Chamberlain 2017: Transfomers

Now officially the most competitive division in SlamNation, Transformers added another savvy owner to the mix, Matt! In the past four years, each of the teams in this division has taken turns and won the division once, and they each have two titles apiece, except defending champ Another Bad Creation. ABC could trump all his competitors by picking up a back-to-back title, so who will step up to stop him? [2016 Mid-Season]

#2 Squirtle Squad (3-15-1, 12-7)
After suffering the indignity of a three win season, Squirtles didn’t even get to reap the reward of a low pick, as their 2016 RD1 had been moved in a Dennis Schroder trade in 2015. With a track record of five winning seasons until last year, Squirtle fans demand success. Owner Brian is preaching patience though, as his team is finding its way after last year’s debacle. Point Giannis is on hand to build around, and he’ll have a much better version of Goran Dragic to help him out — Dragic was the return for trading away Serge Ibaka late last year. Chandler Parsons and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are both back form injury, and Zach LaVine should continue to get better. Sixth keeper Nikola Vucevic will have a minutes crunch in Orlando, but should still be an underrated fantasy big man.

Short a first rounder, Squirtle took a gamble on Marquese Chriss in the second round, and his athleticism should provide lots of “wow" moments this year. Kyle Korver, Josh Richardson, and Matt Barnes will provide excellent outside shooting, as will stretch four Mirza Teletovic. The mystery man is Brooklyn Nets center Justin Hamilton, who is a virtual unknown, and apparently Croatian! Will Squirtles go up or down this season? We’re not exactly sure, to be honest, but here’s hoping they return to their winning ways!

#7 Sager's Suits and Ties (9-9-1, 11-8)
New owner Matt neglected to select a point guard in the dispersal draft — will he regret taking Enes Kanter over Mike Conley? — and then dedicated most of his first regular draft looking for options at the position. It looks like Ish Smith, Patrick Beverly, and Lou Williams will rotate the position, and time will tell if that’s enough.

The good news is that the dispersal draft assembled a team with some serious identity. Draymond Green and Blake Griffin make for a near perfect forward duo, so Suits & Ties have a solid foundation to battle his foes in the toughest division around. There’s also three high upside shooting guards here, with Victor Oladipo, Bradley Beal, and Rodney Hood forming the rest of the keeper core. We love that the Stache Brothers — Kanter and RD1 pickup Steven Adams — will get to mash opponents around in fantasy as well as real life. Trevor Booker will be around to, well, we don't know what Booker will do. But throw in up-and-comer Willie Cauley-Stein and we like this team a lot, provided their point guard options work out!

#8 LA Buffy (9-9-1, 8-10-1)
Well, we thought Roger was turning his team over to feature the young guys — gone from 2015’s keepers are Tim Duncan, Luol Deng, Mo Williams — but his draft says, “no.” Instead, established veterans Joe Johnson, JR Smith, Zach Randolph, and Kenneth Faried were brought in to fill out the roster. The only young guy GM Roger picked was Brandon Ingram, the #2 overall selection. After finishing last year’s regular season on a 3-1 tear and then coming runner-up in the Toilet Bowl, Buffy is clearly not thinking about rebuilding.

It hurts that Khris Middleton is totally out for the season. He was a nice complement to Isaiah Thomas and Danilo Gallinari last year. Maybe Ingram can partially replace his numbers but he’ll need lots of seasoning. George Hill remains a solid point option, and he could be slightly better in Utah. The frontline is filled with bodies, but aside from Robin Lopez, none of the bigs can BLK, as Tristan Thompson, Faried, and Randolph are pure PTS/REB guys, but that seems to be Buffy’s plan. Shoot shoot shoot -- sixth rounder Bojan Bogdanovic is all-aboard with this plan -- and then pound the boards with their flotilla of bigs. After three straight seasons in the Toilet Bowl, Roger will hope that’s enough to get them into the playoffs.

#13 Another Bad Creation (13-6, 6-13)
The defending Transformers champs are thirsting for some playoff success, and are one of the best coached teams in the league, as evidenced by their high rankings in PTS, FG%, FT%, and REB. They are a disciplined bunch! It all starts at the top with Kevin Durant, who is the engine that makes this team run, and he had the offensive backing of LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe, and Jahlil Okafor on the frontline. And just like he nabbed Dwayne Wade in last year’s draft — Wade wasn’t kept — Oliver did the same thing with Dirk Nowitzki in the first round this year.

While both are closer to retiring than their All-NBA superstar days, Diggler and Wade are still potent options. Add in an even better year from Wesley Matthews — kept over JJ Redick and Alec Burks — and we can easily see this team vaulting themselves to a conference title game. Plus, we like Marcus Morris as a small ball bench option and Arron Afflalo as a 3-and-D type.

The only question on this team, as always, is who will man the point guard position? Tony Parker was drafted RD2, but we’re thinking there’s a chance Matthew Dellavedova fits this squad better. Can someone get ABC a point guard!?