A table that is rounded, has some chairs as well: Preseason Extravaganza
Feb 13, 2021 17:36:48 GMT -5
Post by irush on Feb 13, 2021 17:36:48 GMT -5
With one season down, I decided to reach out to some of our more tenured GMs and ask for their thoughts on the league after our first season and offseason have been completed. From regrets to introducing a new GM into the league we covered a good chunk of our relevant topics of the offseason.
1. With the offseason wrapped up how do you feel about your team currently? Is there anything that gives you cause for concern? Anything you’re excited about?
Majic: I am still waiting to see TC but overall I am happy with my offseason. The biggest addition is obviously getting Sampson in the draft. I absolutely loved his attributes and think he looks like a stud. I am excited to see how PS goes and what he looks like into the season. Other than that, I mainly looked to some value depth through FA. I didnt have full max space so I wasnt focused on the big names and instead looked at guys hanging around the middle. I signed 2 guys on mid level deals that I am interested to see, both have some potential to be low level starters, or worst case strong backups. I also brought back Kevin Martin which I was happy about. I am still a couple moves away from being a contender but I like the position I have my team in moving into the second season.
Bankz: Hopeful, I touched on this before but coming out of creation draft I was very disappointed with my franchise. But a bunch of moves later and what looks like a good draft on paper I'm hopeful. The greedy GM in me would've loved to land something of value in FA and that just didn't happen but overall the roster is in a better place. Now it's dependent on a little TC magic. My three rookies and two very young creation rooks are the core of the franchise lets see how things play out.
BK: It’s a little concerning to me that I didn’t land any max free agents. I had hoped to snag a max players this season, but it didn’t come to fruition. The Bootsy signing is nice but he won’t command a large sum of assets. That makes this offseason a bit of a loss for me, as while my team didn’t get worse, it also didn’t get better.
Heebs: Other than drafting Clyde and Staten having a nice TC I had a shitty offseason. I was hoping I could get a mid-tier FA with my 5 million of soft cap space and wound up missing on everyone I tried to get. I brought back some early bird players to add depth, but I expect another 6/7 seed team in Indiana.
Skrouse: I'm feeling kinda meh, probably will be a top 3 or 4 team in the East but I'm not sure a division title is in the near future, or a repeat visit to the ECF. I'm a bit disappointed in just how negative Peppers and Schmidt's camps were. We'll see what happens.
Irush: Bad, I am clearly learning as I go here and it's not the prettiest. I think I made 2 good but possibly obvious choices in the draft, but it is clear this is a long term build that may not get interesting until a few seasons from now. I may have to pray for some luck in the FA of the near future. It was obvious I was in over my head in Creation and will be paying for that for a good time due to wheel position and some not ideal moves this past offseason.
2. Are there any GM’s who have impressed with you with their offseason moves, if so which moves?
Majic: I actually have an article prepped on this topic and I will be sharing it Friday afternoon. I won't spoil too much but there were a few teams that jumped out to me. I think the Cougars were big winners of the offseason. Obviously they had success in FA by signing Chief back and bringing in Sharrar, but I also liked the value 20's got through the draft. Based on where he picked them I think both Stipanovich and Ehlo were outstanding value and I am curious to see how all the pieces fit together. Otherwise, you have to look at the teams that made splashes in Free Agency. Bucks, Bobcats and Chaparrals all made big signings and you have to acknowledge the improvements.
Bankz: Haven't seen a lot of post season trades that would wow or surprise you post draft. I'm happy with the moves I made to get back into the draft and move up. I think 20s had a fantastic FA haul with a little software luck attached to it. Warriors signed some FA's he should be able to flip to contenders and continue his draft capital haul.
BK: I think heebs trading for Drexler was smart, but don’t know if that counts as an offseason moves. After that, almost all the moves made sense to me. The only max player that I didn’t offer was Greek Ian, I may have misjudged his value if he can be traded to a contender for some assets.
Heebs: Obviously 20s had a great offseason, but that is mostly luck. I thought Bankz had a tremendous draft and should be a significantly better team going into next season. There was no where for the 76ers to go but up, but Bankz should be looking forward to his squad.
Skrouse: Not really, 20s made the best FA signing in Sharrar but he wasn't the only one to offer him a max deal mostly luck there. Odin retained Estes so he wasn't unlucky. Bankz had a couple of top pick that looks pretty solid thus far. Trade wise JHB seems to be taking a stab at a run by going after George. That's all that jumps out at me.
Irush: Heebs getting his hands on Clyde seems likes a great move and I was really impressed with Bankz in the draft, seemed to make good picks and comes away with some key building blocks for the future I really do feel Ellis will end up best player in the draft and the potential on Manute is through the roof to me he got both steals of the draft in those guys.
3. This season we will have a new GM joining us and they are joining in a less than desirable situation due to some rule constraints. Do you have any advice you’d like to share with Sapular as he takes over?
