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)

2024 Championship: Original Glazed

In a matchup that was closer than the final score indicated, third-seeded KSKT took out fourth-seeded BUFF in the 2024 Finals, acquiring the championship for Krispy Kreme Team! Up through Friday and Saturday, the matchup was a back and forth, even as BUFF piled up the Games Played. Heading into Sunday, it would be seven players on-deck for KSKT to wrap up a title. In the end, even with Cade Cunningham a scratch, Zion Williamson pulled through with a huge 36 PTS, 6 AST, and 13/14 FT% performance. That, along with Paul Reed’s two blocks, really sealed the deal for KSKT.

For KSKT, it was a glorious playoff run as Williamson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Cunningham all came together for the stretch run. We always knew that KSKT mainly needed health to contend, and this was the year it all came together, as championship week also featured Kristaps Porzingis, Anfernee Simons, Michael Porter Jr., and D’Angelo Russell playing their hearts out. The real secret sauce of the matchup was KSKT winning both percentage categories, which was too big a challenge for BUFF to overcome.

For our youngest owner to take a title with the youngest SlamNation core seems very fitting!

How did they acquire this core? Well, since entering SlamNation as the sole owner of a franchise in 2021, Matt has steadily risen the ranks, valuing a strong foundation over early success. With their training from helping run dad’s SQSQ franchise, GM Matt clearly had a vision for his Krispy Kreme Team. That first year, KSKT only notched six victories but already had the core of his future title winning team in place with Williamson, Porzingis, and Porter Jr., on-board via the dispersal draft. That year’s RD1.4 pick by Matt was Haliburton, and after SQSQ won the 2021 Toilet Bowl, KSKT got the 2022 RD1.1 pick due to the SWMP Rule. That first overall pick was used to take Cunningham, and the 2022 season also featured grabbing Anthony Simons as a FAAB pickup.

As for trades, in 2021 KSKT moved a future RD1, basically for Clint Capela and Keldon Johnson, which resulted in it being a future RD1.4—which was used by CHMK to take Richuan Holmes. Aside from that, most of KSKT’s other moves were around the edges, as GM Matt had a penchant for acquiring multiple picks for each draft and drafting a slew of players each year.

However, as we can see, all of KSKT’s core is homegrown, and they had their foundation set up from nearly the start. It was only a matter of waiting for some seasoning—and health—for KSKT to make a title run. Their first playoff run, last season, was after a 16-4 season that saw them win the regular season crown. (Note: KSKT is 44-29-1 in four regular seasons, good for seventh best owner winning percentage in Slam, out of thirty owners.) Unfortunately, they were upended by FJUB in the semifinals. This time, KSKT got it all right, taking out defending champion SOUR in RD1 and then taking care of business from there on out, including eliminating SQSQ—who had already taken out heavily favored SCRM in RD1—for their Finals shot.

It’s wonderful to see such great ownership rewarded by a title, and with the way this roster is constructed—and the emergence of a thrilling backcourt—KSKT could look for many titles in future years, congrats!

As for BUFF, making it into the Finals was no small accomplishment. It’s been eleven years since BUFF last made the Finals behind a Tim Duncan led team that barely lost the title to 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps—three points literally decided the title. That loss sent BUFF on a seven year decline before they started to build some respectability back four seasons ago—they’ve had a regular season record of 37-36-1 and last made the playoffs in 2021 with a 0.500 record.

All those down years did result in some talent coming back via the draft, as BUFF managed to acquire Brandon Ingram (2017 RD1.2), Trae Young (2019 RD1.4), and Anthony Edwards (2021 RD1.6) with top selections. Young and Edwards were both eventually traded, while Kyle Kuzma was also a 2021 draft pick, at RD4.8. A huge win for GM Roger was grabbing free-agent Domantas Sabonis in 2018. That was also the year Klay Thompson came on-board as a keeper, in exchange for Khris Middleton.

Still, nobody expected this BUFF team to be in contention for a title but here they were, slugging it out with the best, as new trade acquisition Jalen Brunson was having some huge games. The additions of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Jalen Duren really fleshed the depth out on this team, and there’s a world where a healthier Brandon Ingram might have tipped the balance. In the end however, getting to a Finals was a huge win for 2024 BUFF, and we hope to see them in the title hunt again next year!

(Full stats)

2023 Championship: Steph Shimmy

Is the Sour Snails dynasty back?! After winning four titles in five seasons between 2015-2019, we thought the specter of Steph Curry would be gone from the championship dais for awhile. Instead, much like the real life 2022 Warriors, SOUR entered the season as a semi-dark horse and emerged with another title, their record-setting sixth in SlamNation.

This title run was a real nail-biter, as SOUR eked by SWMP in round one by only one three-pointer (and six points), and then followed that up by sneaking past the higher-seeded SCRM in the semis, winning that matchup by only a handful of points on the last day. Whatever lucky charm SOUR was working with in 2023, it worked out amazingly! And then in the Finals versus FJUB, SOUR unleashed their sharp shooting, dropping forty-one three-pointers to their opponent’s eighteen, as SOUR shot a blistering 51.7 FG% for the week while still winning TOs.

The title team from 2019 has mostly flipped over, with only Steph Curry and Pascal Siakam remaining on-board. That team featured Kevin Durant as the second banana but Curry had playoff superhero Jimmy Butler this time around, plus another backcourt All-Star in De’Aaron Fox. 

