76ers/Scott Pilgrim Press Conference

[Scott Pilgrim]

There hasn't been a press conference post/reply in a while, so... why not?



fire away

[Paul Pierce]

You’re on a 2 game losing streak. That’s not a big deal to most teams but losing those 2 games hurts your chance at a 74-8 record. Are you at all worried about dropping 2 in a row? In my hundreds of sims, that has never happened to your team. Also, you are the title favorite by far. Who are your top 3 teams you worry about that can take the title from you this year?

[Scott Pilgrim]

May 12, 2020 9:48:35 GMT -5 Paul Pierce said:

You’re on a 2 game losing streak. That’s not a big deal to most teams but losing those 2 games hurts your chance at a 74-8 record. Are you at all worried about dropping 2 in a row? In my hundreds of sims, that has never happened to your team. Also, you are the title favorite by far. Who are your top 3 teams you worry about that can take the title from you this year?

Losing 2 games in a row, in my book, is OK. But if we were to lose 3 in a row, it would be quite a cause for concern. For certain, I would change my team's current rotation, and possibly look for new front court options to maybe replace old man Tyson Chandler.

Right now the goal is 70+ wins, which should still be doable despite this 2 game losing streak. Best record we can get right now is 75-7, but I'm just aiming to break the d720 win record which I don't even know? Maybe can someone enlighten me.

And now to the top 3 teams I feel have a chance to win against us in a 7 game series.


1.  Golden State Warriors:

It's close between Warriors and the Bulls, but I had to go with the defending champs. The injury to Steph has hurt their regular season record, but they may even be the better team this year in the playoffs with the acquisition of Malcom Brogdon, he is doing amazing in the sim right now. They're definitely gonna be scary if they make it out of the west.

2.  Chicago Bulls:

The young core of Devin Booker, KAT and John Collins was already scary, add Chris Paul to the mix and they have a good chance of causing an upset. Right now they need a good surrounding support cast of role players, but they'll probably be the #1 team in D720 in 3 years as Harden and Lillard age.

3.  Cleveland Cavaliers /  Washington Wizards:

The Cavs beat us in our matchup in the 2019 D720 Playoffs, and despite Klay Thompson's injury, Giannis can possibly lift this team up against us once again.

The Wizards have beaten us recently, and have COVID Patient Zero Rudy Gobert and Jonathon Issac guarding the paint alongside multiple great role players such as Covington, VanVleet, Ingles. 2014-2015 NBA Atlanta Hawks-lite, a lot of parallels, Dynamic PGs in VanVleet-Teague, Sharpshooters in Ingles-Korver, 3ND Wing in Covington-Carroll, and a great frontcourt in Issac-Millsap and Gobert-Horford.

[Steve Jobs]

May 12, 2020 11:39:46 GMT -5 Scott Pilgrim said:

May 12, 2020 9:48:35 GMT -5 Paul Pierce said:

You’re on a 2 game losing streak. That’s not a big deal to most teams but losing those 2 games hurts your chance at a 74-8 record. Are you at all worried about dropping 2 in a row? In my hundreds of sims, that has never happened to your team. Also, you are the title favorite by far. Who are your top 3 teams you worry about that can take the title from you this year?

Losing 2 games in a row, in my book, is OK. But if we were to lose 3 in a row, it would be quite a cause for concern. For certain, I would change my team's current rotation, and possibly look for new front court options to maybe replace old man Tyson Chandler.

Right now the goal is 70+ wins, which should still be doable despite this 2 game losing streak. Best record we can get right now is 75-7, but I'm just aiming to break the d720 win record which I don't even know? Maybe can someone enlighten me.

And now to the top 3 teams I feel have a chance to win against us in a 7 game series.


1.  Golden State Warriors:

It's close between Warriors and the Bulls, but I had to go with the defending champs. The injury to Steph has hurt their regular season record, but they may even be the better team this year in the playoffs with the acquisition of Malcom Brogdon, he is doing amazing in the sim right now. They're definitely gonna be scary if they make it out of the west.

2.  Chicago Bulls:

The young core of Devin Booker, KAT and John Collins was already scary, add Chris Paul to the mix and they have a good chance of causing an upset. Right now they need a good surrounding support cast of role players, but they'll probably be the #1 team in D720 in 3 years as Harden and Lillard age.

