A couple weeks ago Adam Silver mentioned that Seattle would be on the shortlist for inevitable league expansion. Once a franchise is about to begin play in the league one of the first things that is done is an expansion draft. All blogs in the SB Nation basketball world participated in figuring out what eight players their team would ultimately keep and what players they would roll the dice on for being taken in an expansion draft. From that list of players, Taylor and myself picked in a draft against a hypothetical Virginia Beach franchise picked by Kristian Winfield from SB Nation NBA.
Taylor spent most of the draft preventing me from taking every Maryland Terrapin that was available. He finally relented and let me pick one at the very end of the draft. There may be a deal secretly on the table for Minnesota to look over in regards to Melo Trimble right now.
Before we get to the players we would like to introduce to you our coaching staff. We poached Shaka Smart from the University of Texas. We wanted a young, brilliant basketball mind to grow up with our young basketball team. His two hand-picked assistants will be Luke Ridnour and Steve Blake. Stevie Blake was chosen for obvious reasons without co-GM Bartle knowing anything about it and Ridnour was selected for when we lose too many games in three straight seasons and have to fire Smart. Hopefully Earl Watson is still coach in Phoenix at this time so we can once again start up the debate of who is better, Watson or Ridnour.
We also traded a commentator to be named later to the Portland Trailblazers to get Kevin Calabro back home where he belongs. We have a contract offer out to Brent Barry to provide color commentary.
Now for the players. This was an alternating pick with the Sonics picking first. We’ll tag who Virginia Beach selected during the round as well.
1. Greg Monroe - Milwaukee Bucks
Why we picked him: While taking a big with the first pick felt a little too Wally Walker-ish, we felt that Monroe was the best player available. He had a bit of a dip last season, which led to him being available, but the hope is that with him as the central part of an offense, he can get back to the kind of numbers he put up in Detroit, roughly 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Virginia Beach: George Hill - Sacramento Kings
2. Tyler Johnson - Miami Heat
Why we picked him: We needed someone to run the team at point guard and we thought Johnson was the type of young player we could build around. He’s not a traditional, pass-first guard but he can score the ball. He has improved every year in the league and we’re hoping that trend continues.
Virginia Beach: Tim Hardaway Jr. - New York Knicks
3. Iman Shumpert - Cleveland Cavaliers
Why we picked him: One word: defense. Shump is a lock down defender on the perimeter and this team needs that. We’re surrounding him with shooters so we don’t need him to score a lot, but he can hit the occasional corner three when called upon.
Virginia Beach: Trey Lyles - Utah Jazz
4. Kenneth Faried - Denver Nuggets
Why we picked him: When “The Manimal” first came into the league, he was one of the most exciting players to watch. Like Monroe, his numbers dipped last season and he was moved to the bench. However, he’s still good for close to 10 and 10 a game and is still incredibly athletic. If nothing else, he should give fans a good show.
Virginia Beach: Robin Lopez - Chicago Bulls
5. Jamal Crawford - Minnesota Timberwolves
Why we picked him: We played with fire letting Crawford fall this far. We were worried we would lose him if we waited much longer. Crawford’s contributions on the basketball court are well known, winning three Sixth Man of the Year Awards, but we also got him so he can end his career at home and join the Sonics front office after he retires.
Virginia Beach: Lou Williams - Los Angeles Clippers
6. Wesley Matthews - Dallas Mavericks
Why we picked him: We were a little surprised not only that Matthews was available, but that he fell this far. He is a guy who can flat out shoot the ball. He actually had an up year last season, averaging 13.5 ppg while also handing out a career-high 2.9 assists. If we can get that kind of production, this pick will be justified.
Virginia Beach: Evan Fournier - Orlando Magic
7. Tyson Chandler - Phoenix Suns
Why we picked him: A still serviceable pick-and-roll big man who can also supply veteran leadership. Chandler is a 10 and 10 guy and a rim protector. He will also help groom Monroe.
Virginia Beach: John Henson - Milwaukee Bucks
8. Ryan Anderson - Houston Rockets
Why we picked him: We’re building a team of shooters in the vein of the Golden State Warriors. Anderson is our stretch-four. He scored 13.6 points per game on a .550 eFG% last season. With him and Crawford coming off the bench, our perimeter game is going to be on point.
Virginia Beach: Marcus Morris - Boston Celtics
9. Bojan Bogdanovic - Indiana Pacers
Why we picked him: Oh look, another shooter. A career 53% eFG% is exactly why we got him. His defense is suspect, but he can get buckets and is also near automatic at the free throw line.
