NBA Expansion Team - Seattle Sonics: A JBURGE Production

[JBURGE]

The NBA has decided to expand by adding two new franchises...

The Seattle Sonics and the  Montreal Monsters!    

                  

 

Seattle is backed by a billionaire genius JBURGE, who is tired of the Seahawks getting all of the sports attention in Seattle. Montreal is controlled by idiot French Canadians. 

This will be done on NBA 2k18 myLeague. None of that mtGM garbage with Jackson Baldwin and his 10 year MVP streaks. You will follow me through the expansion draft, multiple losing seasons, probably some awful contracts because I am a casual NBA fan, and my year 5 guaranteed NBA Finals appearance. I honestly have no idea what my strategy will be. Will I be able to lure Paul George away from the Lakers? Probably not, Seattle rains a lot and is generally a pretty crap place.

Rules are simple:

    - I will not propose trades, only accept ones that the cpu offers.
    - I will not own more than one pick in the top 5. If I somehow get there, I will be forced to trade one down. 
    - I will suck
    - I don't want to have too many rules. I probably won't go after big name FAs, but I will likely be involved in free agency the first year to try and build a competent team. 
    - I will be playing one game probably every playoff series. I really enjoy the sim aspect, but I will play a few games to get a feel of who I like and who will be expendable once I get to that point.

I will lightly follow the Monsters. Hopefully down the line they either become a good rival, or are just plain awful and give us another reason to laugh at French Canadians.

Follow me through this journey of lies, deceit, and hopefully a lot of Montreal sucking. 

[JBURGE]

The goal for the Expansion Draft is to get a bunch of young players. I won't be competing for a little bit, so I want as much young talent as I can get. Jimmy Haslam isn't my owner, so I know I have a few years to lay out my plan. 

Expansion Draft
Rd		Seattle Sonics	Ovr	Age			Montreal Monsters	Ovr	Age
1	PG	Terry Rozier	76	23		PF	Serge Ibaka	78	28
2	C	Ivica Zubac	75	20		PG	Jeremy Lin	78	29
3	PF	Juan Hernangomez	74	22		C	Cody Zeller	77	25
4	PF	Nikola Mirotic	76	26		SF	Jae Crowder	76	27
5	SG	Langston Galloway	76	26		SF	Bojan Bogdanovic	77	28
6	SF	Josh Richardson	74	24		PG	Tyler Ulis	74	21
7	SG	Austin Rivers	76	25		SG	JJ Redick	78	33
8	PG	Shabazz Napier	76	26		C	Kyle O'Quinn	77	27
9	C	Harry Giles	70	20		PF	Marreese Speights	76	30
10	SF	Omar Casspi	74	29		SG	Marco Belinelli	77	31
11	PF	Dirk Nowitzki	77	39		PG	Rajon Rondo	76	39
12	PG	Tyus Jones	72	21		SF	Chandler Parsons	76	31
13	SG	Bryn Forbes	73	24		PF	Luc Mbah a Moute	75	31
14	C	Tony Bradley	69	19		C	John Henson	75	26

This really couldn't have been worse for Montreal. I guess the CPU is dumb, but they took a few guys with some pretty crappy contracts.

I'm not really sure what the direction of my team will be after this. There likely isn't someone on the roster who will turn into any sort of long term answer, other than maybe Zubac. I really hope this is a good draft at the top, as I anticipate I will pick top 5. 

[JBURGE]

This isn't too complicated. Start the younger guys and throw Dirk a bone by hopping off the bench. I won't make the playoffs, I'm not taking... somewhere in between. Here's the first year lineup:

Lineup
Position	Player	Ovr	Mins
PG	Terry Rozier	76	28
SG	Langston Galloway	76	24
SF	Josh Richardson	74	28
PF	Nikola Mirotic	76	30
C	Ivica Zubac	75	32
6	Juan Hernangomez	74	24
7	Austin Rivers	76	22
8	Shabazz Napier	76	20
9	Omri Casspi	74	20
10	Dirk Nowitzki	77	10
11	Bryn Forbes	73	0
12	Tyus Jones	72	0
13	Harry Giles	70	0
Res	Tony Bradley	69	0

I am not going to comment on staff changes other than the head coach. I currently have a terrible one and will be looking for a new one in year 2. 