On the year, SOUR wasn’t showing many signs of dominance, as their combined ODE was middle of the pack, and their strong categories only consisted of a top ranking in FG% and a top-three in REB. But when the time comes to push for a title, Trieu never disappoints. GM Trieu acquired Butler mid-season for Wendell Carter Jr. and Christian Wood, and had gotten Fox the season prior in exchange for then rookie Scottie Barnes.

Even with Curry, Siakam, Butler, and Fox, SOUR needed all the help it could get from their bench, as Jerami Grant, Josh Hart, Deni Avdija, and Lakers super-hero Austin Reaves proved instrumental in their playoff appearances. All in all, it was an incredible postseason run for SOUR, and congrats to Trieu once again!

SOUR’s accolades:

• Winningest regular season team ever: 179-76-5, 0.702
• SlamNation titles: 6
• Finals appearances: 8
• Toilet Bowl Finals: 1
• Most Regular Season Wins: 4
• Playoff appearances: 11
• Division titles: 7

FJUB fought their way to the Finals through tough matchups throughout, with a huge win versus regular season juggernauts KSKT in the semi-finals. Their defense-first approach was good enough to get them back into the championship game—for the third time—and despite winning REB, AST, STL, and BLK as designed, they were just short in one other category. (The injury to Terry Rozier might have made a difference, as the late season trade acquisition was a key contributor to FJUB’s offense.)

The point guard duo of Chris Paul and Fred VanVleet did their best though, and while the FJUB roster has some age on it, FJUB has proven once again that concentrating on defense can be a title contending strategy, as evidenced by two Finals appearances in the past three seasons, plus their shiny title from 2021.

(Full stats)

2022 Championship: So Sweet

After a thrilling 2021 run to their first Finals appearance, So Buckets came back for more in 2022. Instead of sneaking into the playoffs like last season, SBUK dropped a 13-6-1 record—good for the third seed—and was one of the top contenders heading into the postseason. After an easy wipe of SOUR in round one, followed by a barely harder round two versus FUNK, SBUK came face to face with the Russell Conference champions, Swamp Dragons, who was making their fourth Finals appearance.

Despite being the slight underdog, SBUK pulled out a 6-3 win, taking REB by just six, and STL by three. The twin defensive towers of Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert won SBUK the day, and we crowned a new champ!

After taking over the Bayside Bombardiers franchise in 2012, Josh and the So Buckets have reached the mountaintop in their eleventh SlamNation season! Coincidentally, this Finals matchup was the two 2012 replacement owners facing off against each other, as SBUK and SWMP entered Slam at the same time. Back then, Josh elected to gift Eddie LeBron James while inheriting a Bombardiers’ Toilet Bowl win and the 2012 RD1.1 pick, who turned into Kyrie Irving.

The keepers SBUK took in that initial dispersal draft: Pau Gasol, Andre Iguodala, Gerald Wallace, David West, Darren Collison, and someone named Toney Douglas. Those early SBUK teams had some good success, nabbing two Voltron division titles in their first three seasons behind Gasol, Irving, Igoudala, and Evan Turner. However, two 8-10-1 seasons in 2015-6 left them out of the postseason.

It was during this down period that we start to see the current championship roster begin to toke shape, as GM Josh drafted Embiid (2015 RD1.12) and Gobert (2015 RD4.12) in the same class. DeMar DeRozan was also added to the keeper mix by 2015, and Myles Turner came on-board as a rookie one year later (2016 RD1.7). That core led to a SBUK resurgence, leading to a 14-6-1 record in 2018 and another Voltron division title.

Those heady days were short lived as SBUK slipped out of the playoffs in 2019 despite a winning record. They did win the Toilet Bowl that season—and got the 2020 RD1.3 pick due to the first year of the “SWMP rule,” which didn’t allow the #9 or #10 Toilet Bowl teams to win one of the first two picks. That third pick ended up being RJ Barrett, who was the odd man out from the one-two punch of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.

Despite assumptions that SBUK would leap back into the playoffs in 2020, they instead went 8-10-1, as some real life things--hi Baby SBUK!--took the coaching staff a little out of focus. However, SBUK management pulled it together in 2021 and 2022, resulting in two Finals appearances and SBUK’s first SlamNation title!

This was truly a homegrown title, as we can see by the Irving, Embiid, Gobert, and Barrett draft picks. Even Myles Turner was directly turned into CJ McCollum via trade. Incredibly, GM Josh has only ever made three trades ever, and only two involving actual players. The first was the 2017 big for small Turner and McCollum exchange, and the second was in 2021, when they moved DeMar DeRozan for the promise of Jonathan Isaac. (Imagine if this team still had DeRozan!) Otherwise it’s just been savvy drafting and good free agent pickups!

New keepers Jalen Brunson (2022 RD5.11) and rookie Franz Wagner (2022, free agent) were both value finds that could make SBUK even stronger than before. Heck, RJ Barrett—who led SBUK in playoff minutes—will be cut as a keeper. At least Barrett will get a ring when he makes a visit to his old team!

Overall, owner SBUK boasts a 105-92-6 regular season record in eleven seasons—good for sixth best out of the current Slam owners—with six playoff runs, three division titles, two Finals appearances, and one shiny new ring! Congrats to our new league champ, may a zesty title defense be in SBUK's future!

