Post by James on Nov 20, 2007 19:19:01 GMT -5
GM/Team Grades (Western Conference)
Just my opinion, STFU if you don’t agree.
Dallas Mavericks
Look, the Ming deal wasn’t that bad for them. They had Outlawz on the ropes, however still ‘over-paid’, if you will. With Outlawz bound to hit the hard cap (only had 10 rostered players, needed 12 to begin the season. Signing two rookies would have put the Knicks over), every team in the league had New Yorks number, except for the Mavs. I don’t see eye-to-eye with Greggor however I think the following statement is very neutral in it’s nature. They need to do something, anything. With Ming, I maybe thought that the Mavs really wanted to win, and then they dealt him. Who are there star players? They don’t have any, but they have 4 okay stars in Prince, Howard and Calderon. Who are their young up-and-coming stars? They don’t have any, but they do have Darrell Arthur who declined immensely last TC. Teams need superstars to win.
Final Grade: C
Denver Nuggets
I love what Ducky has done with this team. He has been patient and has held onto Josh Smith and surrounded him with two other young superstars in Daniel Gibson (most promising PG in the league) and DeAndre Jordan (had a special TC). Pair the above trio with Patrick Patterson and a veteran Allen Iverson and you have a unique blend of talent and potential that is sure to excite fans of the Denver Nuggets. Ducky’s work has gone un-noticed due to his persistence, here he receives some credit.
Final Grade: B+
Houston Rockets
It’s the Rockets first year of rebuilding and they are in a bit of a mess. Al-Farouq Aminu blessed them with a really nice TC, Danillo Gallinari is a bit of a wait-and-see and Rashad McCants is playing well above his ratings on a mediocre team. They have their picks which is a good sign however have no immediate financial flexibility at their fingertips. Hopefully they can make some trades or find some luck and pick up a top 3 draftee in the upcoming draft to help booster the morale and kick-star the AIG and the Rockets rebuilding plans.
Final Grade: C
Minnesota Timberwolves
After taking a run at the title last year with Dwyane Wade and co, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Kobe Bryant from Seattle and then decided to rebuild almost immediately afterwards. With Guillermo Diaz, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless leading the new wave of Timberwolves, Minnesota will be hoping to resign KB8 his off-season or trade him away now to reap maximum value. They are kind of caught in the middle at the moment however with Kobe Bryant on your roster, your options are always open to go either way.
Final Grade: B
San Antonio Spurs
Vernon is playing taking his team for a second run at the BBS title this season, opting for a relatively untouched team from the previous year. Headed by Dirk Nowitzki, McGrady, Marion and Ukic, the Spurs do have a chance at the championship however it would require their GM to become pro-active in trading and take advantage of some of the leagues lesser-teams who are looking for cap-space, picks and a feasible reason to lose (or tank under-cover aka Krup).
Final Grade: B
Utah Jazz
It seemed as though Mark was going to go all out and win this season however plans obviously fell through and Utah still have the same team that the franchise lined up with on day 1 of the BBS season. Ellis, Webster, Sidney and Horford are 4 of the best young players in the league and are at the core of the Jazz offence (excluding the rookie Sidney). Personally, I’d love to see Mark and the Jazz take advantage of Ellis and Webster’s production and status as star players by trading away Sidney, Horford, Speights and picks for items that can assist the aforementioned duo in winning out West. They have the tools to do so however lack the ‘motivation’ to execute anything at the moment.
Final Grade: B
Memphis Grizzlies
I told Spencer that I would quit arguing with Martinez for the good of the league. Although I’m always up for a good argument, I will keep my word.
Final Grade: N/A
Golden State Warriors
Batum, Williams and Kosta Koufus are at the heart of the Warriors rebuilding plans. Williams and Batum have proved themselves as future stars this season whilst Koufus learns from Bargnani in relatively limited minutes. The Warriors will have a little over $14 mill in cap room this off-season and another top 4 pick to add to the above trio which makes for exciting times in Golden State during the post-Kobe and Duncan era.
Final Grade: B
LA Clippers
Unfortunately for Galo the Clippers are without their first round pick this season. If they lost more games and had their first, they would be able to add another special piece to Demar DeRozan, the leagues most promising player. They have several contracts to which they don’t really need (especially being a rebuilding team), no real financial flexibility or an ‘honest’ direction so the Clippers will need to sought that out ASAP. They do have Robin Lopez though who does look like a decent prospect.
