2025 Championship: The North Triumphs

It’s not all about talent, winning a championship. Sometimes it takes a dash of luck as well. Our 2025 Finals matchup featured the two winningest owners in SlamNation history—as SCRM just surpassed SOUR for number one on that list after this past regular season.

However, as we noted, eighth-seeded SOUR was the likely favorite, with their super powered team taking out SQSQ and MELO in succession, the one-two seeds from this season. Up next in SOUR’s sights was third-seeded SCRM, and it was looking like SOUR could pull off a triple upset on their way to another title as the two teams entered Sunday neck and neck, both with full eight man lineups ready to go. In the end, SCRM pulled off the 6-3 victory as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kawhi Leonard played the night cap in Los Angeles needing just a few rebounds and points for SCRM to secure to win.

For SOUR, it was close but no cigar, as Steph Curry was only available for two games while Damian Lillard was suited up for just one—with Dejounte Murray already long gone on IR. In contrast, SCRM’s two biggest stars, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo missed just one game between them. Plus, they had the resurrected Kawhi Leonard, who came to life just in time to bring Canada another coveted title.

This was not an easy victory for SCRM however, as SOUR was getting major numbers from Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, and whoever the heck Justin Edwards was. Jimmy Butler and Scottie Barnes did their best to pick up the slack, but fell just a bit short. In all, SOUR played fifteen guys during championship week, and had Avdija absolutely cooking to the tune of 24.8 PTS, 10.3 REB, 5.3 AST, 1.8 STL/BLK and 3.5 3PT on 52.5 FG%. Wowza!

It took owner Jordan physically attending the Toronto versus San Antonio game—cheering against the Raptors as a Canadian!—to secure the win for SCRM.

Since joining us in 2021, Jordan has been a model owner and it’s only fitting they won their first championship the year after dispersal mate KSKT won theirs. Even from the start, Jordan has shown a willingness to take big swings and to deal deal deal. Their first move in SlamNation was actually to trade in the dispersal draft, moving De’Aaron Fox and Jaylen Brown for Gilgeous-Alexander and OG Anunoby, two of Jordan’s favorite players.

SCRM emerged from their dispersal with Anthony Davis, SGA, Anunoby, Dejounte Murray, Mitchell Robinson, and Davis Bertans. They took a 7-8 record into the Toilet Bowl and made it all the way into the finals—losing to the slightly lower seeded SQSQ—but that gave them 2022 RD1.3, who turned out to be Evan Mobley. SCRM also added Isaiah Stewart as a keeper after their inaugural season.

In five seasons, SCRM has gone 61-27-4 with four playoff appearances, two Chamberlain Conference wins, and one regular season crown in 2024. They’ve had plenty of postseason success too, as they upset top seeded SQSQ in 2022, and also made the Slam semi-finals three times, including this season—with their one non-semis appearance in 2024, as they were upset in the first round by eighth seeded SQSQ as payback. Note: A real back and forth rivalry between SCRM and SQSQ!!!

While this certainly wasn’t SCRM’s best overall team—as it was just a third seed—it’s the one that’ll go down in history as SCRM’s first title winner.

A deeper look into GM Jordan’s moves. In 2023, he began the all-in era, acquiring James Harden in exchange for Mobley. Then, later that year, SCRM acquired Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMar DeRozan in a nine player mega-trade—which cost them Dejounte Murray and Anunoby.

Not satisfied with those big moves, SCRM traded pre-draft in 2024 and landed Antetokounmpo by moving Anthony Davis, DeRozan, and a future RD1 and RD2. He then added Walker Kessler for a trade pick, reshaping his entire team. Oh, but 2024 wasn’t even into November yet and Jordan was on the move again! He landed Kawhi Leonard and Ben Simmons for Kessler and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

But 2024 was still not over and SCRM moved off Towns in February, shipping KAT, Collin Sexton, and TJ McConnell off for Fred VanVleet, Coby White, and Brook Lopez. Yowza, what a year!

And in a relatively quiet 2025, SCRM sold off Jalen Duren for a pick pre-draft, and then showed us a pivot away from title chasing by moving James Harden for Scoot Henderson and a future first a mere six weeks ago. This signaled a change from management, perhaps a sign that they were looking to explore a future with Jalen Suggs, Dyson Daniels, and some young mix and match pieces. But then SCRM won the damn title!

We are fascinated with what SCRM will do with his keeper roster now, as a championship has been secured and there’s now a mix of young and old on the team. Note: SCRM also beat out SOUR this week in scooping up 2025 rookie Jared McCain from the waiver wire—a strange short sighted move by TRUO. So that was another small win for SCRM!

