2026 Championship: The Luka Show

Entering Sunday night, the 2026 SlamNation title was still on the line. After a revamped playoff system—with twelve total teams battling it out—we still had zero upsets. Could FJUB pull off the sneaky win versus top seeded ILCN? While the eventual 6-3 win looked impressive, analysts can confirm that heading into the last day, 3PT, STL, BLK, and even FG% was all up for grabs. Despite being lower seeded, FJUB was seen as the favorite heading into this matchup.

However, FJUB suffered from lineup issues immediately, as Monday saw Kawhi Leonard miss a game, Trae Young leave at halftime—never to return for the week—and all that drama portending a roller coaster week. Injuries would play havoc with both teams throughout the championship matchup, as ILCN’s Donovan Mitchell suffered a bruised cornea in practice and could barely see or shoot. Heck, Brice Sensabaugh dropped forty-one points on Wednesday and was so tired that he missed the next two games!

Overall, ILCN was on fire offensively, ending up with 633 PTS behind Luka’s 169 points in four games, a 42.3 ppg average. In addition, ILCN received two pretty random 41-point games from Sensabaugh and Darius Garland. All this and both teams were firing up near 0.500 FG% for most of the week! Without Young however, FJUB was toast in AST but would be gifted TOS as compensation, as ILCN had the most turnovers in Slam this year. For FJUB, with both percentage categories likely locked up, the matchup would come down to defense and three point shooting.

The back and forth wasn’t just happening on the court either, as Frank and Eric both used the free agent pile quite impressively, unearthing some true randoms like Javon Small, Jalen Slawson, Taylor Hendricks, Rasheer Fleming, Jamir Watkins, and Jordan Goodwin in a battle to pump up those STL and BLK numbers. Heading into Sunday, ILCN was up +15 3PT, +11 STL, and +11 BLK, while FJUB had a whole slate of eight guys to go. Unfortunately for them, not one block was recorded on Sunday—a miracle frankly—and they fell four threes and four steals short of stealing a back door victory against ILCN. The week was much closer than the final score looked!

For ILCN, Buzelis led the way with seven blocks, and was a secret MVP of the team, as he helped carry ILCN past a dangerous SPDE team in the semis, and had averages of 21.3 PTS, 3.4 3PT, and 1.7 BLK over the past month of games. Then there was the offensive powerhouses of Donovan Mitchell and Paolo Banchero, the latter of whom contributed solid counting stats and unexpected defense as well. Playoff free agents Brice Sensabaugh and Cody Williams had timely big games too, while Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels sprang back to life just in time to contribute.

And lest we forget, the important playoff-run return of Darius Garland, who hit eight threes in his last game to seal the deal for ILCN.  Lastly, Luka Doncic, known more for his offensive game, led ILCN with seven blocks in the semifinals and then averaged three steals a game in the Finals—totaling twelve—to lead the team during championship week. Without Doncic’s defense, ILCN would not be ring holders right now. Luka also bowed out with his eighteenth technical on Saturday night, earning a mandated one game suspension that might have hurt if it was handed out just one game earlier. Even Doncic’s technicals were on point this season!

All in all, super congratulations to ILCN, our 2026 SlamNation champions, and let’s take a look at how they got to the exalted mountaintop!

Franchise History

Back in the nether years, Frank grew up with a handful of our fellow San Diego SlamNation owners, playing fantasy and IRL football and basketball. For some reason he didn’t start playing this fantasy league with us until 2018. Having gone to university in Chicago, Frank named his new franchise IL Conceived, and took over for a moribund Jedis franchise. After eight lackluster seasons, Jedi Knights was coming off a 24-115-5 overall record and had never made the playoffs. Their last season in Slam was a decrepit 0-18-1 affair.

It was a low bar but ILCN cleared it quickly! Initially, ILCN’s six man keeper core was Jeff Teague, Jrue Holiday, Tim Hardaway Jr, Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Gordon, and Justise Winslow for their first year. Ouch! However, Coach Frank piloted that crew to a respectable 8-12-1 initial campaign, and managed to make the 2018 Toilet Bowl finals as well, securing a top two pick. Then, with the option to re-enter the dispersal, ILCN joined new owners Hilt the Stilt and Snack Bears in dispersing, emerging with Donovan Mitchell, Draymond Green, Dennis Smith Jr., Dario Saric, Marc Gasol, and Will Barton as their new keepers.

