Leaving aside the long-running issue of being able to just copy whatever open league team is highest on the leaderboard, the downfall of open leagues started when they adjusted the salary algorithm in a way that increased salaries across the board, but they left the salary cap for open leagues the same, at $42 million. We quickly realized the issue in the ODL, which at the time had a $42 million salary cap; after one bizarre season where we stayed at $42 million and some crazy team built around low-efficiency dudes from the 50s and 60s won the league, we bumped it up to $47 million, and it's been there since (or maybe we initially moved it to 45 and then to 47, this was years ago). But in open leagues, it was just a disaster; you couldn't make any kind of credible team without using a bunch of scrubs. I remember someone - i want to say it was that rascal monkee - sarcastically commenting that the new NBA SIM answered the question, "What if you could rebuild the 1997 Vancouver Grizzlies" or something like that, because you couldn't even really have stars anymore. So then open league usage dropped off, and the few people that did play it were basically running highly similar teams that had been optimized over time. And at this point, other than the momentary excitement of when a new season's players come out, it's basically just a highly formulaic exercise. One that I haven't engaged in for many years. Too bad, open leagues used to be fun.

Posted by cjok1051 on 8/27/2019 6:33:00 PM (view original):
Just FYI I will really try but it will be monumentally difficult for me to do quality write ups due to a massive schedule based work load over the next two weeks. It will be hard enough to simply draft a decent team tbh. That being said I will do my best unless someone would like to volunteer.

Help please ^^^

Posted by tarheel1991 on 8/28/2019 10:53:00 AM (view original):
I'll go on record as saying I don't really like the Worm/Moses pairing. I think rebounding in general, and particular offensive rebounding, is overvalued, particularly at this cap. And I'm not a big fan of Moses either; his shooting is relatively efficient but he makes up for it with a boatload of turnovers for a medium-usage player. For me, if I was going to trade into the top 10 of this draft, I would be after the one thing that's almost impossible to get outside of the top 15-20 of this draft: high-usage, high-efficiency players that have other big positives and/or few other warts. You can get quality rebounders anywhere in this draft if you need them. What you can't get late in the draft is high-usage, high-efficiency players without multiple other weaknesses (low defense, low rebounds/assists, high turnovers, high fouls, etc).

So while I think Rodman is a little overvalued as a top-10 pick, I could see trading up to pair him with someone like Lebron, or Curry, or a couple so-far-undrafted guys that I would take over either Moses or Rodman. But I don't see the fit with Moses. The combination of the two, plus the picks traded to move up, leaves you needing a bunch of everything - high usage, efficient usage, defense, assists, threes - from backcourt picks you won't make until the 4th round or later. I think this basically amounts to putting yourself behind the 8-ball and praying that 1-2 of a handful of guys last the next 80 picks or so. So I wouldn't do it, but it will be interesting to see how it works out.

This is spot on.

Posted by bds9992 on 8/28/2019 1:27:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jhsukow on 8/28/2019 12:37:00 PM (view original):
I think we almost all completely misunderstand what “efficient usage” is.

I agree, but I wonder what you meant by this.

I maintain that no one on this site really understands the SIM all the time. Some people are great every season because they use the same players in every league, but after 10 years on this site, I still think the SIM is elusive, and I doubt I'm the only one who feels that way.

I don’t think this is true at all. I can count on one hand the times I have missed the playoffs in a non-progressive league (knock on wood) while working with the full complement of players in every cap and theme imaginable. I bet the same thing could be said for any of the at least dozen or so coaches that consistently win in these types of leagues.

