meh, I disagree for that very reason, scud. These teams don't get me excited like the ones in the past did. Through three many of these teams are interesting, but by the start of round 6... bleh.
Midway point evals:
1. coachcroft - Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Cedric Maxwell,
I love this set-up. You've got efg% out the roof and ftas to boot. Rebounding is kind of hard to tell since this is the first ODL with the new salary structure, but I'd say you're decently set up for it. Salary has to be a concern from this point on, but since you've already got your higher usage guys drafted, you should be okay.
2. sappy - LeBron James, Shawn Marion, Marcus Camby,
Lebron is incredible, especially since you can play him at PG. I like the synergy with Marion. Camby is exactly the kind of compliment you need. Same thing about salary applies here that was the case for CC's team.
3. jakotay - Moses Malone, Dikembe Mutombo, Kevin Porter,
You should absolutely dominate the boards with this front court combo, and Porter will work nicely with Moses. You still need some offense, though, and that's super expensive now so you might be hurting.
4. xxevilivexx - Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Willis, Bill Walton,
I like your idea of denying other owners Walton by drafting him, but I think you hurt yourself more than you hurt that other guy who might have drafted him. I have no idea what Wilt you're going to use, but you're spending a ton of money on rebounding and still need to spend a ton on offense (unless, of course, you use the 50ppg Wilt).
5. bsmuke - Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, Artis Gilmore,
I don't feel this team: CP3 is flat out too expensive for what he gives you; Duncan is solid yet not spectacular. Good thing is Gilmore, who, while probably deserving of a drop in draft position, in no way should have fallen to round 3. He could have been your 2nd round pick. Expense of Paul will keep you from really using the best Gilmore season though.
6. empdenied - Dennis Rodman, Mel Daniels, Danny Granger,
Rodman is even better now than he was. His 2900ish minute SA season is the best bang for the buck you can get on rebounds now, and his most expensive season is awesome for high cap leagues. Daniels is still solid and Granger is one of my favorite wings. He might be a little expensive for $42M leagues now, though.
7. banditone - Kevin Durant, Nate Thurmond, Pooh Richardson,
09-10 Durant could be one of the best players in the sim, but because he shoots too well from the line, he's too expensive for the current $42M format. Still, if you get the right pieces around him, he'll be amazing. I don't think Thurmond is a good fit here at all, but Pooh is.
8. tarheel1991 - Tracy McGrady, Wes Unseld, Darrell Walker,
My initial thought was that this was too early for McGrady, but your 2nd & 3rd round picks have changed my mind. You're building a perfect TMAC team.
9. dh555 - Michael Jordan, Ben Wallace, Ray Allen,
Big Ben's 32% dreb% season is probably second to the aforementioned Rodman season when it comes to bang-for-your-buck-boards. That's nice since you're dropping a ton of cash on his royal Airness and Jesus Shuttlesworth. If this was the old cap, I'd have you #1 at this point. Right now... well, I'm worried for you. But you can still get it together since you have pretty much everything you need in 3 guys.
10. gtak - Magic Johnson, Troy Murphy, Hakeem Olajuwon,
Love Magic & Murphy together. Not sure about the Dream, though. The new structure definitely helps his viability, however, so this could be real good.
11. qistat - Fat Lever, Jim McDaniels, Tom Boerwinkle,
Don't question the qistat or his ways. He will beat you down and demoralize you with a team of no-names, and by God, you'll like it.
12. badja - Kobe Bryant, Patrick Ewing, Julius Erving,
I think you've spent too much on offense (especially since you have Kobe). The days of 3 or 4 22.1%+ usage players are over.
13. mikee1 - Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Nick Van Exel,
Love the Wade pick, detest the Garnett pick, love the Van Exel pick. Van Exel is going to emerge as a very popular PG in this format. He gives you lots of assists with few turnovers. He also will give you threes at a pretty reasonable percentage, despite his RL stats. He'll be a poor-man's Chauncey in this new format (just lacking the free throws and the defense).
14. trtllvr - Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Willis Reed,
Jury's out on this until I see more of how the $42M cap works. Higher usage guys like Bird who didn't get to the line a whole lot (mostly since they made such a high % of them) were helped by the salary changes while at the same time hurt by them (TS% being a huge part of the formula now). I think they were helped more than hurt, however. But if things go like I think they will, you'll like this threesome.
15. ljemd - Oscar Robertson, Spencer Haywood, Mark Eaton,
Good thing about this cap: Oscar will actually play more like Oscar. You can't stack as much usage or rebounds, so he'll actually play a lot more like his RL stats suggest. Won't be perfect, but it'll be better. I haven't looked much at Haywood's new salaries, but I'm sure his best season is still really expensive. Eaton is more typical of the centers you'll start seeing, but I still think he's a lumbering piece of crap.
