Chamberlain 2018: Silverhawks

IL Conceived (0-18-1)
The good news is that it shouldn’t be difficult to improve on Jedi Knight’s two year record of 0-18-1 and 1-18 in 2016/7. I mean, one win will tie and two wins will already put new owner Frank on better footing than the previous regime. With a 24-115-5 record in eight seasons, no playoff experience, and a history of in-season mismanagement, IL Conceived will need an entire culture overhaul. It’s a good thing Frank's enthusiastic! The bad news is that getting even two wins might be difficult here. I mean, the best player on the six man core might be Tim Hardaway Jr, who signed a huge off-season contract and should now get all the shots he wants in New York. Youngish vets Jeff Teague and Jrue Holiday are around to steady the backcourt, and there’s immense promise with Aaron Gordon and Willie Cauley-Stein in the frontcourt but they might also just be perpetually on the verge. Justise Winslow was picked up for his defensive upside, but he still can’t shoot. And that’s that on the keeper situation.

However, Dennis Smith Jr. is here! With the third overall pick, Frank grabbed Smith, who was rumored to be considered for the #1 and #2 overall picks. In the end, IL Conceived could have grabbed the kind of superstar that could jumpstart a franchise. Already this prognosticator is all-in on Smith and we think he’ll be better than Markelle Fultz… There’s also another interesting rookie, summer league star Donovan Mitchell, who could now have extra time with Dante Exum out (again). At backup big, there will be a battle for some playing time between Skal Labissiere and Bobby Portis, with Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Johnson likely starters to bring additional outside shooting onto the floor. Overall this could be an exciting team full of growth, but we’re not sure two wins is around the corner. Frank the Tank?!

Fob Stars (9-10)
With another solid nine win season under their belts, Fob Stars have proven that they aren’t in the league’s bottom dwellers anymore — that’s four out of five seasons hovering right around 0.500. With back-to-back playoff appearances to boot, Jimmy’s team is entering its most successful stretch. A couple of trades last year brought in new keepers Ricky Rubio, DeAndre Jordan, and Tobias Harris, all of which can be considered wins. While Jamal Murray flashed some upside last year, he’ll still need to advance quite a bit this season. Kemba Walker is here to lead this team, and he and stretch four Ryan Anderson combine for 5.0 3PT a game.

Poised on the brink of continued success, GM Jimmy also has gone young with his draft. We love Rodney Hood’s scoring opportunities this year, and rookie John Collins has all the opportunity in Atlanta to take over the power forward minutes. And there’s UCLA rookie TJ Leaf in Indiana to do the same (no idea who he was but since Jimmy is a Bruin I guess he must know?). Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell will likely cannibalize each other’s minutes in a crowded Mavericks backcourt but that’s okay for now. And if Rondae Hollis-Jefferson can find a shot he can really be useful for his REB-AST help. Overall Fob Stars are looking very competitive, with a bunch of outside shooting surrounding DeAndre, and now with a point guard who will really sling the passes around to all deep threats. The old plodding frontcourt of Zach Randolph and Marcin Gortat are finally gone, and now it’s a race to outscore opponents!

Fat Jubas (13-5-1)
It’s a shame Jubas has been stuck in a division with Sour Snails because otherwise they would be the class of the division. Still, with one title, seven postseason appearances, a semi-Toilet Bowl win, and the third highest overall winning percentage (62.6%), Jubas are always a contender. I mean, sort of. Despite three straight upset wins in the first round of the playoffs, Jubas just can’t get over the Sour Snails hump — they’ve been knocked out by them the past three years. Then again, who can defeat the Snails!?!

The returning core of Chris Paul, Gordon Hayward, Nicolas Batum, Jonas Valanciunas, Harrison Barnes, and new keeper Myles Turner should be strong as usual. Paul and Hayward are in new NBA situations but their numbers should at least stay even. Barnes emerged as a real scoring asset last year and Turner is poised for a super breakout year. It’s a shame Batum already hurt but the Frenchman tends to get dinged up anyway. Jae Crowder will need to step in to replace him for awhile as the glue guy. We’re big fans of Milos Teodosic’s incredible passing and we hope he’ll inherit all of Paul’s leftover assists when he ditched Los Angeles. Pau Gasol and Robin Lopez are both serviceable and predictable, and now eerily about the same player fantasy wise. There’s some upside in shooters Norman Powell and Bogdan Bogdanovic so if one of them can break out, Jubas will split the difference between contending and growing depth wonderfully. It’s gonna be hard to do better than last year’s thirteen wins but if anyone has a clear shot at upsetting Snails in the Chamberlain Conference, it’ll have to be CP3 and Milos!