Majic: Being that Sapular is a close friend to both myself and druce, we have already offered a good amount of advice. The plan for him should be simple as he has a clean cap and the #1 overall pick in the next draft. He needs to sell off anything he can to obtain as many assets as possible. Take on any contracts he can to help in that but keep his cap clean for the next couple Free Agencies. I also think he should work on obtaining as much money as he can to ensure he gets as many scouts as possible before next draft. No doubt he comes into a terrible spot, losing a top 12 draft pick and his best player, but he can use the built-in assets he has to set a strong foundation for the future.
Bankz: Sapular has a close relationship to Majic and Druce, I would lean on those guys a ton. Probably the first 2 or 3 sim years PM them and ask them about every move you make till the moves you make seem common knowledge and you have total confidence in them. I've done this for a long time and I still have a few GMs I will bounce trades off of, draft prospects convo and even where I should put uppies into players. 6.0 is probably the most in depth version of Sim yet and it's a lot to take in. I see Ba is more active so this advice will also extend to him.
BK: Patience is the key, and patience isn’t as hard to have in this league as others. Seasons fly by in this league as they take approximately 21 days. That means pushing all your chips on a not-sure bet isn’t the best move for long term contention. Some people lucked into good creation/good wheel slots early. A smaller subset of those people did something with it and were able to compete. However, I don’t see any teams that are currently on top that look like they are young enough or have enough draft capital to sustain it. Dirt and Soup are obviously good GMs and could pull off some moves that keep then in contention perenially, but I think it will be a challenge. For a team like Sapular, I would recommend finding out when you have a good 3 year string of draft picks Then, you take bad contracts, you sign MAX free agents, and you sign good players to 1 year expiring deals. You accumulate the TRUE max players, and then you trade the expiring good players for draft picks that fall within your natural wheel window. Hopefully when that draft window arrives, you have 2-3 true MAX players on your roster and you hit your picks, and then you have a dynasty.
Heebs: Don't try to build a contender right away through trades. Get someone you trust other than Majic to run your FA offers by for feedback. You've got a lot of flexibility right now and you should take a look at how Ward and BK are trying to play FA to their advantage to accumulate assets for a title run.
Skrouse: Keep up the activity and just keep acquiring assets. Fortunes can change really quick in TMBSL and I think with guys like Druce and Majic in your corner, you'll be just fine. Hope you enjoy it.
Irush: Tough for me to say as I am not exactly a fountain of knowledge on this madness works. However, I would caution patience and focusing on collecting future assets and that he leans on Druce and Majic for advice as often as possible.
4. There’s been a bit of discussion about the amnesty rule and possibly changing it in the near future, do you have an opinion on these discussions and how do you feel about the rule as it stands?
Majic: Even going back to 5.0 I have been a advocate for changing the Amnesty rule. Admittedly It wasn't used a ton in 5.0 but I do have concerns going forward in 6.0 with it. There has been alot more activity and its alot easier to earn money through articles and podcasts, this means that the overall cost of an Amnesty is relatively low. Again, it didnt cause problems in 5.0 but as we have already seen in 6.0, there will be plenty of GM's willing to exploit any loopholes they can. Overall I liked the proposal to change the cost of an amnesty to match that of the contract value, with a 50k minimum. This at least forces a GM to pay a larger amount for the costly deals. I would also like to see a limit to how often it can be used, whether that's 3 years or longer.
Bankz: I think the Amnesty rule is clearly going to be abused and every advantage will be taken. You see a lot of GMs openly discuss this and will vote against changing the rule in place because it serves there roster interest more than the betterment of the league. Hopefully Eric keeps an eye on what is happening and steps in because this is one rule replacement I don't see GMs putting league before self. I think you should tweak the rule. I also think buyouts should be the adjusted. Maybe swap the restrictions of per year on those things. Its clear under the new 6.0 setup both those rules should be changed sooner vs later.
BK: I think it needs to be tightened up in some way. People say that the rule has not been abused, but FA bids are being altered BECAUSE of amnesty. People like Cletrell Pope and Tyrese Breshers get max deals because you can just amnesty them. It just distorts free agency and makes large deals have less stakes. It’s basically “easy mode”, when we should all be striving to play a more complicated/interesting game. The tradeoff is these amnesties have also driven league activity in the form of articles. I guess the league can choose which one it prefers. I think we are currently on one extreme (unlimited amnesties that cost about 1 good article), and think a middle ground might be more appropriate.
Heebs: I don't have strong feelings on amnesty. I think it should be more expensive. I believe the cost was derived back when we were making 5k per article. With inflation, we ought to consider increasing the price. I like the idea of a graduated currency cost depending on the size of the deal, but mostly would like to see the cost increase.
Skrouse: I see both sides of the argument, being on the side that was hoping for a tightening of the rule early into 6.0. I see eric's point about it driving activity in the league and not wanting to limit that. But I would still like to see it limited a little bit, maybe give every team one Amnesty per season and make it tradable. That knocks like three birds out in one stone - creates a new trade market, encourages activity to have extra skratch to trade in said market, and adds an increased expense to the GM looking to try to take advantage of the rule by having to pay to acquire more than one.
