2015 Championship: Splashing In

Get ready for a lot of superlatives guys because Sour Snails, the undisputed regular season king of SlamNation, has won their second title of the new cycle, thus becoming our first two time champion. And they did it in dominating fashion.

With a six year regular season record of 65-21-1 for a 75.6% winning percentage, Sour Snails has made it into the playoffs every season save one (and that was the year they made the Toilet Bowl finals), won a title in 2010, captured four Silverhawks division titles, and has led SlamNation in regular season wins three times. And they did all this despite trading away LeBron James in his absolute prime.

That trade netted them Kevin Love at the beginning of his fantasy ascendancy, but it’s safe to say that King James would have been better. In fact, the entire core of 2010 championship team basically switched over, with only Steph Curry, a rookie at the time, being the only holdover. So this isn’t an old team eeking out one last win before riding off into the sunset, instead, GM Trieu has retooled as he’s maintained his dominance.

Let’s look at some of the major trades, and hone in on 2013, aka the season where Snails really rebuilt coming off a 4-8 2012 campaign. First, Trieu drafted Damian Lillard at #2 overall. Then, in January they moved Kevin Love and a 2014 RD1 pick for DeMarcus Cousins, Monta Ellis, Andre Drummond, and a 2014 RD3. Love was an injury prone fantasy star and Cousins was coming on, while Ellis was a mainstay for the Snails. Two months before that regular season ended, Trieu packaged Drummond and Josh Smith together to bring in Russell Westbrook. And while Westbrook went through his injury woes the past few seasons, he’s combined with Curry to become the best fantasy backcourt in the land. With Cousins manning the paint with his 24.1 PTS, 12.7 REB, 1.7 BLK, 1.5 STL, 46.7 FG%, Sour Snails trampled the competition this season.

Then there’s the championship swingmen, Rudy Gay and Jimmy Butler, both acquired via trades in the past year. Oh right, did we mention Klay Thompson? The other Splash Brother was acquired off the free agent lists during his rookie season before emerging as a true force this year. The only curious thing is how, aside from the inaugural 2010 draft, Trieu hasn’t really drafted particularly well, instead relying on trades and free agent pickups to keep his roster stocked with talent. Tidbit: Sour Snails has participated in fifteen total trades, including six during the 2013 season!

And speaking of free agents, no championship team would be complete without its role players. Sour Snails used Robert Covington and Taj Gibson to good effect throughout the season, and also had Jordan Clarkson, Jarret Jack, Ed Davis, and Tyler Zeller fill in for useful stretches. Clarkson was especially incredible during championship week with 23.6 PTS, 8.7 AST, 6.7 REB, 1.0 3PT/STL, and 63.6 FG% over three games. Holy Minnesota Lakers!

It’s been an incredible six year stretch for Sour Snails, and we’re happy to see Trieu win another long deserved title. What we fear is that this could evolve into a repeat or a three-peat, and then what will the rest of us in SlamNation do? Cower now before this super Sour Snails team!

As for the loser of the Brother Bowl, High Riser put up a great fight, and could have literally stolen the title with a few more swipes or blocks. Instead, Thien will leave the 2015 Finals as the runner-up, while celebrating their breakthrough post-season performance after years of playoff disappointment.

Franchise cornerstones John Wall and Damian Lillard got a taste of the championship spotlight and let’s not forget that Brandon Knight and Tyreke Evans combined to average 33.6 PTS, 11.7 AST, 9.2 REB, 2.9 3PT, and 2.6 STL this season, to fully stuff the stat sheet. And then there was old man Dwyane Wade, who showed that he’s far from done. The pre-season trades for Tyreke Evans and Trevor Ariza worked out fantastic for High Riser, and oh yeah, let’s not forget the discovery of Hassan Whiteside -- who missed Sunday’s game, where his BLK could have made the difference.

And then there’s Riser's 2015 draft pick, rookie Julius Randle, who will return to the court after a season spent in rehab. High Riser’s future is certainly bright and after this invigorating championship run they’ll be poised to contend again.