As for SOUR, this was certainly an unexpected Finals run. While they fell short in their ninth Finals appearance—for only the second time—this was one of their more impressive seasons as Steph and Dame had a whole bunch of versatile wing types working together to power them to upset victory over upset victory. In the end, they fell just a little short but as always, nobody is going to overlook SOUR, now or in the forever future.

(Full Stats)

Toilet Bowl 2025: Flagg for Funk

What a nail biter for the 2025 Toilet Bowl! Heading into Sunday down a manageable amount of 3PT and REB, FUNK had a full eight man lineup ready to go, but their TOS were pretty close to rising past BUFF’s, and there was some question of Jayson Tatum’s status. After picking up Max Strus and Jaylin Williams for the last day, Strus was subbed in for turnover machine Jordan Clarkson while Williams was never needed as FUNK sweated out a 5-3-1 victory. Owner Jon watched on pins and needles as Tatum and Payton Pritchard used a big second half to push past BUFF for the win. In reality, Devin Vassell was the one that really gave FUNK the Sunday win, as he hit three threes and shot 11/14 FGS, which vaulted FUNK up in FG% to almost catch BUFF.

This was already an uphill battle for BUFF, as they were already down Jalen Brunson, Brandon Ingram, and then Domantas Sabonis out as well. In the end, despite Coby White’s heroics—he averaged 30.3 PTS in his four games this week—and Mikal Bridges’ all around game, BUFF couldn’t pull off the win and will have to settle for the 2026 RD1.2 pick. Overall, it was a great Toilet Bowl for both teams, as FUNK and BUFF defeated higher seeds to get to the TB finals to earn their picks. (Disregard CHMK gifting FUNK a win last week in RD2, it’s just pay back for the decades ago Antoine Walker for Kevin Garnett trade…)

For FUNK, this will be their second RD1.1 selection in a row, following Reed Sheppard last season. It’s likely Cooper Flagg will be the pick next year, which means two White guys in a row... FUNK has actually been in this position before, selecting RD1.1 back to back, as they won the Toilet Bowl back-to-back before, resulting in Ben Simmons and Karl-Anthony Towns. This Toilet Bowl win also ties FUNK with SWMP for the most TB wins in Slam history. Is a FUNK Rule needed?!

Heading into next season, FUNK will have Tatum, Lauri Markkanen, Devin Vassell, Trey Murphy III, Myles Turner, and then a big decision between Collin Sexton and Sheppard to make. But for now, a congrats to Funk Coalition on their third Toilet Bowl victory!

As for BUFF, who was in the Finals just a season ago, adding another young star could insure they don’t see the Toilet Bowl again for a long time. Brunson, Sabonis, Ingram, plus Bridges, White, and a mystery sixth keeper is not a bad bunch at all.

(Full Stats)

Post-Season RD2 Recap and RD3 Matchups: 2025

  👑 Playoffs RD3

3 SCRM vs 8 SOUR

Playoffs RD3 Consolation

2 MELO vs 4 SWMP

5 SPDE vs 7 ILCN

1 SQSQ vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD3

11 FUNK vs 12 BUFF

Toilet Bowl RD3Consolation

9 SBUK vs 10 CHMK

13 FJUB vs 15 TRUO

14 ABCX vs 16 UFOS

Playoff RD2 Recap

Uh oh, SOUR is on a heater! With Miles Bridges leading the way, SOUR wiped the floor with MELO, dashing their postseason hopes. While some of the categories were closer, a 7-2 victory is pretty dominant. Now they’ll make their return to the SlamNation Finals, where the stage is set. This will be SOUR’s ninth Finals appearance, their first since 2023. And despite being the lesser seed, there’s no question they are the favorites. Plus, their track record in Finals is seven wins in eight tries, so their Finals opponent will have their work cut out for them. Triuuuueeee does it again!

As for SCRM, this will be their first Finals, as they dispatched SWMP in a slightly closer game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 34.5 PTS and took down SWMP behind SGA’s offense and a strong overall defensive effort. This will be SCRM’s first Finals after joining us in 2021. It’s a bit of a surprise too, as SCRM had more all-in rosters in the past, and actually traded away James Harden midseason. 

This will be a gargantuan week as SOUR would’ve won RD1 vs SCRM 6-3, while SCRM would have turned the tables for their own 6-3 victory in RD2 had they faced SOUR. Now we’ll see who will win this epic 2025 SlamNation Finals!

