Draft Day Moves

The end of the draft got pretty ugly, with quite a few players being picked based solely on one double digit scoring or rebounding game. I mean, who is Omri Casspi, Dahntay Jones, or Luc Mbah a Moute? This is like the worst case spelling bee NBA edition. The most mysterious player however, has to be Oleksiy Pecherov. The seven footer lit up the Celtics for 24 points earlier in the week and then gathered 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in last night's effort versus Milwaukee. But Oleksiy woke up this morning to find out that his skills were so valued he'd already been traded in SlamNation before one game had even been played. Team Moribe flipped Pecherov to Sour Snails for Mr. Irrelevant, Corey Maggette -- and didn't even give Pecherov a chance to clean out his locker.

Asked why he moved so quickly to dump Pecherov, a budding fan favorite, GM Mikey said, "We didn't want any Russians on our team. I'm pro-USA, we wanted Americans only. Plus, we have Ben Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal at the center position. That should be plenty." Informed that Pecherov was Ukrainian, Mikey shot back, "What the f***'s the difference?!" The Cold War ended twenty years ago but Team Moribe is still determined to keep America safe. Good for them.

In other draft trading news, Funk Coalition and Half Man Half ImAsian had swapped multiple draft pick positions starting with Round Seven, as the Funk dearly coveted Joakim Noah. In the end, the trade ended up looking like this: Joakim Noah, Chris Duhon, Tyson Chandler, and Francisco Garcia versus Marreese Speights, Kirk Hinrich, Anthony Parker, and Beno Udrih. SlamNation experts say GM Jon paid too much for the part time services of Noah but he insists that it was a great deal. We'll see.

(Russell Conference) Thundercats

One thing's for sure with the Thundercats division, there's no Lion-O in this group. While such luminaries as Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant reside here, no one team seems to have any advantage on the other. For example, Funk Coalition has a weak front line, the Chunky Monkeys are going with a small ball lineup that could boom or bust, the Heffalumps are already reeling from a big injury, and Team Moribe might boast the most balanced lineup but is chock full of volatile personalities. This division will provide plenty of fireworks though as each team is built to run and gun with stellar point guards and lots of offensive firepower. What's missing is the big men. The best (traditional) center in this division? Um, Marcus Camby? So look for very little defense and fantasy fireworks from this group. Thundercats Ho!

Chunky Monkeys (Evan)
Interesting enough, both of the owners who lucked into the top two picks decided to go small ball with their fantasy studs. Evan was fortunate enough to have stats monster Chris Paul fall into his lap and immediately decided to draft a mini CP3, Monta Ellis (with reports indicating a bit of regret afterwards). That should be a very good offensive and steals pairing. Evan revealed his small ball strategy by going with two sweet shooting big men, Andrea Bargnani and Mehmet Okur, in Rd 3 and 4. For the fifth starter, small forward Trevor Ariza fits the bill as a (surprisingly) good scorer and an absolute monster for threes and steals. Basically he's perfect for this team and it's going to be a rare week that the Monkeys lose the STLs category.

As much as we like this starting five, the bench gets thin pretty quickly. Sixth man Leandro Barbosa is supposed to return to his former status as offensive spark plug but his minutes have dropped off with Jason Richardson back in full health. Someone will have to step up as the sixth man if Barbosa falters. Third guard Mike Conley and reserve big man Rasheed Wallace support the starters very well skill set wise but aren't overly spectacular. And the rest of the bench is very young with Net's swingman Terrence Williams just coming into his own and rookie James Harden still finding his place with the Thunder. Starvin Marvin Williams might play a big role actually as he's somehow managed to become a Shane Battier type player (almost 1/1/1). Overall the Monkeys seem ready to play small ball and dominate the AST-3PT-STL-FT% categories.

100 Acre Wood Heffalumps (Jose)
This is how you build a team around Rajon Rondo. Surround him with sweet shooters and defensive minded big men. Oh wait, this is Kobe's team? What? Fine, this is Kobe's team. Rondo will just pick his pockets once in awhile, for old time's sake. With Kobe's age a concern, he slipped down to pick seven, where Jose was more than happy to pick him up. By pairing him with karmic foe Rajon Rondo, and adding shooting juggernaut Kevin Martin, any concern over Rondo's lack of scoring was eliminated. The Heffalumps will have the wide ass of Al Horford and the corpse of Marcus Camby playing inside and swatting shots, and they'll combine to be a very fine REB/BLK duo. Small forward Thaddeus Young gets a lot of minutes and a lot of upside hype but fantasy wise he seems pretty average. If he turns out to be a plain Jane, Andrei Kirilenko is experiencing a bit of a resurgence and might be a better fit in the starting lineup with his defensive prowess.

