Post by Jackie Kong on Aug 25, 2020 8:12:27 GMT -5
D720 MOST AWESOME GUIDE TO SEASON RESTART
So, You are probably aware by now that D720 Season is about to return and it has been almost 3 months since our last game so I can't blame if you don't even remember who your 6th man is.
But don't worry! The Kong is here to refresh your memory and keep you updated with everything you need to know and everything you probably don't want to hear... jk...
But don't worry! The Kong is here to refresh your memory and keep you updated with everything you need to know and everything you probably don't want to hear... jk...
GAMES LEFT
2 months ago, we voted on whether we should adopt a 'Bubble' format or keep the original Schedule. After a heated debate, it was decided to stay put with teams now having between 18 and 19 games left for the Regular Season.
CURRENT STANDINGS
EAST PLAYOFFS TEAMS
# TEAM W L STK L10
1 76ers 57 7 +8 8-2
2 BULLS 45 19 +3 7-3
3 WIZARDS 42 22 -2 5-5
4 HAWKS 42 23 +4 7-3
5 CAVALIERS 36 26 -4 3-7
6 RAPTORS 34 30 -1 6-4
7 NETS 34 30 -1 5-5
8 MAGIC 30 33 +2 5-5
WEST PLAYOFFS TEAMS
# TEAM W L STK L10
1 THUNDER 43 20 +5 9-1
2 TIMBERWOLVES 43 21 -5 4-6
3 ROCKETS 41 22 +12 10-0
4 WARRIORS 41 22 -1 6-4
5 TRAILBLAZERS 38 25 -1 7-3
6 MAVERICKS 38 26 +1 7-3
7 LAKERS 37 27 +3 8-2
8 PELICANS 35 28 -1 6-4
LOTTERY RACE
# TEAM W L STK L10
1 CLIPPERS 10 54 -1 3-7
2 HORNETS 13 50 +1 3-7
3 CELTICS (TOP 3 P) 15 48 -8 1-9
4 PISTONS (VIA IND) 17 46 +1 3-7
5 HEAT 17 46 +1 3-7
6 PISTONS (LOTTERY P) 20 44 +1 2-8
7 CELTICS (VIA UTA) 21 42 -4 2-8
8 KINGS 25 38 -3 4-6
9 SUNS 26 37 -1 2-8
10 KNICKS (LOTTERY P) 27 37 +1 3-7
11 SPURS 27 37 +2 7-3
12 BUCKS 30 33 +1 5-5
13 CLIPPERS (VIA DEN) 33 30 -2 4-6
14 GRIZZLIES 35 29 -2 5-5KEY DATES
"(In-Game Date) Day 65: Only teams who have not qualified for the playoffs may trade after this date"
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We stopped at Day 70 so this has been a thing for a while now with only 76ers prohibited from trading.
So there are a couple of ways to establish if a team clinched or not with some being more precise than others. What I think we use is the following comparison:
.....................................................
If Team Wins > #9 seed Team Wins + #9 seed Team Games Left
Then, Team clinched (made the Playoffs)
.....................................................
Comparison should say 'any non-Playoffs team' rather than '#9 seed' but we usually have a distance of 1 game between teams so '#9 seed' is good enough (in the context of the comparison).
For the West, #9 seed is Grizzlies with 35 wins and 18 games left while #1 seed Thunder has 43 wins. That means that Thunder could clinch as soon as in 5 games if Grizzlies loses and Thunder wins all of them. Same would be true for Timberwolves that stand #2 also with 43 wins.
For the East, #9 seed is Bucks with 30 wins and 19 games left with #1 being 76ers with 57 wins. Bucks will have at most 49 wins which is why 76ers already clinched. Next should be Bulls with 45 wins meaning they could technically qualify in 3 games.
2nd important important deadline is the one for expirings.
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"(In-Game Date) Day 75: Trade Deadline for all players with expiring contracts. No expiring players can be traded. This does not include dead money contracts"
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Only thing to note about this one is that includes contracts with a 2nd year option; And if it is a TO, it must be converted before the trade.
-------------------------------------------
We stopped at Day 70 so this has been a thing for a while now with only 76ers prohibited from trading.
So there are a couple of ways to establish if a team clinched or not with some being more precise than others. What I think we use is the following comparison:
.....................................................
If Team Wins > #9 seed Team Wins + #9 seed Team Games Left
Then, Team clinched (made the Playoffs)
.....................................................
Comparison should say 'any non-Playoffs team' rather than '#9 seed' but we usually have a distance of 1 game between teams so '#9 seed' is good enough (in the context of the comparison).
For the West, #9 seed is Grizzlies with 35 wins and 18 games left while #1 seed Thunder has 43 wins. That means that Thunder could clinch as soon as in 5 games if Grizzlies loses and Thunder wins all of them. Same would be true for Timberwolves that stand #2 also with 43 wins.
For the East, #9 seed is Bucks with 30 wins and 19 games left with #1 being 76ers with 57 wins. Bucks will have at most 49 wins which is why 76ers already clinched. Next should be Bulls with 45 wins meaning they could technically qualify in 3 games.
2nd important important deadline is the one for expirings.
-------------------------------------------
"(In-Game Date) Day 75: Trade Deadline for all players with expiring contracts. No expiring players can be traded. This does not include dead money contracts"
-------------------------------------------
Only thing to note about this one is that includes contracts with a 2nd year option; And if it is a TO, it must be converted before the trade.
INJURIES
After selecting on how Season should continue, we had a 2nd vote on what to do with injuries and it was decided that only players that were discarded for the Season would miss Restart.
When it comes to injuries, the break had both winners and losers.
Biggest winners probably are the Warriors that will have both Curry and Holmes back sooner than expected. This could possibly translate into Playoffs Home Advantage for them.
