exactly
i always make trades for the cpu in my association to try to make good matchups, but the game doesnt reward those teams so its kinda pointless
they also need to add player types
"ring chaser"
"money chaser"
"fame chaser"
to help determine where they sign in free agency and when they demand trades
Or they can tweak the player ambitions and make them more dynamic. For example, they already have player loyalty, wants to win, and something about getting paid. A young rookie is most likely gonna be loyal those first few years, but if they go on to become a star, they may either wanna win, get paid, or both...and the loyalty should subside until they either sign to a contender, or the GM puts some pieces around them to make their current team a contender (while getting paid). A veteran player like Duncan or Kobe still wants to win, money is not as important, and their loyalty should remain high since they play for good teams. Role player types are in no position to demand a lot of money, nor are they loyal. Basically, those player ambitions should change for each player, depending on the status of that player, after each contract.
They need to have GM ambitions too. I forwarded this idea to 2k like 3 years ago, butit hasn't been implemented yet.
I've been playing this matchup on 2k12 for the PC... Basically just controlled Jordan and went against Kobe for the whole game. I'd get back on it if I didn't have work 