Over in the consolation games, both SQSQ and KSKT got waxed 1-8, leaving them in the final week matchup as ILCN and SPDE face off for a higher pick in next year’s draft.

Toilet Bowl RD2 Recap

What a doozy over in the Toilet Bowl! FUNK had already conceded by Saturday night to CHMK, with the owners trading “congrats, ggs” and Jon already booking his post-Toilet Bowl vacation. Lo and behold, Sunday brought CHMK’s required five rebounds from Oshae Brissett but then Coach Evan didn’t pull his players and ended up losing the matchup by one turnover! Incredible stuff!

We love the CHMK attitude to play it out and let the fates decide, but perhaps they’ll rue letting FUNK slip through. Either way, this now sets up an actually exciting RD3 because FUNK and BUFF can now play for 2025 RD1.1 and RD1.2, while CHMK and SBUK will duke it out for RD1.3 and RD1.4. Thanks Evan for giving us some drama! (Note: CHMK and SBUK were slotted for those picks anyway, with the SWMP Rule in effect--which we'll revisit this offseason.)

BUFF is on a heater as well, despite having both Jalen Brunson and Brandon Ingram out. Similar to the upset filled playoff side of the bracket, Toilet Bowl 2025 has the lower seed, BUFF, tapped as the slight favorites in Capture the Flagg.

Over in TB consolation, ABCX almost upset TRUO, as they were a few STL and PTS away from a victory. Alas, they’ll face off against UFOS—who lost to FJUB handily—perhaps as a “winner goes home” match for SlamNation?!

Revisiting the SWMP Rule

Back in 2019, we instituted Postseason 2.0, which primarily consisted of making all sixteen teams play all three weeks of the postseason, and then installing the somewhat controversial SWMP Rule, which prevented the top two Toilet Bowl seeds from winning the RD1.1 and RD1.2 picks for the next season.

With some recent rumblings about what we should do next, let’s take a look at some numbers.

[ Sheet: SWMP Rule stats ]

The main goals for me, speaking very personally, is to create engagement for all sixteen teams, to prevent tanking, and to encourage competitiveness across all of our games. Teams will certainly rise and fall, as this is a keeper league with a six player core, but over time it would seem that most everyone should be able to be competitive somehow through opportunity, effort, and of course, some luck.

As of now, some commissioners think we are unnecessarily punishing the lower tier teams, as they are the ones in most need of help. In addition, some of the teams affected by the SMWP Rule think it’s been a bit unfair that they can’t win the top overall picks. Or at least weird that the lower seeded teams want the higher seeds to win, in the case of #11-12 cheering on #9-10.

Regardless, we’ll look at all these issues. First, let’s look at some numbers and then we can have discussions, ideas, and look at revamping some stuff for next season and so on. My belief is that over a period of five years, you can at least get your team to somewhat respectability, or at least ping pong up and down the standings due to randomness.

The big question to answer is really a philosophical one: Who should the draft help? The teams that don't / can't win, or the teams that are trying but maybe too good to get the overall top picks?

SWMP Rule Results

Since the advent of the SWMP Rule era, we’ve had five seasons affected by it, not counting this 2025 season and the abbreviated 2020 season.

Here were the Toilet Bowl matchups from each of those years

Year: # Winner vs#  Loser

• 2019: #9 SBUK vs #14 SNAC
• 2021: #11 SQSQ vs #10 CHMK
• 2022: #11 CHMK vs #9 ILCN
• 2023: #10 CHMK vs #13 SPDE
• 2024: #9 SWMP vs #12 FUNK 

As you can see, either #9 or #10 have made the TB Finals every year, but we actually haven’t ever had both of the top seeds make the last game—which is good actually!

In fifteen Toilet Bowls—minus 2020 because of COVID, here are which seeds have won the whole thing:

• #9 seed (7, many)
• #10 (1, CHMK)
• #11 (3, BOMB, SQSQ, CHMK)
• #12 (1, FUNK)
• #13 (1, ABCX)
• #16 (1, FUNK)

So eight out of fifteen Toilet Bowls have been won by the top two seeds #9 and #10, five won by the middle four  #11-14 seeds, and only once by one of the worst two teams in the league.

The main purpose of the SWMP Rule was to not just gift teams that are likely too good for the Toilet Bowl a high pick. For example, SBUK in 2019 could’ve received Zion Williamson (instead of RJ Barrett) to add to a core of CJ McCollum, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, and Rudy Gobert. Or say, adding Victor Wembanyama to the 2025 CHMK team.