Final Grade: C+
LA Lakers
I loved the LeBron trade for them. They had the ability to deal several young players for a superstar thanks to their depth and capitalised on this by picking up the best player in the league. Hernando has done a terrific job with this team, which is evident through such names as James, Stoudemire, Deng, Wallace and Evans. Tyreke looks good to explode this TC (although he has looked good for a while), so if he can and Hernando manages to ship away Harris and Wallace for a legitimate centre, the Lakers will look incredibly dangerous in the foreseeable future.
Final Grade: A
Phoenix Suns
After going a recent managerial change, Phoenix are in full re-build mode headed by Chris Wright and Yi Jianlian. Add a top 3 pick and a big name FA to that crop and things are looking very good in Phoenix at the moment. Although they would prefer a more ‘prominent’ youngster to build around (no disrespect to Jianlian or Wright), what they have in front of them now is a lot better than what they had at the star of the season. Play has done the right thing with this team thus far.
Final Grade: B-
Portland Trailblazers
The Blazers have a pretty solid squad which you would think would be able to get the job at least half done out West, however thus far, it hasn’t. The good news is that they will have a lot of cap room this coming off-season although you would think that they will use most of it resigning their current roster. I’m not really a fan of Dan and Spencers rebuilding method, however I assume that the two have a plan for next year.
Final Grade: C+
Sacramento Kings
Lumley hasn’t done a terrific job with this team. He has made several questionable moves and has paid for it dearly as his team are outside the playoff race with no picks over the next two years and a squad full of players who are just leaving their prime. They had the best of both worlds earlier on having Duncan and Roy on the same team however kissed it good bye when theyt raded for Garnett in a very one-sided trade. I hope Lumley gets this team together. In saying that, the talent level on this team should have them in the playoffs, they need to play with their depth chart.
Final Grade: C
Seattle Sonics
Probably the best team in the league. Pig has done an outstanding job getting the Sonics from a team with no future to one with the best chance at a championship in the league. It shows that being pro-active and smart in your ways as a GM can pay off. With a star studded line-up, depth and talent, you would expect the Sonics to go all the way this year for their second championship in a row. Not really much to discuss here.
Final Grade: A+
Just my opinion, STFU if you don’t agree.
Dallas Mavericks
Look, the Ming deal wasn’t that bad for them. They had Outlawz on the ropes, however still ‘over-paid’, if you will. With Outlawz bound to hit the hard cap (only had 10 rostered players, needed 12 to begin the season. Signing two rookies would have put the Knicks over), every team in the league had New Yorks number, except for the Mavs. I don’t see eye-to-eye with Greggor however I think the following statement is very neutral in it’s nature. They need to do something, anything. With Ming, I maybe thought that the Mavs really wanted to win, and then they dealt him. Who are there star players? They don’t have any, but they have 4 okay stars in Prince, Howard and Calderon. Who are their young up-and-coming stars? They don’t have any, but they do have Darrell Arthur who declined immensely last TC. Teams need superstars to win.
Final Grade: C
Denver Nuggets
I love what Ducky has done with this team. He has been patient and has held onto Josh Smith and surrounded him with two other young superstars in Daniel Gibson (most promising PG in the league) and DeAndre Jordan (had a special TC). Pair the above trio with Patrick Patterson and a veteran Allen Iverson and you have a unique blend of talent and potential that is sure to excite fans of the Denver Nuggets. Ducky’s work has gone un-noticed due to his persistence, here he receives some credit.
Final Grade: B+
Houston Rockets
It’s the Rockets first year of rebuilding and they are in a bit of a mess. Al-Farouq Aminu blessed them with a really nice TC, Danillo Gallinari is a bit of a wait-and-see and Rashad McCants is playing well above his ratings on a mediocre team. They have their picks which is a good sign however have no immediate financial flexibility at their fingertips. Hopefully they can make some trades or find some luck and pick up a top 3 draftee in the upcoming draft to help booster the morale and kick-star the AIG and the Rockets rebuilding plans.
Final Grade: C
Minnesota Timberwolves
After taking a run at the title last year with Dwyane Wade and co, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Kobe Bryant from Seattle and then decided to rebuild almost immediately afterwards. With Guillermo Diaz, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless leading the new wave of Timberwolves, Minnesota will be hoping to resign KB8 his off-season or trade him away now to reap maximum value. They are kind of caught in the middle at the moment however with Kobe Bryant on your roster, your options are always open to go either way.
