(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.