Irush: It seems to be a big point of contention recently so I think something certainly needs to be addressed. Maybe bumping up the price by 25-50% so it costs a bit more than decent article which would curtail the possibility of abusing it. It seems like a rule that has not been touched in a while, the league has changed maybe the some of the rules should too.
5. With one full season/offseason in the books, do you have any regrets on moves you have made with your team so far, if so what?
Majic: Uh, yes I 100% regret my second round creation draft pick. He was horrendous and honestly not sure why I picked him. Given how aggressive some teams were being and how fast SF's were being selected I panicked a bit and forced myself to pick a SF. Obviously he ended up being pretty terrible and thankfully I was able to move on from him. Other than that, I wish I had been more aggressive in trading back/out of the creation draft. I would prefer to have had a few more assets for the future but decided to stand and make my picks.
Bankz: Nah, I've been away for a very long time. I made a plan and executed it. It didn't land but I was able to make a bunch of trades and put myself in a good spot quickly. That's the best part of sim, an active and skilled GM can make choices to get themselves into and out of trouble quickly. The elite ones can identify when they are in a strong place, not panic when things might dip and continue on.
BK: I don’t regret any trades or draft picks so far. I do regret taking Vashil Fernandez in the 2nd round of creation, but I nailed my other two 2nd round picks and ⅔ ain’t bad.
Heebs: Not really. I'd have preferred to bring back Lazic. I was trying to get him on a long-term deal for less money thinking I might sign him while everyone else was throwing money at the bigger FAs. Other than that, I just struck out on getting folks with my minimal soft cap. Plan is to try to play spoiler in the playoffs (I won't) and see what we can do next FA.
Skrouse: After I saw the '05 draft class had Penny, I immediately regretted giving up my 1.4. Penny is one of my FOAT players, 3rd favorite for Orlando and I don't think I've ever had him in sim league. He's still attainable as that draft is a ways out and trades could be made, but having 1.4 in that class would've been sweet.
Irush: My entire creation draft outside of Dino was pretty bad. I regret it, but mainly I regret not reaching out to an experienced GM to bounce some ideas or ask for suggestions. I really did not expect people to be so open to me doing so and it really is something I wish I had tried early on the process, like immediately. The Jon Davis pick was not great, I saw A- inside scoring and really thought he would score 25 PPG and just play atrocious defense. I didn't even think of the handles/TOs being an issue. It is clear I need to spend some time learning a bit more about the software and what stats/attributes can be a bad combination for a player.
6. Looking at the rest of the league do you seen any teams that were not true title contenders last season, but might make the jump in season 2?
Majic: I am not sure if there is a team that I think truly can make the leap that werent near the top last year. If anything the Cougars are the only team that really jumps out to me. They will have 2 elite bigs and should have a high level backup in Stipo. They have also have an allstar caliber SG that can carry the load on the wing. SF looks to be the biggest question mark going forward. The PG position doesnt look great but Haynes isnt as bad as you might think. He doesnt have a strong fg% but he gets assists and doesnt turn the ball over a ton and his defense is fine. Again, I dont think the Cougars will compete but I think they will have the biggest jump.
Bankz: I don't see anyone in the west who improved enough to be a title contender. The Cougars could have put themselves into the mix with FA + his draft haul depending on TC. But I think the same 6 teams who where elite last year will once again battle for the crown this season.
BK: Not really. If you considered the Magic to not be a true title contender last year, then it’s possible they become that this season. I think the favorites are the Mavericks, Clippers, Bobcats, and Raptors as it was last year. The only team within sniffing distance of this group that improved much was the Chapparals but they probably need another season or two of seasoning.
Heebs: The Cougers, obviously. Their front court is going to be nasty and they have some assets to really improve on the wings. Other than that I think it's still the Bobs, Mavs, Raptors, and Grizzlies as the legit contenders.
Skrouse: Jhb's Hawks are pressing a little now after acquiring George, but that's about it. The West looks about the same, teams like the 76ers who had a nice draft still need time to develop and add more. But I would not be surprised at all to see ATL in the ECF or even The Finals.
Irush: To me 20s really sticks out, he got really lucky bringing Chief back and signing Sharrar to another Max, but luck is part of the process sometimes. I think he can become a contender if he finds a trade for a SF who can play some decent defense or add some efficiency on the offensive end.
7. All of you are experienced GMs who have been around for a good while, what is it about TMBSL that keeps you coming back?
Majic: I honestly still enjoy it quite a a bit and I think that has to do with the people. 5.0 got really boring and stale at the end but sticking as a GM wasnt too hard or time consuming. I am enjoying the influx of old GM's that came back for 6.0 and hope we can keep up the level of activity. Between the drama, controversies and actual team building its a great way to kill time throughout the work week.