The rest of the bench is all small guys, with SG Jason Terry, and PGs TJ Ford and Ty Lawson coming off the pine. What happens when Marcus Camby goes down for a few games (which is inevitable)? AK47 can slide over so that Horford plays center, but is that enough rebounding and defense to compete? Or rather, is that enough rebounding and defense to prevent a Kobe outrage? Maybe Jose can figure out a way to get Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown. Quick, call Chris Wallace!

Update: Kevin Martin exits stage right for at least two months, putting the "ouch" in "Heffalump." Luckily, late round pickup Quentin Richardson has been shooting spectacularly so he could help pick up the scoring slack. And it's not all bad injury news as Tyrus Thomas' injury has opened the door for last round pick Taj Gibson to get some starters minutes.

Funk Coalition (Jon)
GM Jon had a plan and basically stuck to it with mind numbing rigidity. After having a trade in place to snatch up Deron Williams, it wasn't even necessary as Williams fell to him anyway. With a well documented love of guards, the Funk went Deron, Joe Johnson, and Tony Parker right out of the gate, setting up an ideal three guard rotation. Add in long range bomber JR "Hiroshima" Smith and the backcourt is balanced and solid.

The Coalition then set out to secure the front court with one dimensional defensive big men. Andris Biedrins, Joakim Noah (via trade), Chris Andersen, and Tyson Chandler all have the same lanky builds, feature some fantastic hair, and won't score more than ten points a game. Together, they should rebound and block enough to keep pace with the rest of the league but none of them are more than part time players so that could be a problem. What Funk won't have problems doing is scoring. Aside from the four guard backcourt, PF Lamarcus Aldridge is an excellent offensive player and bench players Chris Duhon, Ryan Gomes, and Francisco Garcia (if he returns from injury) can also contribute a bit in the points and shooting department. In a totally unbiased evaluation, the Funk are anticipating a 7-1 divisonal record. Just saying.

Team Moribe (Mikey)
For pure entertainment value, I'd want documentary cameras trained on Team Moribe 24-7. For starters, you have Agent Zero, a one man reality show -- who happens to be justifying his first round selection. Then you have Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal, and Ben Wallace on the same team. If you're going to reunite the entire Malice from the Palace crew, shouldn't you be obligated to install metal detectors at every entrance to the player areas? Every day could be a battle, complete with guns, knives, or nunchucks. And are there moodier players than Shawn Marion and Tracy McGrady? I think not. Luckily, Kevin Love will be around to Twitter everything while JJ Redick sits around trying to figure out how he can be cool -- and how to launch his rap career. Maybe Artest will sign him to his label. And then punch him in the face during a practice cypher. Entertaining right? But how will this team play on the court?

Well, despite being confused about the positional requirements, Mikey has assembled a team with many interchangeable pieces. A starting lineup of PG Arenas, SG Jackson, SF Andrew Iguodala, PF Shawn Marion, and C Jermaine O'Neal will be very effective, especially with Marion and O'Neal playing so well in the early going. Artest will come off the bench to start some trouble and Kevin Love will come in to rebound once his hand heals. What this team will be lacking is a big man if/when O'Neal gets injured. Venerable Ben Wallace is looking good in his return as a Piston but can he really keep it up? If he can't, Team Moribe will be light in the BLKs department. Oh and if Gilbert Arenas goes down, the backup point guard position might be a little light with only Jarrett Jack behind him. In any case, I'm keeping my eye on this team, even if I'm physically keeping my distance, and ordering extra security guards when they come into my arena...

