OKC - Five-peat! Final summary

[Andrew]

Shame you'll be so far over the cap, that could be a very interesting free agent class. Still, I'd say you're pretty much set and can just swing a couple of trades if you really want to make changes, so probably no big loss.

[Phil89]

I think I made the right moves at the right time. I'd much rather have my current team instead of just having Durant, Westbrook and some rookies to save cap room and be hoping to sign someone like Howard.

I'm not sure whether I should a) re-sign both Harden and Ibaka, b) only one of them or c) neither.
I don't really like the idea of having multiple guys on my bench on $9-10m per year. I feel I should have a couple of rookies coming through.

Harden is probably the more likely to stay as he is more needed, plus Ibaka having a generic looking face doesn't help his case.
Maybe I'll come up with a trade before the deadline so I don't end up losing them for nothing. Or maybe I'll re-sign them. Hmm.

[Andrew]

You can probably comfortably contend for years to come, so I'd consider re-signing them both unless one of them isn't really working out.

[Phil89]

That's true. I'll probably get the chance to sign someone decent on a MLE contract anyway, like I did with Love.

Kind of ruins my story though when all the free agents suddenly start accepting one year deals for $5.85m. Rose is a perfect example.
It would be cool if the AI recognised that you're over the cap and can't afford any players and just kept them asking for the normal wages instead of lowering them to give you a chance.

[Andrew]

I've got a feeling that's going to happen in my 06 Dynasty. LeBron, Wade and Bosh are all free agents and I've got about $17 million or more to spend in the offseason while still keeping most of the core intact, but I have a feeling they'll all re-sign. T-Mac, Vince Carter and Grant Hill are also free agents.

[Phil89]

That always happens. If you have enough room to sign them they will re-sign, but if you have no room they will become available.

I'm actually more interested in seeing what teams like New Jersey, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Minnesota do with their cap space.
Hopefully they can act like real GM's and do what is best for their team, instead of just re-signing declining veterans to big money and signing random free agents in a position they already have covered.

[Phil89]

13/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [29-6] vs Denver Nuggets [12-20]

Thunder win thrilling overtime game against Nuggets



OKC - 24 41 25 24 27 141
DEN - 27 33 33 21 20 134

Player of the Game: JR Smith




Video Highlights
Westbrook blocks Felton, then makes a three at the other end.

[Andrew]

Felton had a huge game for them, only four turnovers as well instead of the usual double digit numbers you usually force. Looks like Bargnani had a tough time from the field in that one, nice win though.

[Phil89]

Yeah it wasn't Bargnani's best performance. I'm more disappointed that Gallinari and Harrington were able to out-rebound Lopez and Love though.

Also, I'm updating the first post with tables gradually. I think it makes it a little easier to read and looks a bit better.

[Gamebreaker]

27-20 in overtime?

That's some freakin shootout.

[Phil89]

That's nothing. You should see this triple overtime playoff game I had against Phoenix a couple of seasons ago.

link

[Phil89]

15/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [30-6] vs Dallas Mavericks [15-20]

Dirk inspires Dallas as they end Thunder's winning streak at 12



OKC - 29 23 36 25 113
DAL - 20 39 33 28 120

Player of the Game: Dirk Nowitzki




Video Highlights
Westbrook runs into Haywood in the paint but manages to find Bargnani in the corner and he sinks a three.

[Phil89]

17/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [30-7] vs Houston Rockets [11-29]

Rockets miss K-Mart as Thunder cruise in Houston



OKC - 31 25 34 26 116
HOU - 28 22 25 20 95

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant




Video Highlights
Lopez feeds Durant who dunks all over Jordan Hill.

[Phil89]

18/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [31-7] vs Houston Rockets [11-30]

Bargnani stars as Thunder take game 2 of double-header in Houston



OKC - 26 32 36 39 133
HOU - 32 20 18 30 100

Player of the Game: Andrea Bargnani




Video Highlights
Hill creates some space for Brown, who then sinks a three.

