u/Single-Knowledge4839

Through the years, there have been a few spreadsheets or calculators posted here, which provided varying degrees of help in decision-making.

I use them a bit as well (mostly ahead of the Draft), but in general, my main help has been an Advanced Stats table I run, where the main factor is the WS/48 stat, in general, the one I think is the most trustworthy (at least in BBGM, and I continue hoping that u/dumbmatter will add it to Player and Comparison cards sooner than later).

For people not using WS/48 before, when I have a Top3 team in the league, my rule of thumb is:
- I expect my Max Player to have it around 0.30 or more.
- I expect players earning 10-20% of the Cap to hover around 0.20
- Other rotational players should be above 0.10, with 0.075 being the last acceptable line.
I also added some other stats I tend to look at; fortunately, it was possible to pack them all on 1 screen - it's a big help.

The above table is for HPU25 players - High Potential (65 or more) players, who are 25 years old or younger.
Of course, you can also adjust the age level, if you want to just check the highest-rated players in the league (for example, my max player in this save was 29 years old, 73 OVR and 0.276 WS/48).

I have a similar table for cheap and lowly rated (55 POT or lower, but it's adjustable) veterans, who can give my team a boost at the Deadline. For example, spending potentially #30 pick on them is acceptable, but sometimes a young player, behind the Age vs OVR curve, while still having a decent POT, is enough to make it happen.

And I have one more table, this time for cheap (or not, it's adjustable as well), 3&D players.
I use the following criteria to exclude players not fitting them, so the list is typically very short:
- TS% above the league average (55 if playing in a modern area, lower historically)
- USG% below 20
- TOV% below 15
- 3PAr above 0.30 (in modern games, older ones should have it lower)
- STL% above 0.75
- BLK% above 1.5

I hope, it will be a help for someone trying to improve his decision-making and results.
If not, sorry for wasting anyone's time.
Cheers.

Part 3 was here - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1thk1hj/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_3/

- "We are extremely disappointed in not only Carlos Boozer changing his word on re-signing with the Denver Nuggets, but also with our General Manager's handling of his negotiations. Losing assets of this calibre for free is totally unacceptable, and we expect to never let anything like this happen again" - the message from my bosses was as nice as ever.

- Losing a 24/72/79 player for free always sucks, and Boozer leaving wasn't an exception. It really made a huge dent in my ongoing plans - originally, after hoping to re-sign him and Yao, I was planning to be the Above the Cap team in 2006, then re-signing Carmelo, before using Carmelo to trade up for Kevin Durant in the 2007 draft.
Now, my asset pool has been depleted, so I have to re-assess. In the 2006 season, I will probably be a Below the Cap team again, which could be problematic if I decide to trade away Carmelo Anthony, as I won't have enough salary to match all assets offered to me.

- The most urgent thing was to make sure that Boozer won't sign with a team which could do serious damage, especially in the West. Among the ones with Cap Space for Max Deal, there was only one - Los Angeles Lakers, who benefited from 33/57/57 Shaquille O'Neal expiring and re-signing in a new deal, worth 10-times less than the previous one (from 24.36m/yr to 2.38m/yr). Pairing Boozer with Shaq, as well as 27/69/71 Kobe Bryant and 20/57/74 Sebastian Telfair looked like a big threat, so after some trading shenanigans, I made sure it won't happen.

- In the end, Boozer signed with Charlotte Bobcats, fresh off their debut 13-69 season.
Oh, it reminded me about the Expansion Draft year before - protecting 9 players was quite comfortable, and in the end I lost Alonzo Mourning, whom I later replaced with Joe Smith and after him, Rasheed Wallace.

- I've finished my summer with changing Derek Anderson into Cuttino Mobley, and then him into Chauncey Billups, hoping the latter won't regress and his contract will prove to be a bargain for 2 more years. Originally, I was looking into getting a younger player in his spot, but in the end took him.

Preseason Time!!!

