GMOTY 2024-2025

[bobby]

i picked hoff. had what i thought at the time would be a devastating loss of embiid in FA. Was able to piece together a 58 win 2 seeded contender squad without giving up any picks I think?

[Jesse]

Went w/ Merv for the same reasons i almost voted him gmoty last year - Rui / Edey deals were wins when they were made

Shouts to Hoff

[Tyler]

Torn between Jesse and Merv. Both made great trades to win 60 and 61 games. Both guys made great deals at the deadline last year to put themselves in a position to make trades this year to win 60 games.

People have mentioned the KD trade but haven’t mentioned how critical landing Cojo was for the Magic.

I thought the Kings and Mavs made a lose lose deal (I’m sure the receipts are in a group chat) at the time but it was the exact opposite, as they went 1-2 out West. Shoutout to Hoff for an excellent trade and season… if the Celtics pick jumps, he’s got a nice set up to be good for awhile. A lot of this game comes down to resigning luck (or just bullshit, easily the worst part of the game imo) and overcoming the short end of the stick is admirable.

Ultimately voting for Jesse I think, with the right to change to Merv if someone lays out a good argument. I think this Kings team is just super unique and fun. The Gary Payton and Justise Winslow trade (although made last season) was one of the biggest coups in league history. He got 2 high quality starters on a team friendly deal for a single FRP. Nuts. Sabonis added a fun element to a stocky team and turned out to be the perfect piece. This team lost like 5 games after that acquisition. Mitch Robinson was a stock lord and trading 3 spurs picks for him and a Warriors future was a nice move to round out a stocky defensive identity.

Look forward to the committee process going forward!

[Tyler]

Also shoutout to DMo for turning a 40 year old on a $24M expiring into Was 25, Was 26, Magic 28, 2069 RP, and Brandon Ingram. Absolute witchcraft out of the Mad King in Philly

[Josh]

voted for jesse. he had the best team by point differential and i think he had a very difficult road to get there

[Hoff]

I was between Merv and Jesse, who both had tremendous seasons finishing 1st in both conferences.

Merv made an overlooked trade for CoJo who is one of the best PGs in the league, traded for Denzel who was a big piece of the team this year for free, made a move for Montrezl who continues to be a underrated big man and Powell, and finally, made a major splash in trading for KD and using a BBB reward for him. It was probably an overpay but Merv knew it was the right time to push his chips in.

Jesse took a team of misfits and wonky players and meshed them together nicely. It started out during the draft making a ton of trades to finally land Dyson and Matas. Traded a haul for Mitch Rob who is one of the best big men in the league at this point (NYK!). Made a splash for Sabonis who went on to have the most efficient season of his career while giving up some pieces he had excess of at those positions.

However, I have to give it to Merv who had a surprise season coming in 1st, made the necessary trades/moves to push the chips in smartly while keeping the Magic's longevity intact. Good season to all!

[Joe]

Tough call between Merv and Jesse as well - Magic put together an amazing season with a roster that most (including Merv) didn't think was a lock for home court, let alone the overall 1 seed. Like the moves for Trez and KD late in the year, and getting Valentine for free was nice too, lots of really nice moves around the margin to flesh out the squad.

Ultimately voted Jesse, who I think made a few more "balls on the table" type moves trading away the Mitten in favor of starting a relative unknown at PG, paying up for Sabonis who was exactly the scorer the team needed, and turning those surefire lotto Spurs picks into Mitch early on. Kinda feels like one of those years where if anyone else had done this series of trades and achieved these results they'd be a lock, but because it's just another season for Jesse we tend to overlook it.

Shoutout to Hoff for what Dallas did (I did say Embiid Ewing theory on the preseason pod!) and Dmo for getting 3 picks and Ingram for 40 year old Lebron.

[SoNicks]

WGMOY goes to Ashes. He barely set any DCs and his hornets got swept in the playoffs. Ashes didn’t do a single pod nor did he do any articles or trades. You’d think he was managing that team on autopilot.

Punishment should be a stat boost for the whole league

[Matt]

Interesting season for GMOTY, will think through as I write this post - my candidates are:

Merv: Impressed with DC choice to run Rui at the 2-5 supersub - still don't totally understand how this team won 61 games, but Merv recognized what he had early and pushed in more chips to try to get over the top. I talked on the pod about how I didn't like the KD trade - if I end up voting for Merv, it'll be in spite of the KD trade, not because of it. Liked the Harrell trade, and some other moves around the edges were nice

Jesse: Another team where I don't really know how they won 60 games (I may just not know sim ball)...but it's a little less surprising when Jesse does it. This team looks totally different than it did last year - Daniels in for Mitten, Sabonis in, PG out, Mitchell Robinson in, Isaac Okoro out, etc. As vintage a Jesse season as it gets

Dmo: If we're voting based on who made the best trades, I do think Dmo probably gets my vote - turning LeBron into what he got is insane value. Granted, some of it was to help the Bullets out of cap issues this offseason, but still - in terms of value created, I think it's Dmo and it's not even really that close...but I don't think I can justify voting for a 23 win team.

All in all i think I lean Jesse, though both the Magic and Kings had crazy, impressive, and imo unpredictable leaps to the top of the standings

[Wes]

I was between Merv and Jesse (shoutout Hoff too). Both put together amazing teams that I have no clue how they won each respective conference. Jesse was classic Jesse slinging a ton of trades to get better. Merv is more the organic growth of a team, couple that with a blistering start to the season he decided to buy at the deadline to take a real shot at the title. Ultimately going with Merv because his team is so ahead of schedule with a real shot to win this year.