16. appleseed1 - Elgin Baylor, George Mikan, Nate McMillan,
No offense, but you're gunning for the worst ODL team in 2 years. Baylor probably shouldn't be drafted in this league, but I can see him working decently if you picked him late. Mikan should never be drafted in any league that isn't a really restrictive theme league. No amount of McMillan's goodness will make up for this.
17. robocoach - Jerry Lucas, Walt Bellamy, Tim Hardaway,
Bellamy will likely make a comeback with this version of the sim. I like what you're doing here with him & Lucas in the frontcourt. Hardaway is a very nice PG in this sim. He's not as good as the guy that got drafted right after him, however. I'll never get how I was able to get KJ on all 4 of my ODL 'ship teams in either the 3rd or 4th rounds....
18. captainzen - Bill Russell, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Johnson,
This is my favorite team thus far. Russell is a little more expensive than you want for your main rebounder (considering the limited things he gives you offensively, you're playing a lot for the minutes), but he's still a very, very good buy with almost any version you use. There are several really good Amare versions at this point, and many will work well combined with the great Russell. I particularly like his 41 defense season. KJ was a god in $42M leagues, and should be even better despite losing some cost effectiveness.
19. eleibowitz - Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Jason Kidd, Donyell Marshall, Chris Dudley,
As I said earlier in this thread, Kidd should be (and will be after this season) a first round PG. He's the best PG in $42M right now when you consider everything he gives you and his salary. His past two seasons have been a WIS owner's dream: Rebounds, assists, low usage, and threes for a very low cost! That combined with Kareem's offensive dominance gives you a great start on controlling the two most important aspects of the sim, efg% & boards. Marshall was a nice compliment, but he might be a little expensive (now) as a role player. Dudley is a nice frontcourt mate (I've used him a lot, actually), but you're drafting like this was the old salary structure. If you manage to fill out your roster, you will DOMINATE the boards... but I think you're spending too much on rebounding. You still need offense.
20. tricky24 - Dwight Howard, Swen Nater, Kenny Smith, Wil Jones,
Give me a sec to look and see what Wil Jones gives you... okay. I think you're falling victim to what many are right now... the metagame of the sim has changed with salaries. Rebounds & efg% are still the most important aspect for winning, but people won't be able to afford as much of either. With that said, I definitely approve of where you got Howard... he got even better in the new structure, and you were here for the past two seasons to see what I did with him. Nater is a great compliment, but you should have stopped there with rebounds (imo). The Jet is an incredible backcourt compliment - I definitely approve. I think you should have ditched Jones for someone more offensive minded (though he IS a good bargain for several seasons).
21. longtallbrad - Chauncey Billups, Harry Gallatin, Rony Seikaly, Donnie Freeman,
This team excites me as much as the prospect of getting run over by a bus filled with contestants on their way to audition for the next season of "The Biggest Loser". Ummm... Billups took a nerf with the new salaries (since they really emphasized all the things he excels at) but not nearly as much as some other guys. He's still an excellent PG and definitely worth building around. Gallatin is what he is, and you need one of those guys, but remember that the metagame has changed. Seikaly is more of what you're looking for at C these days. Donnie Freeman? brb... another bargain minute-filler type. Bleh. This is why I don't like the sim. In the past, I'd be excited over fourth round picks...
22. 98average -Shaquille O'Neal, Zelmo Beaty, Mark Price,
I've already said 98 got the steal of the first round by getting Shaq 22nd. His 00-01 season is the new 87-88 Barkley. His insane rate of FTAs (best in the sim per 48min) combined with his typical Shaq-like FT% makes him SUPER cost effective. Yeah, you're still shelling out $9M+ for him, but you're getting almost 3k minutes of godliness offensively. he also gives you good boards, few turnovers, and plays some D. Zelmo is a nice compliment and Mark Price makes a beautiful outside tandem with him. Round 4??
23. ncih - Dirk Nowitzki, Robert Parish, Mugsy Bogues, Rashard Lewis,
Dirk is like Bird - Jury's out thus far. Parish got better with the new salaries. Muggsy did, too. He's going to become one of the top $42M point guards again. Lewis gives you threes (you still need them, guys... just not as much as before). FTAs are lacking, but again, the jury's still out.
24. scudmissle - David Robinson, John Stockton, Glen Rice, Erick Dampier,
I love this team. I hope you can make it work with the right versions. I somehow doubt you'll have the cap room, but if you make it work, ouch! A lot of people are scared by Rice's price tag now, but seriously... you're getting a ton of minutes (of godliness) for less than $8M (96-97 version). His previous price tag was more dumb than seble, if you can believe it, because $7.8M is totally worth it (even with the wackiness of the current salaries).
Biggest thing I see right now is that people are either not changing their thought process with drafting, or they've changed it too much (panic!). This first league (first several, actually) will take some time to iron out what the environment will be like, but I think you'll see less threes and less rebounds, even though efg% and rebounds are still going to be the most important thing in the sim.