Sour Snails (17-1-1)
There’s not much to say here about a three-peat winner. Just look over last season’s post-Finals article for all the details of how Snails got here. However, we all know that egos get in the way after three straight titles so this is definitely the year Snails go down! Cleared of controversy that Trieu was secretly running two teams, the Snails are looking vulnerable for the first time in awhile. I mean, if vulnerable includes acquiring Kevin Durant mid-season to pair with Steph Curry… While Russell Westbrook’s triple doubles were missed, Durant’s all around efficiency fits this team even better. So where’s the hope here? Well, semi-new acquisitions Mike Conley, Brook Lopez, and Nerlens Noel are all pretty injury prone so if they can all get hurt, along with one of KD or Steph, we could have a Snails showing in the Toilet Bowl! Oh and if Thibodeau runs Jimmy Butler into the ground, that would be nice too.

Four-peats DON’T happen! With only four losses total in the past four seasons, could we be staring at a season in which Trieu suffers four defeats in one year? I say “yes!” Then again, if everyone goes down, “Kobe 2.0” Kyle Kuzma could become the star of the show and probably still lead Trieu to a (summer league) title. Snails’ draft was pretty utilitarian with Markieff Morris, Wilson Chandler, and Josh Richardson for big wings, and tank big men Jahlil Okafor and Bismack Biyombo around in case Lopez and Noel go down.

Seriously, this is the year Snails goes down…. Please?....

Russell 2018: Thundercats

Funk Coalition (7-12)
If you’re not gonna win the Toilet Bowl, you might as well try to not be in it at all right? After back-to-back loser wins to secure Karl-Anthony Towns and Ben “Next Magic” Simmons, Funk Coalition has completed overturned his keeper core, keeping only KAT as his franchise cornerstone. Gone are Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, Ricky Rubio, Rajon Rondo, and Tobias Harris. After a flurry of pre and in-season trades last year, the new look Funk is KAT, Simmons, Klay Thompson, D’Angelo Russell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Derrick Favors. Also gone is big ball and with it a new analytics focused approach that completely removes decision making from GM Jon’s very subjective opinions.

With a young skewing roster, the perpetually rebuilding Funk drafted Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum at 2018 1.7, and will wait on his progress. With a hole at small forward until Tatum evolves into Paul Pierce 2.0, Funk drafted Thaddeus Young, Terrence Ross, and CJ Miles to fill up the wings. Nikola Mirotic will be on-board to spread the floor around KAT but the only other front court support here is Favors and FA pickup Cody Zeller. Time will tell if this more balanced version of Funk can succeed but with only one playoff berth in their history, and no division wins, a successful season for Jon would be even sniffing a post-season appearance. Good luck in this stacked division though...

Swamp Dragons (10-9)
After narrowly missing out on the playoffs, Swamp Dragons took their winning but no playoff appearance record and then proceeded to roll their way to the 2018 top pick. After having multiple discussions about trading down, GM Eddie decided to stay put and take the consensus #1, Markelle Fultz. Can Fultz make an impact on a crowded Sixers roster? We’ll find out! Swamp Dragons can afford to roll the dice on Fultz and his new free throw shooting mechanic because Dragon's post-LeBron James rebuild team has returned to competitiveness awfully fast. GM Eddie has done incredible work hitting on young talent via all avenues. Nikola Jokic via free agency, Jusuf Nurkic via draft, and Dennis Schroder via trade. And while the LeBron and Kyle Lowry for Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker trade seems to have been a bit of a loss — Parker was cut this off-season — Dragons can boast a wonderful talent base.

And in the potential of Fultz, the playing time ahead of sophomore Taurean Prince in RD3, plus Dewayne Dedmon, Jaylen Brown, and Allen Crabbe in the latter rounds of the draft and it’s clear that Eddie isn’t done fueling up even as the Swampies remain very competitive. And we haven’t even mentioned franchise player Paul George, who is headed to Oklahoma City to play second fiddle, but will likely remain a top tier fantasy force. Throw in the outside pop of Robert Covington (sixth keeper) and Eric Gordon (second 2018 RD1 pick resulting from LBJ trade) and Swamp is young, old, talented, deep, and a beautiful blend of just about everything. Let’s see if they’ll hit a Finals before even their most optimistic projections from a few years ago.