Bankz: I only returned because Soup asked me and mentioned some of the others guys who I like on a personal level being part of the league or likely returning and I decided to give it another run. I would say my enjoyment level of 6.0 is pretty good. But I honestly don't know if I got a 40 sim run in me. I think summer is gonna be a huge challenge for me. My kids are my world and hopefully with the world opening up I want to reward them for a year of being stuffed inside a home with very little outside interaction to be a part of. I don't know what if any time that will leave for sim. But for now I'm locked in.
BK: Comradery. The sim itself is fairly interesting. However, I definitely don’t put in the kind of time into analyzing players and stat lines that some of the very best GMs do. I.e. I don’t make any spreadsheets or anything when drafting or signing free agents. I just go to the free agent page, sort by some of the stats, find some people that look good and send them offers. Same with the draft.
Heebs: Without question the GMs. It's fun building a team, but the real payoff is shooting the shit. What other place can you, 27 other humans, and a robot hang create a community where we all [mostly] get along and enjoy spending time together.
Skrouse: I think I've said this before, I really like the competition. I have been a life long athlete and up until COVID had been playing at least one game of soccer or bball or football a week. That really dialed back after having my kids and then with COVID just made it worse. It's also really nice to talk to to a bunch of guys with similar interests basically any time I want to open up my phone. <3 y'all
Irush: Obviously I am not experienced, but I really wanted to give this a shot to see if I could finally learn how it all works. I am off to a slow start, but I really do feel like I have learned some good lessons here in the beginning. Also, shout can be fun sometimes as well and that certainly adds to the value.
8. The inaugural season was a very active season with trades, going into season 2 do you see yourself being active in trading, will you look to be a buyer or a seller?
Majic: Hard to say really and I know thats a vague answer. It really depends on how well my team performs and what I can use to build for the future. Since I just had the #2 overall pick I will be waiting a couple years for another top pick, that large gap may lead to me being more aggressive in acquiring talent now. I want to keep cap flexibility so that is my #1 priority moving forward.
Bankz: I think we saw a ton of moves early on in season 1 because the title contenders wanted to get a jump. With so many key FA having to wait till day 60 to be moved I could see a lot of action going down right after sim 6. You may see a few moves early from GMs who may not want to roll the dice on a expiring contract if pre-season sucks and the early going mirrors it. I'm not sure how active I will be. I want to see TC, PS and a few sims to see where these baby sixers fall in the standings. If its promising I will 100% be in on the day 60 targets. If it seems like we got some cooking to do I will look to part ways with anything not considered core to the team.
BK: I won’t be very active this season because I don’t have a lot of stuff to move for near future assets. Bootsy will most certainly move, and I might have drafted a couple of rookie bigs that could contribute on other teams (Russell Cross, John Garris), but we will see in preseason.
Heebs: I'm probably not looking to make any big moves. If I do anything it will be to get an early pick in this year's draft to pair with Staten and Clyde. Staten is great, but he's not as young as I'd like for an A potential PG. So my window with him isn't too big and I should probably capitalize now.
Skrouse: As of right now I think I'll remain bullish and buy up what I can. I have mediocre assets outside of my roster but we'll see what I can find. Values will present themselves throughout the year, those who can pounce on them early sometimes reap big rewards.
Irush: I will be looking to sell a player or two but I am unsure as to how active I will be. I knew I wanted to clear up some cap for next year which I have done, now I am hoping to get my hands on some more currency and future picks, so selling for sure.
9. Give us your predictions for ROTY, MVP and who will win the league title.
Majic: Ellis will win ROTY because of his scoring. MVP will be the Chief and I think the Bobcats win in a rematch with the Mavs in the Finals.
Bankz: Sampson, I think he's the most day 1 ready in the draft. I could see Ellis giving him a run but I'll roll with Sampson. MVP should be Moala and league title... hmmm I will say the Clippers. Dirt hopefully will avoid the injuries and he still has a lot of prime draft capital to make a splurge in the trade market.
BK: ROTY will probably be Clyde. MIP will be Tyrese Breshers. MVP will probably be Moaluu again. I’ve already discussed my thoughts on who will win the title. Thanks for including me irush!
Heebs: Drexler for software ROTY, Ellis for GM ROTY. MVP will be Tautuaa. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 20s will be a buyer for a wing and will wind up being rewarded with a championship.
Skrouse: Antoine Carr looks really nice, good job Bankz. MVP looks like it'll come down to Moala and Bojan again, leanig toward the latter. I think out West it's the Clips and Mavs all day, Clips should be even better with a full season of Drazen. The East will most likely be represented by the Bobs again, but I think Odin would be 0-2 losing to Dirt this time.
Irush: Ellis had a beast of a preseason ad I know Bankz will do has part to pump in some uppies, so I am going to go with Ellis I think he will end up as the best player in this draft. MVP I am going Moala bear to repeat, he had a good camp considering he did not drop off so I expect his production to be just fine. For the ship, I think Dirt is the favorite, he had a top team going into the offseason and has made some solid moves that I believe will set him up to really be a threat.