This sophomore year was the true beginning of ILCN’s rise, as that 2019 RD1.2 would turn into Luka Doncic, and last dispersal pick Will Barton was traded pre-draft to SPDE for 2019 RD1.3, which would result in rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. In fact, all six of Frank’s core was originally drafted as rookies by him, which is pretty astounding. (Note: 2023 champion KSKT also had a lot of homegrown players, but only four of six were originally drafted by them.)

• Donovan Mitchell, 2018 RD2.1
• Luka Doncic, 2019 RD1.2
• Jaren Jackson Jr., 2019 RD1.3
• Darius Garland, 2020 RD1.4
• Paolo Banchero, 2023 RD1.3
• Matas Buzelis, 2025 RD3.12

During their nine years in Slam, ILCN has gone 91-74-4—currently ninth for owners all time—qualified for the playoffs six times, captured a Chamberlain Conference title in 2021, and then had this year’s regular season crown as well as the Finals win. Historically, ILCN fluctuated between respectable and almost contender a few times before--and often suffered from untimely injuries--but never reached higher than a fourth seed overall. In fact, ILCN had never gotten past the first round in four tries before 2026, nor ever secured a playoff victory. So this 2026 run really was something special!

Transactions History

The first trade in ILCN history netted sophomore Jaylen Brown, followed by a twenty-five year old Harrison Barnes. Both were dispersed away the following season, but that set the stage for ILCN’s general roster strategy: go young! We already talked about ILCN’s Will Barton for Jaren Jackson Jr. swap, which was a real winner in hindsight.

There were a few more trades in 2019, such as a many-pick doozy between ILCN and SOUR, as SOUR buffed up for a title run while giving ILCN a handful of future picks. After that 2019 season however, most of ILCN’s moves were lower caliber, consisting of acquiring high upside plays for cheap—Markelle Fultz for example--and selling off extra keepers pre-draft for picks: Julius Randle, Montrezl Harrell, and Walker Kessler come to mind. The only other big trade of note for ILCN was a 2022 exchange, where they acquired Bradley Beal for Draymond Green, Jerami Grant, and Wendell Carter Jr.

Mostly, ILCN prefers to build through the draft, and they certainly have had a sharp eye for young talent, as exhibited in the rookies they've drafted list below:

• 2018 RD1.3 Dennis Smith Jr.
• 2018 RD2.1 Donovan Mitchell
• 2019 R1.2 Luka Doncic
• 2019 RD1.3 Jaren Jackson Jr.
• 2019 RD2.5 Miles Bridges
• 2020 RD1.4 Darius Garland
• 2023 RD1.3 Paolo Banchero
• 2023 RD3.11 Walker Kessler
• 2024 RD4.4 Dereck Lively II
• 2025 RD3.12 Matas Buzelis
• 2025 RD5.12 Cody Williams
• 2026 RD2.7 Egor Denim
• 2026 RD4.7 Jeremiah Fears

With most of their core entering the prime of their careers--everyone is twent-six or below, except for Mitchell, who is twenty-nine--will ILCN continue to acquire talent or move toward defending their title for another few years? We're excited to find out in 2027!

As for FJUB, this was their fourth Finals appearance, and coming off a 5-12-1 campaign last season, even making it to the 2026 championship game has to be seen as a big success. Going all-in on Kawhi Leonard early was a great call, even though Leonard eventually missed two games in the final week. Still, FJUB was already playing the finale with a hand tied behind their back, as Peyton Watson and Kyshawn George were already injured heading into the playoffs, with Trae Young an in-and-out participant as well. Overall however, FJUB’s one season dip seems to have been very temporary and they are right back to being a true blue contender!

(Full Stats)

2026 Playoffs RD4 - Finals

RD3 Recap

While the top seeds did advance, it certainly wasn’t easy. For 2 FJUB, it faced off against the Bam Adebayo 83 point game—who should change his jersey number to "83" asap—who ultimately put up 124 points for SQSQ. Alas, that historic outburst wasn’t enough for SQSQ to win PTS. (The next closest PTS for SQSQ was James Harden with 68 on the week.)

SQSQ chose to finish their week on Saturday, giving FJUB eight Sunday games to make up the difference. And what a nail biter it was, as they were all tied up at 4-4-1 for a long time before Nique Clifford got a late STL—making for seven total—in the last Utah versus Sacramento game to secure a close win for FJUB. Whew!