[Danger]

I'll follow along. Why two teams though? Did you re-do divisions to be more like the NFL setup or closer to the NHL?

[JBURGE]

Top 10 Prospects
	Pos.	Name	Age	Ht	Wt	WS	School	Ovr	Pot.
1	PF	Magnus Nojowitz (1)	21	6'9	242	6'10	Sweden	75	A
2	SF	Bill Frank	22	6'5	229	6'10	Florida	76	B-
3	SG	Jeffrey Mercer	20	6'5	216	6'6	Kentucky	80	A+
4	SF	Kyle Sharp	20	6'8	247	6'10	Duke	75	B
5	SG	Sergei Chugainov (2)	24	6'4	207	6'5	Russia	71	B
6	PF	Clint Mullins	21	6'9	263	7'2	Washington	73	B
7	SF	Abraham Hall	20	6'10	296	7'5	Georgia Tech	72	B-
8	PG	Chad Booth	23	6'0	154	6'7	Pittsburgh	69	A
9	SG	Dedric Bailey	19	6'3	198	6'5	Nebraska	72	B-
10	PG	Lance McCoy	23	6'6	196	6'8	Georgetown	71	C+

So this draft class is two guys. Not what I was hoping for.... hopefully I end up with a top 2 pick, because otherwise I will don't have a ton to look forward to.

Nojowitz has another year in Europe, and he is more of a defensive guy. The offense, even inside, is pretty weak. Jeff Mercer, on the other hand, looks like a stud. He has 93 speed to go along with scoring at every level. I'm not much of an inside scorer at the 2, but he is a great shooter off the bat with the intangibles. 

Major Injury Update

Juan Hernangomez has a lower left leg stress fracture, and will be out for the season. Oh well. His minutes will go to a split between Nowitzki and C Harry Giles. 

Trade Deadline Break

I am sitting with a record of 16-38, and incredibly there are 3 teams who are worse than me. Sacramento currently holds the worst record with only 13 wins. Come on guys, throw me a bone. Montreal is sitting with 18 wins, which is just good enough to keep them from getting any good players this year. Sweet

This team sucks. Zubac has been injured three times already - so much for my one hopeful player. 

I am going to see if there are any deals I can make.

Trade
Seattle Sonics Receive				OKC Thunder Receive
PF	Nick Collison	71		SF	Josh Richardson	74
	2021 1st Round Pick

I'm giving up one of my decent young players, but both of these guys are on 1 year deals. I'll take a 2021 pick from the Thunder - I doubt they will re-sign George or Melo, and hopefully in 3 years they will be bad. Either way, I need picks more than I need middling players. 

Contract Extensions

SG Austin Rivers, 77 ovr - signed 2yr/$6.7m - I don't have a lot going for me, but I will keep some of these guys for a couple years. 

PG Shabazz Napier, 76 ovr - signed 2yr/$2.72m - Napier is a solid point off the bench. Contract fits, and will allow me to keep searching for the guy of the future.

There isn't anyone else I can extend, and that's okay. I am going to retain as many guys as I can in the off-season to keep this feeling authentic. 

[JBURGE]

4 minutes ago, Danger said:

I'll follow along. Why two teams though? Did you re-do divisions to be more like the NFL setup or closer to the NHL?

I wanted to have a CPU team start from the same spot to see how they progress vs me. Plus it gives me an easy team to switch to years down the line if I want to. 

Gives me some sort of rival I can root against too. I dunno, I've never done it before. I'm not controlling Montreal now, just Seattle

[JBURGE]

Injury Update

Harry Giles has broken his leg, and will be out 6-8 weeks. That's essentially the rest of the year, so I'll be shutting him down. 

I have signed Roy Hibbert to a deal to play until Zubac is able to return. Tony Bradley will start at center in the meantime.

