[Truthseeker83]

(The following thread is a re-post of "Opinions on my new Pistons Dynasty (NBA 2k11)" Thread. Mods, you're welcome to lock the previous thread if you prefer)

The dilemma I've been having is rebuilding a team realistically. Most of the bad teams (with the exception of Cleveland....whose uniforms are hideous) already have young potential star players. I want to rebuild a team from scratch basically...and it's not realistic that any of those teams would trade the young players they have for different young players.

Then it dawned on me to start an association with the Pistons....and I'm having a blast. Just an aside, I'm on HOF difficulty and the only thing I've changes is the Personal Foul slider and Charge Called slider (both on 60) for both user and comp. I'm also playing with 8 minute quarters.

Detroit had a terrible record last season, and while they still have a couple pieces who could be valuable to teams looking to contend, the team as a whole has largely become irrelevant. They do have an above average point guard in Stuckey and a young big guy with good potential in Greg Monroe.

Almost immediately, I traded Tayshaun Prince and Will Bynum and got PG Ben Uzoh and PF Yi Jianlian back in a three team trade. Then I traded Rip Hamilton to Boston for a first rounder and and someone else I can't remember now...obviously they weren't a long-term building block lol.

Just before the trade deadline, I unloaded Stuckey because I knew he'd ask for way more than I wanted to pay a guy who didn't have a ton more untapped potential (and couldn't shoot from range at all) if he resigned with me at all. I traded him to Philly for Jrue Holiday (at a much more manageable price for virtually the same skill level....plus some three point shooting ability) and Spencer Hawes (who was ridiculously overpaid but they wouldn't do the trade without me taking on his massive contract).

Going into the off-season between years one and two, I knew I had a huge hole at 2 guard, and I was able to sign Nick Young who was a RFA. They weren't willing to match the offer sheet I signed him to...which was roughly 8 million a year or so with a Team option for the last year (something I always do....even if I have to pay a little more per year....gives me a lot of flexibility). I also signed Marco Bellinelli for shooting on a two year contract.

I got lucky and earned the 1st pick in the draft due to my ridiculously poor record the year prior (I blew the entire thing up and was playing young guys....so it's expected). I drafted a guy who I could build the team around in SF Darius Knight, a 6'9" early entry SF from Michigan State with outstanding potential. So my starting 5 going into year 2 was:

PG - Holiday
SG - Young
SF - Knight
PF- Yi Jianlian
C- Greg Monroe

with Uzoh and Hawes being key backups. I also picked up Marvin Williams in a mid-season trade which didn't cost more than a 2nd round pick and some other spare parts. So that's a fairly solid young group of players right there.

Well, while I still obviously didn't make the playoffs, I made a 17 game improvement while getting some young guys valuable starting experience. Knight won Rookie of the Year by averaging 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and just under a block per game. He also made the All-Star team as a reserve and 3rd team All NBA.....not bad for a rookie.

Going into the second offseason, my needs were becoming pretty clear. While Monroe was solid at center, I felt he was best suited to play PF....and even there, he was only solid offensively....definitely not a big-time threat...though he could be with more development. I wanted to add a C in the draft, and I earned the 5th pick this time. But lucky for me, the top 5 was stacked with talented players, including two high potential Centers and a decent potential athletic PF. So I felt confident I could either draft a good young Center and move Monroe to PF, or draft a PF and keep Monroe at center. I felt confident that a talented big man would fall to me at 5 due to the fact that there were also two talented, high potential wings in the top 5 as well. I never alter the abilities of the generated draftees because it feels like cheating, though I do alter their looks, names, accessories, etc....because some of them look stupid. But this was a great year to have a top 5 pick with all the supremely talented players...that just doesn't happen every year.

ANYWAY, back on track. As FA came and went, Uzoh accepted my qualifying offer of 500k a year or so, which is outstanding for a backup PG at 70 overall. I also signed Marcus Camby as a backup big for the vet minimum because of his defense and rebounding.

As the 5th pick of the draft arrived, my hunch proved correct. I had my choice between Josh Simmons of Purdue, a Center with A+ potential and Marcus Buchanan from Georgia Tech, a 6'11 PF with A- potential. Although Simmons had the slightly bigger upside, I really wanted to add more athleticism to my front line (since Monroe was only average to slightly above average in the athleticism department). I felt this would definitely show up in rebounding finishing at the rim, and shot blocking. So I pulled the trigger on Buchanan (who has a B rating on athleticism).

Later in the first round, now being crowded at the PF position with Monroe and Yi, I decided to start looking for potential trading partners in order to acquire a starting-caliber two-way 2 guard. Young was outstanding offensively, but he left alot to be desired on the defensive end...and I felt he could better contribute as a heavy-minute sixth man. Well, I went back to the bargaining table with Philadelphia trying to acquire Andre Iguodala. While he's definitely not a pure shooter, he can finish at the rim with the best of them, take defenders off the dribble, hit the open jump shot, and he's an outstanding distributor. His salary is pretty high at around 15 million a year, but he only has two years left on his deal and is still only 27. I sent them Yi, Belinelli, and next year's first rounder. They accepted the deal.

So heading into the pre-season, my roster looked like this:

PG - Jrue Holiday / Ben Uzoh
SG- Iggy / Nick Young / Jrue Holiday
SF- Darius Knight / Marvin Williams
PF - Marcus Buchanan / Darius Knight / Marvin Williams
C - Greg Monroe / Spencer Hawes / Marcus Buchanan / Marcus Camby

I still felt like I was lacking a truly reliable low post scorer though, and I felt like both my starting bigs were still a year or two away from being able to supply that. I was also quite crowded at the center position. So I decided to see what it would take to pry Andrea Bargnani away from Toronto, who of course still has multiple holes to fill. I offered Spencer Hawes, Greg Monroe (who was tied for my highest rated trade chip), and my last future first rounder (I'm totally out of draft picks for the next two years lol). Success! I get a dynamite post scorer in Bargnani, and Toronto gets Hawes to help fill the void left by Bargnani (he's a good shooter and has good potential as well) as well as a top-flight young PF with gobs of potential, as well as another first rounder.

So my final roster to this point is as follows:

PG - Jrue Holiday (79) / Ben Uzoh (72)
SG - Andre Iguodala (88) / Nick Young (77) / Holiday
SF - Darius Knight (88) / Marvin Williams ( 74)
PF - Marcus Buchanan (77) / Knight / Williams
C - Andrea Bargnani (82) / Marcus Camby (71)

I feel like all the pieces are now in place....they just need some time to develop and to grow together as a team.

-On a side note, I love the dynamic of having an athletic, shot blocking power forward with the offensive dynamo, not quite as athletic Bargnani.

I feel like this has been realistically done. No unthinkable trades, I felt like all of my moves benefited each of the teams involved and were something they'd actually consider. What do you guys think?