For SQSQ, it was missed opportunities, as Derrick White missed a game, which could’ve been huge in retrospect. Even closer, veteran DeMar DeRozan found himself in SQSQ's IR slot on Tuesday and Wednesday, as he exploded for a huge game that second time around. Alas, hindsight can only make us akk go crazy if we look too hard. It was a well fought match for both sides and FJUB narrowly escaped...

For awhile Sunday, 1 ILCN was similarly excoriating themselves for pulling Robert Williams out of the lineup for the 76ers free agent duo of Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona. Had Williams been used, his three BLK would have sealed the win for ILCN before that night’s Utah versus Sacramento game. Instead, ILCN would need big games from newly picked up Brice Sensabaugh ($52 FAAB) and Cody Williams ($12) to secure the win in a number of categories--they were close in PTS, 3PT, STL, BLK, FG%, and TOS.

Led by great Sunday games by Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall, SPDE hit almost all their FT too, to put on the pressure.  Even down a huge number of injuries and missed games—Tyrese Maxey and Jarrett Allen were already counted out, a previously red hot Tyler Herro missed two games, Chet Holmgren missed one, and Victor Wembanyama sat one as well. Despite all that, SPDE was in position to win!

Eventually however, the two Jazz youngsters dropped in a combined 56 PTS and 6 3PT, giving ILCN the late 5-3-1 win, even as they lost TOS and tied STL. An incredibly close shave!

RD4 Matchup - Finals

This will be FJUB’s fourth Finals appearance, and both previous times they entered as the two seed, they won the title—in 2012 and 2021. Their only Finals loss to date was 2023, when they were the fifth seed facing off against third seeded SOUR. As for ILCN, they had never advanced beyond the first round until this year--in four tries--marking this playoff run already a huge success for them. A title would be true breakthrough though!

FJUB has already beaten ILCN twice this year, in WK1 and WK16. It’s safe to say that ILCN enters this matchup as the underdog despite being the higher seed. In theory, ILCN has a 6-3 category advantage over the season, going by ODE metrics, but that is season long. Of late, FJUB has been shooting the lights out and has been an offensive superpower. Led by Kawhi Leonard, Karl Anthony-Towns, Trey Murphy, and OG Anonuby, FJUB has a lot of all-around talent in spades.

ILCN will counter with the big three of Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, and Paolo Banchero, along with the healthy return of Darius Garland, who has been crucial to this playoff run. And don’t forget Matas Bezels, who put up a shocking 41 point game last week.

Injury wise, FJUB already had Kyshawn George and Peyton Watson out, but the rest of the team is healthy—keep an eye out for Leonard’s early week status though. One big X-factor is the recent return of Trae Young for FJUB, who may provide the AST to challenge a very good passing team in ILCN. For ILCN, they are full healthy minus Jaren Jackson Jr., who was never in the playoff calculation anyway.

Overall, both these teams are loaded up, with interesting role players galore. Who will play the most impactful side pieces? Which stars will blow up this week? The contested categories should be PTS, 3PT, and REB, with the two teams splitting the percentage and defense categories. It’s the two best teams in SlamNation for one battle to take the ring, let’s go!

2026 Playoffs RD3

RD2 Recap

Once again we didn’t have any upsets, just like in RD1. Looking back, that may be historic as we’ve never had an entire set of #1-4 seeds make it past the first round unscathed. There has always been at least one upset in the first round, dating all the way back to our league’s beginnings in 2010. Heck, the last two years have featured #8 versus #1 upsets, as SQSQ took out #1 SCRM in 2024, and then got upset themselves by #8 SOUR last season. Is this the new reality, where the top seed just wins the matchup?!

Top seeded 1 ILCN took out 8 BUFF pretty easily, with a 7-2 victory, losing only AST and TOS. Similarly, 2 FJUB prevailed over 7 SWMP without too much trouble, behind big weeks from Kawhi Leonard, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Trey Murphy III.

We almost got an upset between 3 SQSQ and 6 CHMK, but the big ball Monkeys were ultimately taken down on Sunday, losing 3PT by one, STL by two, and BLK by three. New SQSQ center Bam Adebayo dropped in four big threes for the win, while Saddiq Bey contributed a pair of huge steals and ten rebounds as well. What an escape by SQSQ!