Biggest losers are, without a doubt, the Thunder that will be without Bradley Beal and Ben Simmons. Before the break, they were 1st in the West with a 5 games winning streak so injuries came at the worst possible moment.
When it comes to injuries, the break had both winners and losers.
Biggest winners probably are the Warriors that will have both Curry and Holmes back sooner than expected. This could possibly translate into Playoffs Home Advantage for them.
Biggest losers are, without a doubt, the Thunder that will be without Bradley Beal and Ben Simmons. Before the break, they were 1st in the West with a 5 games winning streak so injuries came at the worst possible moment.
MOST NOTABLE TRANSACTION
Biggest trade of the break came early on when Hawks moved for Anthony Davis sending a package that included Bam Adebayo and Victor Oladipo. Trade was pretty dramatic too as it involved a heated exchange and it was re-posted about 2 times because its complexity made salaries hard to match and required 3 different teams involved.
TRENDING
UP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------76ers: Philly spent the past 3 month as a sad camper without being able to trade and with Bojan going down; And yet, they are on the rise because they remain one or two steps above the competition.
Hawks: John decided to make the team his own and with that in mind, he pretty much replaced the whole thing except for his precious LeBron. With Davis and DeRozan on board plus a not terrible supporting cast, Hawks should be a team to keep an eye on.
Mavericks: Unlike most teams during the break, Mavs went for some veterans that should increase their odds even if slim. With Thunder going down, West should be a wide open race.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Bulls: Before the break, Chicago made a couple of moves that positioned them as a solid #2 behind Philly and the stop could have been an opportunity for them to close the gap but that didn't happen as they stayed put.
Timberwolves: For the 1st time in many seasons, the Wolves had a chance to compete in the West but their GM decided it was a better idea to call it quit only to try to return later and then, delete his account before he got the team.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOWN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Thunder: It is not really their fault that Beal and Simmons went down but injuries are going to hurt.
Rockets: They were the hottest team before the break with a 12 games streak but then, Aldridge went down and that changed their plans completely.
THE TANKING RACE
More than anything, the break saw teams already preparing for the Draft and Free Agency and it wasn't just the bottom teams but also some in the Playoffs Race.
Lakers, for example, traded back for their 2020 1st pick and afterward moved for some more cap space and players that will most likely move them away from Playoffs; But they pretty much freed up a max slot for 2021 so you can't really blame them for trying. Another team that went for some extra cap space was the Cavs. Lakers and Cavs have superstars in Leonard and Giannis respectively so that could be the start of a plan for both.
As for the tanking teams it was actually kind of weird because some went or at least tried to trade for win now players which is funny because they probably tried harder than some Playoffs teams. One could say some of those felt the dominant presence of the 76ers a bit too much, lol. But moving back to the bottom teams, you got Clippers moving for PJ Tucker, Celtics going for Gallinari and Pacers attempting for Kevin Love and company although Pacers didn't own a pick for this season; Plus for Celtics, situation is even more complex than with the others because they will get their 1st this season only if it is top 3. With the new Lottery odds, all 3 bottom teams get the same odds at top 3 so they probably want to stay down.
Lakers, for example, traded back for their 2020 1st pick and afterward moved for some more cap space and players that will most likely move them away from Playoffs; But they pretty much freed up a max slot for 2021 so you can't really blame them for trying. Another team that went for some extra cap space was the Cavs. Lakers and Cavs have superstars in Leonard and Giannis respectively so that could be the start of a plan for both.
As for the tanking teams it was actually kind of weird because some went or at least tried to trade for win now players which is funny because they probably tried harder than some Playoffs teams. One could say some of those felt the dominant presence of the 76ers a bit too much, lol. But moving back to the bottom teams, you got Clippers moving for PJ Tucker, Celtics going for Gallinari and Pacers attempting for Kevin Love and company although Pacers didn't own a pick for this season; Plus for Celtics, situation is even more complex than with the others because they will get their 1st this season only if it is top 3. With the new Lottery odds, all 3 bottom teams get the same odds at top 3 so they probably want to stay down.
THE LUXURY
One of the trending topics early on was cap next Season and whether it would go down or not. And attached to that, there was the situation of those teams that were over the Luxury. Long story short, it was debated if a lower cap combined with tax penalty could be too much for some teams but it was concluded that those should use the break to figure things up and they did for the most part.
This issue was particularly true for teams projected to have a big Payroll next season like Thunder, Blazers and Warriors. Of those 3, Thunder and Blazers got under but Warriors still hasn't and they probably wont given how over the luxury line they are. They are projected to pay double tax so this could mean the end of the journey for them.
Then, there are teams like Nuggets and Clippers that might need to pay tax but it wouldn't make much of a difference if they are not going to compete next season.
And finally you got the Nets. They should be mentioned with the other 3 compromised teams but they get their own paragraph because they don't trade. They might want to reconsider that or else they probably will face themselves against Luxury and Hard Cap in the near future.
This issue was particularly true for teams projected to have a big Payroll next season like Thunder, Blazers and Warriors. Of those 3, Thunder and Blazers got under but Warriors still hasn't and they probably wont given how over the luxury line they are. They are projected to pay double tax so this could mean the end of the journey for them.
Then, there are teams like Nuggets and Clippers that might need to pay tax but it wouldn't make much of a difference if they are not going to compete next season.
And finally you got the Nets. They should be mentioned with the other 3 compromised teams but they get their own paragraph because they don't trade. They might want to reconsider that or else they probably will face themselves against Luxury and Hard Cap in the near future.
So, that's all for this guide! Hope you found it useful and happy Restart!
Oklahoma City Thunder
Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers
Dallas Mavericks