[JBURGE]

Year 1 is in the books. Here are the standings:

Standings
West			East
1	Rockets	67-15	1	Cavaliers	58-24
2	Warriors	65-17	2	Raptors	54-28
3	Spurs	57-25	3	76ers	49-33
4	Thunder	53-29	4	Celtics	48-34
5	Jazz	47-35	5	Bucks	47-35
6	Nuggets	45-37	6	Heat	46-36
7	Timberwolves	45-37	7	Pistons	46-36
8	Pelicans	41-41	8	Knicks	42-40
9	Grizzlies	39-43	9	Wizards	40-42
10	Clippers	37-45	10	Magic	37-45
11	Blazers	34-48	11	Monsters	35-47
12	Mavericks	33-49	12	Bulls	31-51
13	Lakers	32-50	13	Pacers	29-53
14	Suns	31-51	14	Nets	26-56
15	Sonics	27-55	15	Hornets	24-57
16	Kings	25-57	16	Hawks	21-61

 

Despite the expansion draft and minimal talent on the team, I ended with the 5th worst record. I guess that's okay, but I will need some help in the lottery if I want to have a shot at a difference maker this year in a weak class. If I don't land a top 3 pick, there is the possibility I will trade out to next year's draft. 

Here are the annual awards and the all-nba teams:

Awards
MVP	LeBron James	CLE
ROY	Ben Simmons	PHI
DPOY	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL
6th Man	Rudy Gay	SAS
Coach	Mike D'Antoni	HOU

 

All-NBA 1st Team				All-NBA 2nd Team			All-NBA 2nd Team
G	Russel Westbrook	OKC		G	James Harden	HOU	G	John Wall	WAS
G	Stephen Curry	GSW		G	Chris Paul	HOU	G	Kyle Lowry	TOR
F	Lebron James	CLE		F	Anthony Davis	NOP	F	Kawhi Leonard	SAS
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL		F	Kevin Durant	GSW	F	Ben Simmons	PHI
C	Nikola Vucevic	ORL		C	Andre Drummond	DET	C	DeMarcus Cousins	NOP
All Defensive 1st Team				All Rookie 1st Team
G	John Wall	G		F	Ben Simmons	PHI
G	Russell Westbrook	G		G	Milos Teodosic	LAC
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo	F		G	Dennis Smith Jr.	DAL
F	Lebron James	F		F	Lauri Markkanen	CHI
C	Andre Drummond	C		G	Lonzo Ball	LAL

The first year is always pretty boring, and this is no different. Let's get through the playoffs and on to the offseason. 

The second round of the playoffs had two great matchups. The 4th seed Celtics and the 3rd seed 76ers knocked out the 1st seed Cavs and 2nd seed Raps respectively, both in 7 game series. 

The Warriors swept the 76ers in the NBA Finals. Steph Curry won finals MVP averaging 32ppg and 8.2apg. Predictable. 

[JBURGE]

Offseason

Notable Retirements

Dirk Nowitzki - HOF
Paul Pierce - HOF
Manu Ginobli

Draft Lottery

I accidentally skipped through before I could write down who had the top 5 chances (the %), but the top 5 are:

1. Hawks
2. Hornets
3. Kings
4. Cavaliers (via BKN)
5. Seattle Sonics
12. Montreal Monsters

I am not going to pretend like I understand how the lottery works. My pick dropped to 6, the Pacers jumped all the way to 2, the Kings won the lottery, and everyone else in the top 5 slid down one spot. 

Hiring Update

I have hired Trent Pederson to a 1 year contract to be my head coach. I was rejected by my top choice, but this guy will do for a stop gap.