4 SPDE might be the new favorite heading into the semifinals. They are clicking on all cylinders, dropping in 578 PTS and an astonishing 75 3PT, behind double digit threes from Tyler Herro, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker and Victor Wembanyama. Oh yeah, Wemby also put up nineteen blocks in four games. SCRM ran into a freight train and that was that. Who's scared of SPDE?!

RD3 Matchups

• 1 ILCN vs 4 SPDE
• 2 FJUB vs 3 SQSQ

While both semi-finals matchups are huge, we’re looking at ILCN versus SPDE for the big game of the week. ILCN is technically favored but we all know how scary SPDE can be while healthy. Tyrese Maxey will miss at least two games and Chet Holmgren and Jarrett Allen are both day-to-day so we’ll see how that shakes out. In Maxey’s absence, Tyler Herro is more than ready to step up.

As for ILCN, the big three of Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, and Paolo Banchero are mostly fully healthy, with only Jaren Jackson Jr. and Egor Denim out—but we knew that pre-playoffs. So it’s gonna be a full strength ILCN versus the lower seeded juggernaut of SPDE, let’s go!

Meanwhile, for our #2 versus #3 matchup, both teams are about equal in health and depth. FJUB is gonna be missing Kyshawn George for the rest of the playoff run, while Peyton Watson is still M.I.A. In addition, Isaiah Hartenstein could be out for a few too. However, Trae Young is unexpectedly back and he’ll be a big boost for FJUB.

Meanwhile, for SQSQ, LeBron James has a left elbow thingy that has kept him out of the last two games. DeMar DeRozan is choosing a bad time to be hurt for the first time this season, and Kevin Porter Jr. could also miss some games. Otherwise, SQSQ’s deep and vet heavy team is looking for the big win versus FJUB.

Both of these teams made all-in moves during the season—FJUB acquiring Kawhi Leonard, SQSQ trading off Anthony Davis for Bam Adebayo—and so we’re not even sure which one of them should get more karma points. Can both teams win?

Offers Report

A lot of players shifted in and out of rosters as our playoff teams maneuvered for extra stats and category matchups. SQSQ scooped up recent double-double machine Nick Richards for $7, and got a huge REB boost from him on Sunday. ILCN dropped Scotty Pippen Jr. and grabbed Robert Williams III for $15, which could really help next week versus the Wemby and Chet double tower combo.

And then there was SWMP dropping Paul George—in favor of Tristan da Silva—thus ending George’s long tenured keeper status for Eddie. Opportunistic as ever, SCRM saw the writing on the wall versus SCRM and scooped up PG13 for free, netting a potential offseason asset. And then GM Jordan did it again with rookie Khaman Maluach, who could have some value...somewhere. [ Editor: I drafted Maluach at RD2.11 and he did nothing all year. 😭 ] Still, a great pair of pre-roster lock moves for SCRM!

It’ll be interesting to see who else might get cut as we go further into the playoffs. We love this part of the season, where every add/drop matters!

2026 Playoffs RD2

RD1 Recap

Our first round one of the new rules era featured no actual upsets, but we almost had one! Higher seeds SCRM and CHMK made easy work of TRUO and SBUK respectively, so farewell guys and see you in the offseason! The other two matchups were closer.

7 SWMP vs 10 KSKT: While we said “…if there’s a dark horse in the first round, KSKT is it. However, in the matchup against Jalen Williams and Zach LaVine-less SWMP,  KSKT folded on Sunday as they played a weak week of games, putting up less than optimal Games Played—only 20 GP to SWMP’s 27—with Cade Cunningham sitting on Monday as well. KSKT did suffer from seven injured players, many of them springing up only this past week, but it was likely the lineup mismanagement that ended up giving SWMP an easy win.

8 BUFF vs 9 MELO: This one was our possible upset, as BUFF headed into Sunday down 3-6. However, BUFF had eight players slated to play versus MELO’s six—for a total GP of 28 versus 25—and Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges led the full BUFF lineup to a close 5-4 victory. Andrew Wiggins blocked seven shots on the week, proving himself a real hero, as BUFF only won BLK by two.

RD2 Matchups

• 1 ILCN vs 8 BUFF
• 2 FJUB vs 7 SWMP
• 3 SQSQ vs 6 CHMK
• 4 SPDE vs 5 SCRM

The power teams hit the court this week, and we’ll see if they used their week off wisely. Under our old rules, these eight would have been the playoff teams, since we had no upsets in round one. Let's take a quick look at the round two matchups.

