Remember those Kings teams from the early 2000s? Like, really remember them? They were good! They didn’t have a superstar, but with a core of Mike Bibby, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Doug Christie, they were ultra-competitive, rattling off a half decade of 50 win seasons consecutively. They just couldn’t get past the Lakers.
Well, Sacramento sports fans probably like my simulation better than reality, because at this point, the Kings enter the 2002 season as defending champs. Peja didn’t get nabbed in the draft, so the core is completely in tact. And now, with Shaq still out of the picture in LA and Tony Parker not around for the Spurs, here comes a great chance to repeat!
In the real-life 2002-2003 NBA season, the Kings put up 59 wins en route to the second seed in the West. Tim Duncan again won MVP, with Amar’e Stoudemire as Rookie of the Year. And this year, the Spurs broke through the L.A.-Sacramento road block to best a Jason Kidd-led Nets team in the finals.
Unfortunately for the Spurs, our world wasn’t as kind. Without Tony Parker (7.7 Win Shares) or Manu Ginobili (4.2), San Antonio drops 11.5 wins, going from 60-22 and west leaders to 48-34 and the fifth seed. We’ll still let Timmy D win the MVP.
Amar’e (6.2) again had a great first year, bringing a serious upgrade to a Nuggets team that needed it (originally 17-65). Thanks to the seven-win Amar’e upgrade over Nik Tskitishvili (-1.0), as well as a leap from James Posey (1.0) to Jumaine Jones (2.9) and Rodney White (-0.4) to Gerald Wallace (0.9), the Nuggets increased their win total by 11 and go 28-54. The change from Nene (5.0) to Caron Butler (5.1) is negligible…this year. Of course, winning so many more games could really derail the Nuggets’ lottery chances in a LOADED draft. Stay tuned for more on that…
Denver’s upward trajectory was impressive but in terms of wins added, no one topped another awful team, the Cavs. Cleveland (17-65) actually lost wins in real life without Dajuan Wagner (0.3) and Carlos Boozer (5.9) coming aboard as rookies. If you’ll remember, the Cavs drafted Luis Scola and Juan Carlos Navarro instead, neither of whom came to the NBA in ’02.
But other upgrades were overwhelming, namely Shane Batter (6.2) over DeSagana Diop (-0.2), Kenyon Martin (7.1) over Chris Mihm (0.9), Jamal Crawford (2.8) over big trade acquisition/bust Darius Miles (-1.3) and Ron Artest (7.2) over Trajan Langdon (DNP). The Cavs tacked on 15 wins in all and finished 32-50. But they too may have played themselves out of a top lottery spot and a chance at a certain Cleveland sports icon…
Who ended up at the top of the lottery? That would be the Heat (25-57). Miami was already bad in real life, but swapping rookie Caron Butler (5.1) for Drew Gooden (1.7), Eddie House (0.7) for Khalid El-Amin (DNP) and free agent pickup Sean Lampley (0.9) for Andres Nocioni (DNP) cost them 5.1 wins, dropping them to 20 wins and the first place in line for the LeBron lottery.
Other teams with big jumps included the Shaq Hawks, who added 11.5 wins to their total. Thanks to primarily O’Neal (13.2 compared to DerMarr Johnson’s 1.7) and Devean George (2.7) over Cal Bowdler (DNP), the Hawks improved from 35-47 to 47-35, taking the seventh seed in the competitive East.
The Clippers (27-55) also climbed out of the cellar. Thanks mostly to Shawn Marion (13.0) over Elton Brand (7.6) and Jason Terry (7.4) over Lamar Odom (2.2), the LA2 added 11 wins and went 38-44, tying their crosstown rival Lakers and just missing the cut for the West playoffs.
Speaking of the Lakers (50-32), they lost 12 more games thanks to the massive absence of Shaq, finishing 38-44 and losing out on the eighth seed. That’s almost the entire story.
The Spurs, meanwhile, surprisingly were not the biggest loser. That title belongs to the Nets (49-33), who actually made the NBA Finals in real life. But with mainstays Kenyon Martin replaced by Quentin Richardson (1.0); Richard Jefferson (9.9) replaced by Gilbert Arenas (6.5); and Jason Collins (4.7) replaced by Earl Watson (2.3), the Nets didn’t have enough star power and fell to 36-46 and 12th place in the East.
And although it didn’t cost them a championship, the Rockets (43-39) went from nearly-playoff-bound to lottery-bound. The biggest loss was from Yao Ming (8.7), rightful rookie of the year, being replaced by Tayshaun Prince (0.8). Elton Brand (7.6) couldn’t match Steve Francis’ original output either (11.1), bringing the Rockets tally to 10.8 games lost and sinking their record to 32-50.
With the Nets out of the way, the East opened up for the Magic (42-40). Orlando added 9.0 wins and rose from 8 to 1 in the conference behind the additions of Brendan Haywood (5.0) over Steven Hunter (0.9), Michael Redd (8.0) over Mike Miller (3.0) and Rasual Butler (0.1) over Ryan Humphrey (-0.5). With Tracy McGrady (16.1) in superstar mode, the team reached the finals.
The Sixers had the next-best showing in the conference, adding three wins to a 48-34 campaign behind the acquisitions of Eddie Griffin (3.9) over Sam Dalembert (0.0) and Dion Glover (2.6) over Vonteego Cummings (DNP).
In the West, the Mavs (60-22) took just enough of a step back to open the door for a different champion. If you want a scapegoat, blame Dan Langhi (0.4), whose work didn’t come close to that of Eduardo Najera (4.0). Overall, Dallas dropped 3.8 games, finishing 56-26 and in second place in the conference.
So who won the West, and by extension the Finals? That would be the Kings (59-23). Their core remained in place, since it was largely drafted before our simulation started, and their win total only grew thanks to Stromile Swift (3.3), who replaced Mateen Cleaves (-0.4). That four-win increase outpaced the loss of Hedo Turkoglu (2.6), who was replaced by Keyon Dooling (0.3). Sacramento finished up 0.8 wins, going 60-22.
STANDINGS
East
1. Magic 51-31
2. Sixers 51-31
3. Celtics 49-33
4. Hornets 48-34
5. Pistons 48-34
6. Pacers 47-35
7. Hawks 47-35
8. Bulls 40-42
9. Wizards 40-42
10. Knicks 39-43
11. Bucks 37-45
12. Nets 36-46
13. Cavaliers 32-50
14. Raptors 32-50
15. Heat 20-62
West
1. Kings 60-22
2. Mavs 56-26
3. Wolves 53-29
4. Blazers 48-34
5. Spurs 48-34
6. Jazz 45-37
7. SuperSonics 40-42
8. Suns 38-44
9. Lakers 38-44
10. Clippers 38-44
11. Warriors 35-47
12. Rockets 32-50
13. Grizzlies 29-53
14. Nuggets 28-54
NBA Finals:
Kings over Magic
Protected: Chris Webber
Best Unprotected Player: Peja Stojakovic
Random thoughts from Adam Rae Voge 