Team Spade (12-7)
With the most playoff appearances in SlamNation history (8), and never having missed the playoffs even once, the Spade franchise has a case for second most successful team in history. Since Randall took over in the 2014 season, he’s gone 51-25, and never had were than twelve wins in a season. A tremendously stable keeper core has helped as Spade has only changed one keeper during Randall’s time at the helm: Kobe Bryant in 2017 for Devin Booker. Just one keeper change in four years! The non-Booker five of Kawhi Leonard, Paul Millsap, Kevin Love, Al Horford, and Eric Bledsoe have just stuck around, and between them, they’ve provided Spade with awesome firepower in every category. Aha, but what about playoff success you say!? Well, Spade has only reached one Finals during this time, in 2016, and while they are perennial contenders, they do have quite the injury prone reputation — Kawhi, Love, and Booker are already DTD to start the season.

The strategy in drafts has always been for Randall to supplement his balanced top six. This year welcomes Reggie Jackson, Dion Waiters, and Patty Mills to the backcourt. Zach Randolph will get bruise his way to his usual numbers, and there’s hope that sophomore Willy Hernangomez can get a starting gig alongside best friend Kristaps Porzingis. Spade also took a flier on 7’3” Boban Marjanovic, who may not get much time in Detroit but will be a fan favorite at least. Maybe Boban can be the lucky charm that can get Spade a return to the playoffs and a much coveted ring.

Chunky Monkeys (18-1)
Of course, for anyone to get to a Finals, they’ll have to get through Chunky Monkeys first. Well, actually no. That’s not the case, because despite going all-in on LeBron James at the beginning of the 2016 season, Evan’s team hasn’t reach the Finals yet in two tries. Last year’s first round upset came on the heels of Kyle Lowry’s injury and while Chunky is loaded with a LeBron, James Harden, and Lowry trio, more tinkering could be needed to find the perfect complementary pieces to The King and The Beard. Last year’s version of Monkeys featured a lot of 3PT, including a combined 3.0 from centers Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Now Ibaka is gone and Monkeys will play more traditionally with Gasol as the lone space clearer at center, as non-3PT shooting Clint Capela is Ibaka’s keeper replacement. Along with that, Otto Porter Jr. came on strong as a younger and better version of Jae Crowder, and he replaced the ex-Celtic in the keeper core.

Unfortunately, Monkey’s draft was slightly confusing. A team with a heavy veteran bent went young with Jamychal Green, Kris Dunn, Caris Levert, Mo Harkless, and Jerian Grant for their draft — Monkeys didn’t have a RD1 but did have two RD2 plus various other trades. The only championship ready contributor here is likely Patrick Beverly, who has a new starting gig in Clipperland. If the real LBJ was GM-ing this team, he’d be demanding some seasoned vets already, as who knows how long his championship window can stay open (with the new look Celtics obviously winning the title in 2019…). Of course, Evan went a league leading 18-1 last year, even beating out 17-1-1 Sour Snails, so it’s hard to say that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Will we finally see a Monkeys versus Snails in a Mt. Carmel title bout?!

Chamberlain 2018: Transformers

Sager’s Suits and Ties (4-15)
It was a tough season for SST last season, their first year in in SlamNation. After getting their first win relatively early, in WK3, Matt’s team went on a six game losing streak and any hopes of a 0.500 rookie year was dashed. Unfortunately, it was the worst regular season in the franchise’s history — dating back to Eron, Joven, and Chandler days (C Lucas has mysteriously re-joined our GroupMe!) — so there’s nowhere else to go but up! The good news is that Sager’s Suit and Ties are in prime position to have a great sophomore year. Blake Griffin is on a bounceback year and we love that he’ll now have more assists with micro-manager/aggressor Chris Paul gone. Draymond Green is still the most versatile fantasy player alive despite an off shooting year, and then there’s Bradley Beal, who had a fantastic true breakout season befitting his contract. Enes Kanter is now gone as a keeper, replaced by his former Thunder teammate Steven Adams, and Lou Williams was kept to bring some extra shooting to the core.

With the #4 overall pick in 2018 Matt elected to not invest in a rookie but instead took Jeremy Lin, who has set off social media with his new (appropriated) hairstyle, and will also likely have a pretty good season now that he’s fully healthy. Some prognosticators are saying that Lin will outproduce many of this year’s touted rookies, and he’ll definitely be given full rein to run point for SST -- something they were missing last year. We like the re-upside of RD3 pick Kent Bazemore on an empty Atlanta team and by adding Gorgui Dieng and Al-Farouq Aminu, GM Matt is hoping to build some useful depth. While JR Smith sulks about his non-starting role in Cleveland, he will be handy as another shooting threat. And while we’re not sure how Mason Plumlee will do in a crowded Denver front court, he’s a useful last round gamble. Overall, SST is still looking to find an identity and if they can hit 0.500 or somewhere close to it this season, their supportive fanbase would be happy with the upward trajectory. Also, RIP Craig Sager.