- It went great, as my Team OVR increased from 77 to 90, mostly behind Carmelo Anthony rising to 22/74/84. However, other teams didn't waste their time either, and between me, Jazz, Warriors, and Clippers, it looked like a fierce West war in the making. The Celtics were looking like a lock to win East, though. Again.
Also, Carlos Boozer improved to 25/74/78, but his Bobcats were an all-geriatric team behind him: Anfernee Hardaway (35/53/53), Alonzo Mourning (36/47/47), Latrell Sprewell (36/48/48) and David Robinson (41/47/47), what a bunch 😄.

- I plan to re-sign Carmelo Anthony (but re-assess at the Deadline), but Kirk Hinrich (25/61/64) wasn't in my long-term plans. So, I shopped him around, and a couple of contending teams offered me 2xFRP.

1. Among them, Sacramento had the highest Collapse Potential (Stojakovic or Hinrich leaving, not the youngest team as well), and I thought taking Divac (38/55/55) and expiring Kapono (25/57/58) is worth my 2006's FRP in the 29-30 range.
2. And then, I immediately turned Kapono (and filler) into Antawn Jamison (31/60/60, salary only 3% of the Cap for 2 more years, should be a great scoring option off the bench). Besides Kapono, I have SEVEN 3-point shooters, so I should be okay in that department 😉.

- I hope this will be my only two trades this season (at least the only ones with outgoing players), to make sure Carmelo will stay above 90% satisfaction. But knowing me, I really doubt it.

- Also, when you look at my Opening Night roster, two things look somehow interesting:

1. Billups and Jamison are two players who extended their contracts in 2003. I mentioned previously that Cap Space was low all over the League and some deals signed back then were really team-friendly and that I plan to capitalise on it. And here we are 😄.
2. Aaron Miles was a nice, lucky signing during the summer, maybe he will be good enough to be a 3rd string PG.

- Approaching the deadline, I was 32-8, behind the 35-6 Warriors and 34-7 Celtics, and in general, with not much room for error in the West. The competition was really fierce.
I tested Carmelo Anthony's worth on the market, and as expected, the biggest issue would be to match salaries, as the majority of top guys were on their 2nd contracts. Also, Jazz and 76-ers didn't offer me LeBron (22/74/81) or Iguodala (22/76/83) respectively (I would, hehe). So it was clear that, if I have to 3-peat, I have to do it with my current roster (damm you Carlos Boozer on 13-28 Bobcats).

- With the end of the Regular Season approaching, I (57-19) was more concerned about what was going on behind my back than thinking about catching GSW (60-15). But then, I beat them 108:100 at home, they've got some injury issues, and in the end, I clinched the #1 seed with 63-19. But, those damm Celtics and their seven 3-point shooters, finished 64:18 😞

PLAYOFF TIME!!!

WCQF: I didn't expect much resistance from the Jameer Nelson (24/66/71)-led Rockets (45-37) and 4 games and 80 points difference later it was clear, I was right. SWEEP!

WCSF: It's these damm Jazzmen (58-24), yet again. Ugh. AK-47 (78 OVR, #1 in the league), LBJ (74 OVR) and 4 players between 56 and 59 OVR, including Gerald Green (20/59/75, +17), their #15 pick from the last draft. They are also really small - 43-year-old Karl Malone is their only big man with OVR above 50.
To make sure I'm ready, I double-checked my rotational players' Advanced Stats, and everything looked fine. Ewen Demarr Johnson, with his low PER, was looking good there. However, I was a little bit worried that he and Yao were my only players averaging more Stocks than Turnovers - typically, I would like to have a couple of them more..

Game 1/2 - 102:99 and 95:99, it's clooooooooooooose.
Game 3/4 - 110:107 and 97:101, still cloooooooose, but it was extremely disappointing to allow Utah 35 ORBs total in those 2 games.
Game 5/6 - 99:92 and... 81:108, ouch 😞

Game 7 Time!!!