As for Swamp Dragon’s eternal chase for a title, this Finals appearance marked SWMP’s fourth appearance in the championship game—2012, 2014, 2018, and 2022—with no hardware to show for it. SWMP has been the most dominant regular season team in SlamNation going back the last four seasons, with a 56-15-4 (0.777) record, three Russell Conference titles, two Most Wins, and two Finals showings. Heck, they even had a rule named after them, due to their Toilet Bowl success!

Losing a hard fought Finals to SBUK can only fuel Eddie’s fire, as that elusive title has to be around the corner soon, right?

2021 Championship: Juba Again

After a year where we crowned no champion, it was quite the celebration when Fat Jubas took the 2021 title, putting a capper on a shortened season that came on the heels of an aborted season.

While FJUB had always been a good team — with seven straight playoff appearances and counting — they have been just a little below the elite in recent seasons, hovering as a fringe contender. However, a stellar 2021 regular season campaign had them entering the playoffs with the second-best overall record and a great shot at the championship.

Once top seed SWMP was upended by #8 BUFF in round one, and #3 CHMK and #4 MELO were similarly upset, the crown was there for the taking. While Jubas faced a little adversity in round one — barely slipping by #7 FUNK — it was nothing compared to their Finals matchup versus SBUK. Missing two key players for the final round, FJUB won by just one three pointer overall, with unexpected hero Georges Niang hitting five in his last game. This had to be the closest Finals matchup ever, and FJUB escaped by a hair with their second title.

The last time Jubas took home a Slam trophy, it was 2012 and their big three was Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. This time around, it was another Suns’ point guard, Chris Paul, leading the charge to a ring. That offense-heavy team was a far cry from this version of FJUB, which featured a league-leading defense  — tops in steals and blocks — paired with three-point threats across the board.

Paul was flanked by Fred VanVleet and Malcolm Brogdon alongside him in the backcourt, while Tobias Harris, Robert Covington, and Danny Green filled in the wing spots. Myles Turner held down the middle, with Brook Lopez as an important backup big, since Turner didn’t make any postseason appearances.

This FJUB roster wasn’t full of grade-A superstars — it certainly never rated highly year-to-year in the keeper ratings — but it had been tinkered with over time, as GM Eric kept true to his vision. With a declining core post-Nash and KG, Jubas’s keeper core two years after their 2012 title look like this: Gordon Hayward, Jeff Green, Jonnas Valanciunas, Marc Gasol, Nicolas Batum, and Tyreke Evans.

Decent, but nothing thrilling. The full rebuild started with the acquisition of Chris Paul ahead of the 2014 season. Turner came aboard in 2017 via trade, as did Jrue Holiday in 2018. The 2020 draft brought Fred VanVleet at RD3.10, which gave FJUB enough offensive punch to shift toward some more balanced pieces like Brogdon and Harris (in exchange for Holiday) during the past championship year.

Overall, this title winner was more than the sum of its pieces, and a hearty congrats to a FJUB franchise that has been on the championship podium before — becoming only our second two-time champ — and will look forward to being again!

As for SBUK, it was two years of non-playoff seasons before a thrilling run to their first Finals appearance. After winning the Toilet Bowl in 2019 with a stacked roster, it was assumed SBUK would ascend into contention status. Finishing with the sixth-best regular season record in 2021 proved they were on their way, and this Finals appearance will give them even more optimism for the future. Losing by one three must hurt but that just means they could storm back next season to win it all!

2019 Championship: Still Sweet

Well, we've all been here before haven't we? After a losing record last regular season, we figured the reign of Sour Snails might be over. Instead, they made a mega-trade before last year's post-season, took themselves to a proper title defense, and only conceded a title to Chunky Monkeys. Not bad, but we assumed Snails would be in a bit of a rebuild as they entered the 2019 season with Brook Lopez and Isaiah Thomas on their keeper core, which was not ideal.

Even with Steph Curry and Kevin Durant on-board, we thought the Snails had floated to the middle of the pack as they were 5-4 at midseason. But then they went 9-1-1 to close out the regular season and finished atop Chamberlain Conference -- again. Of course, that one loss was against Swamp Dragons, the kings of Russell, and Snails had already lost to Eddie's team twice this season.

However, after a small scare in RD1 from Fat Jubas, Sour found its stride again and demolished Squirtle Squad in RD2 before handily dispatching a Swamp Dragon team that failed to put up much of a fight. The final score for the title game was 7-2 after a huge start to the week by Swamp -- albeit losing Jusuf Nurkic early on. But the incredible shooting by Snails -- Durant put up 62.5 FG% on 25/40 shots, Siakam shot 58.6 FG%, Curry threw up 22 3PT -- and it was all she wrote for the week.

In the end, Snails showed off their playoff best combined ODE rating by putting up a first in efficiency, second in defense, and eighth in offensive rating over the past three weeks -- a huge dip from their regular season offense. This playoff run really had to rely on Snails' defense, as they ranked first in BLK behind rookie Mitchell Robinson's monstrous contributions, as well as the timely addition of DeMarcus Cousins just before the post-season. With injuries to Zach LaVine and rest days for his Warriors, Trieu really had to utilize our new non-roster lock rules to churn out useful players.

A list of guys who hit the floor for Sour Snails during championship week: Maxi Kleber, Lance Stephenson, Marco Belinelli, Justin Holiday, Tyus Jones, and Bruno Caboclo. (Those guys are all gonna get rings! Haha.) During their RD1 matchup versus Fat Jubas, Trieu used seventeen players in total. That's some crazy management and strategy, and could be a preview to how our future playoff matchups will have to be going forward. Flexibility and matchups won the day!