[Gamebreaker]

Man, Dallas sure is pretty terrible in your world.

[Andrew]

Weird to see the Mavs with only three pointers, yet still pick up the victory. The Rockets sure paid for your streak coming to an end though.

[Phil89]

Guys like Dirk, Nash and Kobe always seem to have awesome games against me.

The Houston games were pretty easy. They have the worst record in the league and were without Kevin Martin, who is averaging 30 ppg.

[Phil89]

19/1/12

76ers preparing more moves in preparation for off-season



According to a source within the club, Philadelphia are exploring options to dump further salaries off their wage bill for next season.
There has been no official comment from the 76ers as of yet though. No mention of what other teams will be involved either.
Philadelphia were already part of a big deal earlier in the season which saw them trade away Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams.
They are blowing up their current roster in order to have a chance at signing the likes of Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose.

More details to follow.

[Phil89]

20/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [32-7] vs New Orleans Hornets [15-24]

Thunder's good form continues in New Orleans



OKC - 25 28 31 33 117
NOH - 21 32 22 29 104

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant




Video Highlights
Durant with a spin move and nice finish.

[Andrew]

The Mavs loss aside, you just keep rolling.

Just had a look back at Durant's recent games, he's scoring very efficiently as of late.

[Phil89]

Everything is working nicely at the moment. Still need to work on rebounding though.

I've been trying to find good shots with all of my players in a bid to reduce the number or rebounds my opponents get.

[Phil89]

22/1/12

Oklahoma City Thunder [33-7] vs Boston Celtics [21-18]

Thabeet plays well off the bench as Thunder beat Celtics



OKC - 27 33 32 27 119
BOS - 24 24 23 25 96

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant




Video Highlights
Thabeet finishes with an athletic dunk.

[Andrew]

KG backing up Murphy still looks really, really wrong. Anyway another good win, nice to see some other players stepping up and having some good games.

[Phil89]

I guess the AI doesn't take into account reputations when picking line-ups, only ratings.

[Phil89]

23/1/12

76ers continue shedding salaries in readiness for off-season



Philadelphia today continued their salary dump in preparation for the coming off-season by completing two separate trades.
The 76ers are trying to emulate what Miami did when they managed to re-sign Dwyane Wade and also sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
It is a risky strategy, but if they get it right they could be set up to challenge the Heat for top seed in the East for years to come.

All teams happy with outcome of three-team trade

The first deal sent Thaddeus Young to the Hawks, Marvin Williams to the Thunder and expiring and minimum contracts to the 76ers.

Atlanta decided to make the like-for-like swap and acquire another first round draft pick. A little security in case Josh Smith leaves.
Williams and Young are similar players and have put up nearly identical numbers this season. But Young is two years younger than Williams.
Young returns to the city where he attended college at Georgia Tech. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in his season there.

The Thunder took advantage of the deal to finally get a replacement for Corey Brewer at backup SF and got rid of some fringe players.
Thabeet, whose contract was expiring this season, was hardly getting any playing time and was likely to be released next season.

Philadelphia meanwhile got Hasheem Thabeet's hefty expiring contract and three minimum contracted players, including Wesley Matthews.
The former Portland guard has barely seen any game time this season and will welcome the opportunity of a bigger role in Philadelphia.
They also managed to get rid of a couple of second round picks, which will free up roster space and allow them to sign multiple free agents.

Thaddeus Young - 17.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.2 BPG, 1.2 SPG
Marvin Williams - 19.3 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.6 BPG, 1.5 SPG

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Atlanta received

Thaddeus Young - 23 years old - SF - $25.02m - 3 years (78)
Laker's 2012 1st Round Draft Pick (via Philadelphia)
76ers' 2012 2nd Round Draft Pick

Projected line-up
Chris Kaman - Josh Smith - Thaddeus Young - Joe Johnson - Jamal Crawford
Bench options
Kirk Hinrich - JJ Hickson - Jeff Teague - Zaza Pachulia - Yi Jianlian