LA Buffy (7-11-1)
It’s official, Buffy is stuck on mediocrity hill. That may not even quite describe how Buffy has slipped to a three year record of 24-30-3 (after a 5-14 campaign in 2014) after their glory days of two division titles (2011, 2013). Playing in the traditional tough Transformers division hasn’t helped, but Roger is now officially the least playoff decorated team in the division — everyone else has at least four post-season appearances. Part of the problem for Buffy has been health issues. Last year Khris Middleton, Danilo Gallinari, and George Hill all missed major time. And now franchise cornerstone Isaiah “Back up the Brinks truck” Thomas will be out until at least February, which effectively takes him out of the 2018 SlamNation regular season. So the hope here is that 2017’s #2 overall pick, Brandon Ingram develops quickly! Roger did swing a pre-draft trade to pick up Serge Ibaka to bolster the frontline and that’ll help a lot as he replaces Tristan Thompson and Robin Lopez as keepers.

Traditionally, Roger’s drafts have skewed veteran heavy and he’s done it again (mostly). This time around though, Roger's gone for youngish veterans, the likes of Avery Bradley, Greg Monroe, Jordan Clarkson, Austin Rivers, and Mike Muscala. Buffy’s only drafted old guy was Ersan Ilysaova, who is thirty. Is Buffy suck a little in-between competitiveness and a youth movement? After four straight Toilet Bowl appearances, it may behoove Buffy to go into the loser bowl once again to grab a high pick in a loaded 2019 draft. We’d like to see this once proud franchise rise again but it may need to count on some more consistent health to avoid the mediocrity treadmill.

Squirtle Squad (8-11)
After four appearances in the Toilet Bowl (2010, 2011, 2016, 2017), Squirtle Squad finally made a TB Finals, and emerged with a high pick at the perfect time. While #2 Lonzo Ball may have more impact on the court with his unselfish play, there’s no doubting that fantasy Ball will at least bang in 3PT and distribute a ton of AST. Paired with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s all-around game, Squirtles could find themselves back in the playoffs after a two year absence — following four straight appearances from 2011-2015. While Zach LaVine’s injury recovery will take awhile, his new situation Chicago is a great one, and last year’s FA pickup of Thon Maker could pay off soon as Maker had a intriguing NBA playoffs run. Marquese Chriss has similar upside and this young Squad could be fully grown soon. For now, Goran Dragic — a result of a Serge Ibaka trade two years ago — and Nikola Vucevic are here to add a steady hand at PG and C until the kids are ready.

With a solid keeper core in place, GM Brian did grab some veterans to round out a potential postseason push. Trevor Ariza is always deceptively great and um, maybe Lance Stephenson and Chandler Parsons could maybe return to some glory? Squirtles is gambling that Timofey Mozgov will be there to grab all the REB for Brooklyn — oh wait, he’s already been cut for Alex Len -- and there were shots taken on sophomores Dejounte Murray and Tyler Ullis (via FA). Squirtles are definitely on a youth movement but their power curve could prove pretty short if Ball can work his magic in fantasy as well as on the floor.

Another Bad Creation (9-10)
Oh the indignity of not only a losing record playoff season but also a division title! Do we have rules against division titles handed out for sub-0.500 teams? No? Well, then ABC can say that last season was a success as they picked up their second Transformers banner (first back-to-back for the division) and Transformers' leading sixth playoff appearance. And oh yeah, not to bury the lead here but Oliver traded Kevin Durant. Yes, the player Oliver swore to never move got moved last season… For former teammate and triple double MVP Russell Westbrook!!! This league shattering deal immediately made Another Bad Creation a team of intrigue and despite getting upset in the first round by Fat Jubas, we’re excited that ABC finally has a point guard for their roster. And what a point guard! While Westbrook isn’t likely to average a triple double again, his numbers will still be incredible.