And it's been the Midas touch for Trieu all year as he hit huge on draft picks, free agents, and trades. There was the emergence of 2019 RD4 pick Pascal Siakam of the Pascal Siakam All-Stars, the free agent grabs of Montrezl Harrell and Mitchell Robinson, and the six trades that shuffled the core lineup yet again. Overall Sour Snails went from a weakened keeper six to suddenly a team brimming over with depth all over again. Heck, Trieu even traded away Julius Randle, Harrell, and Caris LeVert for future assets and still won the 2019 title!

So to sum it all up for our best franchise ever, in ten years since our reset Sour Snails has accumulated nine years in the playoffs, seven division/conference titles, four best record in the league years, been to seven title games -- this is their fifth in a row -- and won five rings, including a three-peat 2015-17. Oh and they made a Toilet Bowl finals in their only year out of the playoffs too. What's next for Sour? Will it be another repeat? Another three-peat?! Another podcast episode!?!

As for Swamp Dragons, it was a very successful season as they emerged as the top regular season team in SlamNation after four years out of the playoff sunshine, they hit on a number one pick in DeAndre Ayton after the failure of Markelle Fultz, and they won every trade they engaged in with Funk Coalition by a landslide. Alas, Swamp will have to settle for a runner-up trophy yet again after their third title game loss, but at least they are now positioned to be contenders for the forthcoming future behind Paul George and Nikola Jokic. Better luck next year Eddie, and we're counting on you to challenge for a ring next year -- and not the Toilet Bowl kind!

(Full Stats)

2018 Championship: Finally Chunky!

It's been a tough slog in Monkey-land for the past years.  After trading for LeBron James and Kyle Lowry in 2015, the Monkeys, despite a star-laden team, have catastrophically stumbled through the past three seasons.  They finally pieced it together this year.  The team put together a historic, almost perfect 20-1 season. James Harden and LeBron James were dueling MVP candidates. Harden averaged over 30.0 ppg, Clint Capela took a huge step forward averaging a 14 PTS /11 REB /2 BLK for the season and Marc Gasol, Kyle Lowry and Otto Porter all contributed significantly. On top of this, the Monkeys found solid performers in Kris Dunn and Caris Levert from the draft.  The roster was filled with All-Stars that performed at all-star levels and surrounded by a deep bench.  This had to be the year.

However, this was the Monkeys, the same team that flamed out in the first round in the past two years. This was also the very same Monkeys team that was staring down an incredibly dangerous Sour Snails team who had geared up specifically for this. Furthermore, the Snails had a slightly scheduling advantage for the Finals. Monkeys knew that history is often obdurate (ask Steven King).

But this season belonged to the Monkeys.  LeBron was the savior this time as he authored a signature season at the ripe old age of thirty-three and delivered his finest work for championship week. Chunky Monkeys was only able to muster twenty-three games for the week and LBJ played three of those games, including a back-to-back midweek. Those three games were enough, as James averaged a triple-double with 34.7 PTS, 10 REB, 10.3 AST and 3 3PT a game for the Finals.  James even shot 59% from the field and averaged nearly 39 minutes per game. This was punctuated by a historic game on Friday heading into the final weekend with a 44/11/11 triple-double. That gave Monkeys a 7-2 lead which turned out to be more than enough.

Before the playoffs, a hobbling Snails made a series of trades to bolster his chances for what would've been a historic four-peat. The Snails acquired Damian Lillard, Julius Randle, Isaiah Thomas, and Markieff Morris. Save for Thomas who got shelved for a hip injury shortly after being traded, Lillard, Randle and Morris all made significant contributions in the playoffs and allowed the Snails to fight their way to the championship game.

As for the Monkeys, the team was humming entering the playoffs -- it was nearly perfect in the regular season -- and the lead players were remarkably healthy. However, cracks started appearing in the playoffs with injuries hitting the bench including Kris Dunn who was shut down with a foot injury, Eric Gordon and Maurice Harkless, who were both signed for the playoffs, and JaMychal Green, all of whom made little to no contribution in the post-season due to various maladies. On top of that, Harden, Capela, and Gasol all increasingly had frequent rest days with the NBA playoffs approaching. Was the Chunky Curse coming back? There are no such thing as curses...

After an entertaining start to the week, Monkeys found themselves in the lead but needed to hang on. The seconds became minutes and the minutes became hours. Then Gasol delivered a huge 20/9/9 line on Sunday and the win was secured.

Looking back at the season, Monkeys had one of the best seasons of all time. They ranked first in the league across five categories and second on a sixth. Furthermore, Monkeys finished with the top performance in five categories all-time (going back to 2010), including breaking the all-time record for assists in the regular season with 2,973.  To give a sense of scale, the next highest number of team assists was Thien's High Riser team in 2015 with 2,625. This was the most dominant performance in a single season likely ever.

So what's next? The Monkeys are certainly aging -- have they peaked?  LeBron has stated he'll be back. So will Harden and Capela. But Monkeys management will have some big decisions coming this off-season. But this is why we play fantasy basketball! The team will leave that to the off-season.

Chunky Monkeys, at long last, champions!