(Chamberlain Conference) Silverhawks

Some of this prognosticator's favorite teams reside in this division. I'm gonna go ahead and say that this division will be way underrated and someone will go undefeated through the first five weeks. And by "someone" it could be any of four teams because they'll powerful in their own way. Jimmy's team is very traditionally built, Trieu's team is pure small ball, Eric-L's team needs to win now (and can do it), while Chris' team is just super weird, but in a wonderful way. Do you realize the Silverhawks were only on TV for one short season? How did they manage to seep into our collective consciousnesses? Oh right, they were freaking awesome. Metallic armor, random (musical) powers, retractable wings and face armor, space ships, and a fantastic look and design. But here's the question, can anybody actually name a Silverhawk character? I couldn't. Not one. I could barely even remember the intro, much less the theme song. Whatever, I'm betting a Silerhawk emerges as the top contender this season...

Sour Snails (Trieu)
After winning the lottery and getting Lebron James for life, Trieu was the happiest man in Arizona last week. Selecting first comes with a price however: you don't get to pick again for another thirty one picks. Many of us wondered what sort of teammates Lebron would be outfitted with. After the first three rounds, I was in absolute love with the Sour Snails. Three do everything forwards in LBJ, Josh Smith, and Gerald Wallace. That trio laid the foundation for a team that could be highly competitive in all categories -- except maybe FT% -- and I was excited to see what would come next. So it was a bit of surprise when the rest of Trieu's draft went suddenly very young and very niche. Starting point guard Aaron Brooks has been a revelation so far, and rookie SG Stephen Curry has a solid future, but it seemed a bit early for Curry. And then to shore up the center position, Trieu selected three point shooting big man Channing Frye.

Was Trieu going small ball with Lebron? I guess so. Especially when SF Danilo Gallinari, another three point specialist was brought on board. Backup swingman Corey Brewer has been a defensive terror this season (multiple STL/BLK a game) and backup backup swingmen Chris Douglas-Roberts and Martell Webster have had some very impressive offensive games recently -- but this team has almost no chance to win any rebounding battles. Late round pick, rookie power forward DeJuan Blair is miscast on this team as the only low post player, so look for him to be cut soon. And with Lebron and Josh Smith's low FT%, the Snails could be playing a very intriguing brand of small ball that aims to dump free throws but win blocks. The Snails have won a Cinderella championship going small so it's hard to argue with them but this is certainly an interesting way to build around the do everything game of Lebron.

fOb sTaRs (Jimmy)
Oh we like this starting five, we like it a lot. Chauncey Billups and Louis Williams in the backcourt, both providing nice scoring and assist numbers. Rashard Lewis lighting it up from beyond the arc as the small forward, with a contract year Chris Bosh providing an automatic 20-10 inside. And all that offense anchored by the defensive presence of center Emeka Okafor, who could be in for a career year. Plus, coming off the bench as the sixth man is Zach Randolph, another 20-10 guy. Nice right? In addition, Mike Bibby is the perfect third guard as he shoots, passes, and scores just like Billups and Williams. If young forward Jason Thompson can step up his game a little, average a double-double with a block, this team is pretty much set. I mean, there seems to be enough of everything on paper. Scoring, passing, rebounding, blocks, steals, three pointers, and even veteran leadership. Has the barely English literate Jimmy managed to put together a solid team? From the looks of things: Yes!

So what could be missing? Well, if any injuries happen, especially at the SG or SF position, the Fobstars could be in trouble. Larry Hughes and Travis Outlaw aren't exactly guys you want to count on in the long term. And can Jimmy pronounce "Omri Casspi" or "Peja Stojakovic," their late round picks, clearly enough to call them off the bench? GM Jimmy has been very active talking trades so look for something to happen soon to shore up the backup swingman position. Otherwise it's Chin-glish all the way!

Jedi Knights (Chris)
This team is going to win the percentage battles on the regular. I mean, Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Calderon, David Lee, and Nene, are all spectacular FG% guys. And Dirk and Jose are pretty much automatic at the line. This will be good because starting shooting guard OJ Mayo will be chucking it up a lot -- and missing a lot. And so will Hedo Turkoglu. And DJ Augustin. Ok wait, maybe this team won't win the percentages every week. Can five spectacular FG% guys (plus Ronnie Brewer) negate the damage done by four terrible ones (plus Shane Battier)? The Jedi Knights will be really interesting because they have some serious strengths but also a few glaring weaknesses.

