2019: Best Keeper Cores

I took the liberty of ranking each keeper player 1-5 points, with five being the absolute gold standard. There were seventeen franchise type guys and that means one per team right? Well, not so fast. Sour Snails boasts three of the gold guys, while Chunky Monkeys and Funk Coalition each have two. That means teams like Fat Jubas, Buffy, and Fob Stars don’t have any!

Still, gold players do not make a keeper core -- although it helps obviously -- and so here with the highly scientific and totally objective keeper core rankings, and here are the 2019 keepers list.

1-3. Spade, So Buckets, Chunky Monkeys (23 points)
Kawhi Leonard leads a keeper core that has remained almost unchanged since coming into the league — save for subbing out Kobe Bryan with Devin Booker. If it weren’t for injuries, this well-balanced keeper core would simply be the best.

Defending champion Monkeys feature LeBron James and James Harden as their one-two punch, and if they hadn’t cut Marc Gasol to keep Kris Dunn, their keeper set would have been even better.

An incredible home grown team, So Buckets has really put together a fabulous core through drafts, trades, and free agents. Joel Embiid leads a top-notch first five that are all All-Stars or above -- oh and then plus Jabari Parker.

4. Sour Snails (22)
Snails finally showed some weakness last season, but their one-two-three punch of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and newly acquired Damian Lillard are the definition of “super team.” But that’s the way it should be for a hard working GM like Trieu. There is a drop-off at the bottom three, but that top trio, whew!

5. Team Thien (21)
Not to be outdone by his brother, Thien has assembled a mighty core himself, led by John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Jimmy Butler. While injuries have hit this group hard, if they ever all get healthy, watch out!

6-10. Swamp Dragons, Squirtle Squad, Funk Coalition, Snack Bears, IL Conceived (19)
Swamp and Funk both benefitted from back-to-back Toilet Bowl wins, with Funk hitting on Karl Anthony-Towns and Ben Simmons while Swamp is staring at Markelle Fultz and DeAndre Ayton — who will be a keeper next year, presumably. Funk also have Jayson Tatum as part of their junior Big Three.

Even if Fultz turns into nothing though, Swamp has Nikola Jokic flanked by Paul George and Khris Middleton. This team was so deep that it shed two or three keeper level guys pre-postseason and still had extra keepers to sell off.

As for Squirtle, they are led by the incomparable Giannis Antetokounmpo and some sturdy veterans plus the upside of Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball, making for a nice blend of old and young. The recent ACL tear of Dejounte Murray really hurts though.

Given perfect health, Snack’s new lineup featuring Kristaps Porzingis, Bradley Beal, and Blake Griffin would be quite dangerous, but there are injuries to be wary of here. The key here could be De'Aaron Fox's growth.

IL Conceived features almost R.O.Y. Donovan Mitchell, fellow sophomore Dennis Smith Jr, and Dario Saric as their young core. Add in defensive menace Draymond Green and that's a 4D team waiting to arrive!

11-13. Fob Stars, Fat Jubas, Hilt the Stilt(18)
Fob’s best player is Kemba Walker, who is nice but not quite gold level. The rest of the keepers feature underrated Tobias Harris and two pre-season breakout favorites in Jamal Murray and John Collins.

Fat Jubas is another team without a five-point player, as Chris Paul can’t quite be called “franchise” anymore can he? Jrue Holiday is the CP3’s running mate now and here's hoping newly in shape Myles Turner can finally turn the corner.

New team Hilt the Stilt is led by young vets Victor Oladipo and Andre Drummond, who both made big leaps last season, If Aaron Gordon can do the same to star level, that would be quite a fearsome trio.

14. Another Bad Creation (16)
Just like the real-life Thunder, it’s Russell Westbrook and then Russell Westbrook. Well, LaMarcus Aldridge is actually around but minus the solid upside of Enes Kanter, this keeper core is definitely still working on additional pieces.

15. Team Cameltoe (14)
Anthony Davis is tired of being a solo act and if this collection of super young guys can’t get it done, could The Brow push for a trade to a contender? The second best player on this team is Hassan Whiteside?...

16. Buffy (13)
Raise your hand if you thought Klay Thompson could be the number one on a fantasy team? The good news is that Brandon Ingram should soon elevate himself a level, and the same looks possible with Kyle Kuzma and Domantas Sabonis -- the latter is having a beast of a preseason. This team is screaming for some breakthrough talent though!


Keeper core rankings by conference [Pre-realignment...]: