Keepers: Russell Conference

Out of the sixteen first round picks last season, only six became keepers the following year. Here's the full list: Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Dion Waiters, Kenneth Faried*, Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas. The * for Faried is assuming he gets kept by one of the new owners. Does that help value the strength of a first round pick? Who's the say really, as seven second rounders last year were on this year's keeper rosters: Kemba Walker, Thaddeus Young, Jeff Green, Jameer Nelson, J.R. Smith, Bradley Beal, Greivis Vasquez. Maybe even Harrison Barnes and George Hill pending new ownership decisions. [ 2013 Voltron | Thundercats ]

Voltron Division
So Buckets
Josh has slowly acquired some fantastic assets while rebuilding from his expansion season. Kyrie Irving is here to lead the way and last year resulted in LARRY SANDERS! being discovered. He's not the only new face as Moe Harkless will be kept too -- out goes Gerald Wallace and Darren Collison. Pau Gasol, Andre Igoudala, and Evan Turner remain from the previous season.

Super Ninja
There's something to be said for consistency. For the second year in a row, Thien is keeping the same six guys: Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, Andrew Bynum, Rudy Gay, John Wall, and Tyson Chandler. (The last players to break that up was Chris Kaman and Raymond Felton in 2011.) We could make an argument for DeMar DeRozan or Nikola Pekovic as keepers, but who would they replace? Now let's see if Thien can keep one team name for the whole season...

MoRRie's Pogiboys
Brandon Jennings, Mike Conley, and Roy Hibbert are back while Tristan Thompson, Marcus Thornton, and Brandon Knight are gone. Last year's overall number one pick, Anthony Davis, is a huge upgrade obviously, and we like a late move for Brook Lopez -- Alvin gave up 2014 RD3, 2015 RD6. New Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith is better than Marcus Thornton ever was, and we think Pogiboys will be able to add another special piece with their #2 overall pick in this year's upcoming draft.

Human Amoebas
This former champ, who looked absolutely unbeatable as recently as 2011, is now going to be sent to the meatpacker. Eric-A's team was never short on talent but injuries ground this team to dust recently. A huge trade for Kevin Love last season -- losing DeMarcus Cousins, Monta Ellis, Andre Drummond, Metta World Peace -- brought in another franchise piece to pair with Derrick Rose. We think the 2014 keeper core could have looked like this: Rose, Love, Dirk Nowitzski, Eric Bledsoe, Paul Millsap, and either Eric Gordon or Harrison Barnes. That would've been something. Instead the Amoebas are no more and the franchise awaits a new owner and keeper core!


Thundercats Division
NJ All-Stars
Lebron James is flanked by Paul George, Kyle Lowry, and Ryan Anderson again. Replacing Isaiah Thomas and Luol Deng as keepers will be Jose Calderon and Spencer Hawes. We are interested in GM Eddie's thinking as he tinkers with the perfect pieces to keep around an incredible forward combo of James and George. When you have King James onboard, there's not a lot else you need!

Chunky Monkeys
One of our die-hard small ball teams, the Monkeys are powered by Chris Paul, James Harden, Goran Dragic, and Jrue Holiday. A trade brought in sharpshooter Wesley Matthews last season, and he will take Aaron Afflalo's spot. The interesting thing is that Andrea Bargnani has been dumped in favor of Markieff Morris, a move we can't quite make a positive or negative call on yet. Strong man David West never fit on this team last year, and will be left to dangle.

100 Acre Wood Heffalumps
The returning champs abdicated the throne and would have left behind a keeper core built around an injured Kobe Bryant. It's safe to say that Al Horford, Kawhi Leonard, and possibly Kevin Martin would have been kept, but after that it would have probably been a combo of Kenneth Faried, Jamal Crawford, and maybe George Hill to displace Kris Humphries and Bismack Biyombo. All that is academic now as this team will be re-drafted.

Funk Coalition
After a year of rebuilding -- with a ton of trades -- Jon has the makings of a team that finally makes thematic sense. Russell Westbrook, Marc Gasol, and Tyreke Evans were moved aside for Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond. Those three will flank Dwight Howard to form a gigantic front line -- with Marcin Gortat left to dangle -- while Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo will collectively shoot the fewest 3PT out of any point guard tandem.