Virginia Beach: Bryn Forbes - San Antonio Spurs
10. Jeremy Lamb - Charlotte Hornets
Why we picked him: This was basically a best-player-available pick. We needed a backup two-guard and we decided to go with Lamb over the Jazz’s Alec Burks. Lamb can hold his own well enough and defense and can usually give you close to ten points per game. That’s a solid contribution from your bench.
Virginia Beach: C.J. Miles - Toronto Raptors
11. Thabo Sefolosha - Utah Jazz
Why we picked him: We needed a defensive presence off the bench and Sefolosha provided that. He can guard three and depending on who is on the floor up to four positions. He has a nice stroke from the corner so you can’t leave him alone while on offense.
Virginia Beach: Taj Gibson - Minnesota Timberwolves
12. Amir Johnson - Philadelphia 76ers
Why we picked him: We needed a backup big man and while Johnson’s numbers don’t jump off the page, he’s a solid contributor who can play the four or the five in a small ball setting. He’s not going to light up the scoreboard or fill up the stat sheet, but he’s a solid role player coming off the bench.
Virginia Beach: Nick Young - Golden State Warriors
13. Frank Mason III aka El Tercero Miedo - Sacramento Kings
Why we picked him: We needed a third point guard and we thought Mason III was the best one left on the board. We love his leadership and his tenacity. We’ll probably put him on a two-way contract so he can split time between the Sonics and our G-League affiliate, the Wenatchee Wildmen.
Virginia Beach: Ian Clark - New Orleans Pelicans
14. Mario Hezonja - Orlando Magic
Why we picked him: We made this pick for no other reason than this is Dontae’s boy.
Virginia Beach: Thomas Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers
15. Jake Layman - Portland Trailblazers
Why we picked him: With unlimited upside potential, Layman can slash, shoot the three, play D, get to the line, and make all the ladies in Seattle swoon! He’s also a Terp and there was no way I was going to let this expansion draft pass without showing my extreme bias.
Virginia Beach: Isaiah Whitehead - Brooklyn Nets
Our Starters
Point Guard - Tyler Johnson
Shooting Guard - Wes Matthews
Small Forward - Iman Shumpert
Power Forward - Kenneth Faried
Center - Greg Monroe
Sixth Man - Jamal Crawford
How They Fit
We know this team is two years away from being three years away. We wanted a good mix of youth, depth, and experience to fill up the roster. We have a lot of scoring throughout the lineup without being a complete black hole on defense. We picked a lot of scorers because, well—we wanted to provide the people of Seattle an exciting product. This team is going to score north of 110 points a night (hopefully) and give up more than that on at least fifty of those nights.
How Would They Do?
This is going to be a bad team. Our projections showed that on the high side we could expect maybe 30 wins at most, with 19 being the low point. Most often than not in our simulation this was a 27 win team. Thanks to NBA 2K17 for the simulation.
Comments
Not too shabby
I’d take a 27-win season to kick things back off. Seems reasonable.
By Matt Tucker on 08.09.17 8:56am
I actually like the roster
The problem is that it doesn’t come close to under the cap
By Trueblood on 08.09.17 9:26am
Hell
I would take a bunch of scrubs from the YMCA if it meant just getting a team back…….. hahahah
By hughc5 on 08.09.17 10:31am
Crawford/Monroe as bench offense
25% of Crawford’s FGAs came in isolation last year and .92 PPP. He’s the best offensive focal point out of those guys. So I’d say with the offense, make things easier on Tyler with great spacing and an all offense/run+gun type lineup.
Johnson/Wes/Bojan/Anderson/Faried (tons of Johnson/Faried pick and roll)
Then things can slow down to a hault with a bunch of isolation on the perimeter from Crawford and a bunch of post isolation from Monroe.
Crawford/Shumpert/Thabo/Amir/Monroe
Shumpert/Thabo/Amir is a great defensive trio. That team would ideally get tons of offensive rebounds and hold up pretty well defensively.
Do we get the 4th pick too?
By mikeytp on 08.09.17 11:31am
Small Ball
Also, super fun all spacing lineup of Johnson/Crawford/Wes/Thabo/Anderson
By mikeytp on 08.09.17 11:37am
Here, my admiration of Pau Gasol know no end.
https://twitter.com/tweetmrbaker/status/895355143524200452
The new #Seattle #Sonics select.
Michael Carter-Williams, Iman Shumpert, CJ Miles, Kenneth Faried, Pau Gasol.
The rotation is missing a pure shooter and Jamal Crawford
By Mike Baker on 08.09.17 12:02pm
Nice topic, if it weren't for the friggin politics of Seattle
I like the Monroe pick, because he does get you numbers, has a short term deal and could be traded for more youth/picks at the deadline.
Though, bringing in Chandler to teach him defensively?
The guy’s already 27 and doesn’t play a lick of defense. No one’s going to be able to teach him that at this point of his career.
