Playoff Teams: 2023

#1 KSKT (16-4)

Even without the services of Cade Cunningham for most of the year—and Zion Williamson playing half his games at best—KSKT had a tremendous year, taking the regular season wins crown for the first time, finishing above 0.500 for also the first time, and by a landslide!

It seemed like everyone had a banner year on this team, from Tyrese Haliburton leading the way to the Kristaps Porzingis resurgence. KSKT rode a heavy volume of 3PT to the top-ranked offense in SlamNation and had a midseason stretch where they won ten games in a row. Now it’s time to see how far this young team can go. GM Matt has done a tremendous job creating a roster that is not only in win-now position but possibly win-forever?!

#2 SCRM (15-4-1)

After starting off the season with ten wins in a row, SCRM was in the driver’s seat for the regular season crown. However, Jordan decided to take a gamble midseason, trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and hoping for a higher playoff upside. Unfortunately that did cost them a few short term wins—with KAT still slated to be out—and they finished with the second seed instead.

Still, this team is one of the title favorites, as Anthony Davis is back and playing—as is Gordon Hayward—and SCRM looks poised to chase down a title behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, and a deep deep roster. It was a great year for third-season franchises and it would be quite something if SCRM and KSKT faced off in the Finals!

#3 SOUR (14-6)

Usually when Trieu is this close to a title, he makes a huge all-in play for a championship. With no mega-trade coming before the deadline this season, SOUR is still well positioned to re-take their position atop the league after going 7-2 over the back half of the season—with six of those wins in a row.

De’Aaron Fox has restored himself as one of the NBA’s bright stars and Pascal Siakam and Jimmy Butler are both healthy and ready to play. There’s some question about Jerami Grant’s immediate availability but he should return soon. And oh yeah, Steph Curry is back to action, and that might spell doom for anyone facing SOUR…

#4 ILCN (13-7)

Continuing his penchant for excellent drafting, Frank unearthed both Paolo Banchero and Walker Kessler as rookies this season, leading to a team that is fully stocked and stacked. And don’t look now, but Zach Collins is actually playing quite well!

After starting the season off 10-3, ILCN has stumbled a bit in recent weeks, and the mysterious injury to Luka Doncic may make it hard for them to truly contend. However, this team has it all on both offense and defense and in their sixth season in SlamNation—with two Toilet Bowl appearances that somehow needed them the best play from each class both times—ILCN will be looking like a playoff powerhouse for years to come.

#5 FJUB (12-7-1)

Don’t look now but FJUB is secretly one of the hottest teams heading into the playoffs, having won five of their last seven games. In that span they’ve taken out SCRM, SOUR, and SBUK, which portends well for their championship hopes.

A pre-deadline trade brought in Terry Rozier and that should juice FJUB’s low-ranked offense. The defense will still be there—albeit minus Myles Turner—as Brook Lopez has been quietly the third best center in the league according to ESPN. Third best!?! FJUB will be looking to beat teams behind their fine defense and efficiency, but they’ll need Chris Paul to stay healthy to challenge for assists. Let’s go Jubas!

#6 SWMP (12-8)

Another constant contender that has been quietly surging along, SWMP started the season off 5-1 and then finished it with five straight wins—in the middle was a 0-5 January swoon. They are clearly peaking at the right time.

We’re all familiar with this roster, with likely three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic leading the way and Paul George and Zach LaVine both healthy and blazing away on the court.  SWMP completely dominates in four categories—AST, REB, STL, FG%—and are just a hair below the other top combined ODE teams. While this version of SWMP is a little less fearsome than in past years, counting them out as contenders would be a mistake, as they’ve made two of the last four Finals.

#7 FUNK (12-8)

After squandering a 4-1 start, FUNK was staring at being on the playoff bubble. Then GM Jon made three trades in one day--transforming his team fully toward offense—and finished up the regular season with five wins in seven games. While possibly not top-tier—they did lose to SCRM and SOUR during this span—FUNK has a puncher’s chance of a title run.

Due to being severely lacking on defense, FUNK will be looking to shoot their way deeper into the playoffs. The almost all Celtics and Hawks-led roster—this team has Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Derrick White, Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and John Collins--is one of the healthier teams heading into the playoffs, which could give them an edge. “Light the dream!”

#8 SBUK (12-8)

Our defending champs just snuck into the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to mount a proper title defense. They are tied with KSKST and SCRM for top combined ODE and are actually better balanced than both of those top contenders. Aside from a lack of 3PT shooting, this team exhibits no real weaknesses.

SBUK has been somewhat erratic all season, never pulling off more than three wins in a row—or losing more than once back-to-back. They’ll also unfortunately be missing their backcourt of Jalen Brunson and Kyrie Irving for a few games, which puts a heavy burden on Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert. There is a world where SBUK can upset KSKT—they did it in WK15—but even a few games from Brunson and Irving are probably needed to pull that off. Best of luck!