Of course, the randomness of the draft has helped to even out who got the true franchise altering stars, as in hindsight, some of the RD1.1 and RD1.2 picks were not the "right" ones. See: Sheppard, Reed. Even SWMP’s double Toilet Bowl win in 2017-2018 only netted Markelle Fultz and DeAndre Ayton. So that randomness itself may be a reason to just eliminate the SWMP Rule.

The SWMP Rule has unequivocally helped give top tier picks to the middle class Toilet Bowl teams--there's always been a #11 seed or lower in the TB Finals--even if not directly to the worst few, defined as #12 seed or lower.

Bubble Teams Tanking

The second question now however, is how to prevent the playoff bubble teams from tanking. Of course, some owners will want to fight for every win, as SOUR does—and has just proven that a #8 can take out a #1 in this very playoffs. But, the temptation to tank to the Toilet Bowl when a seemingly franchise altering player is pretty great--I myself have been tempted by this. So I’d like a solution that addresses that problem.

Should we return to some sort of lottery system? Maybe have every Toilet Bowl team play for more ping pong balls or something? But still have a bit of randomness involved? Should say, seeds #7-8 get some freebie ping pong balls in the following draft, so they are not unduly punished for not being in the Toilet Bowl? Seeds that low rarely, if at all, ever win the Finals. Stat: The lowest seeded team to ever win a championship was #6, with 100 Acre Wood Pooh Bears taking a title back in 2013. Oh also 2011's Human Amoebas, who made the playoffs with a 9-10 record, and would've been the #10 seed overall but made the playoffs due to conference splits. So those were the two outliers in fifteen or so years.

Some other draft related ideas:

1) Return to a Toilet Bowl where we are playing for positions, be it straight RD1.1 - RD1.8 based on TB results, or something similar. This punishes the bad teams but is also the easiest. A bad team could upset their way to the top but usually the top picks would go toward the better Toilet Bowl teams. We could add a tiering element to this, such as #9-12 play for a certain level of pick and #13-16 play for a different (higher) tier.

2) A pure lottery system, with worse teams getting better odds, and not tying the Toilet Bowl to draft picks at all. Alternately, flip it and the teams that advance in the Toilet Bowl get higher odds to win higher picks. But generally, some sort of randomized system.

3) A farther out idea is to give every team the same chance at the first picks, say 12.5% for each of the eight Toilet Bowl teams. And from there, we could add on tournament style where each win afterwards steals some % of chance from your opponent, thus making the Toilet Bowl wins and losses still count for something.

4) One of my main goals is to solve for the issue where seeds #7-8 and #9-10 are not incentivized to hit the Toilet Bowl versus facing off an uphill playoffs battle. So perhaps we could even give #7-8 teams the same lottery chances as the #9-10 teams, thus eliminating any motivation to tank.

5) A brief in-season tournament between seeds #7-8-9-10 for lottery odds, which would again, try to eliminate the bubble team tanking. Whoever wins this in-season tourney gets the lottery balls in the next draft? So they can safely push for a playoff showing? Maybe far fetched.

6) Reset every five years completely, making it less relevant who gets the highest picks in every draft since we are only building for five years at a time. I am leaning toward suggesting this as an idea. Reset every five years, with that "Grand Re-Draft" pick order determined by win-loss records from the previous five seasons?

7) There was a suggestion of tying “good” management to allowing teams to pick high. Say if you don’t hit a certain Games Played threshold, or you are seen to be mismanaging or mismanaging for a long stretch. Interesting proposition...

Overall I would still like the idea of playing three postseason games for everyone, as that keeps the trade deadline steady and free agent available for all.

SWMP Rule Sheets Explanation

TB Winners: Look at winning percentage for the sixteen franchises one the past five years.

TB Winners Keepers: A list of all the keepers that the Toilet Bowl winner had going into the following season. Plus who was picked in the following draft—usually not by them due to the SWMP Rule. (Added SWMP’s 2017-2018 season in here for comparison.)

TB Regular Season Records: This one is a little messy but it’s just the regular season win-loss records for all of the TB winners and losers.  More useful for me, but you can take a look.

Five Years Win Percentage: Self-explanatory. Most of the teams are hovering around 0.400 - 0.600, but ABCX, TRUO, and UFOS are pretty awful.

Five Years Regular Season: Again, more for me. But we can see each team’s individual regular season records over the past five years. I was looking to see if people are bouncing up and down or consistently good/bad, etc.

Five Years Moves and Games Played: The top half is Moves per year—which include post draft moves I think, or something similarly. In many cases, the low teams made just like one or two waiver grabs, if even.