Top seeded ILCN should take care of BUFF pretty easily but ILCN might be missing Donovan Mitchell this week. Also, using last week’s stats, it would have been merely a close 5-4 win for ILCN. Could a huge upset by BUFF be in order?

Over in the #2 versus #7 seeded matchup, the big question is if FJUB plays Trae Young this week, as Young is set to make his Wizards debut on on Thursday. Could those crucial Young assists help take down Nikola Jokic and Jalen Johnson?

We’re keeping a close eye on Game of the Week: SQSQ versus CHMK! This matchup got a lot more interesting with Giannis Antetokounmpo back to playing on Monday night. Can SQSQ and new acquisition Bam Adebayo fend off a suddenly much more dangerous CHMK team?

And in our last round two matchup, SPDE versus SCRM will be a grudge match between the team that pushed the other out of a first round bye. SPDE is fully healthy while SCRM picked up yet another injured centered this week—Dereck Lively II (see below)—so I guess just having Anthony Davis on the bench wasn’t enough! For SCRM, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did make two healthy appearances last week but SGA is already out for this Tuesday game. Can the defending champs make this a fight versus SPDE?

Offers Report

SCRM grabbed Jakob Poeltl, dropping rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner in the process. GM Jordan also picked up Dereck Lively II as a grab and stash, after TRUO dropped him in favor of Javon Small. Interesting…

FJUB swapped shooters, going from Julian Champagnie to Max Christie, a savvy move with Dallas in full tank mode.

2026 Playoffs Middle Eight

And here we are with the middle eight power ranked teams of 2026. We covered teams #1-4 and #13-16 in the other article, so these are the eight teams that are duking it out in round one! [ Byes and Good Byes |  Midseason Tiers ]

TeamID - Abbrev - (2026 Record)

#5 SCRM (12-5)

ODE: 7/3/6

Our defending champs are entering the playoffs on a seven game heater, with their sights set on a repeat. Or are they? Despite seeming like one of the hottest teams in the back half of the season, GM Jordan has seemingly thrown in the towel for this season, trading away a healthy Bam Adebayo—for injured Anthony Davis—and posting a “come shop here, low prices” message on our Discord. Seems like the late season disappearance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has given SCRM a reason to downshift into a retool instead of a repeat.

This is still, overall, a very strong team. They were second in PTS, first in FG%, and third in STL. While a lack of 3PT shooting was a weakness, SCRM was still able to pull off a great regular season record behind SGA, pre-draft additions Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves, and the double double muscle of Jalen Duren in the middle.

In addition, the youth movement is here as well, as SCRM managed to snag Derik Queen and Collin Murray-Boyles as rookie finds—CMB was just cut actually—along with picking up Ryan Rollins off the waiver wire. Heck, even Scoot Henderson came on lately and slung some passes around. Still, the top end if limited here for SCRM with Gilgeous-Alexander and Davis out for the foreseeable future. So while SCRM isn’t looking for another championship this year, they could certainly still play spoiler for someone else. And hey, if trading away James Harden last year led to a somewhat unexpected ring last season, who’s to say SCRM can’t pull off a winning magic trick again?

#6 CHMK (11-5-1)

ODE: 11/1/13

Moving above 0.500 for the first time since 2021, CHMK was poised for a first round bye this year until they blew a couple of lineups—losing three of their last four games—and will end up having to fight their way through the gauntlet of an entire playoffs. Don’t be mistaken though, as CHMK can still be a very dangerous team as they decided to pivot to big ball in the preseason and moved to center Giannis Antetokounmpo. Unfortunately, Antetokounmpo is nowhere to be found to start the playoffs, leaving a very big hole in CHMK’s plans.  

Still, let’s evaluate how CHMK’s big ball build was working over the course of the season. CHMK’s plan was to punt FT%, 3PT, and TOS, to which they had success. They were top ranked in REB and AST, third in BLK, third in FG%, and fourth in STL. That’s not bad but I think CHMK wanted to be much better in STL there, with Dyson Daniels going from incredible to merely good in thefts. The biggest issue for CHMK was their lack of PTS, where they ranked just tenth.

While Jamal Murray submitted his first All Star campaign, Alperen Sengun, Evan Mobley, and Amen Thompson all seemed to remain static, and without them leveling up offensively, it was tough to score without Giannis around. While CHMK does sport SlamNation’s best defense, they need a smidgen of offense to pull off their big ball dreams.