1. I've decided to do minor change, thinking that maybe Divac is too slow/old/tall to play against Jazz and I restricted his minutes, switching into 8+4 rotation.
2. I was very worried wheen I was leading 39:38 in the 2Q, with Lebron scoring only 2 points at that time, I thought Utah shouldn't be close without his impact. However, at the end of 3Q my lead was 89:68, with LeBron scoring... 4 points. In true LeChoke fashion, he put a Triple Double in the 4th quarter, but it couldn't change the outcome - I won 114:107 and eliminated Jazz for the 3rd year in a row. Will LBJ re-sign there? His percentages say "yes", but who knows - maybe Jazz will get their fortune reversed, after AK-47 re-signed despite only 31%.

WCF - It's time for Golden State Warriors (63-19, equal to me, rating too), who were back healthy. They are led by 25/76/78 Jason Richardson, and also have 69 OVR Larry Hughes, 68 OVR Gilbert Arenas and 62 Troy Murphy (their only big man). But, no other player is above 59 OVR, their bench is weak, they are small (I will keep Divac restricted), and they have only three 3-pointers.
So, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Game 1/2 - 95:84 and 116:83
Game 3/4 - 104:77 (can I get a Sweep?) and 103:111 (nope)
Game 5 - ufffffffffff, 121:119 OT.
Very happy to finish it in 5 games, only G5 regret is that Chauncey Billups scored 8 points - two more, and I would have all my 8 players in double-figures. This would be so cool.

NBA FINALS against CELT...76-ERS!!!

WOW, no Celtics in the Finals, and on top of it, they were eliminated back in the ECQF in 6 games by lowly (38-44) Nets. Jason Kidd-led team then made the ECF, but then the Philadelphia 76 (61-21) ended their Cinderella run, making the NBA Finals with 12-1 PO record. Wow.

1. It's very bad information, as I was hoping that 76-ers could struggle and then, maybe, Andre Iguodala (22/76/83) will be a Free Agent in 2007. And now, I have to battle against him in the Finals. But, his supporting cast is average, as no one else is above 62 OVR (TJ Ford and my former player, Derek Anderson, who kept his level as a 32-year-old).
2. 76-ers actually have real Centers playing real minutes, so I will resume using Divac.

Game 1/2 - 128:85 and 88:82 (it seems my D is set, it's just a matter of how much I can score)
Game 3/4 - 101:95 and 107:87

3-PEAT WITH A SWEEP!

The series was basically over after two games, when the 76-ers lost TJ Ford for 10+ games. Eat this, Carlos Boozer, you loser.

Not much recognition for my players - Yao fell a bit offensively, but I was surprised to see Baron Davis in All-D Team.
However, I was shocked to see Carlos Boozer with MIP Award - his PPG improved from 19 to 25.5 pts, his RPG from 9 to 12, but his WS/48 was exactly the same, and he dropped from the ALL-NBA 1st team to the ALL-NBA 3rd team 😄.

2006 Draft!

- No luck in the Lottery, I stayed at #14 with Sacramento pick. I'm concerned about NYK (41-41 last season) collecting high-level young players (21/69/82 Dwight Howard, 22/65/72 Chris Bosh, 22/63/73 Charlie Villanueva), and thanks to Minnesota's FRP, they will again be picking up in the Top3. They can be a force in a year or two.
- I could use Ben Gordon to trade up to #8 with NOH, but I need to protect Carmelo Anthony's Mood and RFA status, so no trade shenanigans for me. And it sucks, because I could take 21/54/64 Bargnani with NOH pick.
- However, I traded for free into Cap Space 31/52/52 Zydrunas Illgauskas and his 5.3m deal, will use it as a Trade Ballast in the summer.
- And with a #14 pick I selected 21/49/66 LaMarcus Aldridge, very happy about it. Who knows, maybe Rasheed Wallace trade could be on the table soon?