A very veteran heavy team, ABC is clearly gunning for playoff success behind Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwayne Wade, Wesley Matthews, Dirk Nowitzki, and Marcus “Boston Strangler” Morris. That’s an old team, possibly the oldest in SlamNation and even Malcolm Brogdon, last year's ROY and ABC's 2018 RD1 pick, is a bit old at twenty-four. The rest of the draft brought in Enes Kanter, Tyreke Evans, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist while post-draft FA pickups added Evan Turner and Trevor Booker. The only other youngish player outside of Brogdon on this team is third year TJ Warren, who flashed signs of being a very effective situational scorer. Overall, Oliver is confident that with a new franchise cornerstone, and all this veteran savvy, he can get over the Fat Jubas playoff hump — ABC has been eliminated by Jubas in the first round three times — and then continue on to even greater things.

Russell 2018: Voltron

 Snack Bears (4-15)
After starting off winless in their first ten matchups, Snacks managed to go 4-5 the rest of the way. One of those wins was a huge WK16 victory against eventual Russell champ Chunky Monkeys and was Brandon’s highlight of the season. What’s next for this team? Well, a huge lineup is what! After a mid-season mega-deal that sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Derrick Favors packing, Snack Bears now have the look of a punt PTS and FT% team. Recall that during Brandon’s rookie season, he went 10-9 for a surprising playoff berth and could be poised to do the same again behind an even jumbo-ier roster. Andre Drummond joins Kristaps Porzingis and Dwight Howard on the front line to create the most intimidating defensive wall in the league. Will Rajon Rondo and Marcus Smart do weird things and tank percentages? Probably! But they’ll rack up AST, REB, and STL along the way.

Plus, 2018 #4 pick De’Aaron Fox projects to be exactly like a Rondo/Smart lovechild with blazing speed, no shot, and stifling defense. And there’s a chance that fellow rookie Jonathan Isaac could get some major minutes in Orlando behind his defensive skills too. Should some shooting be required, sixth keeper Evan Fournier and third rounder Will Barton, plus late rounders Bojan Bogdanovic (the one on the Nets) and the corpse of DeMarre Carroll could be slotted in to provide some spacing. But if additional heads need to be banged, Tristan Thompson is available off the bench. Frankly, we’re excited to see this big ball team take the floor this season as they could surprise many SlamNation teams that are swinging very small and shooter heavy. Long live big ball!

Team Cameltoe (7-12)
Rookie owner Felipe came out a very respectable 6-7 before sliding into a five game losing streak that took them out of playoff contention. Still, there’s no denying that Cameltoe had a successful first year in Slam as they not only started competitively but also gathered talent and assets along the way. GM Felipe is not afraid to make moves, that’s for sure! Already, three of the six keepers Felipe chose are gone: Brook Lopez, Mike Conley, and now Carmelo Anthony in a pre-draft deal with Thien. See ya later vets!

With Anthony Davis and Hassan Whiteside manning the pivot, Cameltoe is getting a close approximation of the New Orleans Pelicans experience. Add in another bruiser in Marcin Gortat and this three-man unit officially gives Voltron another fearsome big man lineup. Actually, this team is slightly similar to Snack Bears as there’s also a mix of non-shooters at point guard with Elfrid Payton and surprise keeper Derrick Rose as the starting duo. Rookie Josh Jackson projects as a non-shooter too, but his all-around game will be valuable. Of course, Felipe won’t keep The Brow all boxed up without some spacing so Cameltoe also have Buddy Hield, JJ Redick, and rookie Malik Monk ready to bombs away. Marvin Williams has resurrected his career as a stretch four and he could come off the bench to great effect if necessary. Darren Collison and Michael Beasley are low end plug-ins but could be useful in pinches. We really like the draft and stash of Harry Giles because Cameltoe acquired so many extra RD3 picks this year that Felipe wanted to forfeit his later round pick! How bold! Here’s looking to another season from Cameltoe as we see Felipe’s vision take shape.

So Buckets (11-8)
An eight-loss team knocked off a one-loss team in last year’s playoffs, as Josh’s So Buckets handily dispatched Russell Conference juggernaut Chunky Monkeys in RD1. Unfortunately, Buckets was denied a Finals showing by Young Gunn’s but buoyed by last year’s playoff victory — a first for the franchise — Kyrie and Co. are looking to continue their torrid 4-1 finish to 2017. The big news is that Irving is now in Boston, and it’s likely his numbers will increase across the board. Rudy Gobert is a defensive anchor in the middle, and yeah, Joel Embiid could play more games this season. JOEL EMBIID! He puts up the same numbers as a normal player in half the minutes so if he can just be healthy for the fantasy playoffs, Buckets could take out anyone. Add in a nice rookie season by Dario Saric, the fantastic defense/offense switch from Myles Turner to CJ McCollum, plus DeMar DeRozan supposedly working on a three point shot, and this keeper core is insanely drool worthy.