Let's start with the strengths. The Knights will beat you on the boards. They will be strong from three point land. They will have more white starters than you -- and foreign starters too (Can you match the player with his home country?). In fact, the Knights could almost start a very respectable white-out team -- Calderon, Turkoglu, Nowitzki, Lee. Why didn't they draft Peja Stojakovic? Or maybe Sarunas Marciulionis? That would have been awesome! Chris, trade for Manu or Mike Miller, please just do it! The Knights can also pick your pocket because Ronnie Brewer is a thief and Nene has very quick hands for a big guy.

So what's missing? Mainly scoring. Dirk and OJ are wired to get buckets and will explode often -- but OJ might cede some shots to Iverson soon. Can Nene and Hedo do enough to offset Jose and David's lack of scoring? The Knights will also be weak in assists and blocks unless DJ Augustin (or some other backup point guard) can get some more playing time and someone else can help Dirk and Nene protect the rim. Late round additions Matt Barnes and Brandon Bass probably won't be in the mix much but are nice insurance in case of injuries. All in all, the Jedis are an unorthodox and intriguing team.

Fat Jubas (Eric-L)
It's difficult drafting last in a sixteen team league. A lot of franchise guys fly off the board before you're even close to picking. Eric-L has never shied away from a challenge before however. With a lot of fantasy experience and many powerhouse teams to his credit, he was going to use his double down picks to his advantage. While most of the big names were already off the board by the time his picks came around, I doubt anyone could have predicted that Eric-L would go with Steve Nash and Brook Lopez as his cornerstones. Nash has only a few years left in his prime and Lopez is a second year center. Of course, both of them have been playing spectacularly in the early going so Eric-L's faith in them looks warranted.

The Jubas' GM continued their veteran plus young guy theme throughout the rest of the draft. Forwards Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green in Rd3 and 4. Sharp shooter Ray Allen and versatile Boris Diaw in the next pairing. Then rookie Johnny Flynn and old vet Grant Hill. Followed by Anderson Varejao and another rookie, Chase Budinger. Only the last round selections of youngsters Yi Jianlian and Chuck Hayes broke that pattern. In the end, the Jubas have a starting lineup of: Nash, Allen, Green, Garnett, Lopez. Sub in Boris Diaw or Grant Hill if Kevin Garnett continues to get limited minutes and everything looks pretty balanced right? This team has to win now due to the veterans' ages and the reserves will really have to step up for this team to be successful. There's not a lot of backup assists or blocks if Nash or Garnett go down, and a bonus point if you had any idea who Chase Budinger was. I didn't, I had to Google him. And I'm still not sure who he is...

(Russell Conference) Voltron

This is the Wizard of Oz division. Everyone has a hole and is in need of something. The Golden Dragons need a point guard, the Pogiboys need a shooting guard, the Bombardiers need another small forward, and the Human Amoebas need it to be next year. Then again, much like the lesson learned at the end of the Wizard of Oz, it was revealed that Scarecrow, Tin Man, and The Cowardly Lion had what they were looking for all along. The four Voltron division mates are all very well constructed teams, with each team built with an eye toward roster balance as well as statistical well-roundedness. In the spirit of Voltron, each team will probably be much stronger than its individual pieces might suggest. In fact, it's hard to gauge which team will emerge as the divisonal champion because they are all gambling with health and potential issues across the board so fate will play a large hand in deciding the leader.

Golden Dragon (Thien)
With the third overall pick, Thien had a difficult decision. LBJ and CP3 were clearly gone, so who was the third best player? Go for extreme upside with Kevin Durant or Danny Granger? Or roll the dice with injury risk Dwayne Wade? It turned out the answer was Wade and so the Golden Dragons will hope that he can indeed fall seven times and get up eight. Actually, Thien's team is full of returning from recent injury guys. Centers Andrew Bynum and Chris Kaman were hurt most of last season. Late round pick Mike Dunleavy hasn't even hit the court yet after coming off a fantastical roto season two years ago.

