." "I'll make sure of it." Moss lounges back in his chair. "Man, this thing's comfy." Murmuring through a giggle, "well I'm sure you'll be sitting in it quite often when you come up to see me." Ranadive states confidently. "Next, let's focus on where we want this team to go. I know we expect greatness, but that takes time. I won't pressure you and expect a playoff appearance, I know it's unrealistic. But don't think you can lay low and cruise to free agency, I want some moves to be made." Moss shifts in his chair "any in particular, or you just want to stay active?" "The latter will do just fine. I'm not a firm believer in earning trust, I feel trust is someone's to lose. So for you, right now, I have complete trust. Do what you feel is right. If you mess it up that trust is going down and I won't hesitate to step in." "I'll handle it, don't you worry about a thing." Moss speaks to himself quietly, writing using an imaginary pen on his hand "make a trade before the deadline." "You have quite the personality" Ranadive states, "let's hope that's not too big of a problem with the media. They'll hound you for the scoop, knowing that there's a chance the outlandish persona will slip." "I do speak what's on my mind. But hey, they've already deemed me the wildcard. Chaos is now what's expected. Bland PR talk is the last thing they'll expect from me." "That's certainly true. Just do your best. I couldn't care less about how the media scrutinizes us, I need the staff and players on your side. If they are and the morale and level of play goes up with it, the media won't have a choice but to look at us in a different light." "Good point." Moss nods his head, tapping his finger on the armrest. "Any other grand expectations I need to know about?" "As of right now, no. What we've discussed thus far is enough to get your toes wet. But don't worry, we'll be keeping in touch and staying updated on the Kings' whereabouts. Changes will be made as needed." Ranadive states with an heir of superiority. "That's all we need to discuss, you're dismissed." Moss ascends from the chair, shakes Ranadive's hand, nods, and smiles. As he walks towards the door, his hand extending out to twist the nob, Ranadive jolts his head up. "Oh!" Moss turns his body. "Yes?" "There's a secret coming in a few days by the way. It was already completed before you joined, I think you'll find it excellent." Ranadive seems giddy. "Any tease?" Moss curiously asks. "Let's just say, with our new era in store, we needed to show the world things are changing." Ranadive smirks. "Okay, that's all! It's lunch time now." |
Re: The King's Gambit
 The Wildcard Deals First Blow August 1st, 2015 "See you in five." Moss presses 'Hang Up' but it doesn't stick. "...see you never after" he mumbles to himself before realizing. "Oh shi---" as the call goes cold. It only took two minutes for George Karl to storm into the office. "What did I hear you say?" He says angrily. Moss shakes his head "this didn't go as planned. Sit down George." With a stern look on his face Karl strafes to the desk, looming over it, failing to take orders. "You better not do what I think you're about to do." "You know George. I was going to do things by the books, give you a nice sit-down chat and speak of your accomplishments at the Kings organization. Sure, I slipped up on the phone. But whatever, you don't want to do this the casual way we won't. You're fired, George. The team is going in different directions and we have to move on." "I can't...I won't...no..." Karl struggles to explain his anger, eventually pouncing his two clenched fists on the desks. "Ranadive made you do this huh?" Moss quickly responds "No he actually didn't. He gave me free reign to do things by my own accord. His only rule was to handle the problem, and I'm doing that by getting rid of one half of it." Karl getting angrier "but you know damn well it's mostly DeMarcus. He's a loose cannon, I expect professionalism and with him I don't get it. He doesn't back down, and as his coach, I certainly won't." "When you were his coach you mean." Moss stares back at Karl. "Look, I know. Maybe it's his fault, but this is a player-driven league George, you know that. We can't win without him." Shaking his head in disgust. "Can you even win without me?" He posits. "We're going to go ahead and find out. Simply making this decision and pushing past the riff between you two already means we're headed in the right direction." "I can't believe this." Karl leans off the desk, standing firmly. "I haven't even been here a year and you're throwing me out? A guy whose been here for a month?" "It's a cruel business George. The team's not good, and you were a part of that. We need to make the team better, it won't magically get that way without pieces changing. This is just the first step." "The next better be to get rid of that stubborn *** DeMarcus!" Karl squeals out. "You know that's not happening." Moss