Lighting the Anaheim Matchstick: a 2KTale

[JuiceboxCA]

Lighting the Anaheim Matchstick: a 2KTale

Hello & welcome to the story of the Anaheim Matchstick, the latest NBA2K Expansion Team. You might remember my last NBA2K Dynasty, the Cincinnati Lions, which I've since retired. Having played the game more, toyed with MyLeague settings, developed a play style & learned from the last go, I wanted to take another whack at an expansion dynasty team. Without further adieu, let's get into the settings.

The 2K Details

• 31 Games, Superstar Difficulty. Yeahyeahyeah, I know. I’m not playing 82 games. That’s because the goal is to make it through multiple seasons AND play every game. Sure, a shorter season creates more anomalies, but hybrid sim + play approaches tend to lose touch and reflect the computer’s ability, not the player’s. And yes, you read right — 31 games, not 29. That’s because the Matchstick aren’t the only expansion team, but we’ll get to that later.
  
• 6 min quarters, 9 min sim quarters, sim stats. There’s no way I have the time for full 12 minute quarters — hell, even the NBA is investigating ways to cut down game lengths. I’m running on the 2K standard 6 minute quarters, then using the simulate stats tool to bump up numbers to 10 minute quarter averages. That’ll make sure my games are statistically similar to the actual NBA.
  
• Xbox One. If you ever want to hoop, add my gamertag: JuiceboxCA
  
• Default Game Sliders No changes here. If something feels off as I go, I’ll make adjustments later.
  
• Adjusted MyLeague Settings I've made two changes here. Simulator Difficulty has been upped from 50 to 80, as the game gives a team of 70's far too many wins. I've also increased Trade Negotiation Difficulty from 50 to 60 - the CPU just gives far too kind of offers. I'll also be monitoring the trades across the league, and declining any that are totally absurd (like the Sixers trading for another C).
  
• Starting in the 2016-2017 season...kinda. Didn't want to rejigger team's draft picks or anything of the sort. The expansion draft will come when the season begins. That said, I'm simming through much of the first few seasons. I learned from the Lions dynasty that slogging through multiple seasons with mediocre players just isn't fun, and if I'm not having fun, what's the point? We'll still cover the timeline, but I won't be playing many games until S3 or S4.

The Rivals
A 31 team league? We can’t have that. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joined the league together — the Matchstick need a counterpart. In addition to the Anaheim expansion team, the NBA is pleased to announce their first European team: the London Glory! Being overseas will provide a different take on the NBA, as well as appealing opportunities for players. They'll serve as a computer-ran rival and nice meter for my own-success.

The Updates
With the Lions' dynasty, I aimed for every-game updates. It killed me. Sometimes you just want to sit down and play a few games without having to worry about writing up the last contest. This time around, I'll provide updates to the narrative frequently, though with some lumped moments. Overtime games will probably get their own notes, but that 3 game losing streak? One piece w/ all the details. It'll save me time, it'll make this far more interesting, and it'll make sure the fun persists.

With that, let's get into it!

PS. if there's anything I can be doing to improve these, let me know - I'm all ears.

[JuiceboxCA]

The Anaheim Matchstick: a 2KTale
The Expansion Draft

With the 2016 NBA Draft and most of free agency out of the way, the NBA's two new Expansion teams sure seemed behind. Normally they'd get a shot at this year's rookies, but this time around, the teams would have to make due with whoever their competition didn't lock up.

As with the Grizzlies / Raptors expansion draft, each NBA team can protect 8 players. The others are up for grabs.

Anaheim's Goal
The Expansion Draft always provides the opportunity to grab a bunch of slightly-past-their-prime players in their late 20's or early 30's, but does that make sense? Sure, I could draft Ginobili, Festus, Livingston, Joe Johnson and all their similarly-aged counterparts, score a .500 record, and... sit in mediocrity. That doesn't sound fun or prosperous. Instead, Anaheim's gonna draft veryyy young. We're going to swing for the fences with every pick, and we're going to enjoy a few years of being terrible. As the Thunder showed (and Sixers tried to show), bottoming out works if you draft well - so we'll grab youngin's, let 'em play, and grab as many Top 5 picks as possible.

The Team

Point Guards: Joseph Young (71) and Isaiah Whitehead (71)
Two young PGs with high potential. At 24, Young's earned the chance to run the team, but Anaheim's very high on Whitehead's size and multiple talents - he's young and viewed as a long-term project.

Shooting Guards: Malcolm Brogdon (73), Jordan McRae (69), and James Young (67)
Brogdon's seen a lot of press for his highlights on LeBron, McRae's a big guard who can do a little of everything, and Young's got the height and potential. The team will undoubtedly look to upgrade at the position in the future, but all three have a chance to stay on the team as rotation players.

Small Forwards: Shabazz Muhammad (73) and Jake Layman (71)
Shabazz is still young, and while he can't shoot, he's athletic. Layman is still young, and while he isn't athletic, he can shoot.

Power Forwards: Deyonta Davis (72) and Maurice Ndour (69)
Stolen from the Grizzlies before he's even played a game, Davis looks to be a key building block for Matchstick. He's 19 years old, 6'10", and a human pogo stick. Ndour will see time this season, but likely won't be around for long.

Centers: Mike Muscala (74) and Skal Labissiere (70) At 25 years old, Muscala is our team's elder, as well as our #1 pick. He'll lead by sheer age and tutor Skal, a potential star, on what it means to be an NBA big.

For better or worse, that's your 2015-2016 Anaheim Matchstick. Up next: the jersey / court designs!