As we know, planning is crucial. I have plans for many possibilities, but it is the things that I haven't thought to think about as a HG team that will be challenging.
Drafting has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I have played for a combined 53 seasons in BB and I have never thought about the draft in terms of longevity before. Yes, I have drafted and trained U21 NT players, but I've never had to think about rotating through the seasons drafting. Ie. invest in maximum draft points and draft maybe every second season. In the meantime, thinking seriously about what to train and when while keeping in mind the type of draftees I will need next.
For example, I focused more on guard skills with my trainees this season with the focus on getting 3 bigs in the upcoming draft and training big skills next season. But it wasn't that simple. I had to start looking more closely at my current trainees and thinking about what their final builds will look like taking into account the draftees coming in next season...and then 2 seasons after that! I've been using Buzzer Manager to map out TSP caps and potential builds. It's been fun and I am engaged in BB in a way I haven't been before.
This is HG.
I seriously tried to cut some parts of your message in order to make reply shorter (I would almost always want to quote when replying, but then messages tend to become so long, as I don't have the special skill of writing short messages;), but cutting any part of it would be a disservice to it, as it really gives a good overview/example in a short package what kind of thought patterns you might have to go through in your attempts to optimize everything as a HG.
It's also a good reminder that person can learn new things fast and relatively easy, if they find it inspiring. (For me making such observations for the first time was really inspirational aha-moment, and it kind of reminded me on some more complex board games, where looks can be deceiving - sometimes game looking relatively simple can have enormous amount of strategical depth and difficulty built in it). I'm not trying to say process for new to it will be easy, I'm just saying it will be worthwhile. And sometimes that's exactly what we need, instead of easy. The feeling of achieving something beautiful. That is also at the core of HG mentality in my opinion. :)
Couple of sentences stroke to me most in your post.
"Drafting has taken on a whole new meaning for me", "But it wasn't that simple." and especially the last one; "It's been fun and I am engaged in BB in a way I haven't been before."
Exactly my experience (apart from playing partly also due to some sentimental reasons), as the HG mentality has got me in it's hook big time and I can confirm is totally engaging especially compared to typical - for me nowadays lame and boring - play style, where you just buy yourself some success. (Yes, unfortunately I have purchases in my team history, but those days are long gone).
So excellent post, I'd like to read more of these so please share your thoughts and experiences, ups and downs and challenges (of which you likely are able to turn into something positive) that you face down the road!