Carmelo don't mess up 😄

And now the moment everyone in Denver were waiting for. Will Carmelo re-sign and try to win more NBA Titles? Or will he follow in Carlos Boozer's steps and fall into obscurity? Will the 94% be enough?

HE REFUSED!!!

I wish I were joking...

Ugh...

Part 2 was here - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1tgtc1d/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_2/

- After winning my 1st title in a dominant (16-2) fashion, the Kroenkes were counting the money (26m profit on 44m Salary Cap), and I was already thinking what's next - barring RNG catastrophe, I was expecting to win back-to-back Title, but I also had to make sure that next year I'me going to re-sign both: Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer.

- However, I was rather unhappy with my 2004 Draft performance - despite him winning 6MoY, I wasn't really convinced by Barbosa's attributes distribution, so I traded him away for a 7th pick and 19/39/68 Darko Milicic. I liked Ben Gordon at #7, but maybe I should stay put.

- Also, that Draft made me realise that the right strategy is to move up earlier in the Night. Preferably, after putting players in Tiers, I should try to move up as high as possible so I would have a chance to get one of the "gold" players. Later, when Luol Deng fell, I tried to get #6, but it was too expensive.

- Not much happened during the summer, but when Preseason came, I made three more trades: Kyle Korver dropped again, so I improved my frontcourt with Joe Smith, I also traded away expiring Kendrick Brown for Celtics' 2027 FRP (Kevin Durant draft and BOS is getting older).
And, I already found a way to trade away Darko Milicic, getting two valuable players in return, plus the Hawks' upcoming FRP, with a high chance of them dropping to the Lottery (but the East is very weak, so it was not a lock).
I was very, very happy getting Demarr Johnson - 25/61/61 on a reasonable contract for 4 more years (and there will be two Cap spikes during that time). He looked like a perfect 5th option for my team - 60+ athleticism, 70+ 3-point shooting, 55 height and low TOV%+USG%.

- At the beginning of the season, my Team OVR jumped to 93, and I felt I was lock-ish to repeat. I won the first 14 games and was 36-6 approaching Deadline. Then, I got a memo from Kroenkes: "It's nice to see us winning, but Luxury Tax return payments will be significant again, so we urge you to go below the Cap line".
So, I orchestrated a trade with the Blazers, dropping below the Cap Line by 0.18m and improving my OVR to 95. Yes, I paid with my own FRP, but at #30 it's an acceptable cost.

- I finished the RS with a 70-12 record (Celtics won 63, Clippers 60), and after 4m Luxury Tax return, I was already at 8m profit. I also felt my 9-man main rotation looked pretty unbeatable.
But then, the reality struck; the West was much more challenging - seven teams won 50+ games, while the East had only 2 of them, with the 7th-8th seeds both winning only 39 matches each.

- Also, I have to admit, how much of a change it is to play with a market like Denver instead of Indiana, Memphis or god-forbid, New Orleans. With a salary around Cap Line and Hype at 100 (I was able to build it back from 1 already last season), I can run Finances at 80-80-80-80 and still be in small profit (even without Tax Money) after Regular Season.
It's helped a lot by the fact that I'm currently at #7 at league-wide ticket prices, ahead of struggling Knicks and Nets, as well as several Normal-sized markets.

2005 Playoff Time

WCQF: 48-34 Rockets didn't have the ammunition to compete. After I dropped G3 on purpose, I won G4 by 46 points and won 4-1.

WCSF: 53-29 Warriors looked like a bigger challenge, with 24/72/75 Jason Richardson supported by 5 other players with 60+ OVR. Maybe that's why I was not playing around.

SWEEP!!!

WCF: JAZZ TIME!!! 2nd year in a row, but this time 1 round later, with them having 55-27 record in the RS. 21/76/86 LeBron James is scary enough, but AK-47 gave me nightmares. Not only he improved to 75 OVR, but earlier he also re-signed with Jazz despite 31% interest. Fortunately, they had only one other guy at 60+ OVR (61) and only three more at 50+.
So, I was once again able to beat them 4-1, winning crucial G4 105:104, after a 40-14 mother of all comebacks in the 4th quarter.

