NBA 2K15 MyGM: Building a Dynasty in the Atlantic Division

NBA 2K15 comes out in 5 days, so we’re picking up the pace a bit for our team previews. Today we are covering 2 divisions. Click here to check out the Northwest Division. Here, we are discussing the Atlantic Division:

Boston Celtics

• 2013–2014 Record: 25–57 (11th in East, missed playoffs)
• 2015–2016 Cap Room: $17 million
• Key Strengths: Young talent, tradeable assets
• Key Weaknesses: Little frontcourt depth, shooting

1st-Year Strategy: Rajon Rondo is a $12.9 million dollar expiring contract, and you have Marcus Smart as a much cheaper, potential replacement. When you read rumors about the Celtics shopping Rondo, this is why. Definitely consider moving on from Rajon and going even more into the youth movement by letting Marcus Thornton, Brandon Bass, and Joel Anthony all walk after year 1.

3-Year Strategy: If you play your cards right, you can have a ton of cap space after year 2, and a bevvy of young talent at your disposal. If you took my advice and traded Rondo, you’ll also be able to move on from Gerald Wallace ($10.1 million) and Jeff Green ($9.2 million) after year 2. If you fill your roster with rookies and cheap, short-term veterans, you’ll have somewhere between $15–25 million committed to players entering the summer of 2016. Consider extending Jared Sullinger to a reasonable deal, and go crazy with spending otherwise.

Brooklyn Nets

• 2013–2014 Record: 44–38 (6th in East, lost to Miami 4–1 in 2nd round of playoffs)
• 2015–2016 Cap Room: None
• Key Strengths: Inside play
• Key Weaknesses: Lack of dynamic players, athleticism

1st-Year Strategy: Most likely, Kevin Garnett will retire after year 1. However, due to the Nets’ salary cap situation, replacing him externally is not really an option. Either Mason Plumlee will have to step up or you’ll have to consider trades in order to fill the hole left by KG. Consider trading Garnett during that last year of his deal for a backup to Plumlee or whatever else you may be able to get from a team looking for a big defender. Extending Mirza Teletovic after year 1 is probably required because of the aforementioned salary issues.

Consider trading everyone on the roster, especially Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, and Brook Lopez. All are due big money through the first 2 years of your time with the Nets.

3-Year Strategy: The Nets need youth and athleticism, badly. Outside of Plumlee, the Nets have mostly aging or stationary players among their key contributors. You need to be targeting replacements for Deron Williams and Joe Johnson in the draft. There will have to be a decision made on Brook Lopez (player option for $16.7 million after year 2), and it will depend on how NBA 2K15 handles his injury history. If he’s broken down and not contributing, find some way to cut bait. If he’s a viable starter at Center, he’s one of the better ones in the game, and pairing him and Plumlee together is a good front line of the future. With some careful planning and good drafting, the Nets can have a very good starting 5 quickly, and they finally have cap room after year 2. Building the team around the Center and Power Forward positions is the smart play. The Nets also have an unknown in Bojan Bogdanovic, so determining his role in the team going forward is of utmost importance.

New York Knicks

• 2013–2014 Record: 37–45 (9th in East, did not make playoffs)
• 2015–2016 Cap Room: $25 Million
• Key Strengths: A superstar on a long-term deal, point guard options
• Key Weaknesses: Center and Power Forward positions

1st-Year Strategy: Just ride it out. The Knicks have $49 million in contracts coming off the books after year 1, and you don’t want to sign any of those players. The only real decision is whether or not to extend Iman Shumpert, who is a Restricted Free Agent.

3-Year Strategy: The Knicks have an established top-tier player in Carmelo Anthony, so they’re ahead of some other teams that we’ve previewed. It’s always a lot easier to build around a superstar than to find one. However, deciding how to build around him will be key, as you don’t have much wiggle room around his rising cap number year after year. The Knicks have some young guards with potential in Shane Larkin, Tim Hardaway, Jr, and Iman Shumpert, so find some combination of the 3 that work as starters, and focus on the Center and Power Forward positions going forward. Splurging on LaMarcus Aldridge, should he become available, is certainly an option, and a team featuring both he and Melo, to go along with shooters and a good rim protector, is suddenly an Eastern-Conference contender.

Philadelphia 76ers

• 2013–2014 Record: 19–63 (14th in East, did not make playoffs)
• 2015–2016 Cap Room: $45 Million
• Key Strengths: Young, potentially dynamic frontcourt talent
• Key Weaknesses: Not many NBA players at the wing positions

1st-Year Strategy: The Sixers may not be a player in real-life free agency, but you’d better believe that players in NBA 2K15 should be aggressive in targeting and acquiring top-tier talent. You will have viable starters on rookie deals at Point Guard, Power Forward, and Center (depending on how you work Embiid into the lineup), a decent backup guard in Tony Wroten and, if you’re playing MyLeague, a huge Small Forward with tons of workable skills in Dario Saric (2K has confirmed to me that European players can be manually added to teams in MyLeague, but will not be available in MyGM unless added to the team first), in addition to another high draft pick after what will assuredly be a bad 2014–2015. Target a shooting guard or small forward, then aggressively target whichever spot you didn’t fill in Free Agency.

3-Year Strategy: If you can fill your roster well after year one, the only decisions that really need to be made are on extending rookie deals as the years go on. Wroten and Arnett Moultrie are first up, and you should extend Wroten to a reasonable deal (think 4/$12 million or so), and allow Moultrie to walk. There’s so much freedom with the Sixers’ roster that this is a great team to start with if you really want to mold a team to your liking.

Toronto Raptors

• 2013–2014 Record: 48–34 (3rd in East, lost in 1st round of playoffs to Brooklyn, 4–3)
• 2015–2016 Cap Room: $16 Million
• Key Strengths: Roster Stability, Dynamic Guard Play
• Key Weaknesses: Small Forward

1st-Year Strategy: Immediately, you have a decision to make on Amir Johnson, whom you should most likely extend, assuming the money is right. Any money you spend on Johnson eats into your cap space going forward, so be careful.

3-Year Strategy: Find a Small Forward. You have the guard spots locked up with Kyle Lowry (signed through the end of 2018) and DeMar Derozan (signed through 2017), and you potentially have a franchise Center in Jonas Valanciunas (player option in 2015, RFA in 2016). Additionally, if you signed Amir Johnson after year 1, you have a viable starter at Power Forward there, as well as good depth at Guard (Terrence Ross and Greivis Vasquez) and Forward (Patrick Patterson). The only missing link? Small Forward, which was manned by Ross last year, though he was perhaps overmatched by that responsibility, especially in the playoffs. If you can replace or develop Ross, you will fill the only real weak link on the team.

Originally published at www.goodgamebro.com on October 2, 2014.