Overall, this is a very strange big ball team, one which is good at all the traditional big ball stuff but also AST, which could be an intriguing counterpunch to many of their playoff matchups. We may never know if CHMK is championship worthy this year without Giannis showing up, but the experiment can be deemed a success so far, as it has moved CHMK out of mediocrity.

#7 SWMP (11-6)

ODE: 2/7/6

There’s a case to be made that SWMP was actually one of the best teams of the season. They have a top-two ranked offense and above average defense and efficiency. They also feature Nikola Jokic and Jalen Johnson, both of whom can triple double at any time. The roster also ranked first or second in 3PT, AST, and STL, which is a very odd combination. So why the uneven 3-3 record after a sterling 7-2 start?

The problem was mostly injuries, as Jalen Williams has been mostly M.I.A. all season, with Zach LaVine taking a recent trip to the IR and Paul George going on drug induced suspension. Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot of offense for this team, with a lot of role players who are simply role players: Jalen Suggs, Collin Gillespie, Toumani Camara, Donte DiVincenzo, Devin Vassell, Jaylen Wells, or Deandre Ayton anyone? With three of their top five offensive options unlikely to return for the playoffs, there’s only so much Jokic and Johnson can do.

Returning for their seventh playoff appearance in eight years is great for SWMP, but after two Finals appearances in 2019 and 2022—with no wins— it’s been mostly high end mediocrity for them. Dare we suggest it? Is it time for GM Eddie to revamp the roster and give one of SlamNation’s best assets a new core to challenge for that elusive championship?

#8 BUFF (10-7)

ODE: 3/14/2

Continuing their team of “one bad, one good,” BUFF is once again in the playoffs after a poor previous season. Going back to, well, the beginning of SlamNation, BUFF has never put together back-to-back winning seasons. While that also means they rarely are down in dumps for long, this yo-yo effect is not just curious, but perhaps part of BUFF’s charm. After all, they were just in a Finals in 2024, as a power punching fourth seed.

I guess that boom and bust mentality can result from a team that is almost entirely all offense, as BUFF is great at PTS and 3PT, but not good at anything else save semi-decent FT% and TOS. Jalen Brunson alone does not a point guflauriard make, and with Domantas Sabonis missing for much of the season, the offense has been one note.

The good news is that pre-draft acquisition Lauri Markkanen was as advertised, posting a career high in scoring. In addition, Brandon Ingram slid backwards into another All Star season. With other useful vets like CJ McCollum and Andrew Wiggins around, BUFF was able to keep the buckets coming but only Mikal Bridges played any defense and there’s a severe lack of rim protection on this team, even when healthy.

Having said all that, BUFF did win nine of their last eleven matchups to get to an eighth seed, so that can’t be dismissed after a troubling 1-5 start. While we are constantly wondering when BUFF might pivot to more youth or a more balanced roster, the combo of Brunson, Markkanen, and Sabonis are all in their prime years and we’ll hope that can be enough to give BUFF the same success next season.

#9 MELO (8-8-1)

ODE: 8/8/15

Similar to BUFF, MELO seems to be following in the footsteps of being a yo-yo team. Going back to 2021, MELO’s first year in Slam, they’ve had 11, 3, 10, 5, 12, and now 8 wins season by season. They would have missed the playoffs this year had we not expanded the field to twelve, and despite a stellar roster, MELO only feature two strengths: PTS and FG%, where they are ranked fourth in both.

MELO started the season off 4-1-1, giving them hope for a successive successful season, however they were felled by a 2-7 midseason stretch that saw them face nearly all the good teams in SlamNation. They ended up being exactly as their record suggests: right in the middle.

The core six here is very good, as Jaylen Brown is playing like a MVP, alongside Kevin Durant, Pascal Siakam, RJ Barrett, and the in and out Brandon Miller. (Fun fact: Miller has only played nearly the same amount of games as perpetually injured draft class mate Scoot Henderson.) Along with those five, last year’s Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle leveled way up this year, giving MELO a much needed distributor and point guard. (Actually, Isaiah Collier could be keeper worthy as well, as his assists have jumped this year, but that could also be due to the Jazz going full tank.)

As for the rest of the team, well, that’s where they seem to be lacking. Not one of MELO’s 2026 draft class made much of an impact, as the likes of Keldon Johnson, Cameron Johnson, and De’Andre Hunter mostly faded into the background. Without any real depth to work with and no real strengths aside from scoring, MELO was doomed to a dead even record, even with a strong keeper core that should signal sustained success.

