NBA SIMS LEAGUE 
News - Houston Rockets - Vitticus
| Clubhouse · News · Roster · Patch · Statistics · Depth Chart · Units · Ratings · Schedule · Salaries · Transactions · NBA Stats · TbT |
Clowney & LaRavia
It’s been awhile since I put up an update. I haven’t said much since FA day. But Power Forward has been the aim for the most part. First I’ll start with our first move for a power forward.
Noah Clowney
The last play I made for a player like this didn’t pan out. I gave up a 1st round pick for Paul Reed hoping he could turn into Paul Millsap. That didn’t happen. I wanted another try at a young power forward I could groom to be our next starter. At the time, Keyonte was my only trade chip, and I had my eye on Noah Clowney for a long time, but I wanted to see if Keyonte’s value would go up so I could get Noah Clowney and then some. Unfortunately, Keyonte didn’t really take that next step yet, and his value remained the same. He was still higher rated than Clowney, but I knew Andrew wouldn’t say yes to the trade because Clowney was his only center and he already had so many point guards. So I had to overpay. I still asked for some leniency and begged him for a 2nd or two so that it wouldn’t look as bad. But before we could make the deal, Andrew had to search for a center replacement. As time went by waiting for word from Andrew, Toby suddenly needed a point guard. I offered Keyonte for Jeremy Sochan.
The same day, Andrew got back to me saying that he was ready to do the deal.
If Toby had said “Yes,” I probably would of ended up with Sochan. But the fact that he gave me an “I’ll think about it” type of response caused me to not want to risk the wait and pull the trigger on the deal I already had available with Andrew.
Going into the year, I heard lot of good things about Clowney. I was never really into him, but I was hearing good things about him from the Nets organization. They were saying how much they like him because he listens, asks a ton of questions, and was a quick learner. And the fact that he was going to play next to Claxton told me he would be a center at the power forward position like Anthony Davis, Evan Mobley, and Jaren Jackson Jr. I’m not saying he’ll be these guys, but it’s just nice having a big like this playing at the power forward position.
So far, Clowney has not looked good in 2K. And so far this season, he hasn’t looked good in the NBA either. So I still have to wait on his progression. But who knows, perhaps this ends up being another failed experiment just like Paul Reed.
Jake LaRavia
I was still after more power forward depth. Clowney wasn’t looking good. Javonte Green was on the small side. I picked up Tosan Evbuomwan, but he was still looking like a G League player. And so was Chris Livingston. Both Jordan Walsh and Keshad Johnson don’t gain power forward eligibility until next year.
I had a deal to send Chris Livingston, Ricky Council IV, Jordan Walsh, and 2 2nd rounders to San Antonio for Taurean Prince and Taj Gibson, but that deal got cancelled a day before the week 9 trades could happen. So week 9 trade day was not so great as I had hoped.
When Jake LaRavia became available, I figure I send a similar offer I had for Taurean Prince for Jake LaRavia. I told Pete, if he looks good in 2K, then I would send an offer. I tested him out and he dropped 25 PTS on Nicolas Batum with my practice squad. I was never a fan of LaRavia though, but I figure 2 2nds was about the right price for a one year rental. And it felt like a cheap price for a 78 rated player who goes up to 80 OVR when switched to small forward. He does have a major flaw though in that he gets beat by power forwards who can dribble drive to the hoop.
Trying to Condense
I been trying to get my roster down to 14 players because I’m sure one of my 2-way contracts will convert to a full time. Both Jared Butler and Brandon Boston are the prime candidates. So the goal of my latest trade was to condense my roster. Unfortunately this cost me Jordan Walsh. I like Jordan Walsh, but what bugged me about him was he didn’t have power forward eligibility (which I found out after I paid 2 2nds for him). If I hadn’t found a deal, I was prepared to drop Chris Livingston. Fortunately, Pete was able to help me out in that LaRavia deal.