The good news is that co-team captain Paul Pierce rarely misses games and will be the perfect complement to Wade. And he'll have up and comer Rudy Gay backing him up. In fact, with Wade, Pierce, and Gay on the outside and Bynum and Kaman on the inside, this team is very well put together. Well, except for a semi-glaring hole at point guard. Is Raymond Felton going to be enough to carry this team in ASTs? Spurs' sophomore George Hill sure isn't ready yet. One thing this team won't be lacking in is offensive firepower. Al Harrington is twenty points and three pointers waiting to happen. Mike Miller will add some more long range shooting, and backup power forward Kenyon Martin will contribute some surliness and a few blocks. If Wade, Bynum, and Kaman can stay healthy, this team is going to be quite a handful.

Human Amoebas (Eric-A)
Welcome to your 2012 SlamNation champions, the Amoeba All Stars! With a dynasty league, there's a thin line between looking to win now and building for the future. The Amoebas clearly will be building for the future as the oldest player on the roster is forty year old Greg Oden. I mean, twenty six year old Danny Granger. Eric-A's first six picks after old man Granger were Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Michael Beasley, Paul Millsap, Greg Oden, and Courtney Lee. Everyone barely past drinking age except for Millsap (24). And it's not like Eric went any older with the rest of his draft, picking up Andray Blatche (23), Ryan Anderson (21), and Will Bynum (26). That's a lot of youth but how will they grow together?

Rose and Gordon will be a fine backcourt, Granger will provide nine category contributions at small forward, and Beasley and Oden will contribute offense and defense in the frontcourt, respectively. And once Carlos Boozer gets moved from the Jazz, Paul Millsap will be a beast. Isn't that a pretty perfect looking top six? It's the exact sort of team the Boston Celtics used to win the 2008 NBA championship. And with some promising backups at every position, the Amoebas are young but ready to compete now. So actually, let's move that championship prediction up a year, to 2011. For now, we think it's nice that Eric-A picked up Etan Thomas (age 32) in the eleventh round to baby sit his kids.

MoRRie's Pogiboys (Alvin)
Our returning champions, the Pogiboys love upside. Amare Stoudemire slipped down the draft charts a little bit for fear that his eye may fall out this season but when he's right, he's the most dominant offensive big man in the game. Could have been a draft day steal. Flanking Amare will be PF Tyrus Thomas, who Alvin just had to have in the fourth round. If Thomas can screw his head on straight and play with some consistency, he'll justify his lofty position. Add in two other promising big men, Roy Hibbert and Spencer Hawes, and that's quite the imposing front line.

So what's happening in the backcourt for the Pogiboys? First up is the point guard tandem of Devin Harris and rookie wunderkid Brandon Jennings. Harris is a very nice offensive PG with a bright future but it looks like Brandon Jennings could soon be the star of the show as he's had quite the debut week. Reserve Ramon Sessions might just rot on the bench all season since Harris and Jennings will be so productive. Forwards Caron Butler and Charlie Villanueva are at different points in their careers but Alvin really needs both of them to come through this year. And this team has a big hole at shooting guard. Can late round addition Kelenna Azubuike really hold down the position? He's actually a pretty decent player but will get jerked around minutes wise by the Don Nelson roller coaster. All is okay though, because Alvin has been a proven fantasy winner so we're sure he'll be a strong contender once again. Repeat?

Bayside Bombardiers (Pierre)
I'm gonna go ahead and call this team the second bananas. Nobody is a franchise player on their NBA team and there's nobody who can play alpha dog. For example. Pau Gasol and David West are fantastic players but are Kobe and Chris Paul's sidekicks. Ben Gordon is good, but he's no franchise player -- except maybe in crunch time. Jameer Nelson is a recent All-Star but one would be hard pressed to say he's the third best player on the Magic. Same with Mo Williams (Lebron's dubious All-Star sidekick). But hey, you don't need star power to win, you need balance and production.

The Bombardiers are certainly well stocked at every position. Jameer Nelson and Mo Williams as the point guards, Ben Gordon and Allen Iverson or Jamal Crawford as the shooting guards. David West and Luis Scola sharing power forward duties, and Pau Gasol and Samuel Dalembert hanging out in the middle. There's only one small forward on this team, Luol Deng, but that should turn out okay since he can't be injured again can he (oh and Pierre picked up Tayshaun Prince late)? While this team doesn't seem tremendously exciting on paper, it is sneakily well built and looks very competitive. I mean, each player seems to have a very defined statistical role and should be fully capable of coming through. Of course you wouldn't want to hang out with any of these guys -- aside from Iverson -- but who cares when boring wins you games and makes you a contender? The Bombardiers are out to prove that nice guys won't finish last. Or second to last. Or third to last.

