Header formatting: #2015DraftPickPosition: TeamName (2014SeasonRecord, 2013SeasonRecord)
One year after racking up the most wins in the division and getting all the way to the Finals, Buffy found themselves as the only non-playoff team in Transformers after collapsing to only five wins in 2014. The good news is that Buffy tends to bounce back after down seasons. When they hit five wins two years ago, they came back strong with thirteen wins the next season. So, if past performance holds true, Buffy is headed toward a major bounceback season.
Buffy's keeper core switched out Raymond Felton for Tristan Thompson while retaining the front line of Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer. The point guard situation is still waiting for a star — something they’ve been missing since Baron Davis was good — but for now Jeremy Lin and Jameer Nelson will be tasked with holding down the fort. Both Lin and Boozer find themselves on Roger’s hometown Lakers, so that should add an extra burst of excitement. Roger will also be closely watching Heat games, as Bosh’s numbers are sure to go up with LeBron gone. Plus with his 2015 first round pick, Roger took LBJ replacement Luol Deng. The rest of Buffy’s draft featured George Hill and Kendall Marshall to slot in the backcourt, Bosnian gunner Mirza Teletovic, and O.J. Mayo, hoping to have a bounceback season himself. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Buffy swing back into contention because it’s happened before and as we know, history always repeats itself.
#9: Squirtle Squad (10-9, 12-6)
Brian’s team has four winning seasons in a row but nary a post-season moment to show for it. During their last two playoff appearances, they’ve been bounced by lower ranked teams in the first round. Ouch. This time out, Squirtles isn’t just looking for regular season success, but a post-season run worthy of their dedicated fan base. That fan base won’t have to suffer the on-and-off headaches of former face of the franchise Deron Williams anymore. Williams has been cast aside and replaced by the friendly mug of Giannis Antetokounmpo. While the Greek Freak may not be a fantasy star yet, his time is clearly coming. He’s a new addition to the keeper core, along with Kelly Olynk, who flashed intriguing scoring potential during his rookie year.
Serge Ibaka and Ty Lawson are the vets on this team now, and they have rising forces Bradley Beal and Nikola Vucevic beside them to form a young and upcoming core. In fact, GM Brian seems headed for a rebuild as he drafted young across the board — excepting RD1.11 pick Darren Collison, the Kings’ new starting point guard and RD6.4 semi-retread D.J. Augustin. With the additions of Jordan Hill (the bounty from last year’s Greg Monroe trade), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Zach LaVine, Noah Vonleh, Otto Porter Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic, Squirtles are rolling the dice on talent before proven production. That worked out great last year with Antetokounmpo, and at least a few of this draft classes' young guys should break out for Squirtles as they restock and push toward true championship contention at the same time.
#11: Half Man Half ImAsian (11-8, 7-10)Let’s not bury the lead: Half Man Half Im Asian nation is in mourning right now. Reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant will be out at least a few weeks, if not half a season. Without Durant to power this team, can it survive in the toughest division in SlamNation? Well, LaMarcus Aldridge had a career year last season, as did new keeper Amir Johnson. Mario Chalmers will see an uptick across the board since The King has left his building. And J.J. Redick could replace some of Durant’s shooting, but there’s really nobody to draw opposing defenses’ attention away from Aldridge.
Half Man also didn’t have a first round pick this year, due to the Greg Monroe acquisition from last season. And last year's #1 overall, Ben McLemore, didn't even make the keeper cut. They did pick up new Clippers big man Spencer Hawes, as well as breakout candidate Tim Hardaway Jr., but we think Terrance Ross and Anthony Morrow — both just 3PT bombers basically — might have been different selections had Durant’s injury happened earlier in the draft. Sixth round pick Samuel Dalembert can bring in a few BLK, which could be helpful as Half Man Half Season of No Durant is going to head into the season depending more on its defense than offense, as they bide time waiting for KD’s return.
#16: Silent Crows (13-6, 6-13)
If there’s a better Cinderella story than this one, we don’t know what it is. Sure, we’ve seen worst to first finishes before — in fact it’s a bit of a SlamNation pattern — but as highlighted at the end of last season, Silent Crows’ run through the playoffs was like David slaying multiple Goliaths. What can they do for an encore? Well, their keepers heading into 2015 are way better than it was a year ago. How about Dirk Nowitzki and Jamal Crawford in for Derrick Favors and Jeff Teague? The additions of Dirk Diggler and Crawford supercharged Silent Crows’ offense to championship level. With Ricky Rubio distributing to Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Nowitzki, and Crawford, this team gave every opponent defensive nightmares — and post-season losses. Keeper Enes Kanter is still awaiting a true breakout year, and maybe it won’t happen, but on this team all he has to do is grab rebounds and keep quiet.
Last year’s draft class returned little to no value for Lucas, with only Nick Young and Jordan Hill contributing, and only 50+ games combined at that. This year’s draft class seems, on paper, to be the perfect lineup for a spirited championship defense. For example, there’s no doubting that first rounder Joe Johnson is still capable of putting up good numbers across the board. Defensive pest Patrick Beverley just doubled his playing time in Houston while Tyson Chandler reunites with Dirk and is the defensive backbone that Kanter isn’t. Wilson Chandler and Danny Green will add shooting on the wing, and if a pinch of rebounding is needed, last overall pick Reggie Evans is on hand. What’s not to like here? Could we be staring at our first repeat champion?!
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