3.  Cleveland Cavaliers /  Washington Wizards:

The Cavs beat us in our matchup in the 2019 D720 Playoffs, and despite Klay Thompson's injury, Giannis can possibly lift this team up against us once again.

The Wizards have beaten us recently, and have COVID Patient Zero Rudy Gobert and Jonathon Issac guarding the paint alongside multiple great role players such as Covington, VanVleet, Ingles. 2014-2015 NBA Atlanta Hawks-lite, a lot of parallels, Dynamic PGs in VanVleet-Teague, Sharpshooters in Ingles-Korver, 3ND Wing in Covington-Carroll, and a great frontcourt in Issac-Millsap and Gobert-Horford.

Oh lawd, OKC comin’

[Brian Scalabrine]

Outside of Dame and Harden, which guys on your team do you think will be mainstays for this title window?

And

What would it take either salary cap wise or performance wise to see you make a roster reshuffle? (Move most of the non Dame/Harden guys)

[Shaq O'Neal]

How long do you think you can be a legit title contender?

If the Steph trade had passed,how would your approach to the season change?

Do you plan to keep Fox around as a 6th man since you have Lillard and Harden as your backcourt or should we expect a move that gets you a starting wing or big for Fox

[Jackie Kong]

I have 2 questions on behalf of the 'Free McGee' Fan Club.

3 seasons ago, evil interim GM Jackie Kong forced Javale McGee to sign a ridiculously low 4 years contract. Word is that he used unaired 'Shaqtin' A Fool' footage to extort him but that was never actually proved.

McGee is now in his last year of that contract earning less than the league minimum so I ask the following:

How valuable is Javale for your team this season? And are you planning to offer him a lucrative contract to compensate for all the wrong that Kong did to him?

[Shaq O'Neal]

You traded the Utah 2020 pick+Gafford+Hutchinson+Howard for Drummond.
In real life, Drummond was traded for a 2nd round pick.

Do you regret that trade or the fact that you are the favourite to win it all makes that trade worth it?

[Scott Pilgrim]

May 12, 2020 14:38:38 GMT -5 Brian Scalabrine said:

Outside of Dame and Harden, which guys on your team do you think will be mainstays for this title window?

And

What would it take either salary cap wise or performance wise to see you make a roster reshuffle? (Move most of the non Dame/Harden guys)

Those are two very good questions Brian.
By answering them, I might be revealing my deep plans for this team, but I'm willing to do it.

For the first question.

Regarding the guys outside of Dame and Harden, I consider Drummond the only real safe mainstay, (considering I traded a whole lot for him, I have to stay with my decision ahah.) And also thinking about it, I'm not too sure if Lillard may be a mainstay after all.

This answer might surprise a few people, that I didn't say Fox. But the reality is that I have a whole lot of options in regards to how I approach the backcourt of my team. Theres a current and inevitable logjam in the backcourt right now, (especially in the PG position) with Harden being the constant SG, and Lillard and Fox competing for the PG position. I also have two very good prospects in Simons and Brunson who I think will continue to both grow into reliable starting PGs. 

Option 1: Supermax Lillard, Max and make Fox backup again, trade Simons and Brunson.
Option 2: Trade Lillard for SF/PF/C, Max Fox, upgrade Brunson/Simons to backup role. 
Option 3: Supermax Lillard, Trade Fox for SF/PF/C, upgrade Brunson/Simons to backup role.

Trading Lillard will hurt the title chances right now, and it would be stupid to considering how well this team is doing. 

Trading Fox will hurt the future of this team, unless I get back value equal to him in terms of potential and current ability. His ability and his stats relative to his small contract is immense. Especially for a team that is very close to luxury tax concerns. It's hard to find a trade (outside of a potential John Collins trade, but why help a current title contender  ) that will value me, since I would have to receive a player that is close to his current ability + a small contract, and that's very rare to find. I can't trade Fox for a player with a big contract, since I have no bad contracts to pair with Fox.