The Games Played chart displays GP and also the blue number in each column is the average for that season. Overall, eleven of our teams are average or better in GP, while we have four or so lagging teams: ABCX, FUNK, MELO, UFOS.

Note: I calculated all the averages taking out the top and worst ranked teams, because for example, TRUO is such an outlier in Moves that it’s easier to calculate with that team out. So the average is really the #2-15 teams.

Owner Ratings 2025

Our first executive of the year award is awarded! The formula for owner rating is: Games Played + Moves + Wins. [ 2018 Explainer | 2022 Owner Rating ]

Our five best owners were KSKT, SCRM, SOUR, FJUB, and SQSQ. Their combination of Games Played, Moves, and Wins came out on top. So this year’s Executive of the Year Award goes to KSKT’s Matt! He had the third most GP, the fourth most Moves, and had the fourth best regular season record.

FJUB must be commended here as well, as they were first in both Games Played and Moves, but came up short in Wins. Still, that meant Eric was really doing the most to maximize his roster all season.

As for the bottom five owners, the list was SWMP, ILCN, ABCX, FUNK, and UFOS.

SWMP, ILCN, and especially FUNK all had lower Games Played numbers, as they were eleventh, thirteenth, and fifteenth in that category, respectively. They were also thirteen, fourteen, and fifteenth in moves, which threw them into the “bad” owner category.

Speaking of “moves,” again, I have no idea how they calculate them because for example, FUNK is credited with just one Moves but I clearly added Al Horford and Kevin Huerter post-draft and then Ziaire Williams on Jan 7th. Perhaps it’s just the result of how I calculate the ODE. Regardless, Moves is just a small measure of owner activity.

ABCX was much more active this season, with plenty of pickups throughout the season: Grant Williams, Isaiah Stewart, Andre Drummond, Buddy Hield, Amir Coffey, Jose Alvarado, Mike Conley, Gradey Dick ($9), Ben Simmons ($5). We’re wondering why their lineup didn’t change much near the end of the year though, especially Bobby Portis, who was suspended. We’ll have to send out an investigative team for that.

UFOS has been pretty bad for two years—the first when they were getting used to our Slam system, and the second from just plain inattention—and only made one move all season: adding Julian Champagnie all the way back in November. They'll be exiting SlamNation next season. Thanks for your time Victor! If anyone has leads on new owners, do tell!

Overall, good job everyone and the thing we need to do is look at some metric for overall owner participation. Of course, Games Played is the most important stat here—maximizing your lineup is important—and Moves and Wins are more arbitrary. But is the owner active in trades to make up for it? Is the owner active at all? Is there a GP minimum threshold we should install? We’d like a full sixteen team league of active owners, as that provides the best competitive balance. Any thoughts or ideas on how to advance that, do tell!

Post-Season RD1 Recap and RD2 Matchups: 2025

 👑 Playoffs RD2

2 MELO vs 8 SOUR

3 SCRM vs 4 SWMP

Playoffs RD2 Consolation

1 SQSQ vs 7 ILCN

5 SPDE vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD2

9 SBUK vs 12 BUFF

10 CHMK vs 11 FUNK

Toilet Bowl RD2 Consolation

13 FJUB vs 16 UFOS

14 ABCX vs 15 TRUO

Playoff RD1 Recap

Unfortunately for SQSQ, it’s deja vu all over again as they get toppled as the top seed by a lowly eighth seed, just like back in 2022. Sadly, our must-win all-in team was missing Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Richuan Holmes, leaving a big hole in the middle. While James Harden and Derrick White had some heroic games, Miles Bridges and Steph Curry equaled their insanity and then some, giving SOUR a gigantic upset. Suddenly, SOUR looks like a real threat to win the title, again!

We almost had another huge upset between #2 MELO and #7 ILCN. Their match went down to the wire and even tied up at 4-4-1 apiece. ILCN was down Jaren Jackson Jr., Dereck Lively, and Mark Williams, leaving their interior wide open to assault. MELO fought through their own long list injuries but pulled out the win, with STL being the tied category but 3PT and BLK being very closely contested. And now MELO are the highest seed left, but they’ll have to face off against SOUR for an in-family matchup for a Finals appearance!

SCRM used solid defense and rebounding to take down the defending champs, KSKT. Despite Cade Cunningham and Anfernee Simons’ offensive explosion, SCRM was just too good behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dyson Daniels’ thievery.