NBA FINALS: My old pals Celtics (63-19) were one year older, but still shooting as well as always, with Antoine Walker (29/70/70) leading the way, after Paul Pierce dropped to 67 OVR. Still, after last year's sweep, I was quite confident. Even more, when after dropping G3 by one point, I was able to win G4 and get 3-1 lead.

Party time?

Not yet. I dropped G5 again by 1 point, and then, I lost G6 easily.
Obviously, it's difficult not to be nervous ahead of the G7, but I pulled away in the 2nd quarter and won comfortably 111:95, winning my 2nd title.

- It was great to see my 4 players in All-NBA, and obviously the Kroenkes were extremely happy with 25m profit on 44m Salary Cap. Also, it's worth mentionin, that it took me only two years to get back to 50% winning column, reversing 25-139 from the first two seasons.

- I didn't take any action during the draft, except selecting, after a looooong deliberation, as nobody was looking fully convincing, 18/36/71 Andrew Bynum with the #11 pick (Hawks trade, I've mentioned before). I didn't want to risk lowering Yao's (97%) and Boozer's (89%) mood before the re-signing phase.

- And then, the big day arrived, and Carlos Boozer, just like in real life (BBGM is sometimes way too realistic) did a late turn and decided to enter the free agency.

DAMM!!!

What happened next?
Stay tuned for the next episode

Part 4 is here - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1tigebh/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_4/

Let's get going.

Part 1 was here - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1tf63fb/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_1/

Also, does anyone think, including u/dumbmatter, it would be an okay-ish, promotional idea to crosspost it to r/denvernuggets?
I don't use Reddit enough to know, how this kind of thing would be received.
But they are probably very bored there after getting eliminated in the PO and their late FRP (if they hawe any), probably waiting to get used to dumping one of their poor contracts 😄

- We finished Part 1 during the 2004 Preseason, but I forgot to mention one important thing: the 2003 Free Agency. Overall, teams were short on money, so even RFA contracts were often very team-friendly (After tank, re-signings were not in my plans, but I will definitely try to take advantage of the deals signed then down the road).

However, among UFA candidates, Jonathan Bender (22/62/69) and Baron Davis (24/64/71) were highly interesting to me. I had enough Cap Space, and used it to mess up the salary structures of 2-3 teams who could sign them before they would agree to my offer. I couldn't stop all suitors, so Bender signed with the Spurs, which terrified me a little, as he joined Tim Duncan (27/73/73) and young Tony Parker (21/66/78).

But, I successfully blocked all teams from getting Davis, and he entered next year still without a club, and remained solid (25/64/68) after 2004 Preseason arrived. So, I had him on my radar.

- I started the season without any changes. After 11-3 start, I realised I can indeed make a run for a title, but I possibly need some PO-ready veterans. So, I acquired Brent Barry (for Kwame Brown) and Alonzo Mourning (for Planinic and a chance to drop Brevin Knight's contract - remember, it's a 3rd season, the Kroenkes expect money on top of the success, and since I am mostly running on Rookie deals, I plan to maximise it). These two trades improved my OVR to 89.

- Around the deadline, I was 35-9, and I've decided to do one more trade. I really liked Richard Jefferson, but wasn't really interested in re-signing him, and Kendrick Brown pretty much did the same on a cost-controlled, cheap deal for an extra year. So, I traded RJ for two FRPs in the upcoming draft - I was without them, as I traded my own pick a while back, banking on my big improvement.

- Do you remember Baron Davis? He was still an FA under my surveillance, and since I needed to make Kroenkes money, I've decided to wait with signing him. I finally did it at 62-11 record, signing him on a long-term deal (21% of the Cap, my highest paid player), increasing my team OVR to 93. I finished the RS with 69W-13L (only Clippers had 60+ wins).

- Also, look how close I was to the Salary Cap line. I've made sure to stay below, because the luxury tax payment was definitely worth it (I'm always check Other Teams Cap Space in the League's Finances section, after RFA phase, to learn whether it's worthy to stay under the Cap next season or not).

2004 Playoff time:

WCQF - 4:1 against Mavericks. No idea how I've dropped G2, but even with Nowitzki and Nash, they were without much chance.

WCSF - and then it's time for a Utah Jazz, with 20/77/91 LeBron and 23/70/79 AK-47. Fortunately, their depth was so-so, including 41-year-old Karl Malone (57 OVR), and I was able to beat them 4:1, as well. To make Kroenkes extra money, I sometimes will drop G3 or G4 on purpose, but here, even when leading 3-0, I didn't take a risk and lost G4 fairly.

WCF - Los Angeles Clippers were a more balanced team, with Brand, Odom, Miles and Lewis all 60+ OVR players (they are also dangerously young for such a big market team), who won an impressive 65 games in the RS. However, the games against them were way easier compared to Jazz, they didn't have a Star Power or shooting to truly threaten me. Sweep.

NBA FINALS - Celtics were 58-24 in the RS and went 12-1 in the PO, so I was a little bit worried. They had Paul Pierce (70 OVR), Antoine Walker (67 OVR), Joe Johnson (65 OVR) and former-Nugget, James Posey (63 OVR, making only 1.3m/yr), plus they had six 3-point shooters in total. They were small, but I wasn't overly confident.

SWEEP!!!

It went much easier than expected, as I won all 4 games by 63 points total, with only G3 being a very competitive one.

So, with the Denver Nuggets winning their first NBA Title and the Kroenke family counting their money, we end Part 2 of our story.

Part 3 is here - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1thk1hj/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_3/

Introduction - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1tes1c3/cheap_ass_kroenkes_the_denver_nuggets_story/

- As you see, the Nuggets roster at the beginning wasn't good; I didn't have anyone over 64 POT, so bringing FRPs wasn't so easy. Somehow, I was able to earn 5 of them from contending teams for 2002-03 drafts - 2 were brought by LaFrentz & Van Exel (had to accept Vin Baker's awful contract, though), two by Posey alone, and one by Kenny Satterfield, who somehow was traded back to me a few months later, and in 2003 got me another FRP. What a nice guy.

- The biggest early surprise (positive!) about this game was a difficulty in dumping poor contracts - all teams wanted FRP from me for McDyess or Abdul-Wahad's deals (and later, Baker's). This doesn't happen to me in modern games or random player ones, so here it was a nice change. It made me think like in a real NBA, where I had to look for similar deals that would be 1 year shorter, or just use it as Trade Ballast in bigger trades.

- Obviously, just like in real NBA, you shouldn't be interested in paying in FRPs to drop trash contracts; a team in the early stage of Rebuild should just wait for them to expire. This is what some of the players are doing wrongly IMO, as they immediately try to trade them away. Since, during the first two years, the owner doesn't judge you, so money doesn't count, who knows, maybe these trash deals would come in handy to be used as Trade Ballast later. If necessary, you can always dump them in 2years during the UFA window.

- My other advice, if someone hasn't been using it yet, would be to use Save Trades feature heavily. If you see that you will do multiple Trades at that exact moment, it's always better to plan all the trades ahead and then execute them one by one. Before doing it that way, you will often see some things that with some minor adjustments, can bring you more assets or make everything possible with the use of fewer players, which should help you limit Trade Penalty.

- So, I started a season with a clean Tanking plan to get Yao Ming, and after dropping Team OVR from 41 to 14, it was a smooth ride, until I finished with 9-73, by far the worst record in the league. And besides Kwame Brown, I didn't have anyone who looked like a player worth keeping (salary & contract length included).

- So here comes Lottery & Draft. The Lottery wasn't perfect, as I got a #2 pick, but in a very realistic fashion, the early 2000 Knicks are run by a morons too, so they picked Amare Stoudemire over Yao Ming.