(Chamberlain Conference) Transformers

Before the draft, I earmarked this division as a very tough one. All four owners have been fantasy champions in various sports, most of them have been commissioners, and all of them were convinced they would have the best team. True to my prediction, post draft, this division will prove to be a battle ground. Steve and Roger are heavy on the veterans and looking to win now. Oliver's team is a nice blend of old and young, and Brian's team is young but extremely talented. So if you're trying to compare actual Transformers to the teams in this division, then Team Korea! and Buffy are Ironhide and Grimlock. Half Man Half ImAsian embodies Jazz. And Squirtle Squad is Hot Rod. Or maybe this is all stretching the analogies too far. On with the show!

Half Man Half ImAsian (Oliver)
Oliver's a former SlamNation champion and brings great GM skills and coaching abilities to the table. With ultra-versatile Kevin Durant as his franchise cornerstone, Oliver was set to go in any direction. Still, it was a bit of a surprise when he took Durant's real life teammate, Russell Westbrook with his second selection. Then again, Westbrook is fully capable of equaling/surpassing both Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose's numbers in the upcoming years. All three are similar guards who can get in the lane at will but have poor jump shots. In order to make up for Westbrook's lack of three point range, Oliver snatched up Troy Murphy, last season's fantasy darling. The starting five is rounded out with Andrew Bogut at center and Rip Hamilton at shooting guard (Rip still wants to know why he's so hated by Oliver).

Backup guard Mario Chalmers is very similar to Westbrook and will provide plenty of steals and assists. The other backcourt subs, Kirk Hinrich and Anthony Parker, will make occassional appearances for their long range shooting and supportive high fives. Oliver will really need Marreese "Mississippi" Speights to get quality minutes soon, otherwise Kendrick Perkins will have to help out mightily in the blocks department and give ultra-whities Murphy and Bogut some hip hop edge and intimidation in the process. All in all, Oliver's team looks well poised for another successful year.

Korea! Korea! (Steve)
We were really hoping Nate Robinson would end up on this team. Think about the in-practice dunking contests that could happen. Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, and Nate Robinson -- that would have been six Slam Dunk championships combined. Team Korea would be able to charge admission for that kind of entertainment. This team needs to invest in baskets that stretch to thirteen feet, immediately. By taking the next dominant big man (post-Shaq) with the fifth overall pick, Steve set himself up for an interesting draft. Taking venerable PG Jason Kidd in the second round indicated that this team would be built for an immediate championship run. Following that strategy, the next four picks were also battle tested veterans. Carter, Richardson, Antawn Jamison, and Manu Ginobili are all over thirty and have only a few good years left, but they are definitely still capable of producing big numbers.

The main question with this team will be health. Vince is already down, Jamison is returning from injury, Manu is getting rabies vaccinated. And there seems to be an awful lot of swingmen on this team -- all those guys plus Josh Howard. Who will help Dwight control the boards and block some shots? Sneaky ninth round selection Yao Ming is out for the year so someone else will have to support Dwight for this season (but next year Team Korea will have the best center duo in the game). Reserves Rodney Stuckey and Brendan Haywood might be pressed into service soon as they're the only other PG and Cs on the roster behind Kidd and Howard. Oh and Erick Dampier, who is leading the league in blocks right now. Yes, Erick Dampier.

Buffy (Roger)
Just like Steve's in love with swingmen, his division rival Roger seems to have a similar addiction, but to power forwards. Three of Buffy's top four picks are natural power forwards. Tim Duncan, Elton Brand, and Carlos Boozer will provide plenty of front court scoring, low post defense, and fantastic field goal percentage, but who will pass them the ball? The face of the franchise, Brandon Roy, is a shooting guard, and the only point guard on the roster is Andre Miller -- who's not even starting for the Blazers. In fact, the only other guard on the roster is Michael Redd (injured) so the backcourt is thin. This will definitely bear watching.