Josh took the first round gamble on Jabari Parker too, for a stash, and that could add to this team’s continued success. We really like the all-around game of James Johnson, and it’s shocking that he’s thirty years old right? Rudy Gay could be a semi-steal on the wing and even if Emmanuel Mudiay never gets better, there’s a nice warm spot on the bench for him. Frank Kaminsky has some stretch potential and while we initially confused Jonathan Simmons with Jonathan Isaac, we now know the difference between the two Orlando players -- Simmons is the ex-Spur who specializes in huge chase down blocks. Overall this team is destined to do better than eleven wins, and we’re possibly looking at another division title for Buckets, which would be Josh’s third after a three year hiatus.

Young Gunn’s (14-5)
After four straight playoff appearances, two division titles, one Finals appearance, what else is there left for Young Gunn’s to do? It's ring or bust every year for them. We say this year after year, but it’s true: Thien has never had a losing season, ever! And while conspiracy theorists suspected that Thien’s media silence was perhaps not all above board, well, the truth is that Thien is just an assassin: quiet and deadly. Young Gunn's return with the powerful trio of John Wall, Damian Lillard, and DeMarcus Cousins. Julius Randle will be given more time to express his talent, and Young Gunn’s is going even more all in by trading pre-draft for Carmelo Anthony, which will bolster this team’s championship hopes. Oh yeah, sixth keeper Gary Harris is looking like a possible breakout candidate too, and clearly an upgrade over last year’s last keeper, Jordan Clarkson.

But Thien isn’t quite pushing all their chips to the center of the table as they went for youth in RD1&2 of this year’s draft, taking two rookies: Knicks point guard Frank Ntilikina and Bulls shooter Lauri “Dirk 0.5” Markkanen. Their third round picks as forfeited in the Melo trade, and they went rookie again with Caleb Swanigan in RD4. Add in Jeremy Lamb, Ish Smith, and Justin Holiday (a late breaking RD6 trade with Cameltoe, again) and this draft looks at odds with Thien’s title push. Then again, Wall, Lillard, and Cousins are all young so this could just be in line with building an even more sustainable franchise. Here’s hoping Young Gunn’s — a rare year where Thien hasn’t changed team names from one season to the next — can get the ring they’ve worked so hard towards.

Pre-Draft Trades 2018

Pretty quiet pre-draft period this year as many teams talked but only three deals happened. Of course, one of those involved future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony so I guess that's pretty big?

• ID#76: Team Thien receive Carmelo Anthony from Team Cameltoe in exchange for Thien's 2018 RD3
• ID#77: Buffy receive Serge Ibaka, 2018 RD3, 2018 RD4 from Chunky Monkeys in exchange for Buffy 2018 RD2, 2018 RD5
• ID#78: Team Thien receive Cameltoe 2018 RD6 in exchange for Cameltoe's right to swap 2019 RD3 picks with Thien

New Owner: Cure for All?

As Jedi Knights walks out the door to pursue additional Force training, welcome Frank into the fold! An old fantasy basketball player from our middle school days, Frank still boasts about calling Hakeem Olajuwon’s dominance in the mid-90s fantasy scene. Of course, since then Frank has been more focused on football — not to mention the many years it took to become a doctor — and hasn’t kept up on all of the NBA’s intricacies. Well, it’s time to put that big brain to use as Frank has a big rebuild job ahead of him!

Without the benefit of a two team dispersal, similar to Snack Bears two years ago, Frank had to rely on the leftovers from Jedi Knights roster and non-keepers. As it turned out, not a single player on Knights was worth keeping around, as the likes of Patty Mills, Monta Ellis, Thaddeus Young, recent high draft picks Emmanuel Mudiay and Kris Dunn were dumped overboard. Oh but wait! Jeff Teague was one of the selected new keepers, and he’ll be the new face of the franchise.

As it turned out, Frank’s six man crew will be Jeff Teague, Jrue Holiday, Tim Hardaway Jr, Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Gordon, and Justise Winslow. With the 2017 #3 overall pick on the way, Frank wisely decided to draft (mostly) young and start fresh. Let’s see if our Chinese school / middle school quarterback can take ILConceived to the top! (Note: Frank was not born in Illinois but I guess he just wished he had been -- he's currently in Houston but from San Diego.) Let’s welcome Frank and see what he’s got in store for SlamNation!

Keepers: 2018