[JBURGE]

2018 NBA Draft

Sonics Picks:

#6 overall
#37 overall

Let's look again at the top prospects

Top 10 Prospects
	Pos.	Name	Age	Ht	Wt	WS	School	Ovr	Pot.
1	SG	Jeffrey Mercer	20	6'5	216	6'6	Kentucky	80	A+
2	SF	Bill Frank	22	6'5	229	6'10	Florida	76	B-
3	PF	Magnus Nojowitz (1)	21	6'9	242	6'10	Sweden	75	A
4	SF	Kyle Sharp	20	6'8	247	6'10	Duke	75	B
5	SG	Sergei Chugainov (2)	24	6'4	207	6'5	Russia	71	B
6	PF	Clint Mullins	21	6'9	263	7'2	Washington	73	B
7	SF	Abraham Hall	20	6'10	296	7'5	Georgia Tech	72	B-
8	PG	Chad Booth	23	6'0	154	6'7	Pittsburgh	69	A
9	SG	Dedric Bailey	19	6'3	198	6'5	Nebraska	72	B-
10	PG	Lance McCoy	23	6'6	196	6'8	Georgetown	71	C+

Mercer is now the #1 prospect, not like that has changed. He is the obvious #1 pick. Let's sim to 6 and see who is available here. 

Mercer goes #1 to the Kings. No surprise there. Gonna be a great scorer and good overall player.

The Jazz traded up to #2, giving Gobert and a future 1st to the Pacers, to select Chad Booth.... okay. 68 overall 24 year old with A+ development.. 

The Hawks and Hornets swapped picks here. The Hawks took Nojowitz at 3. The hornets were obviously upset about that, because they traded down again with the Bucks, who took Bill Frank. Not worth a trade up imo but ok. 

Cavs took Dedric Bailey, so I am on the clock. Here's who's available:

4

SF

Kyle Sharp

20

6'8

247

6'10

Duke

75

B

Kyle is a shooting 3. Doesn't offer much in terms of defense, not overly athletic. I like the shooting, but honestly there isn't much else to like. 

5

SG

Sergei Chugainov (2)

24

6'4

207

6'5

Russia

71

B

24 years old with 2 years left in Europe? Pass.

Others I won't detail up top because of age/incredibly bad athletic intangibles. There are no good trade offers here, so I am just going to pick the one player I kinda like, and falls in at 11 on the draft express big board:

SF Brett Gentry

Brett is 20 years old. Starts as a 72 overall, but he is the only top 15 guy left with A potential. He can't shoot 3s, but he can score inside and surprisingly well from mid range considering his awful 3. Has decent height, 82 speed, and isn't terrible defensively. 

The Monsters drafted Lonnie Pearson, SG. Will check him out after the draft.

Pick #37 overall, I have 5 guys completely scouted. PG Artem Gornev has 1 year left overseas, but he has B+ potential and 91 speed. The rest looks pretty mediocre, and he is 64 overall, but maybe he can develop into a solid backup point in a few years, being only 21. 

PG Artem Gornev

Gentry ended up having 7 badges, including All-Time Great, High Work Ethic, and pick and roller. The 92 potential is great!

Gornev was listed as B+ and had 88 potential, so I'll take the young guys to develop. He is also 68 overall, not 64

[JBURGE]

Player Options

I will accept Ivica Zubac's team option of $1.54m. 

Despite leading my team in ppg last year, I am going to decline Mirotic's $12.5m option. I am going to see if I can better spend that money in free agency. Maybe I end up re-signing Nikola, who knows.

Qualifying Offers

SG Bryn Forbes, 74 ovr - I am going to pass on extending the offer. I can probably sign him if I want anyways. 

Free Agency

Due to age/retirements/contracts, I need to sign some bodies at both forward spots. Other than that, my team is looking alright heading into next year. I have a ton of cap space, but I'm more interested in building through the draft than going after marquee free agents. Ina  couple years I may need to to give the team a jolt, but I'm willing to wait a couple years. 