(Full stats)

2017 Championship: Triple Threat!

Every dynasty needs a three-peat to become official and here we are: Sour Snails is SlamNation’s first undisputed dynasty. I know I know, old news, as Sour Snails has been our most successful franchise ever, but slapping up back-to-back-to-back championships may take awhile to equal and Trieu’s team is showing no signs of slowing down.

I mean, when you have the balls to trade away four core players, lose Kevin Durant after one game, AND win the title? Wow. Plus Snails was semi-vulnerable this season as they actually lost ag ame and tied a game this year, which was a downgrade after an undefeated 2016 campaign. At least the championship game was a bit closer than anyone anticipated, with brother Thien’s Young Gunn’s really pushing Sour Snails to their limit before eventually falling 5-3-1. Heading into Sunday’s games, both percentage categories were still tight and 3PT, REB, STL, and PTS were up for grabs.

But then Chef Curry came to the rescue. During last Finals’ close matchup, Curry hit nine 3PT on a Sunday evening as part of the celebration, having already secured the title earlier that afternoon. This time out, Snails needed Curry’s nine threes (again!) and 42 PTS to help secure the victory. C’mon Steph, give SlamNation a break eh? And there were a lot of other heroes for Snails too. Without Durant in play, depth guys like Rishaun Holmes (15.3 PTS, 7 REB, 57.1 FG%) and Nerlens Noel (9 STLs total) were crucial in fending off Young Gunn’s.

Thien’s team put up quite a fight behind John Wall, a monstrous DeMarcus Cousins week (although he missed a game, which might have been the difference), and two 31 point outings from Damian Lillard. And to be honest, a Sunday injury to Jameer Nelson could have also been crucial as Nelson was playing quite well recently. So yeah, Brother Bowl II was much closer than the first one, but still not quite enough.

In the end, the game came down to literally Steph Curry versus John Wall head-to-head in NBA and fantasy, and Wall came up short by shooting poorly and not managing to get two steals, thus sealing Young Gunn’s fate. Oh right, it also helped that all of Snails’ big guns came out on Sunday, with Steph dropping the aforementioned 42 PTS, 9 3PT, 68.2 FG%, and Jimmy Butler -- 39 PTS, 53.8 FG% -- and Brook Lopez -- 29 PTS, 60.0 FG%, 2 STL -- coming through in a huge way. All in all, it was a valiant effort from Thien, who came up just a little bit short in a nail-biter.

So there it is, our three-peat champions: Sour Snails!

How did all those new acquisitions work out for GM Trieu, minus the Durant injury? Well, pretty damn well I’d say! Mike Conley ended up posting 26.5 PTS, 8.25 AST, 3.3 3PT on the week, second to only Steph in those categories. Noel has been very up and down since he was acquired but he came through with a huge week of STL to get the category tie. And Brook Lopez was stellar in his four games, including dropping in 8 3PT on the week. It truly was a team effort wasn’t it?

And we haven’t even mentioned the one game cameos from Avery Bradley (12 PTS, 10 REB, 2 STL) and Gorgui Dieng (19 PTS, 7 REB, 2 3PT) which helped keep Gunn’s at bay. And it could be argued that there's no way Snails would have won FG% if they still had Russell Westbrook on the team. Then again, all those triple doubles might have helped just a little...

We were going to recap all of Trieu's tremendous championship moves but those are already in the history books. The question is what will happen next as he moves forward. Rumors are that he agreed to a post-championship deal to dump Durant for a box of saltines and Derrick Rose... Now that would be a team blowing up exercise wouldn't it?!

Anyway, with the best team in the league, the best keepers in the league, the best historical record in the league, and now four total titles, it’s really time for the rest of SlamNation to come together to fend off the threat of a four-peat! We know the 2015 trade of Jimmy Butler really started Trieu's dominance, so maybe it's time to give him back?!? Congrats Trieu, and may your team never reach the victory podium again!

2016 Championship: Best Ever, Bar None

Well, history has been made. An undefeated season, an undefeated post-season, and back-to-back titles for Trieu’s Sour Snails. let’s take a step back and look at that accomplishment. Heck, let’s look at what owner Trieu has been able to do in his seven years since our cycle reset back in 2010 -- and they won a title in 2008. Sour Snails was our first new champion in 2010, and then followed that up by making the finals the following year, losing only to a major upset. They collapsed after that year into the Toilet Bowl, but won Damian Lillard as the #2 overall selection in 2013. That only translated to two spectacular regular seasons — and another two upset playoff appearances — before Snails embarked on its current epic run. 36-1-1 plus 6-0 in the playoffs. Heady stuff.

And it’s not like Trieu has just been sitting idly by while his team dominates. He's been one of most active owners, both on the waiver wire and on the trading lines. And some huge names too. He had LeBron James, traded him. He had pre-Cleveland Kevin Love, traded him. He stole Russell Westbrook for Josh Smith (and Andre Drummond). He moved Lillard. He moved DeMarcus Cousins. He kept on winning and winning and winning through it all. (The trade of Cousins now looks prescient as Boogie missed three of championship week’s games, and that clearly would have had an effect on the title bout.) It’s hard to come up with more superlatives for Sour Snails, except to say that they should consider a name change to “Super Saiyan Snails” or something, because they are anything but sour.

The championship game was close though, and it came down to the last few games on Sunday. Team Spade had an outside shot at an upset but then Jimmy Butler came through with his fifth game of the week, shooting 10/11 from the field to help Snails steal FG%. By the time Stephen Curry stepped out on Sunday afternoon to can nine 3PT on 61.9 FG%, the champagne was already chilling in the Snails’ locker room.