- Looking at the Draft results, you see me using various colours. It's never perfect, but I try to put players into Tiers. I know all the New York Bankers' GMs don't have to care about money, but in my Small Market's grind, the difference between taking a player at #5 and #10 is actually noticeable.
Also, the ability to walk back is still something I am working on.

1. Purple - S(pecial) Tier for Behemoth Centers only, I use it permanently to keep track of them. In this game, in 2002, only Yao and Shawn Bradley qualify, but sometimes there are more of them, so I want to make sure they are visible.
2. Gold - Tier 1, should be worthy of a TOP 1-3 pick
3. Blue - Tier 2, should be worthy of a Lottery pick, typically I take the last one remaining, hoping it will be late in the lottery
4. Green - Non-lottery pick, I'm also hoping to take the last few remaining ones, preferably in a 25-30 spot.
5. Red - worth 2nd round pick, but since I don't use them, I will pick him at #30, if I like him enough.

- As you see, I really rated Carlos Boozer ahead of the draft, so I was excited to take him at #13. Casey Jacobsen at #15 also looked like a promising pick.

- Not much happened during the summer, so the 2003 Preseason was the 1st big moment. It went well in general, as my team OVR raised from 26 to 34, and all 4 Rookies having a good progression.

- Soon, it became a problem though, as in my 2003 race for LeBron James (or at least, Carmelo Anthony), I started season 6-5 (unfortunately, I didn't save a screen), which was obviously unacceptable. So, I started to heavily limit minutes of my highly performing Rookies (Yao mostly), and in an impressive fashion, I won 1 of next 39 games, which calmed me down :).

- I finished the season with 16-66 record, again the worst in the League. I've had some extra balls in the Lottery, but yet again, the Lottery Gods weren't as merciful as I would like. The Seattle Supersonics pick (LaFrentz & NVE trade) was a big help, though.

- Unfortunately, the Utah Jazz historically aren't run by idiots, so they took LeBron as they should. And, they pair him with Kirilenko, which, already back then, was giving me a serious headache. And later, as well.

- So, I took Carmelo instead, and later I was always late (lol). I wanted to get Bosh, but he was gone. I wanted to take Daniels, and he was gone, too. I was very happy with Korver picked at #13, but then he proved to be a very average pick.

- Either way, after some minor deals in the meantime, time for the 2004 Preseason arrived and... BOOM!!! My team's OVR exploded from 62 to 80, and I suddenly became one of the top teams in the league.

What can I do with it? Let's see in the next episode...

After the Kroenke family bought the Denver Nuggets in 2000, they soon realised that owning an NBA team is actually expensive. So, only two years later, they started a series of cost-cutting moves, including finding the cheapest possible General Manager.

In the end, they agreed to hire Single-Knowledge4839, who agreed to work for food and access to a creaky bed in the office's storage.

To get hired, he promised the following things:

- No luxury tax costs, only luxury tax payments received

- No 2nd round picks acquired, except during Draft Night, when they will be immediately re-used

- 0% RPD (they had no idea what that means, but they liked the sound of 0%)

- Playing on Insane Mode (they also thought he was insane agreeing to their "benefits")

- Play-off income every year starting with the 3rd season.

In return, they agreed to tank during the initial two years of Single-Knowledge4839's tenure. Plus, they promised to cover the cost of improving Team Expenses during the same timeframe.

Part 1 (2002-03) - https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1tf63fb/cheap_ass_kroenkes_denver_nuggets_story_part_1/

Author's disclaimer:

- It's been a while since anyone posted a long-term story here, so maybe I will take a shot. I won't be doing it in such detailed manner as great u/robdalky was in his amazing Rebuild series (https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/tyvm2l/insane_rebuild_challenge_2012_charlotte_bobcats/) or with a Lukapocalypse Story (https://www.reddit.com/r/BasketballGM/comments/1ijbi1z/lukapocalypse_a_mavs_story/)
At the moment, I'm thinking of sharing updates every 2-3 seasons.