SF Omar Casspi, 75 - 1 year min offer - was on my team last year, would like to bring him back for depth.
SF Norman Powell, 75 - 2yr/$3.53m offer - Powell is a RFA, but I could really use some defense at the 3 coming off the bench. My defense is looking real weak this year
PF Nikola Mirotic, 77 - 2yr, $7.3m - My leading scored last year. This offer is cheaper than accepting the option

All 3 of these offers were accepted

PF Jerami Grant, 76 - 2 yr $4.5m - Grant is an elite defender. I have $63M cap space, so I need to spend some of it

Other big name FA signings:

Kevin Durant - GSW 3/$144m
Isiah Thomas - CLE 5/$170m
Paul George - OKC 4/$131 - this doesn't help my chances of that pick being good...
Carmelo Anthony - NYK 3/$90m - FOR REAL LOL
Demarcus Cousins - NOP 5/$202m

[JBURGE]

Season 2

Lineup
Position		Player	Ovr	Mins
PG		Terry Rozier	76	28
SG		Langston Galloway	77	28
SF		Brett Gentry	73	30
PF		Nikola Mirotic	77	30
C		Ivica Zubac	76	28
6	PG	Shabazz Napier	76	28
7	SF	Omri Casspi	75	22
8	PF	Juan Hernangomez	74	20
9	SG	Austin Rivers	76	14
10	PF	Jerami Grant	76	12
11	SF	Norman Powell	75	0
12	PG	Tyus Jones	72	0
13	C	Tony Bradley	72	0
Res	C	Harry Giles	70	0

 

This should be another year of bad ball. Trust the process.

Injury Update 

Langston Galloway has broken his left arm and is out for the season. Okay. It begins

Trade
Seattle Sonics Receive				Phoenix Suns
	2019 1st Rd(T5Protected)			SG	Austin Rivers	77

So, I am currently sitting at 0-8 and received this offer. Austin Rivers is currently only playing 14 minutes as a defensive specialist, so you're damn right I'm accepting this trade. Norman Powell will take his minutes, and I will sign another shooting guard

SG Bryn Forbes, 73 - signed $1,72m - Bryn was on our team last year. Welcome back

My first win of the season came against Montreal! hahaha

2019 Draft Class

This is the draft class you are looking for

Top 10 Prospects
	Pos.	Name	Age	Ht	Wt	WS	School	Ovr	Pot.
1	PG	Michael Peterson	19	6'5	211	6'7	Penn State	84	A+
2	PG	Joshua Shmidt	22	5'11	183	6'1	Michigan State	74	A+
3	SG	Bernard Holmes	19	6'2	196	6'7	Texas Tech	72	A
4	SF	Rickey Farley	22	6'8	232	6'8	Notre Dame	75	B+
5	SF	Gus Sharp	22	6'9	220	6'3	Ohio State	73	A+
6	PG	Charles Dailey	23	6'2	175	7'11	Florida	70	A-
7	C	Shawn Willis	20	7'2	297	6'7	Boston College	74	A+
8	SF	CJ Fields	24	6'7	231	7'3	Kentucky	71	B+
9	PF	Brandon Flanders	19	6'11	254	7'3	Fresno State	70	A
10	PF	Damien Wilks	21	6'8	248	6'3	Missouri	72	B+
12	SF	Alen Simunic (1)	22	6'8	222	7'4	Lithuania	71	A+

Holy Balls. Not a ton of guys who are going to help righy away, but this class is loaded with potential future stars.

Peterson is an absolute stud. Speed at 88 is a little on the lower end of what I want for a point, but he's 6'5. He can score at every level, take care of the ball reasonably well, and he can play defense. All around player. 

Shmidt is probably a better passes, but he's 5'11. Super fast, but the size is a concern. 

Shawn Willis is MASSIVE. 7-11 wingspan is absurd. He is the clear #2 to me in this class

Bernard Holmes and Brandon Flanders are both 19 years old with A potential. Flanders has great size at the 4 and will probably develop a decent mid range shot, which is something I covet from my 4. 

All in all, this draft class is stellar. 

Currently, I am sitting 7-34, which is (barely) the worst record in the league. 

[JBURGE]

Contract Extensions 

PG Terry Rozier, 77 - 2yr/$5.02m - I am hoping to get a point guard at the top of the draft this year, but Rozier would still be a solid back 6th man. SMall raise here to the 24 year old
C Ivica Zubac, 76 - 2yr/$4.54m - I don't think I'll be able to address this position this year, but Zubac is young and will hopefully slowly get better for me. 