SWMP and SPDE tied in REB but that was about all the positives SPDE had for their opening playoff week. With no Wemby, they still dominated BLK—thanks Walker Kessler—but tripling up the opponent in blocks won’t help the other categories, and SPDE went quietly into the playoff consolation bracket with a 3-5-1 loss. They’ll have a tough time ahead with Wemby and Tyrese Maxey both still injured. On the other hand, SWMP is showing seven players OUT to start the week, and while they have a very deep and talented roster, the Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, and Jalen Williams show will have to really drag this team forward.

I can’t believe it… is eighth seeded SOUR somehow the odds-on favorite of the 2025 title?!

Toilet Bowl RD1 Recap

Nothing too exciting here, as all the higher seeds advanced. SBUK had 27 GP versus UFOS 19, and yet only won BLK by three and REB by twelve, so conceivably UFOS had a chance at a big upset there. But UFOS’ coach hasn’t adjusted his lineup in weeks so a win would have been undeserved.

The same thing with ABCX, who basically didn’t adjust their roster—with Bobby Portis still in SSPD and yet starting—and with all the injuries they had, ABCX actually managed to get one extra GP over FUNK, which still resulted in a close 4-5 loss. There was possibly an upset shot here too but as they say, “that’s why they play the games!” Or not, in UFOS and ABCX’s cases.

BUFF did take out FJUB by a mere two BLK and three 3PT, which was pretty exiting down the stretch, as the matchup was pretty close throughout. CHMK waxed TRUO to easily advance, and is looking like the best of the four remaining teams.

Playoffs Teams: 2025

[ Power Rankings 2025 | Toilet Bowl Teams 2025 | Midseason Tiers 2025 ]

We ended the regular season with an exciting matchup between #1 and #2, and there were tie-breaks to be had at the bottom of the playoffs, as four teams vied for positioning. At the end of the 2025 regular season, SQSQ emerged as the winner, with a victory over MELO. Let’s take a look at the eight teams into the 2025 playoffs.

#1 SQSQ (14-4)

ODE: 13/4/1

SQSQ started the regular season off with six straight wins and ended the season with six as well, securing their fourth regular season crown and third in the past six years. Unfortunately, all that regular season success hasn’t translated to the postseason, as SQSQ has never made a SlamNation Finals. To rectify that, SQSQ’s already all-in roster went even further all-in in February as GM Brian traded for James Harden, Rudy Gobert, and CJ McCollum to create a potential playoff juggernaut. The only remaining question heading into their best shot at a title is the health of Anthony Davis, and to a lesser extent Daniel Gafford. Still, this is the team to beat and we love seeing owners go all-in!

#2 MELO (12-5-1)

ODE: 5/13/11

Recovering from a bit of a midseason slump, MELO finished the regular season strong, with a 5-1-1 record and the H2H tie-breaker to take the second seed in the playoffs—and winning their first ever Russell Conference title. This will be MELO’s second playoff appearance—their first came in 2021 when Jack entered the league—and they are well positioned to challenge for a title. Likely R.O.Y. Stephon Castle (2025 RD1.7) has been fantastic lately and he’ll have to pick up the slack from a hurt Brandon Miller. Otherwise, MELO is all locked in and ready for a long playoff run!

#3 SCRM (12-5-1)

ODE: 9/1/15

Another team that ended the regular season on a hot streak, last year’s crowns winner SCRM has been 8-1-1 since mid-December and has now gone 43-10-3 over the past three years. Even with a slight pivot to more youth—trading away James Harden for Scoot Henderson—SCRM has managed to ride SlamNation’s best defense to a top-three seed. With a healthy Kawhi Leonard on-board, maybe this is Jordan’s shot to get to their first ever Finals after building another deep and talented roster. Note: With their 0.694 regular season this year, SCRM Jordan has overtaken SOUR Trieu as the winningest regular season owner in SlamNation history—by winning percentage. Congrats!

#4 SWMP (11-6-1)

ODE: 2/5/6

After missing the playoffs last year—after making five in a row—SWMP is back to their winning ways, finishing up 2025 with a 4-1-1 streak. While SWMP’s glory years of leading the league in wins might in the rear window, it looks like they could still be a dark horse contender for the title as they have the league’s most balanced combined ODE. It’ll be a tough road ahead with Jalen Johnson—and Deandre Ayton—out, but SWMP still has Nikola Jokic and to lead the way. They took the Toilet Bowl last year, can they add a long awaited title this time around?