There’s also no way of taking Matthews over Fournier(who wouldn’t be made available by the Magic, IMO), because Wes has really suffered from that torn achillies and isn’t the same player anymore.
BTW: I also wouldn’t touch Shumpert or Anderson, unless those teams include some picks.
By Silvio on 08.09.17 1:24pm
You realize you are in deep luxury tax shit for a 27 win team (if that is even possible)
or do you?
Anderson 19,5
Monroe 18
Matthews 18
Chandler 13
Faried 13
Amir Johnson 11
Shumpert 10,5
Bogdanovic 10,5
Lamb 7
Tyler Johnson 6 (19 next season)
Sefolosha 5
Crawford 4,5
Hezonja 4
Leyman 1,5
Mason 1
Congrats, you are paying 132,5 mil$ to a 27 win team which would cost around 155 mil$ next year (most expensive team by far) with also the addition of repeater tax. Luxury tax thrashold is 119 mil$ this season in case you Seattleaties are not following.
Soon, you would be handing out draft picks to dump those contracts. Please stay out of the front office.
By Pompelmo on 08.09.17 4:50pm
We were specifically told not to worry about salaries
Thanks for the input, though.
By Taylor Bartle on 08.09.17 4:57pm
You Can't Ignore Salaries....
…when a lot of the best players you drafted would only have been made available because of teams dumping horrible contracts. Any expansion team could only take on one or two of those horrible contracts (i.e. one or two good players). That’s part of the game of expansion drafts — sometimes teams will take a chance on making a player available that they really don’t want to give up, because they know the expansion team(s) can’t take on multiple big contracts (the Anthony Mason Gambit).
By Jimmy Early on 08.14.17 2:13pm
Converting that to a economic viable roster, cold
Expansion takes a ton of effort. Expansion teams are notoriously slow out of the gate, the league is guilty of franchise destroying restrictions.
Btw, A relocated team has none of that. That has a value.
By Mike Baker on 08.09.17 7:38pm
Why does the NBA have such restrictions on new franchises?
Would they have to be bargained out in the CBA?
By Otto Rogers on 08.11.17 7:31am
SB Nation's sim
had us winning 44 games and making the Western Conference Finals. Weird.
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/8/9/16121968/nba-expansion-simulation-2k
By Taylor Bartle on 08.09.17 5:01pm
That is an interesting team
You have some big people coming off the bench, you would be rotating Crawford and some big guys that rebound and play D.
I don’t know that I would see a team like that but I do think it would pound out wins.
Trading off a big guy on the bench for a little more scoring, or the next draft. Playoffs.
By Mike Baker on 08.09.17 7:45pm
Western Conference Finals!!!
By Kevin Nesgoda on 08.09.17 9:15pm
Off topic but this is interesting
Amazon wants to get into the ticketing business: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1AQ2DB
If I’m Chris Hansen I would try to forge a partnership right now.
By Zeppe on 08.10.17 12:57pm
What would our regular draft pick look like?
Does the NBA still have the cap at #4? Seems ridiculous. I know the NBA also has rules around how much money we can spend on Free Agents and the like? I would hope that any new expansion teams brought in would have a bit more favorable rules.
By Otto Rogers on 08.11.17 7:30am
Personally
I think the NBA should throw them in the lottery. Give them average odds or, if #4 is where they want them to be, give them the 4th best odds.
In the past expansion teams have had 2/3 cap in the first year, 75% in the second. I don’t get why they wouldn’t want them to be competitive out of the gate.
By Taylor Bartle on 08.11.17 3:27pm
Compensation to the other owners
for splitting the pie.
By Matt Tucker on 08.12.17 7:30pm
Wouldn't that money be obligated to the players, though?
Truthfully, I would be OK with an uncompetitive team for the first couple of years. Higher likelihood of landing a future superstar in the drafts and the first couple of years will bring in tons of revenue regarldess of how the team performs.
By itsanospreybich on 08.12.17 8:54pm
Not specifically financial compensation
A competitive advantage over some new team coming in and running the table. The price of admittance (above an expansion fee), as it were.
By Matt Tucker on 08.13.17 10:54pm
Ah, I see. That definitely makes sense.
By itsanospreybich on 08.14.17 9:01am
I question whether even half of that team can ice skate
Anyway, Monday: https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=561239&GUID=7616D07F-4661-4623-B1CD-37FBF24FF18C
By Mr. Shea on 08.11.17 3:22pm
Article on today's events coming?
It’ll be a bit before I could organize all my scribbling to post anyway.
By Mr. Shea on 08.14.17 2:32pm
Sounds like the fix is in
By Jeff - j1012 on 08.14.17 4:11pm