What more is there to say about this team? Trieu not only has proven to have the best team but also shown time and time again that he’s the best GM in the business. Even minor moves like Evan Fournier for Gorgui Dieng turned out well. Getting Jordan Clarkson, Jerami Grant, and Luol Deng during hot streaks pushed Trieu’s super six core even further ahead. Even the move for Dirk Nowitzki, which didn't enhance anything, could pay dividends down the line.

Imagine what could happen next year as Snails owns two first round selections , as a result of the Cousins trade. Can anyone step up and beat Snails?!? Let’s go guys. Let’s not let “Snails” become synonymous with “Bulls” or “Lakers” and get them into three-peat land. For now, congratulations Trieu, for showing the rest of the league what a dedicated, involved, and classy champion looks like.

As for Spade, hopefully Randall is happy with his Finals performance. Taking Snails down to the wire was no small feat. Especially when Jrue Holiday ended up injured as the week went on. Kawhi Leonard came back to post two huge games but his two missed ones truly hurt, thrusting the likes of Patrick Beverley, Brandon Jennings, and Kobe Bryant into service. And since we’re Kobe haters here, we’d argue that Kobe’s 11-28, 39.3 FG% showing on Sunday might have been the one that lost FG% for Spade. Sure, Bryant had a gaudy 34 PTS but that wasn’t enough was it? The upset formula would have taken more 3PT anyway, and Spade fell just two short.

Still, with a perfectly balanced roster, plus the find that is rookie Devin Booker, it’s very possible Spade could make a return showing in next year’s Finals as they’ve gone 12-7, 12-7, 15-4 in owner Randall’s three years with us, along with back-to-back division titles. Let's hope they can rise to the challenge next season!

2015 Championship: Splashing In

Get ready for a lot of superlatives guys because Sour Snails, the undisputed regular season king of SlamNation, has won their second title of the new cycle, thus becoming our first two time champion. And they did it in dominating fashion.

With a six year regular season record of 65-21-1 for a 75.6% winning percentage, Sour Snails has made it into the playoffs every season save one (and that was the year they made the Toilet Bowl finals), won a title in 2010, captured four Silverhawks division titles, and has led SlamNation in regular season wins three times. And they did all this despite trading away LeBron James in his absolute prime.

That trade netted them Kevin Love at the beginning of his fantasy ascendancy, but it’s safe to say that King James would have been better. In fact, the entire core of 2010 championship team basically switched over, with only Steph Curry, a rookie at the time, being the only holdover. So this isn’t an old team eeking out one last win before riding off into the sunset, instead, GM Trieu has retooled as he’s maintained his dominance.

Let’s look at some of the major trades, and hone in on 2013, aka the season where Snails really rebuilt coming off a 4-8 2012 campaign. First, Trieu drafted Damian Lillard at #2 overall. Then, in January they moved Kevin Love and a 2014 RD1 pick for DeMarcus Cousins, Monta Ellis, Andre Drummond, and a 2014 RD3. Love was an injury prone fantasy star and Cousins was coming on, while Ellis was a mainstay for the Snails. Two months before that regular season ended, Trieu packaged Drummond and Josh Smith together to bring in Russell Westbrook. And while Westbrook went through his injury woes the past few seasons, he’s combined with Curry to become the best fantasy backcourt in the land. With Cousins manning the paint with his 24.1 PTS, 12.7 REB, 1.7 BLK, 1.5 STL, 46.7 FG%, Sour Snails trampled the competition this season.

Then there’s the championship swingmen, Rudy Gay and Jimmy Butler, both acquired via trades in the past year. Oh right, did we mention Klay Thompson? The other Splash Brother was acquired off the free agent lists during his rookie season before emerging as a true force this year. The only curious thing is how, aside from the inaugural 2010 draft, Trieu hasn’t really drafted particularly well, instead relying on trades and free agent pickups to keep his roster stocked with talent. Tidbit: Sour Snails has participated in fifteen total trades, including six during the 2013 season!

And speaking of free agents, no championship team would be complete without its role players. Sour Snails used Robert Covington and Taj Gibson to good effect throughout the season, and also had Jordan Clarkson, Jarret Jack, Ed Davis, and Tyler Zeller fill in for useful stretches. Clarkson was especially incredible during championship week with 23.6 PTS, 8.7 AST, 6.7 REB, 1.0 3PT/STL, and 63.6 FG% over three games. Holy Minnesota Lakers!

It’s been an incredible six year stretch for Sour Snails, and we’re happy to see Trieu win another long deserved title. What we fear is that this could evolve into a repeat or a three-peat, and then what will the rest of us in SlamNation do? Cower now before this super Sour Snails team!

As for the loser of the Brother Bowl, High Riser put up a great fight, and could have literally stolen the title with a few more swipes or blocks. Instead, Thien will leave the 2015 Finals as the runner-up, while celebrating their breakthrough post-season performance after years of playoff disappointment.

Franchise cornerstones John Wall and Damian Lillard got a taste of the championship spotlight and let’s not forget that Brandon Knight and Tyreke Evans combined to average 33.6 PTS, 11.7 AST, 9.2 REB, 2.9 3PT, and 2.6 STL this season, to fully stuff the stat sheet. And then there was old man Dwyane Wade, who showed that he’s far from done. The pre-season trades for Tyreke Evans and Trevor Ariza worked out fantastic for High Riser, and oh yeah, let’s not forget the discovery of Hassan Whiteside -- who missed Sunday’s game, where his BLK could have made the difference.

