The rosters are updated on p. 1.

Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating. Peace on earth, yo.

Dh I sent you a sitemail.

Any1 doing evals?

I was wondering the same thing.

I'll do them, will piece them together in the next 72 hours

The format for these DH 52 evals will be as follows:


1 Things I like, in no particular order
2 Things I don't like, in no particular order
3 General prediction which will be vague enough that I can't really be held to it down the road
4 Random thought this team generated

longtallbrad – Wilt Chamberlain, Anfernee Hardaway, Mookie Blaylock, Gerald Wallace, Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, Greg Monroe
1 Common mistake with Wilt is to not support with more rebounding- you didn't fall into this by taking Boozer to play alongside him. Nice backcourt- they won't get lit up. Balanced scoring between inside and outside. LTB is a veteran drafter and his pairing with the best player in the sim is concerning.
2 Is there enough scoring here? my inclination is that the defense is also kinda soft.
3 Wilt will carry this team over .500. I don't see it getting a bye unless the division is very friendly. Playoff bound on the LTB/Dipper pair alone
4 "Wilt, 1962" was a really good read. Insight into the season, the franchise, and what is was like for all involved that year. I recommend it. Second thought, I have a Penny poster framed "heaven cent" from probably 1997. Available and interesting trades will be considered.
copernicus – Lebron James, Bob McAdoo, Bill Russell, Clyde Drexler, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess, Roy Tarpley
1 Clever lineup around LeBron. Years ago McAdoo wasn't highly drafted, I have no idea why. He's a good 2nd option here. Strong rebounding across the zones. I don't think this team will blow people out, but the rebounding and defense will keep possessions tight.
2 The idea that two crafty dudes get to take Wilt and then LeBron back to back. What the heck happened last year?! I would be a little worried about McDyess shooting more than he should, and being a human buzzsaw but that's why he's a 6th round selection with the other buzzsaw Roy Tarpley. If these 6th round picks were cleaner I'd feel better.
3 Playoffs- need the point differential to match up with what it looks like it could be on paper.
4 In my youth I collected basketball autographs. In 2003 had a little extra cash on hand and wanted to invest in a signed ball of either Yao or LeBron. Keep in mind, LeBron was still at St V/St M and this was 8 months before the draft. I chose Yao...yikes!

sixernuggets – John Stockton, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Mel Daniels, A.C. Green, Rick Barry, Jon Barry
1 There is balanced usage here, and plenty of passing. Rebounding looks OK. Mel Daniels was prob available in the final round but he rebounds like a MF and will pull some weight off of Duncan.
2 Stockton was taken too high, obviously, but I'm not going to knock Sixer for taking who he wants when he wants. It's his money. TMac is a defensive liability in this league. Despite being a volume shooter in a clean game, he's also not efficient. Could work next to Stockton. Could be tough to appropriately backup Duncan with who else was drafted. Duncan season is crucial.
3 I don't know. I guess it's a possible playoff team? Would be weird to whiff on the third overall pick, still end up with Duncan...it's confusing. Moving on.
4 Don't sleep on John Stockton in NBA Jam (arcade, obvs)...he is the perfect teammate to Karl Malone- who I think is the best player in the game. Group of buddies started out at Barcade for a bachelor party a few years ago, we put the first two bar tabs on the line in a 2v2 game of NBA Jam. Needless to say, I wouldn't be telling you this story if the mikee1 led Jazz didn't win it by 30 and drink for free for 3 hours.

sappy – Stephen Curry, Andre Drummond, Bill Walton, Bo Outlaw, Jrue Holiday, Robert Covington, John Henson
1 That front court can rebound (for 60 mins a game haha)...Holiday is a nice player. Is there enough passing alongside Curry? I think you're close. Could be fun with Walton and Drum catching the misses.
2 There isn't a drafted player who plays enough mins at his position. Curry, Drummond, Walton, all kind of light on mins. I think this league needs top quality mins as deep as you can go. Your bench will be more crucial than most.
3 I don't see it, I might be wrong, but I think sappy will need to be a master of bench drafting to get a quality 48x5 out of this start. This is the perfect year to try though, as the new players added will make the undrafted players unusually deep
4 When the ASG was in New York in 1998, I went to the "All Star Jam Session" at the Javitz Center. I saw Bill Walton walk into a mens room, and ran to buy a Walton 8x10 at a stand nearby. I waited outside the bathroom with my sharpie, fresh 8x10 and childlike exuberance. Bill came out, I stopped him, asked for the autograph, and he took the pen and picture. I said "wait did you wash your hands??" and he said "Most certainly, young man" in that deep Walton voice

Nice start mikee. My team is a mess.