This concludes this round table. Thanks to all the GMs for jumping on board to help me with this.
1. With the offseason wrapped up how do you feel about your team currently? Is there anything that gives you cause for concern? Anything you’re excited about?
Majic: I am still waiting to see TC but overall I am happy with my offseason. The biggest addition is obviously getting Sampson in the draft. I absolutely loved his attributes and think he looks like a stud. I am excited to see how PS goes and what he looks like into the season. Other than that, I mainly looked to some value depth through FA. I didnt have full max space so I wasnt focused on the big names and instead looked at guys hanging around the middle. I signed 2 guys on mid level deals that I am interested to see, both have some potential to be low level starters, or worst case strong backups. I also brought back Kevin Martin which I was happy about. I am still a couple moves away from being a contender but I like the position I have my team in moving into the second season.
Bankz: Hopeful, I touched on this before but coming out of creation draft I was very disappointed with my franchise. But a bunch of moves later and what looks like a good draft on paper I'm hopeful. The greedy GM in me would've loved to land something of value in FA and that just didn't happen but overall the roster is in a better place. Now it's dependent on a little TC magic. My three rookies and two very young creation rooks are the core of the franchise lets see how things play out.
BK: It’s a little concerning to me that I didn’t land any max free agents. I had hoped to snag a max players this season, but it didn’t come to fruition. The Bootsy signing is nice but he won’t command a large sum of assets. That makes this offseason a bit of a loss for me, as while my team didn’t get worse, it also didn’t get better.
Heebs: Other than drafting Clyde and Staten having a nice TC I had a shitty offseason. I was hoping I could get a mid-tier FA with my 5 million of soft cap space and wound up missing on everyone I tried to get. I brought back some early bird players to add depth, but I expect another 6/7 seed team in Indiana.
Skrouse: I'm feeling kinda meh, probably will be a top 3 or 4 team in the East but I'm not sure a division title is in the near future, or a repeat visit to the ECF. I'm a bit disappointed in just how negative Peppers and Schmidt's camps were. We'll see what happens.
Irush: Bad, I am clearly learning as I go here and it's not the prettiest. I think I made 2 good but possibly obvious choices in the draft, but it is clear this is a long term build that may not get interesting until a few seasons from now. I may have to pray for some luck in the FA of the near future. It was obvious I was in over my head in Creation and will be paying for that for a good time due to wheel position and some not ideal moves this past offseason.
2. Are there any GM’s who have impressed with you with their offseason moves, if so which moves?
Majic: I actually have an article prepped on this topic and I will be sharing it Friday afternoon. I won't spoil too much but there were a few teams that jumped out to me. I think the Cougars were big winners of the offseason. Obviously they had success in FA by signing Chief back and bringing in Sharrar, but I also liked the value 20's got through the draft. Based on where he picked them I think both Stipanovich and Ehlo were outstanding value and I am curious to see how all the pieces fit together. Otherwise, you have to look at the teams that made splashes in Free Agency. Bucks, Bobcats and Chaparrals all made big signings and you have to acknowledge the improvements.
Bankz: Haven't seen a lot of post season trades that would wow or surprise you post draft. I'm happy with the moves I made to get back into the draft and move up. I think 20s had a fantastic FA haul with a little software luck attached to it. Warriors signed some FA's he should be able to flip to contenders and continue his draft capital haul.
BK: I think heebs trading for Drexler was smart, but don’t know if that counts as an offseason moves. After that, almost all the moves made sense to me. The only max player that I didn’t offer was Greek Ian, I may have misjudged his value if he can be traded to a contender for some assets.
Heebs: Obviously 20s had a great offseason, but that is mostly luck. I thought Bankz had a tremendous draft and should be a significantly better team going into next season. There was no where for the 76ers to go but up, but Bankz should be looking forward to his squad.
Skrouse: Not really, 20s made the best FA signing in Sharrar but he wasn't the only one to offer him a max deal mostly luck there. Odin retained Estes so he wasn't unlucky. Bankz had a couple of top pick that looks pretty solid thus far. Trade wise JHB seems to be taking a stab at a run by going after George. That's all that jumps out at me.
Irush: Heebs getting his hands on Clyde seems likes a great move and I was really impressed with Bankz in the draft, seemed to make good picks and comes away with some key building blocks for the future I really do feel Ellis will end up best player in the draft and the potential on Manute is through the roof to me he got both steals of the draft in those guys.
3. This season we will have a new GM joining us and they are joining in a less than desirable situation due to some rule constraints. Do you have any advice you’d like to share with Sapular as he takes over?