And then there’s Riser's 2015 draft pick, rookie Julius Randle, who will return to the court after a season spent in rehab. High Riser’s future is certainly bright and after this invigorating championship run they’ll be poised to contend again.

The Magic Hour

It would be hard to say that this was the biggest upset of SlamNation’s playoff runs, as we’ve had #3 and #4 seeds come through to take it all. However, this playoff run for #2 seeded Eron, Joven, and Chandler sure had the feel of an epic story as they took down two heavily favored teams on their way to a championship. Heck, before this, this franchise had never even won a single playoff game despite being in the post-season two previous times. On top of that, owner Chris was coming off a 6-13 rookie season last year, and didn’t seem to have the pieces ready to contend yet. I’m getting ready to lay on the superlatives for this stunning victory because Chris and his magical team really deserve it.

Recall, it was only two off-seasons ago that Chris took over a struggling 2005 NBA All Stars franchise and then proceeded to revamp it so completely that it went from a team of old fogeys -- Jason Kidd, Jason Richardson, Antawn Jamison, Manu Ginobili for keepers anyone? -- to a David capable of knocking off two Goliaths. Through a series of trades, GM Chris completely revamped his roster and built it around Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin. Then he added a key veteran piece mid-season, Dirk Nowitzki, and went for the gold. And we have to say, the strategy worked completely!

Let’s review who Eron, Joven, and Chandler were facing off against, after their dispatching of division foe Half Man Half ImAsian in round one. First up was Chamberlain Conference juggernaut Sour Snails, who EJC took down last week with a barrage of 3PT. Then they had to face the Russell Conference number one seeded NJ All-Stars, fresh off an all-in trade of their own.

The final victory was 7-2-0, but it was a matchup that had fans on the edge of their seats all week long. While EJC mostly held the category lead -- sometimes going up 8-1-0 -- NJ All-Stars were never too far behind. It seemed like every category was up for grabs and with a heavy slate of Sunday games for both teams, a comeback victory for All-Stars was not out of the question. As it happened, All-Stars lost by a handful in each category, with 2 STL or 2 BLK being the closest. However, this win was no fluke, as EJC proved to be the better team all-around. I mean, they took out All-Stars at their strength, even winning 3PT against them, which seemed impossible beforehand. Dirk Nowitzki dropped 13 3PT himself, while Jordan Crawford did his best Jamal Crawford impersonation with 8 3PT of his own.

So many heroes for EJC! How about Carmelo Anthony, best known for his scoring and sometimes knocked for an underrated fantasy game. For title week, Melo added 11 STL, clearly outpacing his season average. Heck, EJC even sat Ricky Rubio for a game, thinking to preserve his team's FG%. Rubio returned to drop 31 dimes in his three games, which proved crucial in a tight AST matchup. And then there was Blake Griffin, who missed Monday’s game to injury but fought back valiantly for three outings, including a triple double on Thursday, and an eye-popping 8 BLK for a non-rim protector!

On the season, EJC only had one statistical strength, as they ranked third in PTS. Other than that, they were pretty average in FG%, REB, AST, STL, 3PT, and even week in the other categories. Their worst category, BLK, was mitigated by the fact that their final opponent was just as weak in that category. Overall, it really was kismet, as EJC pulled everything together to turn in the most thrilling playoff run we've seen, well, maybe last year.

Sure, we’ve seen other upsets before, but this one was powered by a team that nobody was looking at all season as EJC kept winning under the shadow of more glamorous teams. Eventually they upended two of the more intimidating teams that SlamNation had ever seen. (And they did it without much injury loss by their opponent, which has often been the key to an upset.) In the end, EJC won nine of their last ten games, grabbed the first ring for Transformers division, and now Chris will take his rightful place among the SlamNation legends. Huge congratulations to a wild ride and a thrilling victory!

Unfortunately, in every upset tale there’s a "should’ve would’ve didn’t" winner. In this case, it’s NJ All-Stars. This is Eddie’s second Finals appearance in his mere three years as an owner. And while he’s obviously had many sterling seasons, he keeps getting upset. Last year it was eventual champion 100 Acre Wood Pooh Bears (now Spade) and this time by EJC. All signs pre-playoffs pointed to an epic confrontation between All-Stars and Sour Snails, but that narrative was smashed to bits.

When Eddie saw Snails go down, he must have felt confident, as there were four games each of LeBron James, Paul George, Joakim Noah, and Lance Stephenson lined up for him. That should have been plenty right? Yes, his team lost Kyle Lowry for the week, but EJC had their own injuries to Griffin and Crawford. Or maybe it was NJ All-Star's three less games played, although might not have mattered since he needed to recover more than one category. LeBron had a monster week with 30.3 PTS, 6.0 REB, 6.8 AST, 1.8 3PT/STL, and 55.1 FG% as he tried to will All-Stars to victory, but somehow Eddie's team still came up a little short. Sorry, maybe the third Finals is the charm?