The good news is that Roger seems to have found a gem in young center Marc Gasol, who has been putting up incredible numbers in his sophomore season. With Lamar Odom doing tremendous things while starting for Marc's brother in LA, an underrated Udonis Haslem, and versatile Wilson Chandler as the glue guy, this team is going to pound the ball inside and try to overpower opponents. The window for this team is pretty small though since Duncan might be on the decline soon, not to mention some of the other guys on this team aren't exactly spring chickens. Clearly Roger is of the "Just win now baby!" philosophy, and he's set up a good foundation to do just that.

Squirtle Squad (Brian)
Early in the season, Carmelo Anthony looks like he's on a mission. Insulted to have slipped out of the first round, Melo has been throwing up incredible scoring numbers and contributing a well rounded stat sheet to boot. Along with the return of Al Jefferson and a much hyped Anthony Randolph, Squirtle Squad has quite the future ahead of them. And they drafted along those lines because they've definitely hedged their bets for the following years with early round selections of rookie PG Tyreke Evans and PF Blake Griffin. If everything works out, Griffin could be part of a dominant front line for years to come -- unless the Clipper curse continues to sideline him, like forever.

So who's going to hold down the backcourt until Tyreke is ready? Well, Baron Davis is healthy (for now) and doing a little bit of everything -- including missing a lot of shots. Backup guards Randy Foye and Nate Robinson will help take some pressure off the big guys by bombing away from the outside while "big game small name" John Salmons will probably start at shooting guard. And of course, there's Shaq, who might be a key cog for this team with his rebounds and blocks. Plus he could be asked for much more as the only backup center to the brittle Jefferson. The Squirtles are set up for a promising future but unless a few key guys start playing really well now, they might be a little light on depth for this season. Then again, if Carmelo is going to continue to score at the fantastic rate of one point per minute, there might not be much to worry about. And yes I'm bitter Melo didn't drop to me.

Division Previews

Because you asked for it, okay maybe nobody asked for it, but whatever. Here are the pre-season capsules for each team. Yes, with the draft nearly over, your dedicated blogger and co-league manager has managed to crank out sixteen team reviews in two days. They will be released one a day until Saturday, and it would be awesome if you guys wanted to comment on each capsule about who you think will win each division and why. Then on Sunday I will unveil a big predictions post. That's right. League participation, yah!

Also, while I clearly have lots of time and blogging in me, if anybody else wants to blog in-season for trade articles, division reviews, trash talking, whatever whatever, please do so. I can invite you as a blog author or just email me the text (and pictures) and I'll post it up. Remember, blogging is only exciting when you contribute. If you have any questions about how to blog, well, there's a little book called The Rough Guide to Blogging to help you out. Just saying.

And we need conference names, otherwise I'm using these for now.

Chamberlain Conference
Silverhawks
Transformers

Russell Conference
Thundercats
Voltron

The Jump Off

Let's do this! For a week we've been harassing each other with texts and emails. People are staring at the spreadsheet awaiting their picks. As soon as a selection goes out, the nation is atwitter with commentary and evaluation. So while we're heading into the homestretch, why not take a quick look at the first six rounds?

Round One
Nothing surprising up top. Lebron, CP3, and Dwayne Wade in short order. This being a dynasty league, taking LBJ was definitely the right move despite CP3's fantasy dominance. And while Kevin Durant and Danny Granger are hyped as the next best things, Wade is still a numbers monster -- if he can stay healthy. The only semi-surprise was Lakers' fan Steve passing up Kobe Bryant at five (very defensible since Kobe ain't that young anymore) and nabbing Dwight Howard. If you draft Dwight, the rest of your draft has to be carefully orchestrated and built around his strengths. It was a bold move and could pay big dividends as many of the lower drafting GMs were hoping to get Howard. A slew of big men went in the latter half of the first round, in this order: Bosh, Nowitzki, Stoudemire, Jefferson, and Gasol. We'll see if that was the correct choice since all of them come with some red flags (age, injury, situation). The big shocker in Round One was Mikey's drafting of Gilbert Arenas. He's counting on the Hibachi returning to fantasy prominence but this was a huge gamble with Arenas' injury history. In a slightly smaller surprise, Suns superfan Eric-L takes old man Steve Nash, who has another two years max at elite level.