Majic: Being that Sapular is a close friend to both myself and druce, we have already offered a good amount of advice. The plan for him should be simple as he has a clean cap and the #1 overall pick in the next draft. He needs to sell off anything he can to obtain as many assets as possible. Take on any contracts he can to help in that but keep his cap clean for the next couple Free Agencies. I also think he should work on obtaining as much money as he can to ensure he gets as many scouts as possible before next draft. No doubt he comes into a terrible spot, losing a top 12 draft pick and his best player, but he can use the built-in assets he has to set a strong foundation for the future.
Bankz: Sapular has a close relationship to Majic and Druce, I would lean on those guys a ton. Probably the first 2 or 3 sim years PM them and ask them about every move you make till the moves you make seem common knowledge and you have total confidence in them. I've done this for a long time and I still have a few GMs I will bounce trades off of, draft prospects convo and even where I should put uppies into players. 6.0 is probably the most in depth version of Sim yet and it's a lot to take in. I see Ba is more active so this advice will also extend to him.
BK: Patience is the key, and patience isn’t as hard to have in this league as others. Seasons fly by in this league as they take approximately 21 days. That means pushing all your chips on a not-sure bet isn’t the best move for long term contention. Some people lucked into good creation/good wheel slots early. A smaller subset of those people did something with it and were able to compete. However, I don’t see any teams that are currently on top that look like they are young enough or have enough draft capital to sustain it. Dirt and Soup are obviously good GMs and could pull off some moves that keep then in contention perenially, but I think it will be a challenge. For a team like Sapular, I would recommend finding out when you have a good 3 year string of draft picks Then, you take bad contracts, you sign MAX free agents, and you sign good players to 1 year expiring deals. You accumulate the TRUE max players, and then you trade the expiring good players for draft picks that fall within your natural wheel window. Hopefully when that draft window arrives, you have 2-3 true MAX players on your roster and you hit your picks, and then you have a dynasty.
Heebs: Don't try to build a contender right away through trades. Get someone you trust other than Majic to run your FA offers by for feedback. You've got a lot of flexibility right now and you should take a look at how Ward and BK are trying to play FA to their advantage to accumulate assets for a title run.
Skrouse: Keep up the activity and just keep acquiring assets. Fortunes can change really quick in TMBSL and I think with guys like Druce and Majic in your corner, you'll be just fine. Hope you enjoy it.
Irush: Tough for me to say as I am not exactly a fountain of knowledge on this madness works. However, I would caution patience and focusing on collecting future assets and that he leans on Druce and Majic for advice as often as possible.
4. There’s been a bit of discussion about the amnesty rule and possibly changing it in the near future, do you have an opinion on these discussions and how do you feel about the rule as it stands?
Majic: Even going back to 5.0 I have been a advocate for changing the Amnesty rule. Admittedly It wasn't used a ton in 5.0 but I do have concerns going forward in 6.0 with it. There has been alot more activity and its alot easier to earn money through articles and podcasts, this means that the overall cost of an Amnesty is relatively low. Again, it didnt cause problems in 5.0 but as we have already seen in 6.0, there will be plenty of GM's willing to exploit any loopholes they can. Overall I liked the proposal to change the cost of an amnesty to match that of the contract value, with a 50k minimum. This at least forces a GM to pay a larger amount for the costly deals. I would also like to see a limit to how often it can be used, whether that's 3 years or longer.
Bankz: I think the Amnesty rule is clearly going to be abused and every advantage will be taken. You see a lot of GMs openly discuss this and will vote against changing the rule in place because it serves there roster interest more than the betterment of the league. Hopefully Eric keeps an eye on what is happening and steps in because this is one rule replacement I don't see GMs putting league before self. I think you should tweak the rule. I also think buyouts should be the adjusted. Maybe swap the restrictions of per year on those things. Its clear under the new 6.0 setup both those rules should be changed sooner vs later.
BK: I think it needs to be tightened up in some way. People say that the rule has not been abused, but FA bids are being altered BECAUSE of amnesty. People like Cletrell Pope and Tyrese Breshers get max deals because you can just amnesty them. It just distorts free agency and makes large deals have less stakes. It’s basically “easy mode”, when we should all be striving to play a more complicated/interesting game. The tradeoff is these amnesties have also driven league activity in the form of articles. I guess the league can choose which one it prefers. I think we are currently on one extreme (unlimited amnesties that cost about 1 good article), and think a middle ground might be more appropriate.
Heebs: I don't have strong feelings on amnesty. I think it should be more expensive. I believe the cost was derived back when we were making 5k per article. With inflation, we ought to consider increasing the price. I like the idea of a graduated currency cost depending on the size of the deal, but mostly would like to see the cost increase.
Skrouse: I see both sides of the argument, being on the side that was hoping for a tightening of the rule early into 6.0. I see eric's point about it driving activity in the league and not wanting to limit that. But I would still like to see it limited a little bit, maybe give every team one Amnesty per season and make it tradable. That knocks like three birds out in one stone - creates a new trade market, encourages activity to have extra skratch to trade in said market, and adds an increased expense to the GM looking to try to take advantage of the rule by having to pay to acquire more than one.
