Rebuilding the Hornets in NBA 2K13 - TeamBuilder's Blog

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Rebuilding the Hornets in NBA 2K13

Posted on August 23, 2012 at 02:20 PM.

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Rebuilding the Hornets in NBA 2K13
My Five-Step Process to Bring a Title to New Orleans

The New Orleans Hornets boast a young roster bursting with potential in NBA 2K13. From rookies Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers, to young vets Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Xavier Henry, the Hornets have an intriguing future ahead of them.

However, my thirst for rebuilding teams in NBA 2K cannot be quenched unless I believe I'm getting the most out of my roster and my assets. I plan to rebuild the New Orleans Hornets in my image, with a creative touch, and do it all within a twelve-month span in Association Mode.

Step 1: Trade all assets except Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers to acquire Kevin Love and Stephen Curry.

Rookies Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers

Via trade, I will be looking to ship out Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Al-Farouq Aminu, Xavier Henry, 2013 1st round pick, and 2014 1st round pick for Kevin Love and Stephen Curry. The key to acquiring Love and Curry will be packaging my high-value future draft picks along with my young talent. I will have to sit out the next two drafts, but it will be worth the exchange.

Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Al-Farouq Aminu, Xavier Henry, 2013 1st round pick, 2014 1st round pick

For:

Kevin Love, Stephen Curry

Step 2: Now that I have my core-4 of Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Kevin Love, and Stephen Curry in place, fill out the rest of the roster with expiring contracts and play through the season.

My starting lineup will be a bit undersized in year one with Kevin Love playing center, but the focus is on the future of the franchise.
Likely starting lineup:

PG - Stephen Curry
SG - Austin Rivers
SF - (TBD)
PF - Anthony Davis
C - Kevin Love

Step 3: Hit the offseason and let all the expiring contracts on my team walk. Use the cap space I have available (around $32 million) to sign free agents Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. Use the mid-level exception to bring in another free agent.

Raise your hand if you want to sign with N.O.

The two keys components in acquiring Dwight Howard and Chris Paul via free agency are:

1) At the end of my first season I only have four players under contract that combine for a total of roughly $26 million, which leaves me with just enough money to sign two max free agents.

Kevin Love ($14 M)
Anthony Davis ($5 M)
Stephen Curry ($4 M)
Austin Rivers ($3 M)

2) NBA 2K's loyalty system is likely to give Dwight Howard and Chris Paul low loyalty ratings that will cause them to test free agency. Players that "force" trades like Howard and Paul or opt for free agency (like LeBron James and Chris Bosh) tend to receive low loyalty ratings. Unless the system is re-vamped, we will likely see both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul in the free agency pool during the first offseason of Association Mode.

Step 4: Slide Anthony Davis over to the small forward position and Stephen Curry over to the shooting guard position to field an elite starting lineup that looks like this:

Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard

Anthony Davis has a similar build to Kevin Durant and his experience as a wing player before his growth spurt should make his transition to small forward easier. He boasts great agility for his size and recover ability due to his length. For years I will be battling the Thunder in the Western Conference, and can match Davis on Durant. Austin Rivers comes off the bench as the 6th man, and whoever I sign with the mid-level exception will be a role player.

Step 5: Begin filling out the roster with specialists and unique players that can contribute off the bench. Here is the list of a few players that I will be looking to acquire:

Jimmer Fredette - Instant offense off the bench whose poor defense won't matter as much with D12 and The Unibrow behind him.
J.J. Redick - Sharpshooter that should be cheap to acquire.
Anthony Randolph - Unique and versatile player with multiple talents on the court.
Hasheem Thabeet - You can't teach size and I'd like to resurrect his career as a backup.
Donte Greene - 6'11'' small forward who won't demand much money.

Outlook of the 2014 Hornets:

With CP3 back in New Orleans and D12 rounding out a front court that already consists of The Unibrow and K-Love, the Hornets will be powerful contenders in my 2nd season. Toss Steph Curry into the starting lineup with his HOF shooting percentages, and this starting lineup is lethal. The bench will be patchwork until I can build it up behind the starters, but there should be some intriguing options available.

Achieving 60 wins in my 2nd season seems like a goal well within reach. The return of Chris Paul and the arrival of Dwight Howard should make for fun storylines as I play through my Association. I can't recall a year in which I've looked forward to building teams in Association as much as I do this year!

Comments

# 1 bxphenom7 @ Aug 23

Association is my second favorite mode and I've played with the Knicks and Nets (I'm from NY lol) and rebuilding was always fun. It seems like you have a great plan. Thinking like a GM lol

# 2 BustaRyhmes @ Aug 24

I love the idea of it, and I love that you like Hasheem Thabeet also.. I've always to develop him into a All-Star but it never works.

1) Would that Love/Curry trade really work?
2) How do you know that CP3/DH12 will for sure even sign?

# 3 TeamBuilder @ Aug 25

The Love/Curry trade might work, it depends on how much value the Hornets 1st round draft picks have. I assume 2K will weight them as 3 or 3.5 star picks, and if that is the case I think I should be able to make the deals.

As for CP3/D12, I assume their loyalty ratings will be low enough to make them free agents. Star free agents in previous 2K games tend to want to sign with teams that have the cap room for their max contract and the best talent (star rating-wise). There's a good chance that the quartet of Love, Curry, Davis, and Rivers will total about 17 stars, which would be appealing to both players.

I am interested to see if I can pull it all off when the game releases.