#10 KSKT (7-10)

ODE: 3/12/10

It’s been a slow decline for KSKT since their championship in 2023. After three straight years in the playoffs, this would’ve been KSKT’s first time out of the playoffs in awhile had we not expanded the postseason field to twelve teams. We knew Tyrese Haliburton was out for the season so KSKT was already playing uphill, but while KSKT got a career year from Michael Porter Jr., nearly everyone else on the keeper core went backwards, save MVP candidate Cade Cunningham.

That long unchanged keeper core of Haliburton, Cunningham, Zion Williamson, Kristaps Porzingis, Porter Jr., and Anfernee Simons—all of who have served at least four years with KSKT—could face some change next season, as Porzingis and potentially Simons could be replaced. For example, where does a productive All Star like Norm Powell fit on this still youngish core? Might Nic Claxton be a healthier upgrade to Porzingis? We shall see.

From this past season, it’s clear that KSKT has some work to do to regain their championship punch. While their offense was still great—ranked third overall, and they were even third in AST without Haliburton—KSKT also exhibited abundant weaknesses, especially in the rebounding department, where no player averaged more than six rebounds a game.

Overall, this is still the exact core that won a recent championship. At full strength, maybe they could do it again since the only thirty-year old on the core is Porzingis. So, we’re curious what KSKT will do this offseason. Barring a surprise deep playoff run, KSKT can chalk 2026 up to a mild disappointment while still looking well poised for the future if they still believe.

#11 SBUK (6-11)

ODE: 14/8/3

Similarly to KSKT, SBUK has been in some decline since a few years ago when they won their title in 2022. Since that championship, we have seen them go from twelve to ten, to ten, and now to six wins. SBUK also had a superstar guard out of the season in Kyrie Irving, albeit a much older one than Haliburton.

Unlike KSKT though, the rebuild for SBUK is much needed and is already on the way. SBUK management knows a roster upheaval is much needed and is looking at all possibilities. Theoretical new franchise cornerstone Franz Wagner is proving to be injured over and over, Desmond Bane has been shopped frequently, and Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid are thirty-three and thirty-one, respectively.

There are plenty of bright spots though, as sophomore Alex Sarr has grown into a defensive menace and increasing offensive threat. Fellow sophomore Ausar Thompson has no offense but is a real life defensive monster who has room to grow. And then there’s rookies Ace Bailey and Tre Johnson, who took a while to get going but have flashed their offensive potential in a deep rookie class. Heck, another rookie, Moussa Diabate could be debatably also a keeper. The real find of the group this year was Nickeil Alexander-Walker though, who provided excellent numbers across the board and could inherit Irving’s keeper spot.

For a SBUK team that had no identity all season—they were bad in PTS, 3PT, REB, AST with no strengths anywhere except BLK—the rebuild is ongoing and continuous. They’ll get a shot in the playoffs but we’ll gear up for an interesting offseason for them.

#12 TRUO (4-11-2)

ODE: 15/15/10

Sneaking into the playoffs on the last week of the season is not nothing, but it also doesn’t say much when TRUO has been one of the weaker teams all season, especially by ODE where they were fifteenth on offense and defense. They did manage to go 2-2-1 to wind up the last month of the season though—with wins over FUNK and MEMM and a tie with SOUR—so some light applause there. The best of the worst!

Actually, they should be given more credit than that, as a team that was bottom three in five categories managed to eke out four wins. Impressive! Plus, this is one of the few years TRUO was low on Games Played, owing to plenty of injuries and a possible lack of motivation.

Of all the teams in SlamNation, TRUO is the one that needs a franchise cornerstone—or at least a potential “best player on a NBA team”—the most. Their keeper core of Julius Randle, De’Aaron Fox, Jalen Green, Kel’el Ware, Zach Edey, and Cam Thomas are pretty tough to look at. Draft acquisition Shaedon Sharpe is an offensive spark plug, and maybe there’s still a Jalen Green believer somewhere on Earth, but aside from those two, some version of that underwhelming keeper core is coming back next season. That’s not great. But throw in a top three pick in talent laden 2027 draft and things will immediately look much better.

It’s been seven straight seasons of five or under wins for TRUO, so we’d love to see some upside potential here. Here’s keeping our fingers crossed for TRUO during our new lottery!