sits back in his chair, holding his ground. "Now George, please calm down or I'm going to have to get you escorted out of here." Karl shows a good deal of disdain on his face, but doesn't want to get embarrassed further. "I'll stand tall and be the bigger man. I'm a name in this league, I won't have any trouble finding another spot and you know that. The Kings are below me. An organization I tried to fix, but one so drowned in problems I couldn't possibly." "Thanks for your input, and I'm sorry it had to come to this. Pack your things and let the 29 other teams know you're back on the carousel." Karl shifts his head left, getting one last look down at the practice court under the GM's office. "Fine." He starts to head towards the door, slowly, planning his final words. He opens the door, turns back, and says "no one can save a sinking ship" as he slams the door behind him. Moss exhales "whew." |
Re: The King's Gambit
The Dawn Of A New Era August 6th, 2015 Ranadive and a no-name list of millionaires standing by his side stand atop a crudely crafted stage, with Ranadive proudly situated behind the podium. Behind him a projector ready to go. A crowd of journalists enter, eager for the next glimpse of what should be some good tabloid drama. "Could it be better than when they fired Karl?" One reporter whispers to another. "Maybe they're firing Moss." Both faces light up, rolling their eyes at the thought. "We can hope at least!" A few rows behind them another team of reporters speak on the rumor mill. "I heard it might have to do with DeMarcus." "You think!?" The other questions quizzingly. "I doubt it." Behind them, and with their ears perked up to catch any scoop, a journalist leans over to quell their feverish wishes. "If they called us to them it's certainly not for anything juicy. They want us to hear this." The two in front sigh "you're probably right." "MIC CHE---" Ranadive backs away "oh my, that's loud. Apologies folks." The gossiping dies down as the intrigue and anticipation builds. "As I'm sure many of you know, we've had quite a wild summer. We've made some changes we thought were necessary to making sure our Kings stay relevant years to come. It's with this change of tide that I'd like to present something we've created over the past few months." The crowd, looking onwards, grows silent. "A total rebrand!" Ranadive yells proudly. The projector turns on, revealing the new and improved logo.  "Here it is. The start of a new era." Journalists look down to the pads, some to their phones, and begin to write and type away at a ridiculous pace, looking to be the first to confirm the news. Ranadive interrupts their work, "but that's not all! Oh no no, that's just the cover, now we gotta fill the book. First up, here in their completed glory, is our home and away jerseys!" The projector screen goes black. "Looks like we're having some technical difficulties." Ranadive remarks with a smirk on his face. "Maybe we should go to plan b?" Just then, out from behind the projector, emerges DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo, and Willie Cauley-Stein, decked out in new gear. The crowd goes wild.   "These are your Sacramento Kings!" Ranadive raises his hands, pointing out to the players, as the reporters all get caught up in the swell of excitement. Scribbling and typos continue. "But wait, there's more! One final surprise that we've kept mum. As an organization we're very excited about this, even more shocked no news of it leaked. Behold, a completely redone Sleep Train Arena!" The few remaining reporters with their heads glanced downwards quickly fling up, looking onto the projector, waiting for it to advance. After a few seconds black is all we see. Then the logo reappears. Ranadive winks. "We couldn't pass this rebranding off through some simple powerpoint presentation. If the players aren't evident enough, we're bringing the changes to you!" Ranadive ushers it in, a small scale, fully detailed miniature mockup of the arena. It stretches across a table and with the seats scaffolding upwards no reporters can look down in. That is, until one cautiously gets up to sneak a peek. No one says anything and a few seconds later all the remaining reporters bumrush the piece to look. It's orchestrated chaos.  "Beautiful isn't it?" Ranadive asks, sitting back, taking in the press' antics. He leans over to his associates, "it worked. We're officially the center of the attention. They're eating it up." Ranadive approaches the mic. "THA--" he backs away "uh, that's it folks. We hope you appreciated the dawn of our new era! The Kings are back and in full force. Thank you!" His phone begins to light up as the first reports of the rebranding soar over social media, the first images of the press conference, with players looming over the diorama, quickly making their way to the masses.  |
Re: The King's Gambit
Good reading so far, I'm interested to see where this goes!