vancem – Michael Jordan, Shawn Marion, Patrick Ewing, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Bogut, Clifford Ray, Rodrigue Beaubois
1 Defense looks great. I do like the Bogut/Ray platoon next to Ewing, I think that will be stacked up rebounding which will help offset his lower creb. I tried to trade Vance for Ewing, thinking DAJ would be the perfect sidekick for Ewing, but couldn't make a compelling offer. This team will be tough.
2 Lots of fouls. Really no threes outside of Marion and 8 MPG of Roddy. Is the MJ curse real? Soft offensive rebounding due to Marion/Ewing.
3 Christ I don't know. Vance probably has a good idea how this will come together. Frankly if it was someone other than Jordan and Cheeks I might think this is a stronger team. I'm not sure who though.
4 Growing up a Knicks fan, I really never liked Jordan. I respect him, sure, but some confimation bias told me I was right as I got to know more about him (and more comes out). One cool podcast though, covers the topic of the "retirement" (suspension) and his father's murder. Here is the link https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cadence13/what-really-happened/e/52233390?autoplay=true

jhsukow – Dennis Rodman, Kawhi Leonard, Al Horford, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Mason, Damian Lillard, Ryan Anderson
1 Leonard's Laugh will be funny for some time, but this start is really interesting. If using new Horford, Rodman is a good combo with Leonard. Mason will give you quality minutes with minimal negatives. Lillard a supersub backup. I wish Leonard played more minutes, he'd be a really fun guy for me to use. Rodman teams can be tough to build despite the "well my rebounding is covered" thinking, and this is definitely a fresh take. Kudos JH!
2 Light on minutes outside of Rodman and Mase- are they both starters? Westbrook is a nightmare, if you're aiming to dominate the glass this team will be intriguing but there will be many turnovers in your future with Westbrook pulling the ball away from Kawhi.
3 Missing the playoffs
4 Many of these random thoughts are from my childhood. How strange. Anthony Mason was arrested for statutory rape in 1998 as a Charlotte Hornet. His next appearance in the Garden was a few days later (I believe)...I snuck in a sign that said "Mase she was only 14!" and held it up. Garden security had that sign out of my hands in about three minutes.


beachhouse – Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, Kevin Love, Jose Calderon, Kris Humphries, Charlie Edge
1 Shaq could be a playoff-pulling force for any team, assuming he's supported with some key players around him. Payton will keep the ball moving for 42-43 min a game. I am personally a fan of his in the sim for a few reasons- strong D, solid rebounding for a PG, TONS of minutes, and low TO for all those possessions. He can shoot you out of a game but he does provide an advantage when your opponent is playing a backup PG and Payton is dogging him for a few of those minutes.
2 Key players surrounding Shaq are important (see above) but I think Kobe and Kevin aren't the right guys. Kobe is such a chucker, he's going to limit how often Shaq can shoot. Payton next to Kobe isn't great either, diluting the good stuff your first pick brings. Kevin Love can shoot a three which is nice, good rebounding but terrible D next to Shaq. Edge is probably the plan to help out there, as he's 100% at SF-C. Also, there's just so much usage.
3 Missing playoffs and I bet beachhouse reconsiders Mamba going forward.
4 "Blue Chips" is an underrated sports movie. Nick Nolte is awesome in it, the sound track is great, and there are two dozen fun cameos. So many good lines in the movie, but Rick Pitino applauding a referee's call "that's what makes you a good official" is what jumps out right away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oAIVuFPUdQ

samuelyork93 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elton Brand, Tyson Chandler, Paul George, Walt Frazier, Jamaal Tinsley, Ed Davis
1 Kareem is so good. I commend going so frontcourt heavy in this draft- this is a unit not to be trifled with. Frazier was such a steal for your 5th pick. Tinsley a good backup. Defense will be very strong.
2 I wish there was a little more passing for Kareem. Second, I need a reason to not play this team -2/-3. PG13 doesn't talk me out of it, neither does Clyde. Luckily, with Kareem I think you might not need a great 3pt attack.
3 Playoffs!
4 I wish Clyde's color commentary was as appreciated throughout the country as it is in NY. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/walt-frazier-quotes-rhymes-new-york-knicks-fans

I'll keep pushing them out in blocks of four

but some eval feedback would be motivating! Let's hear what the lurkers think

Of these, I like sam and copernicus' teams the most. I thought LTB was a lock to take Penny and Klay. Mookie is a little less satisfying, at least for me.

edit: is there a cheap Rick Barry backup with respectable efficiency I'm forgetting?

I feel less confident in my playoff chances after seeing all of these rosters. They all look like they have the potential to be good. SamYork’s front court is crazy too.

nice work mikee1

Thanks for doing evals, mikee. I like the format.

I don’t mind sixer’s Stockton pick. He’s an elite player in this league. We all put in our $10 and should be able to pick the players we like. And I wouldn’t have made the trade for Duncan (I know he wanted Moses), but it worked out. Until the Rick Barry pick. I don’t see how any of his seasons are useful in this league.

Sam's frontcourt is terrifying , evals are interesting and love the random thoughts