I am not offering contracts to PG Shabazz Napier or Tyus Jones. I can get a 3rd pg for cheaper than what they want. 

Trade
Seattle Sonics Receive				Detroit Pistons Receive
	2022 1st rd				2020 2nd rd
C	Boban Marjanovic	75		SG	Langston Galloway	77

Trade
Seattle Sonics Receive				Cleveland Cavaliers Receive
	2022 1st rd				2019 2nd rd
SG	Cedi Osman	74		PG	Shabazz Napier	78

 

This team isn't going anywhere this year. Napier is a FA at the end of the year asking for $5m a year, and Galloway isn't in the future plans. Grabbed 2 unprotected picks a few years down the road. 

[JBURGE]

Year 2 ends worse than the first. Here are the standings:

Standings
West			East
1	Thunder	68-14	1	Celtics	58-24
2	Warrions	63-19	2	Cavaliers	55-27
3	Timberwolves	52-30	3	76ers	51-31
4	Rockets	52-30	4	Pistons	47-35
5	Nuggets	46-36	5	Raptors	46-36
6	Spurs	45-37	6	Bucks	45-37
7	Pelicans	44-38	7	Nets	43-39
8	Jazz	44-38	8	Wizards	43-39
9	Kings	40-42	9	Heat	39-43
10	Grizzlies	40-42	10	Magic	38-44
11	Trailblazers	38-44	11	Bulls	38-44
12	Suns	33-49	12	Knicks	36-46
13	Lakers	32-50	13	Hornets	34-48
14	Clippers	28-54	14	Hawks	31-51
15	Sonics	17-65	15	Pacers	28-54
16	Mavericks	15-67	16	Monsters	23-59

I can't even suck right. How did the Mavs have a worse record than me.... smh. I better end up with a top 2 pick, I am infatuated with the PG and massive C. 

 

Awards
MVP	Russell Westbrook	OKC
ROY	Jeffrey Mercer	SAC
DPOY	Andre Drummond	DET
6th Man	Rudy Gay (2)	SAS
Coach	Dejounte Murray	SAS

Mercer scored 18ppg as a rookie, over 40% threes. The kid is gonna be a stud. 

 

 

All-NBA 1st Team				All-NBA 2nd Team			All-NBA 3rd Team
G	Russel Westbrook	OKC		G	Steph Curry	GSW	G	Kyrie Irving	BOS
G	John Wall	WAS		G	Kyle Lowry	TOR	G	Chris Paul	HOU
F	Lebron James	CLE		F	Anthony Davis	NOP	F	Blake Griffin	LAC
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL		F	Kristaps Porzingis	NYK	F	Paul George	OKC
C	Karl-Anthony Towns	MIN		C	Andre Drummond	DET	C	Joel Embiid	PHI
All Defensive 1st Team				All Rookie 1st Team
G	John Wall	G		G	Jeffrey Mercer	SAC
G	Russell Westbrook	G		F	Brett Mercer	SEA
F	Giannis Antetokounmpo	F		F	Abraham Hall	DAL
F	Lebron James	F		F	Kyle Sharp	PHO
C	Andre Drummond	C		F	Bill Frank	MIL

The #1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder beat the #2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in 7 games to win the NBA championship. The Warriors lost in the WCF. Russell Westbrook took home Finals MVP with a 30ppg 10rpg 12apg performance. 

[JBURGE]

Offseason

Notable Retirements

Vince Carter - HOF
Tony Parker
Pau Gasol

Draft Lottery

I accidentally skipped through before I could write down who had the top 5 chances (the %), but the top 5 are:

1. Mavs (t5 else ORL)
2. Seattle Sonics
3. Montreal Monsters
4. Pacers
5. Clippers (lottery else BOS)

8. Suns (t5 else SEA)

There is a solid chance I end up with two picks in the top 10. I am praying my top 2 stays in the top 2, and the Suns pick stays around the 6-8 range as well. This is a great draft and will definitely set my franchise on the right path.