Round Two
Things get a little crazy at the top of the round as Eric-L backs up his Nash pick with up and coming center Brook Lopez. Eyebrows were raised all around but the seven footer threw up a 27 PTS, 15 REB, and 5 BLK line on opening night to calm the critics. The second round was full of point guards as eight were taken (bookended by Devin Harris and Monta Ellis), with six in a row at one point. Last year's rookie sensations, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook, went very early as their youth was a big selling point. Other than that, it was old stalwarts like Tim Duncan, Joe Johnson, and Paul Pierce getting value picked. This was the foundation round as whiffing on a top two pick could cripple you for years. For example, is David West worthy of his 2.03 draft pick? Would Carmelo or Devin Harris been better? Pierre obviously didn't think so.

Round Three
Now we're getting into some serious future selections and reaches. Andrea Bargnani at 3.02. Eric Gordon at 3.06. Anthony Randolph at 3.13. All promising players but round three value? We'll see. Andrew Bynum went early to Thien on the strength of a fantastic opening night line and that forced Steve to draft yet another Magician, Vince Carter. Chris snaked David Lee from a lot of wish lists and will be rewarded with extreme rebounding numbers and double doubles. Alvin, Roger, and Eric-L rolled the dice on semi-healthy Caron Butler, Elton Brand, and Kevin Garnett. Round three was interesting as it set the tone for "Playing to win now or building for the future?" For example, Roger went Duncan and Brand in Rounds Two and Three, meaning he's going for the ring this year. Steve did the same with Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. Brian seems to be rolling the dice on potential as he takes Randolph early to pair with a still recovering Al Jefferson and Carmelo Anthony. It's tricky winning now and later, who can pull it off? Who wants to be the next Joe Dumars? Oh wait...

Round Four
The inevitable big man run. As everyone without a top tier PF or C figures out they can't compete without some big men, Carlos Boozer, Tyrus Thomas, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nene, Okafor, Horford, Bogut, and Okur get drafted in quick order. Scattered into this round are versatile forwards like Jeff Green, Shawn Marion, and Rudy Gay. In other news, Eric-A is recreating the draft class of 2009 as he has Rose, Gordon, and Beasley on his roster. Has anyone done this before? Built a team around one whole draft class? I mean, I guess doing this for 1984 would've worked out very well. Thankfully, the 2009 has been touted as one of the best of all time. Eric-A has to take Mayo next, right? OJ, come on up!

Round Five
As everyone looks to round out their starting five, it becomes easier to project draft picks based on need. Evan needed a swingman, he takes Trevor Ariza. Steve, Eric-A, Jose, Jon, and Mikey needed bigs, they selected Jamison, Millsap, Camby, Biedrins, and Jermaine O'Neal respectively. Same with teams missing shooting guards, which had been an undrafted position on most teams because the position is so deep. The big reach here was Stephen Curry at 5.01 for Trieu, but maybe it's the perfect selection since he probably wouldn't have made his way back. With thirty plus names before you get to pick again, most owners just drafted who they wanted and damn the value or position. Oliver's curious selection of Richard Hamilton (limited upside, limited fantasy game) at 5.04 was interesting since he declared that he hated him right afterwards. A little Detroit love-hate perhaps? Do tell. Toward the latter half of the round, rookie PGs Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans flew off the board based on one good game and a lot of pre-season hype respectively. Let's say one of them booms and one of them busts. Which one will it be?

Round Six
This was the "let me lock up my starters" round. Remarkably, Mikey has been the only owner to draft his team totally positionally and right in a row. PG Arenas, SG/SF Iguodala, SG/SF S Jackson, PF Marion, C O'Neal, and sixth man Kevin Love. A classic NBA setup. Everyone has a good looking starting five positionally wise by the end of this round and a few undervalued veterans who dropped for various reasons are getting picked up. Hello Boris Diaw, Michael Redd, and Hedo Turkoglu. And the Blake Griffin experience has started as Brian took him at 6.04! That could be an absolute steal as I know some owners were talking about taking Griffin two or even three rounds earlier pre-injury. It was shooters galore the rest of Round Six as Michael Redd, JR Smith, Manu Ginobili, Raymond Felton, Leandro Barbosa, and Danilo Gallinari's 3PT potential dominated the round. I'm so excited to have the starters and sixth men drafted, now it's on to reserves and bench players. And who's looking forward to meeting Mr. Irrelevant? I am, I am!