This update goes out to the guys who have supported my dynasties throughout. Sorry I couldn't keep them going. Unfortunately the persistent knocking of real life became too much. I'll do season-by-season simmed updates as I have time. So they will probably come sporadically, so don't expect one every couple of days.
2006/07
As some of you might know, I had Portland advancing to playoffs with No. 3 seed courtesy of a weak Northwest Division, whereby they would be playing Phoenix in the 1st Round. I simmed out the playoffs and Phoenix swept Portland 2-0 & moved all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they were beaten by eventual champions, San Antonio 2-1. The Spurs once again beat out the Pistons for the 3rd straight season, capping a heroic 3-peat, especially considering Duncan (8.0ppg, 12.6rpg, 3.0apg, 2.25bpg & 1.25spg) was a shell of his former self as he missed most of the playoffs. Fortunately for the Spurs, the international backcourt of Ginobili (Finals MVP - 26.3ppg, 4.6rpg, 7.6apg & 2.00spg) & Parker (21.4ppg, 5.2rpg, 7.3apg & 1.67spg) was once again too much for the Pistons to stop.
As for the NLSC-er's performances in the playoffs, Indiana's C
Will Sit (5.0ppg & 5.8rpg) helped the Pacers reach the Conference Semis where they fell to eventual Finalists' Detroit. Boston was also another victim of the Pistons, but it wasn't rookie PG
Mark Moore's fault (5.0ppg, 4.0rpg, 7.0apg, 2.00spg & 1.00bpg). After an underwhelming rookie campaign, Cleveland's SG
Jing Xu sprung to life (7.3ppg, 2.8rpg & 2.0apg) as he helped Lebron James & his Cleveland Cavaliers to the Conference Semifinals where they were swept out by the 76ers. Finally the forgotten C
Makis Hassakis averaged 3.2ppg & 1.8rpg, but the Mavs couldn't overcome the loss of Nowitzki & Howard to injury as they were knocked out by the Spurs in 2 straight games in the Conference Semis.
For the season, the awards were as follows:
MVP: Paul Pierce (Bos)
DPOY: Ben Wallace (Det)
ROY: Rudy Gay (Orl)
6th: Kurt Thomas (Pho)
MIP: Chris Paul (NOK)
All-NBA 1st Team:
Yao (Hou), Chris Bosh (Tor), Paul Pierce (Bos), Kobe Bryant (LAL), Allen Iverson (Phi)
All-NBA 2nd Team:
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle), Elton Brand (LAC), Tracy McGrady (Hou), Vince Carter (NJN), Mike Bibby (Sac)
All-Defensive 1st Team:
Ben Wallace (Det), Amare Stoudemire (Pho), Andrei Kirilenko (Uta), Dwayne Wade (Mia), Allen Iverson (Phi)
All-Defensive 2nd Team:
Marcus Camby (Den), Chris Bosh (Tor), Paul Pierce (Bos), Kobe Bryant (LAL), Stephon Marbury (NYK)
All-Rookie 1st Team:
SF- Rudy Gay (Orl), SG- Vince Dehere (NOK), PF- Walter Choi (LAL), SF- Rodney Carney (Tor), PF- Tiago Splitter (Chi)
All-Rookie 2nd Team:
PF- Andrea Bargnani (Was), SF- Adam Morrison (LAL),
C- Will Sit (Ind),
SG- Jing Xu (Cle), Liu Kuffour (Pho or Min)
2007 OFF-SEASON
Deciding that he would float around for a while, The X took a job with the Hornets, as they were coming off a dismal season in which they finished with the 2nd worst record in the league. The X's luck seemed to turn the franchise around as the Hornets won the 2007 lottery, beating out the likes of New York, Washington & Seattle, and the chance to draft Greg Oden, the best bigman to enter the league since Tim Duncan got drafted by the Spurs.
The X didn't waste long as he resigned David West, Brandon Bass & PJ Brown, as well as deciding not to pursue resigning Desmond Mason & not being able to come to suitable terms with Fred Jones. The X would've also been happy to see that the Blazers decided to resign Eddie Griffin & Morris Peterson.
The X used his draft picks to select Ohio State's C Greg Oden (1st overall) & SG Brad Newley (32nd overall). Here's how some of the draft panned out.
1. NOK: C- Greg Oden (Ohio State)
2. NYK: PF- Tyrus Thomas (LSU)
3. Was: PF- Joakim Noah (Florida)
4. Sea: SF- Kevin Durant (Texas)
5. Mil: PG- Marcus Williams (UConn)
6. LAC: PG- Glen Nugent
7. Orl: C- Patrick O'Bryant (Bradley)
8. Min: SG- Stephen Hill
9. GSW: PF- Josh McRoberts (Duke)
10. Chi: PF- Mark Negone (Texas)
11. Cha: PF- Robert Skrnjug (Australia)
12. Atl: SF- Zac Mousoulis (Australia)
13. Uta: SG- Alex Buckley (Penn State)
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27. Cle: SG- Sam Anurak (St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (OH))
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29. Phi: PG- Flo Ruf (Germany)
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32. NOK: SG- Brad Newley (Australia)
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43. Uta: SG- Anthony15
During Free Agency, the Hornets were beaten out by the Bobcats for marquee free agent SF Carmelo Anthony, as they signed him to a 6 year deal, slightly outbidding the Hornets. The Hornets happily settled for Plan B, which was Andres Nocioni who was signed to a 3 year, $20M deal. Nocioni brings the tenacity that the Hornets need.
After the off-season, the Hornets had a starting lineup of Oden, West, Nocioni, Dehere & Paul. On the bench, they have JR Smith, Speedy Claxton & PJ Brown to name a few.
Retirements included Sam Cassell, Toni Kukoc, Juwan Howard & Eddie Jones to name a few. 2nd year player Vince Dehere worked on his conditioning as he came back from the off-season with a medium uncut build after playing his rookie season as with a heavy uncut build.
In other off-season news, the Cleveland Cavaliers sent 1st Round draft pick,
SG Sam Anurak to the Boston Celtics for their 2006 2nd Round pick,
PG Mark Moore in a deal that seems to work for both teams.
For the rookies, Negone & Skrnjug have earnt starting PF jobs for their respective clubs. 2nd year bigman Hassakis adds rebounding & sharp elbows to the Mavericks' starting lineup. The rest of the NLSC-ers seem to be 7th to 9th men & are all rotation guys, with the exception of Andrew Watson who seems like the odd man out in Portland as he finds himself starting the 07/08 season on the IR.
More off-season highlights....
Darko signs with the Bucks to a 1 year deal at league minimum & will be backing up Bogut