Final Grade: B
San Antonio Spurs
Vernon is playing taking his team for a second run at the BBS title this season, opting for a relatively untouched team from the previous year. Headed by Dirk Nowitzki, McGrady, Marion and Ukic, the Spurs do have a chance at the championship however it would require their GM to become pro-active in trading and take advantage of some of the leagues lesser-teams who are looking for cap-space, picks and a feasible reason to lose (or tank under-cover aka Krup).
Final Grade: B
Utah Jazz
It seemed as though Mark was going to go all out and win this season however plans obviously fell through and Utah still have the same team that the franchise lined up with on day 1 of the BBS season. Ellis, Webster, Sidney and Horford are 4 of the best young players in the league and are at the core of the Jazz offence (excluding the rookie Sidney). Personally, I’d love to see Mark and the Jazz take advantage of Ellis and Webster’s production and status as star players by trading away Sidney, Horford, Speights and picks for items that can assist the aforementioned duo in winning out West. They have the tools to do so however lack the ‘motivation’ to execute anything at the moment.
Final Grade: B
Memphis Grizzlies
I told Spencer that I would quit arguing with Martinez for the good of the league. Although I’m always up for a good argument, I will keep my word.
Final Grade: N/A
Golden State Warriors
Batum, Williams and Kosta Koufus are at the heart of the Warriors rebuilding plans. Williams and Batum have proved themselves as future stars this season whilst Koufus learns from Bargnani in relatively limited minutes. The Warriors will have a little over $14 mill in cap room this off-season and another top 4 pick to add to the above trio which makes for exciting times in Golden State during the post-Kobe and Duncan era.
Final Grade: B
LA Clippers
Unfortunately for Galo the Clippers are without their first round pick this season. If they lost more games and had their first, they would be able to add another special piece to Demar DeRozan, the leagues most promising player. They have several contracts to which they don’t really need (especially being a rebuilding team), no real financial flexibility or an ‘honest’ direction so the Clippers will need to sought that out ASAP. They do have Robin Lopez though who does look like a decent prospect.
Final Grade: C+
LA Lakers
I loved the LeBron trade for them. They had the ability to deal several young players for a superstar thanks to their depth and capitalised on this by picking up the best player in the league. Hernando has done a terrific job with this team, which is evident through such names as James, Stoudemire, Deng, Wallace and Evans. Tyreke looks good to explode this TC (although he has looked good for a while), so if he can and Hernando manages to ship away Harris and Wallace for a legitimate centre, the Lakers will look incredibly dangerous in the foreseeable future.
Final Grade: A
Phoenix Suns
After going a recent managerial change, Phoenix are in full re-build mode headed by Chris Wright and Yi Jianlian. Add a top 3 pick and a big name FA to that crop and things are looking very good in Phoenix at the moment. Although they would prefer a more ‘prominent’ youngster to build around (no disrespect to Jianlian or Wright), what they have in front of them now is a lot better than what they had at the star of the season. Play has done the right thing with this team thus far.
Final Grade: B-
Portland Trailblazers
The Blazers have a pretty solid squad which you would think would be able to get the job at least half done out West, however thus far, it hasn’t. The good news is that they will have a lot of cap room this coming off-season although you would think that they will use most of it resigning their current roster. I’m not really a fan of Dan and Spencers rebuilding method, however I assume that the two have a plan for next year.
Final Grade: C+
Sacramento Kings
Lumley hasn’t done a terrific job with this team. He has made several questionable moves and has paid for it dearly as his team are outside the playoff race with no picks over the next two years and a squad full of players who are just leaving their prime. They had the best of both worlds earlier on having Duncan and Roy on the same team however kissed it good bye when theyt raded for Garnett in a very one-sided trade. I hope Lumley gets this team together. In saying that, the talent level on this team should have them in the playoffs, they need to play with their depth chart.
Final Grade: C
Seattle Sonics
Probably the best team in the league. Pig has done an outstanding job getting the Sonics from a team with no future to one with the best chance at a championship in the league. It shows that being pro-active and smart in your ways as a GM can pay off. With a star studded line-up, depth and talent, you would expect the Sonics to go all the way this year for their second championship in a row. Not really much to discuss here.
Final Grade: A+