WHAT A SEASON!​

With a conclusion of MLBA's first season, there's a lot to analyze. Firstly, and most importantly, it was successful. This league was originally intended to be a "preseason" league for 2k17, where we found active sim guys to take over. Honestly we were hoping for 15-20 good guys to get this league going, and we greatly surpassed these expectations, with a full 30/30 league, and 26 guys at the draft. Sadly, only about half the guys who started the league remain with us, but replacements were readily found. Going into season 2 MLBA has a solid foundation of guys and were expecting this season to be even better! 

HEADLINES:
Trading this season was chaotic to say the least. Players being sent to so many different teams that most couldn't keep up. Demarre Carroll, Giannis, Rondo, Favors, and Horford were some of these guys that just couldn't stay in one place. 

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Overall, the league was extremely competitive. The West had 7 teams with Atleast 18 wins, a tremendous output. This even got derailed with the absences of top guys in the West at the end of the season, with the Warriors(Meaks) and Grizzlies(Heizennberg) both unavailable for extended periods of time. However, at the bottom of the standings, there were guys who couldn't put it all together. The nuggets(Super8Sean) ended the season at 6-23, the raptors(SharlonD) at 8-21. Ironically (not at all), these owners aren't with us anymore. 

 

Moving along with the competitiveness, there were also tremendous turnarounds and collapses from the season. After starting 2-9, the Suns(Ocho) made a trade In which shipped Monroe and Beverely to Memphis for ZBO and Prince. After that trade, he went an amazing 17-1, resulting in a 6th seed and a conference semifinals appearance, one OT away from the WCF. The clippers got a new owner a week into the season, Esco, who took the Clippers on a 17 game win streak and ended the season at 23-6 as the 1 seed in the West.

 

However, with other obligations, he was unable to play the playoffs. And of course, the champions*, the Celtics had a great 26-3 season, with a "title" under their belt. Now, on the other side of the spectrum, the Spurs(Smoots) and Magic(multiple owners) both seemed primed for a spot in the playoffs right out of the gate, but both teams derailed for differing reasons to end with 10 or less wins and see themselves on the outside looking in on the playoffs.

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And finally, I'll leave you with some league stats and awards.

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LEAGUE STATISTICS & AWARDS

DeMarcus Cousins (DEN) was the scoring leader during the season, averaging 16.7 Pts and 6 Reb a game, on a terrible team.
 

DeAndre Jordan (OKC) may be awful at shooting free throws, but he led the league in rebounds at 6.6 a game and steals at 1.5 a game
 

Kyrie Irving (OKC) led the league in assists at 5.4 a game
 

Not surprising, but Hassan Whiteside (POR) led the league in blocks this season with 1.3 a game.

Most Valuable Owner: TheLarryBirdX, with a chip* under his belt and the best record in the league it's undeniable that he deserves this one. 

Upcoming Owner: An owner who didn't make the playoffs this season but definitely could make it next season is Rahjeet with his Magic that ended as the 9th seed in the East with a team he didn't draft.

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Most Improved Owner: From the beginning of the season to the end, it's clear that Ras deserves this title, ending the season at 13-16 as the 6th seed in the East. 

Most Active Owner: Props to UrSuchAJerk for always being available in the chat and to play games. Definitely deserves this award and his WCF appearance.