Irush: It seems to be a big point of contention recently so I think something certainly needs to be addressed. Maybe bumping up the price by 25-50% so it costs a bit more than decent article which would curtail the possibility of abusing it. It seems like a rule that has not been touched in a while, the league has changed maybe the some of the rules should too.
5. With one full season/offseason in the books, do you have any regrets on moves you have made with your team so far, if so what?
Majic: Uh, yes I 100% regret my second round creation draft pick. He was horrendous and honestly not sure why I picked him. Given how aggressive some teams were being and how fast SF's were being selected I panicked a bit and forced myself to pick a SF. Obviously he ended up being pretty terrible and thankfully I was able to move on from him. Other than that, I wish I had been more aggressive in trading back/out of the creation draft. I would prefer to have had a few more assets for the future but decided to stand and make my picks.
Bankz: Nah, I've been away for a very long time. I made a plan and executed it. It didn't land but I was able to make a bunch of trades and put myself in a good spot quickly. That's the best part of sim, an active and skilled GM can make choices to get themselves into and out of trouble quickly. The elite ones can identify when they are in a strong place, not panic when things might dip and continue on.
BK: I don’t regret any trades or draft picks so far. I do regret taking Vashil Fernandez in the 2nd round of creation, but I nailed my other two 2nd round picks and ⅔ ain’t bad.
Heebs: Not really. I'd have preferred to bring back Lazic. I was trying to get him on a long-term deal for less money thinking I might sign him while everyone else was throwing money at the bigger FAs. Other than that, I just struck out on getting folks with my minimal soft cap. Plan is to try to play spoiler in the playoffs (I won't) and see what we can do next FA.
Skrouse: After I saw the '05 draft class had Penny, I immediately regretted giving up my 1.4. Penny is one of my FOAT players, 3rd favorite for Orlando and I don't think I've ever had him in sim league. He's still attainable as that draft is a ways out and trades could be made, but having 1.4 in that class would've been sweet.
Irush: My entire creation draft outside of Dino was pretty bad. I regret it, but mainly I regret not reaching out to an experienced GM to bounce some ideas or ask for suggestions. I really did not expect people to be so open to me doing so and it really is something I wish I had tried early on the process, like immediately. The Jon Davis pick was not great, I saw A- inside scoring and really thought he would score 25 PPG and just play atrocious defense. I didn't even think of the handles/TOs being an issue. It is clear I need to spend some time learning a bit more about the software and what stats/attributes can be a bad combination for a player.
6. Looking at the rest of the league do you seen any teams that were not true title contenders last season, but might make the jump in season 2?
Majic: I am not sure if there is a team that I think truly can make the leap that werent near the top last year. If anything the Cougars are the only team that really jumps out to me. They will have 2 elite bigs and should have a high level backup in Stipo. They have also have an allstar caliber SG that can carry the load on the wing. SF looks to be the biggest question mark going forward. The PG position doesnt look great but Haynes isnt as bad as you might think. He doesnt have a strong fg% but he gets assists and doesnt turn the ball over a ton and his defense is fine. Again, I dont think the Cougars will compete but I think they will have the biggest jump.
Bankz: I don't see anyone in the west who improved enough to be a title contender. The Cougars could have put themselves into the mix with FA + his draft haul depending on TC. But I think the same 6 teams who where elite last year will once again battle for the crown this season.
BK: Not really. If you considered the Magic to not be a true title contender last year, then it’s possible they become that this season. I think the favorites are the Mavericks, Clippers, Bobcats, and Raptors as it was last year. The only team within sniffing distance of this group that improved much was the Chapparals but they probably need another season or two of seasoning.
Heebs: The Cougers, obviously. Their front court is going to be nasty and they have some assets to really improve on the wings. Other than that I think it's still the Bobs, Mavs, Raptors, and Grizzlies as the legit contenders.
Skrouse: Jhb's Hawks are pressing a little now after acquiring George, but that's about it. The West looks about the same, teams like the 76ers who had a nice draft still need time to develop and add more. But I would not be surprised at all to see ATL in the ECF or even The Finals.
Irush: To me 20s really sticks out, he got really lucky bringing Chief back and signing Sharrar to another Max, but luck is part of the process sometimes. I think he can become a contender if he finds a trade for a SF who can play some decent defense or add some efficiency on the offensive end.
7. All of you are experienced GMs who have been around for a good while, what is it about TMBSL that keeps you coming back?
Majic: I honestly still enjoy it quite a a bit and I think that has to do with the people. 5.0 got really boring and stale at the end but sticking as a GM wasnt too hard or time consuming. I am enjoying the influx of old GM's that came back for 6.0 and hope we can keep up the level of activity. Between the drama, controversies and actual team building its a great way to kill time throughout the work week.