Denver sees something in Travis Outlaw as they give him a 3 year, $11.11M deal as he becomes their starting SF to replace Melo

Maurice Williams leaves Milwaukee for greener pastures (& a 4 year deal at $7.5M per year) in Toronto....this is only after the Bucks throw a 6 year, $60M contract to the feet of TJ Ford....Reece Gaines' feeble career continues, this time in Utah as he latches on with a 1 year deal at league minimum....Bulls resign Hinrich to 4 year, $36M deal....hold on The X being happy about Griffin, he was actually in hysteria as the Blazers, under new management forked over a 6 year, $50M deal to the backup forward....and you thought Nene's deal was bad

Lebron James gets locked up long-term by Cavs for max dollars....Will Sit cries as the Pacers resign oft-injured forward Jon Bender to a 3 year, $25M deal that will likely keep Sit out of the starting lineup for at least another year or so....Dwayne Wade opts to only sign a 3 year deal at $12M per year....this is eerily like real life as he is leaving his options open to bolt when Shaq is long gone....the Suns resign some of their core, giving Diaw & Barbosa each 3 year deals....both great bargain contracts for the Suns....the Bucks resign Magloire to a 6 year deal at $10M per year:lol: then again, that means Bogut is the team's starting PF for the next half a decade

Nets throw $19M per year at Vince Carter....that's alright & all, but by the 5th & 6th years of the deal, that could prove to be a very, very, very bad contract....Skita got a 3 year, $6.69M contract....only in Live could this happen

Celtics throw $19M to MVP Paul Pierce, although at least it's only in a 4 year deal....Chris Bosh at $11M per year over 5 years....All-NBA 1st Team, the Raptors can definitely live with that....but Josh Howard at $10M per year over 6 years?!? that's not so good for the Mavs....then Cuban throws Stack a 3 year, $30M deal....heck, throw me a few mill while you're at it....Magic re-up Grant Hill for a hefty $17M for 1 year....at least it's only 1 year, he can only have 2 knee operations in that time, but still, $17 mill for Hill?!? Maybe 13 years ago....Sit might be a little happier when he realises that the Pacers sent rival C David Harrison to Boston for SG Tony Allen....Kings resign Peja, $9M per year over 4 years....real life Hornets could learn a thing or two from Live in this case....and finally, Kevin Burleson managed to secure a 4 year, $7M deal off Kevin McHale....damn, Kevin McHale is a pushover....
that was it for the 2006/07 season & the 2007 off-season....I hope you enjoy....future seasons to follow in future....
and before anyone asks, I won't be trading or signing any NLSC-ers, I'm just simming this one out as time does not permit otherwise....I hope you enjoy this non-pic, lite update....damn, this update took ages....it was only suppose to be a paragraph or two, but I got carried away
