Between this team and especially the USA squad, a flurry of roster moves has both revealed and now is guiding roster structure. When it is put to paper, i think it will look simple, unsurprising, but i now see how to integrate the Cup and training into assembling a major-league roster. Broadly, roster limited to 12 guys. First 8 are the rotation, every league and BBM game. Within that, 5 starters, 3 off the bench. The core of the team, this squad should be very tough to crack, starters are purchased, and we aim to train the bench (a high bar for my training abilities). Four remaining players include talented former starters who no longer measure up to league standards but are quality players for Cup opponents, through rounds three or four; mixed with a trainee (hoping to produce better training results).
For the Utopia squad, this means Wilson, Raitums, Borys, Fadel, and Rudnev are my starters, Lowson, Abbas, and Vick off the bench, Garcete a spot starter, Andrews, and Tweedle Dee and Dum catch what training they can. A decent Cup squad is not really on the horizon. 12 players produces the most efficient and safest spread of playing minutes.
For the Register-Guard, the squad is further advanced with roles more clearly set. The starting five of Norris, Forrest, and Chisholm, with Morey and Dubose are i hope up to DII standards, with Bean, Ngo, and Markham off the bench. (Forrest got 42 minutes in his first game, with average stamina and respectable GS. How many minutes will he play with higher stamina and proficient GS? Hopefully, same number, higher quality minutes.) Acquiring Boyd with his $100k salary, plus the fact we were out of the Cup, meant we had to do a salary dump and it had to come from the Cup squad. Muncy, Huddleston, and Cyr are gone, the books balance, and we will use all three draft picks as the foundation of the Cup squad. We do have a top-notch trainee to focus on, and then there is the player-coach who is still getting occasional training. But competing in the Cup may be delayed for a while.
The financial part is yet to be revealed. Ideally, the rosters are assembled to be cost efficient, profitable at each level of play, but also producing competitive teams in league and Cup play. We will have to get to the NBBA and Heaven to determine if our teams accomplished / financed that.