Bankz: I only returned because Soup asked me and mentioned some of the others guys who I like on a personal level being part of the league or likely returning and I decided to give it another run. I would say my enjoyment level of 6.0 is pretty good. But I honestly don't know if I got a 40 sim run in me. I think summer is gonna be a huge challenge for me. My kids are my world and hopefully with the world opening up I want to reward them for a year of being stuffed inside a home with very little outside interaction to be a part of. I don't know what if any time that will leave for sim. But for now I'm locked in.
BK: Comradery. The sim itself is fairly interesting. However, I definitely don’t put in the kind of time into analyzing players and stat lines that some of the very best GMs do. I.e. I don’t make any spreadsheets or anything when drafting or signing free agents. I just go to the free agent page, sort by some of the stats, find some people that look good and send them offers. Same with the draft.
Heebs: Without question the GMs. It's fun building a team, but the real payoff is shooting the shit. What other place can you, 27 other humans, and a robot hang create a community where we all [mostly] get along and enjoy spending time together.
Skrouse: I think I've said this before, I really like the competition. I have been a life long athlete and up until COVID had been playing at least one game of soccer or bball or football a week. That really dialed back after having my kids and then with COVID just made it worse. It's also really nice to talk to to a bunch of guys with similar interests basically any time I want to open up my phone. <3 y'all
Irush: Obviously I am not experienced, but I really wanted to give this a shot to see if I could finally learn how it all works. I am off to a slow start, but I really do feel like I have learned some good lessons here in the beginning. Also, shout can be fun sometimes as well and that certainly adds to the value.
8. The inaugural season was a very active season with trades, going into season 2 do you see yourself being active in trading, will you look to be a buyer or a seller?
Majic: Hard to say really and I know thats a vague answer. It really depends on how well my team performs and what I can use to build for the future. Since I just had the #2 overall pick I will be waiting a couple years for another top pick, that large gap may lead to me being more aggressive in acquiring talent now. I want to keep cap flexibility so that is my #1 priority moving forward.
Bankz: I think we saw a ton of moves early on in season 1 because the title contenders wanted to get a jump. With so many key FA having to wait till day 60 to be moved I could see a lot of action going down right after sim 6. You may see a few moves early from GMs who may not want to roll the dice on a expiring contract if pre-season sucks and the early going mirrors it. I'm not sure how active I will be. I want to see TC, PS and a few sims to see where these baby sixers fall in the standings. If its promising I will 100% be in on the day 60 targets. If it seems like we got some cooking to do I will look to part ways with anything not considered core to the team.
BK: I won’t be very active this season because I don’t have a lot of stuff to move for near future assets. Bootsy will most certainly move, and I might have drafted a couple of rookie bigs that could contribute on other teams (Russell Cross, John Garris), but we will see in preseason.
Heebs: I'm probably not looking to make any big moves. If I do anything it will be to get an early pick in this year's draft to pair with Staten and Clyde. Staten is great, but he's not as young as I'd like for an A potential PG. So my window with him isn't too big and I should probably capitalize now.
Skrouse: As of right now I think I'll remain bullish and buy up what I can. I have mediocre assets outside of my roster but we'll see what I can find. Values will present themselves throughout the year, those who can pounce on them early sometimes reap big rewards.
Irush: I will be looking to sell a player or two but I am unsure as to how active I will be. I knew I wanted to clear up some cap for next year which I have done, now I am hoping to get my hands on some more currency and future picks, so selling for sure.
9. Give us your predictions for ROTY, MVP and who will win the league title.
Majic: Ellis will win ROTY because of his scoring. MVP will be the Chief and I think the Bobcats win in a rematch with the Mavs in the Finals.
Bankz: Sampson, I think he's the most day 1 ready in the draft. I could see Ellis giving him a run but I'll roll with Sampson. MVP should be Moala and league title... hmmm I will say the Clippers. Dirt hopefully will avoid the injuries and he still has a lot of prime draft capital to make a splurge in the trade market.
BK: ROTY will probably be Clyde. MIP will be Tyrese Breshers. MVP will probably be Moaluu again. I’ve already discussed my thoughts on who will win the title. Thanks for including me irush!
Heebs: Drexler for software ROTY, Ellis for GM ROTY. MVP will be Tautuaa. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 20s will be a buyer for a wing and will wind up being rewarded with a championship.
Skrouse: Antoine Carr looks really nice, good job Bankz. MVP looks like it'll come down to Moala and Bojan again, leanig toward the latter. I think out West it's the Clips and Mavs all day, Clips should be even better with a full season of Drazen. The East will most likely be represented by the Bobs again, but I think Odin would be 0-2 losing to Dirt this time.
Irush: Ellis had a beast of a preseason ad I know Bankz will do has part to pump in some uppies, so I am going to go with Ellis I think he will end up as the best player in this draft. MVP I am going Moala bear to repeat, he had a good camp considering he did not drop off so I expect his production to be just fine. For the ship, I think Dirt is the favorite, he had a top team going into the offseason and has made some solid moves that I believe will set him up to really be a threat.
This concludes this round table. Thanks to all the GMs for jumping on board to help me with this.