Posted by tarheel1991 on 8/28/2019 3:57:00 PM (view original):
Leaving aside the long-running issue of being able to just copy whatever open league team is highest on the leaderboard, the downfall of open leagues started when they adjusted the salary algorithm in a way that increased salaries across the board, but they left the salary cap for open leagues the same, at $42 million. We quickly realized the issue in the ODL, which at the time had a $42 million salary cap; after one bizarre season where we stayed at $42 million and some crazy team built around low-efficiency dudes from the 50s and 60s won the league, we bumped it up to $47 million, and it's been there since (or maybe we initially moved it to 45 and then to 47, this was years ago). But in open leagues, it was just a disaster; you couldn't make any kind of credible team without using a bunch of scrubs. I remember someone - i want to say it was that rascal monkee - sarcastically commenting that the new NBA SIM answered the question, "What if you could rebuild the 1997 Vancouver Grizzlies" or something like that, because you couldn't even really have stars anymore. So then open league usage dropped off, and the few people that did play it were basically running highly similar teams that had been optimized over time. And at this point, other than the momentary excitement of when a new season's players come out, it's basically just a highly formulaic exercise. One that I haven't engaged in for many years. Too bad, open leagues used to be fun.

Yeah I play maybe one a year, remember how much I hate it then quit again until the next year.

Posted by cjok1051 on 8/28/2019 6:45:00 PM (view original):

Posted by cjok1051 on 8/27/2019 6:33:00 PM (view original):
Just FYI I will really try but it will be monumentally difficult for me to do quality write ups due to a massive schedule based work load over the next two weeks. It will be hard enough to simply draft a decent team tbh. That being said I will do my best unless someone would like to volunteer.

Help please ^^^

I have something planned, but it is not insightful at all.

Posted by jhsukow on 8/28/2019 10:00:00 PM (view original):

Posted by cjok1051 on 8/28/2019 6:45:00 PM (view original):

Posted by cjok1051 on 8/27/2019 6:33:00 PM (view original):
Just FYI I will really try but it will be monumentally difficult for me to do quality write ups due to a massive schedule based work load over the next two weeks. It will be hard enough to simply draft a decent team tbh. That being said I will do my best unless someone would like to volunteer.

Help please ^^^

I have something planned, but it is not insightful at all.

I can post general team summary stats but I have too much work going on to do write ups.

The trade by ltb and cancel is pretty badass. Props to them both for making that happen.

I love how no matter who I paired with who, SOMEONE would have a problem with it lol. Now pretty much no matter WHO I pick in round four, I'm sure there will be detractors. Haters love to hate haha. I'm enjoying the idea of who will be left when I am up again, and I know the SIM about as much as I know women. I'm just gonna have fun with this team, so go ahead and rip away!

I love how no matter who I paired with who, SOMEONE would have a problem with it lol.  Now pretty much no matter WHO I pick in round four, I'm sure there will be detractors. Haters love to hate haha. I'm enjoying the idea of who will be left when I am up again, and I know the SIM about as much as I know women.  I'm just gonna have fun with this team, so go ahead and rip away!

Posted by amerk1180 on 8/29/2019 1:37:00 AM (view original):
I love how no matter who I paired with who, SOMEONE would have a problem with it lol. Now pretty much no matter WHO I pick in round four, I'm sure there will be detractors. Haters love to hate haha. I'm enjoying the idea of who will be left when I am up again, and I know the SIM about as much as I know women. I'm just gonna have fun with this team, so go ahead and rip away!

I don't think anyone has a "problem" with it. Almost universally everyone thinks its cool. You just boxed yourself in. You could certainly find a way to make it work if the right players fall to you in the later rounds. I don't know what other gripes people have had with you in the past... it is just hard to have so many holes and mostly late round picks. Nobody is guaranteed anything, failure or success, after two picks.

Barkley is a really awesome player in SLBk, but I also find him to be among the hardest couple of first round quality players to build around in a draft league.

I used to be very confused (maybe still am) on what Duncan season is best. I think it is kinda obvious that it is 06-07 now. What do you all think?

Posted by jhsukow on 8/29/2019 1:46:00 PM (view original):
I used to be very confused (maybe still am) on what Duncan season is best. I think it is kinda obvious that it is 06-07 now. What do you all think?

Yeah that is the best one.

What do people think about 18-19 Harden? In a vacuum I think that season merits a top 15-18 pick because of how insane the usage/efficiency/threes combo is. Turnovers are obviously high, but honestly not that crazy given his usage level. The problem I have is: what the heck do you do for the 1100 minutes Harden sits? I can't possibly see how to find backups for him that aren't super inefficient, much lower usage, or both. I