#5 SPDE (10-6-2)

ODE: 5/6/10

After starting off the season 3-5-2 and looking like a bottom tier team, SPDE went on a seven game win streak, ending their season on a 7-1 run and are now back in the playoffs as a mid-sized threat. Note: SPDE finished with the second most regular seasons last year. Interestingly, a lot of the win streak was done with Victor Wembanyama out and Tyrese Maxey and Tyler Herro bouncing in and out of the lineup. Unfortunately for SPDE, those injury woes persist and even the reappearance of Chet Holmgren won’t fix the Wemby-sized hole in the middle. So that’s a sigh of relief from the rest of SlamNation, as the franchise with the best keeper core heading forward seems to have taken a pause this year on contention. Next year/decade though…

#6 KSKT (11-7)

ODE: 4/9/13

After an electric title run last season, KSKT has slipped just a little back to the pack. Their title defense will be an uphill one, even as Cade Cunningham has elevated himself to All Star level. Kristaps Porzingis is likely out for a few weeks while Tyrese Haliburton will miss the first round of the playoffs at least. That leaves KSKT a bit shorthanded, even with Zion Williamson available. KSKT did take out ILCN, SBUK, and SOUR during their four game win streak to end the season, proving that they still have some bite in their championship follow up season. Are their back to back chances legit?

#7 ILCN (10-7-1)

ODE: 12/7/3

As our top rated combined ODE team, ILCN has a strong defense and efficiency paired with a lackluster offense. However, that lack of offense is deceiving because Paolo Banchero and Luka Doncic have traded off being injured. Given full health, ILCN can score with anyone, giving them a very solid all around team. However, ILCN has stumbled a bit since midseason, registering only two wins in their last six, and looking a bit out of sorts. For the playoffs, they are going to need Mark Williams to step up, as Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dereck Lively II will likely start the week on the shelf. Will Luka magic be enough for ILCN to go further in the postseason this year?

#8 SOUR (10-7-1)

ODE: 1/9/14

The ever dangerous SOUR franchise has been good this year but not great by any measure. Still, SOUR are in the playoffs—fourth year in a row, after two years in the Toilet Bowl in 2020-21— and are always a tough out. The loss of Dejounte Murray for the season is a big blow to the backcourt but the rejuvenation of Jimmy Butler—now on the same real life and Slam team as Steph Curry—could result in playoff magic for SOUR. There’s a top ranked offense to contend with here for SOUR’s opponents and as Trieu has proven over and over: never count SOUR out!

Toilet Bowl Teams 2025

[ Power Rankings 2025 | Playoff Teams 2025 | Midseason Tiers 2025 ]

The tournament for the losers. We love to see people duke it out to the finish and this year’s on the bubble teams were stellar in their competitiveness. With Capture the Flagg draft coming up in 2026, the incentive must have been great to tank. However, that wasn’t what our bubble teams chose to do and we commend them for that. Let’s take a look at the eight teams who will be fighting for high draft picks next season.

#9 SBUK (10-8)

ODE: 14/11/2

Giving us a masterclass in fighting till the end, SBUK went 5-1 down the stretch to try to the make the playoffs. Their last three games were against bottom feeders FJUB, UFOS, and TRUO, but SBUK resisted any urge to tank and fought hard all the way through. Bravo, bravo! Now, SBUK are looking at the best odds for a Toilet Bowl win—they captured a TB win in 2019—while being subject to the dreaded SWMP Rule of not being able to pick first or second overall next year. However, let the record show that SBUK is here to win and not roll over, even as Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving are out for the season. Winning a 2026 RD1.3 would still be a great accomplishment, as GM Josh has already started to go younger, trading off Rudy Gobert and CJ McCollum for the promise of Alex Sarr (2025 RD1.11). Let karma reign for SBUK!

#10 CHMK (9-9)

ODE: 7/2/15

After last season’s pre-postseason trade extravaganza, CHMK has stayed quiet this year as they watched their talent-consolidated roster play a full season together. Evan Mobley emerged as an All Star, Anthony Edwards faced the pressure of being “The Guy,” and 2024 RD1.3 Amen Thompson broke out and might now challenge Edwards as the most fun guy in the NBA to watch. All that and a 0.500 record, not bad! While CHMK suffered a five game losing streak midseason to take them out of playoff contention, they did rally for a 2-2 finish. CHMK is a team on the rise and a high draft pick in 2026 could be just the thing to take them out of the loser’s bracket, where they’ve been mired for four long years.

