(Chamberlain Conference) Transformers

Korea Korea - Steve (12-6)
Team Korea had a great regular season by piling up twelve wins, earning a top seed, and proving they were a championship contender. A little hiccup in the playoffs prevented them from a having post-season success but that just means they're more focused this time around. With the gumption to draft Dwight Howard fifth overall last year, GM Steve proved that he was a man of vision. His team was clearly built around the big man's strengths, pushing them to second overall in REB and BLK. By surrounding Dwight with shooters, Korea was also devastating from deep (third in 3PT) and good at whipping the ball around to perimeter shooters (fourth in AST). Of course they were last in FT%, but that's to be expected with Mr. Howard on the team. Last year's third round pick, Vince Carter, was unceremoniously cut this offseason and a statement released by the team said, "Vince sucks, that's why we cut him."

Outside of Superman II, the starting lineup is a pretty old group. Jason Kidd, Jason Richardson, Andrei Kirilenko, and Antawn Jamison have all had better years but as proven last season, they've all still got value. Kidd has blossomed as an outside shooter, Richardson will be even better this year in Phoenix, and Jamison will return to 20-10 status as the new leader of the Cavaliers. The reserves are filled with some old fantasy favorites too: Andre Miller, Yao Ming, and Shawn Marion. We actually love this top eight, as they've got one or two more seasons to make a championship run. Ming will be limited to 24 minutes this season but Steve also has Yao's backup, Brad Miller. We think the addition of Andre Miller will be huge as he'll sub in for last year's disappintment, Rodney Stuckey, and provide a pile of assists backing up Kidd.

On a team with this many veterans, someone has to carry the bags right? How about NCAA tourney hero and nicest guy ever Gordon Hayward to schlep all these legends' bags around? Hayward probably won't get much playing time for Korea this season but he'll be invaluable as the naive comic relief. Oh and Linas Kleiza is on this team too, after terminating his contract with the Greek League's Olympiacos after just one season. He and Josh Childress must have decided to come back to the US together. Kleiza can help Hayward with the extra heavy luggage.
NBA Team: Dallas Mavericks

Half Man Half ImAsian - Oliver (11-7)
After upending division winner Korea Korea in the playoffs, Oliver's team hit a snag when it faced off against eventual champion Sour Snails. Still, Oliver must have been happy with his season. With a team that was well balanced, with no major weaknesses and a few strengths (fourth in FT%, third in REB and BLK), Half and Half got better during the off season just by jettisoning last year's fifth round pick, Richard Hamilton, in favor of Caron Butler via trade. Caron isn't a fantasy star anymore but he'll bring a lot more well rounded game than Rip.

Half and Half is led by Thunder teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who had a brilliant summer leading Team USA to a World Championship. Durant will probably win the scoring crown again, and with little bit of help, Oliver could probably handily win PTS each week as they were ranked fifth last season. Westbrook proved to be a great fantasy PG and will continue to improve but his high AST and STL is already outstanding.

The secret strength of this team is up front, with Andrew Bogut and Troy Murphy both throwing up big double doubles. Murphy is hurt to start the season but he'll be back soon. Filling in for him will be Anderson Varejao, a double double threat himself. Oliver's hoping from a bounce back season from Ben Gordon, as his streak shooting and long distance skils would really complement Durant well. The other rotation players will be center JaVale McGee and guard Rudy Fernandez. We're high on McGee but don't see a disgruntled Rudy getting much love this season. In fact, we see Mike Bibby being subbed in just for his steady leadership and assists.
NBA Team: Orlando Magic

Buffy - Roger (8-10)
Despite not making the playoffs, Roger got a nice consolation prize by making it to the Toilet Bowl finals and snatched an old favorite of his, Baron Davis, from his division mate Brian. Davis will be quite the addition because this was a team desperately in need of a point guard with range. Buffy ranked first in FG% and REB, pretty good in BLK, and dead last in 3PT. We're actually quite surprised Buffy was middle of the road in AST as they only had Andre Miller over five dimes per last season.

Last year's mega trade of Brandon Roy for Danny Granger will give this team another huge boost from behind the arc. That will open up a lot of space for Tim Duncan, Marc Gasol, Carlos Boozer, and Elton Brand to operate down low. Duncan and Brand have seen better days but Gasol is starting to rival his brother in all around effectiveness, fantasy wise. Those four (and Lamar Odom) are the reason Buffy is so strong in the big man categories.

There's a host of familiar names that will shuttle in and out of the lineup to form a very deep squad. Kirk Hinrich and Mike Dunleavy will be counted on for more outside shooting and some passing numbers. Ron Artest won his championship but he'll probably take a seat with no room for major minutes. We're curious if Wilson Chandler was just a flash in the pan or really a Matrix-lite, we're undecided for the most part. He'll start the season but Dunleavy or Josh Howard might soon steal his minutes. Overall, Roger's team is once again deep, laden with veterans, and this time around, has the outside shooting to become truly well rounded.
NBA Team: Chicago Bulls

Squirtle Squad - Brian (8-10)
Squaring off in the toughest division in the land, the Squirtles weren't great but they weren't bad either. The stats bear this out as they didn't rank in the top five or bottom five in any category. Brian's team was serviceable, that's about right. We're curious why Baron Davis wasn't a keeper but maybe big man Serge Ibaka was the right choice here as Brian's weakest category was BLKs.

Buoyed by Carmelo Anthony's offensive fireworks early in the season, the Squirtles were looking great. Melo has become a complete fantasy player as he contributes in every category. However, Melo and Al Jefferson weren't a good inside out combo so GM Brian shipped Jefferson out in return for steady Joe Johnson. Back in Atlanta, Johnson will contribute his usual outstanding numbers. The big find last year was Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, who averaged an outstanding 21.1 PTS, 5.4 REB, 5.9 AST, 1.6 STL, and 1.0 3PT. Can he get better? Does he even need to get better? And now potential ROY candidate, Blake Griffin is back, and he'll likely fill the frontcourt void left by Jefferson. Whew, that is a strong foundation.

The unknown factor with this team is everybody else. Serge Ibaka is good and getting better, Anthony Randolph has been the biggest tease for two years running, and Terrence Williams only needs minutes to contribute (he averaged 14 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST last April!). The steady vets off the bench will be Mike Miller and Shane Battier. Miller will drain jumpers all day long down in Florida -- although not until January? We're not sure what to think of Jeff Teague, rookie Al-Farouq Aminu, and Arron Afflalo, but they might not to play much if everything works out like Squirtle fans predict.
NBA Team: New York Knicks