- After years spent with the Grizzlies, the Pacers and especially the recent time with the Pelicans, I was tired of the financial grind needed to survive there on Insane Mode. So, taking over the Nuggets sounds like a decent compromise, as they are the 2nd highest population choice among Small Market Teams, just below Minnesota.

- I actually considered Timberwolves as well, but in their rebuild historical moments, they always had someone with a high POT, making things a little bit too easy at the start.

Disclaimer - I don't claim to have invented anything; rather, treat this as a practical application of the strategy, which was mentioned here a few times in the past..

As you see on the 1st graphic, my biggest opponent at the beginning was the Washington Wizards - no true #1 guy there, but a bunch of highly skilled veterans, who were passing and shooting extremely well. Nightmare to play against, as my first 2 titles were won in G7.

The strategy started accidentally (with 1st trade), but I quickly realised that I could choke them by continuing it, and in total did three, very similar trades - sending them my regressing, underwhelming Max Player, but still with high POT and decent PER, getting back their high-quality veterans and FRPs.

What happens when a team has 3 Max Players who don't really deserve it, no depth, no picks and is above the Salary Cap, so no way to get quality reinforcements? You can see it on the last two screens.

Also - I feel like this strategy could be altered to a situation when BKN/NYK/LAL/LAC are a league powerhouse with a #1 guy in the league. Instead of waiting 10 years for them to stop winning, maybe you can play around their depth and draft picks, even if this would mean sending your #2 or sometimes, #1 guy.

And the final disclaimer - I've had a great run running Pelicans on Insane Mode, but I have to admit I got lucky with #1 pick being "Worthy" choosing him and the overall low quality of the league.
Still, it's incredibly challenging, especially after the New Orleans population dropped below 1.1 million. I've had a maxxed Hype, was winning Championship and losing PO games on purpose on the way, was just below Salary Cap level and still was unprofitable when trying to run standard 80-34-34-1 split in the Finances.
Ugh.

The title is obviously a bit hyperbolic, but it's definitely one of my favourite teams ever, and definitely much stronger than 66 OVR would suggest (yes, I know that league was rather weak all around).

• 72-10 in RS (15.6 MOV)
• 8 three-point shooters
• 5 Athletes (I rarely have three, even with higher OVR teams)
• 2 Behemoth Centers (both 93 Height)
• Multiple ballhandlers & passers

Also, not going above the Salary Cap is a necessity when playing as NOP on Insane Mode; this one is quite challenging to survive long-term, sometimes with rather ugly and barely functional teams. That's why this one is so memorable.

I always had issues with this famous basketball quote, and it became even bigger since playing BBGM :).

Recently, I've realised that you can win an NBA Title with a sub-par defense (23rd in points allowed and 19th in dRTG), if your scoring is good enough.
I have a few other similar examples, maybe not as extreme, but with dRTG being outside of Top 10 not stopping be from winning it all.

However, I never won a title, while having a Top defense mixed with sub-par Offense.
So, it made me wonder - if BBGM is such a strong offense-oriented game, or if it's just me not doing it properly.

For the record - I had #1 ranked dRTG many times, but it's typically somehow connected to having a high OVR and free-scoring offense as well.

I know it was controversial, and many players didn't like to be limited by 2 picks in a single Trade, but now it's way too easy to hoard second-round picks, and you can acquire almost all non-Lottery picks with them.
You don't have to go to such extremes as I did here, but from a few months' perspective, this is one of the updates I am not a fan of.
Now, I probably will have to invent a "No touching SRPs" house rule to keep playing.

Personally, I would trade (hah) getting back to "2 picks rule" in an exchange for extending rookie deals to 4 years like it is in the NBA - I'm talking exchange here, because Dumbmatter apparently is worrying that having both of them would make BBGM too easy.

End of my ramblings, as I understand the "you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube" rule.