#11 FUNK (8-10)

ODE: 8/11/4

Back-to-back eight win seasons have sent FUNK to the Toilet Bowl again. Despite getting the top overall selection this past season—misspent on Reed Sheppard aka “White Yuki Kawamura”—FUNK has struggled gathering any momentum all season long. Even after a series of midseason trades to try to right the ship—bringing in Jakob Poeltl, Collin Sexton, and Goga Bitadze—FUNK only managed to pick up one win in their last six games, relegating them to the bottom tournament once again. With Lauri Markkanen out and still no real point guard around—Sexton is also hurt—FUNK will need Jayson Tatum and Trey Murphy to both get white hot to have a shot at picking first overall again. Maybe FUNK can grab Sheppard with 2026 RD1.1 and run it back!

#12 BUFF (7-10-1)

ODE: 3/15/6

Speaking of a team that finished the season on a downturn, 2025’s surprise SlamNataion Finalist BUFF went 1-6-1 over the past two months, squandering their successful early season. Somehow BUFF was still third in in the league on offense, as they led everyone in 3PT and was fifth in PTS. There is a dangerous team in here somewhere, with Jalen Brunson and Domantas Sabonis leading the way—plus the pre-draft trade for Coby White has been great—but BUFF is entering the Toilet Bowl a little wounded all around, with the biggest missing piece being Brandon Ingram, who is unlikely to see any time before the 2025 SlamNation season ends. Still, BUFF could get a juicy high pick if they manage to get a win or two in the Toilet Bowl, and Cooper Flagg is looking mighty good as a defensive centerpiece for any team, particularly this one!

#13 FJUB (5-12-1)

ODE: 11/3/12

FJUB led the league in Games Played this season, but all those GPs still resulted in this long time franchise’s worst regular season ever. Yep, after missing only one playoffs in the past fifteen seasons, the 0.306 winning 2025 FJUB find themselves not only in the Toilet Bowl, but as a low low seed. Strangely, the pairing of Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns should give any team a good offensive baseline, but FJUB is instead back to their traditional ways, as a top-three defensive squad. What gives?! Overall, FJUB is likely looking at a rebuild, with time needed for 2025 RD1.10 Zaccharie Risacher to grow and the rest of the roster to be shifted around. A midseason trade for OG Anunoby was a nice add but more will likely be needed for FJUB to return to their winning ways.

#14 ABCX (4-13-1)

ODE: 15/8/9

After throwing up the rest regular season in SlamNation history last year, it’s a bit of a shock to see ABCX with four huge wins. They cleared out all the teams underneath them in these ratings, and took out FUNK in WK16 as well. ABCX started the season off 0-9-1, meaning they actually went 4-4 the rest of the way! Woohoo! The return of LaMelo Ball to mostly full health certainly helped, as the underrated crazy great Ivica Zubac season as well. Now we’ll see if ABCX can make any noise in the Toilet Bowl, even as their roster is dotted with injured and suspended players. We can’t say ABCX is ready to win much, but at least they won some this year!

#15 TRUO (3-13-2)

ODE: 10/14/6

Over the past eight seasons, TRUO has thrown up a 0.311 winning percentage. In their first eight years, they were winning at a 0.613 clip. Since 2020, TRUO has a record of 24-83-4 and they’ve been mired at the bottom of the standings. After starting the 2025 season off with three straight wins, TRUO proceeded to chuck out thirteen losses and two ties to close the year. Oof. 2025 was also the rare year where Coach Thien’s team wasn’t one of the Games Played leaders, which is something that has always been a strength. We would love for this once successful franchise to get a high 2026 pick, but with a slew of injuries—most notably to outstanding 2025 rookie free agent find Jared McCain—TRUO will likely have to do with a middling first round pick, yet again.

#16 UFOS (2-16)

ODE: 16/16/4

With only one win last season—UFOS’ first—the 2025 version of this team technically doubled last year’s success. And those two wins were legit, versus SBUK and BUFF. However, owner Victor was basically M.I.A. over the back half of the season and with multiple lineup violations and a paltry Games Played number, most fans are calling for a new owner. The roster was never devoid of talent, but there’s not franchise player on-board to hang their hat on—especially post-Damian Lillard deal—and whoever comes in to take over this franchise in 2026 will have some major revamping to do. Still, we hope UFOS had a good time in SlamNation and someone eager and competent will come aboard to take over the moribund FOBS/UFOS franchise.

Power Ranking 2025

 

Tie-Breakers

• 12-5-1 (0.694): H2H, MELO defeated SCRM twice, WK8 and WK16
• 10-6-2 and 11-7 (0.611): Despite more wins, the same winning percentage resulted in a H2H tie-breaker, with SPDE winning versus KSKT in WK14 so they get the higher seed
• 10-7-1 (0.583): ILCN beat SOUR in WK2