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Re: The King's Gambit
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Re: The King's Gambit
 Finding The Right Guy August 9th, 2015 Moss sits in his office, twiddling his thumbs, nervous over looming pressures to sign a head coach. Preseason is less than two months away and the Kings, who've shown everyone they're ready to move on to another phase, haven't selected the guy that'll head that yet. It's worrisome, to say the least. A knock on the door. Moss perks up, hustles to the door and answers it. Aiden Anderson stands on the other end, ready to conduct his interview for role of head coach. "Hello Mr. Moss" Anderson states. "Nonsense. Call me Brickashaw. Come take a seat Aiden, can't wait to sit down and talk with you." Moss rushes over to his desk, tidies up, and ushers Anderson into his seat. "As I'm sure you know, lots of changes are happening to this Kings organization and we wanna make sure we have the right man for the job. This isn't just another coach filling shoes here, we're looking for a more permanent fixture." "Well, I guess you're not the only one looking for the same thing." Anderson quips, smirking a bit. "That's good to hear. So what can you tell us about you." Moss quizzes him. "Well I come from a family born and bred in the sport, have knowledge from high school all the way to college, getting so far as to be the assistant head coach at Duke University." "A prestigious basketball school with a knack for the intangibles, I like that." "Yup. Seven years there and I think I'm finally ready to make my big break. I have the wherewithal to bring a team together of misfits together and make them something special. With the Kings I feel I have the perfect opportunity to showcase myself, to show others what I can do with a roster that's been troubled for a while." Moss nods. "As I'm sure you know, that's largely the exact reason I was brought on too." Anderson nods back. "I do, and I feel that connection we have could do wonders for our successes." "Maybe so. So, what can you tell me about your basketball IQ and beliefs?" The questions continue. "Well, my bread and butter is in the clipboard and how I'm able to create space to allow for shooters to get clean, open shots." Anderson states confidently. "We're actually one of the worst shooting teams in the league, at least in terms of mid-range and beyond the arc. Think you can change that?" Anderson shifts in his seat, leaning closer, looking Moss in his eyes. "Can your players shoot better when no one's near them? Then yes, I can change that." "Beautiful." Moss reclines in the seat. "Anything else you'd like to add?" "Oh yes. While I may have a skill set that benefits shooters my belief in defense actually spills ahead of offense. I'm balanced when it comes to using guards versus forwards, and split evenly between playing ball close to and far from the rim, but when it comes to playstyles I am defensively-minded." "Is that so?" Moss seems puzzled. "Yes. The crew you have here, some I've worked with before in various summer outlets and interactions during college, I feel, are capable of scoring. You have facilitators and scorers, mixing them two together should make my job easy on that end. Which is why my focus would lie primarily on defense, making sure to get the best out of everyone's talents, use their strengths to get inside the mind of the other team." "Mind games eh?" Moss laughs. "That's my favorite." "Ooooooh yeah." Anderson laughs along. "Well Aiden, I'm going to cut to the chase. I love what I heard and I love what I've seen. You're hired!" "Really!?" Anderson seems a bit thrown off. "So sudden, wasn't expecting to know today." "That's just how we work here. Didn't you know I'm the wild card? I go with my gut." Moss playfully pats his belly. "I guess you really do. I don't know what to say besides thank you. I will not let you down, that much I can promise." Anderson stands up and firmly shakes Moss' hand. "Just go out there and make the Kings worthwhile again and you'll be just fine." Moss stands up and leads Anderson to the door. "We'll keep in touch, can't wait to bring this team together!" Moss states as he pats Anderson on the back. "I can't wait too. Biggest moment of my life, I'll be damn sure not to ruin it. See you later Brickashaw." Anderson gives another handshake and leaves down the corridor.  |
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