Chamberlain 2017: Silverhawks

Things haven't changed much in four years here. Snails win the division, Jubas take second, followed by Fob Stars, and then Jedi. While this division boasts two champs, and four rings total, it's clear there's a big rift between the two upper class teams and the two bottom dwelling ones. Let's shake it up! [2016 Mid-Season]
Header formatting: #2017DraftPickPosition: TeamName (2016SeasonRecord, 2015SeasonRecord)

#1 Jedi Knights (1-18, 5-14)
After retaining just one keeper from 2015 to 2016, Jedi Knights saw fit to overturn most of his roster again, keeping just two holdovers for 2017 — Thaddeus Young and Monta Ellis. Neither are top tier stars, or possibly even stars at all, but will have to lead this team out of the cellar. Fellow keepers Brandon Knight and Jeff Teague were the result of trades, and Emmanuel Mudiay was last year’s prize rookie. The sixth keeper is Otto Porter, who has yet to fully breakout. All in all, that’s still the worst keeper core in the league.

But hey, GM Lum is working to construct something better! And this year’s #3 overall pick, Kris Dunn, is a step in the right direction. Dunn won’t start yet for the Timberwolves but big things are expected of him and he and Mudiay will be the future of this team. The rest of Knights draft consisted of former malcontent Markieff Morris and a trio of vets: Andrew Bogut, Luol Deng, and Zaza Pachulia. Since this team’s not in win now mode, we would have liked to see them gamble on some younger talent, but maybe Lum is looking to get more than a single win this season. As always, we look forward to any moves Lum might pull off this season, as he’s been one of the most active GMs around. Rise up Jedis, rise up!

#9 Fob Stars (9-9-1, 4-14-1)
Already highlighted as one of the worst teams in the league, from a seven year perspective, Fob Stars isn’t actually that bad. They were 0.500 last season and started off 8-5-1 before dropping their last month of games. No matter, the Stars found a run-and-shoot identity last year and they’re doubling down with that mentality this year. Kemba Walker broke out in a big way last season, D’Angelo Russell is going to have an amazing sophomore year, Ryan Anderson is going to put up huge numbers in a D’Antoni offense, and Kent Bazemore had his moments. The big man duo of Nerlens Noel and Marcin Gortat couldn’t score much but were solid in the middle.

However, late in the draft, Noel was moved for Tobias Harris, giving Fob Stars an even shootier version of last year’s team. I mean, everyone on this team aside form Gortat can pump threes. And the draft brought in offense first types in rookie Jamal Murray, Trevor Ariza, Nikola Mirotic, Will Barton, and Allen Crabbe. What’s not to like here? Once a ground based team, Fob Stars are suddenly going to start spreading the floor and firing from all corners -- and bring in Al Jefferson for some quick points. Will it be enough to get them a return to the postseason, we think so!

#11 Fat Jubas (11-7-1, 11-6-2)
Jubas have shown us how to rebuild a veteran team on the fly, without sacrificing wins or tanking. Back-to-back eleven win seasons and two straight (upset) wins in the first round of the playoffs have Jubas fans clamoring for more. Mirroring the career path of team leader, Chris Paul, Jubas have one more step to go to become serious contenders. The loss of Chris Bosh from the keeper core hurts, as does Gordon Hayward’s preseason injury, but GM Eric isn’t one to stand pat. He’s already moved his 2016 RD1-RD2 picks for Pau Gasol, and could be looking for more upgrades.

His core of CP3, last year’s breakout CJ McCollum, plus Hayward and Nicolas Batum on the wing, are across the board contributors who pump up his PTS/AST/3PT/FT%/STL categories. Gasol’s addition will go perfectly with Jonas Valanciunas on the front line, and now it’ll be up to sixth keeper Harrison Barnes to prove that he was keeper worthy -- and worth a max contract.

Down two early picks, Jubas selected Justise Winslow, Cody Zeller, Roy Hibbert, and Mario Hezonja to start filling up his bench. Winslow and Zeller will probably be pressed into starting duty but we’re not sure what Hibbert offers here, aside from a block or two per game. We do love super Mario's potential though, and once we forsee Jubas having a very competitive season.

#16 Sour Snails (19-0-0, 17-1-1)
I think we’ve sung Sour Snails’ praises enough. Let’s figure out how to beat them! Last season, Snails ranked first in PTS, 3PT, STL, second in REB and AST, third in FG%, seventh in BLK, eighth in FT%, and dead last in TOs. However, that was with slightly different roster, as they moved DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay to basically acquire Hassan Whiteside, Dirk Nowitzki, and Luol Deng. The latter two didn’t make the cut as keepers, so that leaves Snails with Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Whiteside, and Gorgui Dieng as his keepers. Plus a boatload of extra picks.

Let’s see what ancillary picks Trieu added through the draft. They nabbed Darren Collison and Avery Bradley with dual RD1 picks, and then supplemented their front court with JaMychal Green, rookie Jaylen Brown, and Al-farouq Aminu. Plus Trieu took Frank Kaminsky to add big man shooting for a different look, if needed. Not to mention Glenn Robinson III, aka "Little Dog." What this tells us is that Snails is still going to run and gun, probably with six shooting types around the Whiteside-Dieng combo.

What’s shocking here is how much this team scores and shoots threes but yet puts up a great FG%. And even though Westbrook is gonna go full Kobe this year, replacing Cousins’ slightly weak FG% percentages with Whiteside’s amazing ones means Snails could well lead the league in FG%. Plus Whiteside is going to vault this team up the BLK charts. So, how to attack these superlative Snails?

First, we’re looking for a massive injury to Curry or Westbrook. (J/k, we don’t want to beat Trieu based on that!) Second, both Curry and Klay will probably take a step back due to their new teammate in Golden State. However, Westbrook will probably make up for that with a huge step up of his own. It looks like the only way to compete with Trieu is to play hard on the boards, try to get some interior defense, make your free throws, and then hope to either hit more threes or get more steals than them, if that’s even possible.

Perhaps we should just disallow Trieu from picking up any free agents until he loses a game this season? Would that be fair?