Last thing: I wanted to take a quick look at EJC’s team construction, to highlight how they seemed to have bucked normal quick turnaround convention, and how far they've come. (Also, does their improbable run remind you of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks championship or what?) First, the trades. In his first off-season, before Chris had even played a game, he flipped Dwight Howard for Carmelo and Blake. This past off-season, he moved Jeff Teague for Jeff Green, a move that we questioned since point guards are usually fantasy gold. Then EJC acquired Dirk and Jamal Crawford in exchange for Green and Derrick Favors, greatly upping his offensive firepower at the expense of more balance. There’s no question this move allowed EJC to compete with the high powered Snails and NJ All-Stars.

And how about this: not one player from EJC’s 2014 draft stuck around long enough to be used in the playoffs for Chris (D- grade for RD1 selection Cody Zeller). The supporting cast of Devin Harris, Matt Barnes, Jordan Crawford, and Caron Butler were all free agent pickups, and none of them flashy names. Also, the only homegrown keeper talent has been Enes Kanter, who has been flashing signs, but was far from his breakout season, even though he contributed 12.8 PTS and 9.5 REB during championship week. All in all, EJC’s team proves that it’s not about the biggest stars or the best players, but team identity and making the right moves matter. A dash of good fortune also helps, but as Chris has proven, the bold moves of a champion is the key to victory!

2013 Championship: Pooh and Heffa Forever

Whew, what a Finals! How about a game that came right down to the wire and featured quite a few lead changes as we headed into the homestretch. Early Sunday afternoon, Buffy clung to a tenuous lead as their seven players were facing off against Heffalumps' five. With most of the categories squared away, it was likely down to PTS and STL for who would take the 2013 crown. Despite Kobe Bryant and Jamal Crawford putting up their regular 20+ points, it looked like Buffy would take the win as they had a plethora of players left to go. But John Salmons put up a two point clunker, and Elton Brand and Jameer Nelson remained on the bench due to injury. After a hard fought week, 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps emerged with a 5-4 victory, winning by a mere 4 PTS (404 to 401). What?! This has to be our closest Finals matchup ever

We told you last week that this game could come down to PTS, STL and TO, and on this we were right. Heffalumps big men -- Al Horford, Kenneth Faried, Omer Asik, Shawn Marion -- secured the REB and BLK categories early on, even with a huge week by Buffy's Tim Duncan (20.0 PTS, 9.7 REB, 2.3 BLK). The Big Fundamental missed an early week game at Memphis, and clearly he would have pushed Buffy to a win. Alas, Chris Bosh also missed a crucial mid-week matchup with a sore knee, and his fantastic scoring numbers were missed. Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, and Raymond Felton played the bulk of the minutes for Buffy, and while all three had some stellar numbers, it just wasn't quite enough. Buffy won FT% and AST pretty easily, but those came at the cost of higher TOs. Our embedded reporter was brought to tears after witnessing Roger's shock at his close loss. Shed a tear for denizens of Buffyland, better luck next year.

As for our champions, 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps won with a low scoring squad that is likely unique in Finals history. They shot the ball well, avoided turnovers, and played tough defense throughout. There were a lot of heroes during this championship week.

Omer Asik averaged 12.0 REB over four games, while Kenneth Faried had 11.0 REB and 3.0 BLK over his three games. Kawhi Leonard missed half the week but came out huge, averaging 24.0 PTS, 10.0 REB, 5.0 AST, 1.5 STL, and 1.0 BLK in his two games. Jamal Crawford, a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, put up 19.3 PTS on 45.2 FG%. Kobe Bryant only shot forty percent from the field but his 24.0 PTS, 7.7 REB, 10.0 AST, and 1.7 STL were obviously MVP-worthy.

However, the real hero might just be Shawn Marion -- an original Heffalumps / Pooh Bears draft pick, and number three overall, dating back to our old cycle. With a season average of only 11.8 PTS, Marion threw up 25 and 20 points on back to back nights, and his solid play on Sunday afternoon turned out to be the difference between a trophy and a "good try."

The path to the championship wasn't easy though. 100 Acre Wood started off the season 5-1-1 before slipping into six week winless streak. Spirits were low, Kobe was pissed off, and the Manimal was about to maim somebody. It looked like they might slip out of the playoffs, before they righted the ship with a 4-1 streak to nudge into a wildcard spot. Once there, J's team created havoc by upending the #1 seed, NJ All Stars, and then knocking off another higher seed, Chunky Monkeys, in the Russell Conference Finals. Through it all, J quietly managed his team and kept his team focused on the prize. It just goes to show that once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. For the Heffalumps, 2013 ended in a glorious run to the trophy celebration. Congratulations!

We do have a bit of sad news on this parade worthy day. Heffalumps owner/GM/coach J, after careful consideration, has decided to retire on top. In a heartfelt and open letter to his fanbase, J said that he would be stepping down after almost a decade at the helm. After winning the SlamNation championship, he walked off the court, leaving nothing behind. An excerpt from his final address: "I'm damn proud of winning this league, but my work is done. I'm dropping the microphone. I think that Shawn Marion was my first ever pick in SlamNation and he ended up being the last one on the court to seal the victory for the Heffalumps."

That leaves an opening for a new owner to take over the defending champions. It seems J has taken a cue from his beloved fantasy football league, Maize and Blue, when their owner abdicated the throne after a 2011 championship. Since I was the lucky owner to slide into the defending champion's seat, I can say that it is some big shoes to fill. Thank you J for your many years of SlamNation participation and your always highly competitive skills will be missed!

(Full Box Score)