So that makes me go around in circles on what to do, my brain thinks trade Lillard, as he's aging and I have to pay him the supermax money and an injury can happen out of anywhere. My gut says trade Fox as his value is at his fullest before his RFA, but I have no idea on what other young players are available for him. And my hearts says keep both lmao.

[billy]

Do you want to live in AUS your whole life?

[Scott Pilgrim]

May 12, 2020 14:38:38 GMT -5 Brian Scalabrine said:

What would it take either salary cap wise or performance wise to see you make a roster reshuffle? (Move most of the non Dame/Harden guys)

A roster reshuffle would most likely happen due to salary cap concerns, with having to deal with two supermax contracts of Lillard and Harden alongside, an inevitable max contract to Fox, with also a sizeable contract having to be given to Drummond.

If you look at my roster, I focus on having role players that are a bang for their buck. If you notice, outside of Harden, Lillard and Drummond, the next most expensive contracts are Bogdanovic at 5,520,000 and Fox at 4,417,000 respectively. That's two 20ppg scorers for around 10m in cap hit.

The rest of my team are on minimums. 

I guess I'll have to do a roster reshuffle every time my players are at the end of their contracts, cause players do tend to get overpaid, and if I match that, my current system will be in ruin.

I'll be in an eternal revolving door of letting some of my favourite role players go in the off-season, while actively searching for new bargains to replace those who leave.

Which is fun .

It lead to my personal favourite trade, and probably my best.

 PHI trade:
De'Anthony Melton $1,859,800 $2,178,200 $2,281,900 $3,514,126 $5,011,144
Dorian Finney-Smith $2,250,000 $2,250,000 $2,250,000
Unprotected PHI 2020 1st Round Pick
2023 TOR 2nd Round Pick

Dead Contract
Marcus Thornton 3,480,000 3,480,000

Total: $7,908,200

 CHA trade:
Bojan Bogdanovic $6,510,000 $5,520,000 $5,520,000

Dead Contract
Isaiah Austin $1,000,000 $1,000,000

Total: $6,520,000 x 125% = $8,150,000

[Scott Pilgrim]

May 13, 2020 1:53:12 GMT -5 Shaq O'Neal said:

How long do you think you can be a legit title contender?

If the Steph trade had passed,how would your approach to the season change?

Do you plan to keep Fox around as a 6th man since you have Lillard and Harden as your backcourt or should we expect a move that gets you a starting wing or big for Fox

Realistically speaking, I probably have a 5-6 year window of top contendership, by then Lillard/Harden would be reaching Lebron/CP3 age. Without any changes by that time we would still be in active playoff team but I'm guessing other teams will rise up during this time.

If the Steph Curry trade passed, it's wouldn't of mattered too much. I probably would've been around the 3rd seed in the East instead of competing for 70+ wins, and even anyway Curry came back in the regular season so it wouldn't of mattered too much in the playoffs. Though I probably might've made a mid-season trade for a backup PG, like a Rondo.

My prior reply to Scal probably answers the last question. 

[Brian Scalabrine]

Scott Pilgrim

Does the Bojan injury change how you approach the rest of the season?

[Scott Pilgrim]

May 19, 2020 11:25:52 GMT -5 Brian Scalabrine said:

Scott Pilgrim

Does the Bojan injury change how you approach the rest of the season?

I'll get to the other questions soon enough, just been busy with 2K recently, but I'll answer this one real quick since its topical.

The Bojan injury certainly has caused me to broaden my views and percieve different ways I can go about things, Bojan is a 20ppg player and when you lose someone like that for the rest of the season and the playoffs it's a definite shock to the system.

Without Bojan we're still a top contender for the title. But that big lead we've had over the other teams such as Warriors, Thunder and Bulls have shortened. 

I have to approach every opportunity available to make the best of this situation. 

That's why I've come to officially announce that I'm fielding offers for Damien Lillard as of now. 

It's 85% likely that I'll keep him, this isn't a 'I want him off the team sort of thing', it's a exploring every option thing. 
He'll have a steep price though, I want high potential young players who are already performing to a high standard in the league, or all-star/star/superstar talent.

I just want to reiterate that I'm probably sure that Lillard will remain a 76er, but I just want to see what's out there in terms of his value.