Last year, the first edition of the Ron Marshall Memorial Mock Draft took place over the offseason to fill the dog days of the doldrums and, well, I don’t mean to brag but it was a resounding success. With strong leadership (me) and a good staff (Awesome Hog as Mark Tatum) we went above and beyond the traditional layers of the mock draft.
You may look at draft boards. You may try and guess the lottery. But have you ever taken full control of a franchise and been responsible for their draft, trade strategy, team building and free agency?
Well, by entering in the Ron Marshall Memorial Mock Draft, you can do all these things and more, because this is what we in the business call “the big one.” When this exercise was humbly started a few years ago by Awesome Hog, it was merely an act of merriment, drafting the first round and going home. However, last year, it evolved, as we not only did the entire draft, but then conducted a mock free agency (a process that I still have cold sweats over).
Does this sound like something that would interest you? Well, read closely.
Terms and Conditions
If you would like to apply for a spot in this exercise, you must be an ACTIVE community member, and be prepared to commit to the dates and times stipulated ahead. A problem I’m trying to avoid is having people come from out of absolute nowhere to sign up and steal a spot, only to never partake. That isn’t fun. Therefore, whereas last year was first-come, first-served, this year you’ll have to apply for a spot by emailing me at benjamin(dot)quagliata(at)bigpond(dot)com.
I’m sorry if this is somewhat dictatorial, but I want as full participation in this as possible. Just shoot me an email with your free agency pitch if you will on why you deserve a spot. Obviously, there will still be an element of time to it, so the sooner you apply the better. Once I have 30 willing participants I’ll randomise the teams and the fun can commence.
Wait, 30 participants? Does that mean...
Yes it does, unfortunately. After successfully steering the Milwaukee Bucks back to the lottery last season (per Ryan Caldwell’s NBA 2K16 simulation), I am retiring from the mock draft as a participant. Instead, I will transition into full-blown commissioner, approving requests to join the league, trades and, when the time comes, acting as NBA super agent for all uncontracted players (but more on that when the time comes).
Timeline
Ideally, I’d like to have a full slate of participants by Friday, May 26. THE DRAFT WILL OCCUR ON FRIDAY, JUNE 16TH, COMMENCING AT 7 P.M. EST. Please keep this in mind when applying. I’m thinking we’ll probably roll with a one-hour pick limit to try and speed things up (it was 2-4 hours last year, we do want to do 2 rounds), allowing for overnight if your pick is slated at 4 a.m.
Obviously, free agency and all that other jazz will begin post-draft, whenever that may be, but to give you an idea, here’s what it looked like last year.
- Team assignment
- Trade thread (about seven of them, titled “war rooms”)
- Trade confirmation thread (keep this thread for official trade requests agreed upon by all parties)
- NBA Draft
- Contract options (the free agency kaiser [me] will handle any player options, teams will handle team options)
- Free Agency (involves emailing the super agent [me] with a proposal, more detail given when necessary)
- Team write ups (if you’re feeling brave, mosey on over to the SBN site of the team you represented, present your mock offseason, and prepare to get torn to shreds)
I think that should do it for now. Please apply, this is seriously one of the cooler things that DBB runs and it takes a lot of effort and man hours so I do really want to make it worthwhile.
For those unfamiliar with the name origins, Ron Marshall was a beloved community member most famous for his wonderfully outlandish trade scenarios involving at least four teams and 30 players. As such, he was a god amongst men in this exercise when it was founded in the fanposts by Awesome Hog two years ago now. He sadly passed away in November 2015, and as such, the draft will live on in his memory, and DBB can think of no better way to honor his memory than concocting as many crazy trade scenarios as possible.
Get applying Pistons fans, and let’s have some fun!
NB: Awesome Hog need not apply. As the founder of the exercise, there is a spot with his name on it should he choose to accept, and vice-commissioner duties are his to forfeit.