Oklahoma City receive

Marvin Williams - 25 years old - SF - $17.36m - 2 years (79)
Bucks' 2012 2nd Round Draft Pick (via Philadelphia)

Projected line-up
Brook Lopez - Kevin Love - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Russell Westbrook
Bench options
George Hill - Andrea Bargnani - Marvin Williams - Shannon Brown - Serge Ibaka


Philadelphia receive

Wesley Matthews - 25 years old - SG - $1.59m - 2 years (71)
Hasheem Thabeet - 24 years old - C - $5.46m - 1 year (67)
Ian Griffiths - 20 years old - PG - $1.15m - 2 years (54)
Vince O'Mahony - 22 years old - SG - $1.15m - 2 years (50)

Projected line-up
Spencer Hawes - Elton Brand - Corey Maggette - Evan Turner - Jrue Holiday
Bench options
Kelenna Azubuike - Steve Blake - Derrick Brown - Wesley Matthews - Hasheem Thabeet

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76ers send Hawes and Blake to Cleveland for expiring contracts

The second deal saw Spencer Hawes and Steve Blake join Cleveland in exchange for veterans Baron Davis and Vince Carter.

Hawes is a good pickup for the Cavs as they've been missing a true center since Zydrunas Ilgauskas moved to Miami.
Brazilian forward Anderson Varejao has had to fill in at center for the past couple of seasons and will welcome the help.
Blake could well see game time as a starter in Cleveland as he offers more offensively than Sefolosha does.

Philadelphia ideally would have liked to keep Hawes as he was having a good season, but they are now rid of his $41m contract.
Their roster is looking rather lopsided now with a lot of guards. Not that it matters as they have given up on making the playoffs.

-----

Cleveland receive

Spencer Hawes - 23 years old - C - $41.01m - 4 years (81)
Steve Blake - 31 years old - PG - $8.00m - 2 years (78)

Projected line-up
Spencer Hawes - Marreese Speights - Vincenzo Carlos - Steve Blake - Ramon Sessions
Bench options
Anderson Varejao - Thabo Sefolosha - Bobby Brown - Daniel Gibson


Philadelphia receive

Baron Davis - 32 years old - PG - $14.80m - 1 year (82)
Vince Carter - 35 years old - SG - $1.26m - 1 year (75)

Projected line-up
Elton Brand - Corey Maggette - Evan Turner - Baron Davis - Jrue Holiday
Bench options
Kelenna Azubuike - Derrick Brown - Wesley Matthews - Hasheem Thabeet - Vince Carter

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Philadelphia waive several expiring veterans


In a press release issued just hours after completing those two deals, Philadelphia announced they'd reached buyout agreements with 7 players.
Baron Davis, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Andres Nocioni, Quentin Richardson, Vince Carter and Luke Walton are all free to sign with other clubs.
A total of $60.6m worth of contracts were terminated by mutual consent, the largest of which was Brand's $18m monster contract.
The 76ers will most likely struggle to win many more games this season, but they are undoubtably looking at the much bigger picture.
They still have two first round picks (both likely top 10 picks), and nearly $40m of cap room to entice the likes of Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose.

Projected line-up
Hasheem Thabeet - Derrick Brown - Evan Turner - Kelenna Azubuike - Jrue Holiday
Bench options
Wesley Matthews - Vince O'Mahony - Chase Powell - Rodney Kearley - Craig Brackins - Ian Griffiths

In total the 76ers reduced their guaranteed contracts for next season from $39.5m to $19m. Enough for a star player on a big contract.
Evan Turner is now the only starter that is contacted beyond this season. We could see a complete overhaul next season.

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Shaq signs on for one last chance


In other news, Shaquille O'Neal will get one last opportunity at winning a ring as the Thunder offered him a one year deal.
The 15 time All-Star has been a free agent since Boston released him last season. He will likely be backup to Lopez and Ibaka.
The Thunder also hope that he can be a mentor to their big men and help them out with their rebounding.