Playoffs Teams: 2024

[ Power Rankings 2024 | Toilet Bowl Teams 2024 | One-Third Power Rankings 2024 ]

#1 SCRM (16-1-1)

ODE: 2/1/5

Capturing his first regular season championship in SlamNaton, SCRM has been on a steady climb ever since entering the league four years ago: from seven to eleven to fifteen and now sixteen wins—in a shorted schedule no less. With just a single WK1 loss and a tie versus KSKT in WK11, SCRM basically ran the table and will enter the 2024 playoffs as the heavy favorite for a ring.

Never one to rest on his laurels, GM Jordan shook the league with three mega-deals this season—acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo pre-draft, moving all-in for Kawhi Leonard early on, and then divesting themselves of Karl-Anthony Towns late to acquire some additional postseaon depth. SCRM is top-ranked in PTS, REB, AST, STL, and FG%, while being very good in BLK as well. With a mostly healthy roster headed into our last few weeks, it looks like SCRM will be the clear team to beat. All they have to do is put the cherry on top of a banner 2024 regular season to give this franchise its first title!

#2 SPDE (13-4-1)

ODE: 6/2/5

Welp, after three down season, SPDE is fully back to their dominant regular season selves. Adding two generational seven-footers didn’t hurt, as both 2024 RD1.1 Victor Wembanyama and 2023 RD1.2 Chet Holmgren were better than advertised as rookies, powering SPDE back into contention in an instant. SPDE the season off well but really hit their stride late, wrapping up the regular season 7-1, as Wemby fully took off. A late October trade-off of Kawhi Leonard—for Walker Kessler and Bogdan Bogdanovic—seemed great then, but a fully healthy Leonard has powered top-seeded SCRM to regular season greatness.

However, this first season of Wemby-Chet has to be considered the floor for the new-look SPDE as they are not only young but extremely stacked. Tyrese Maxey emerged as an All-Star this season and even with injuries still plaguing the roster throughout, SPDE spanked teams down the stretch. SPDE was tops in BLK (obviously), but also lead SlamNation in FT% and are top five in PTS, 3PT, and STL. Entering the playoffs, they are missing a significant portion of their star power, as it looks like Devin Booker, Maxey, Tyler Herro, Kessler, and even Wembanyama have injury issues. However SPDE finishes the season however, they can already go into 2025 as the likely favorites, and maybe forever more?

#3 KSKT (12-5-1)

ODE: 2/11/12

Our repeat Chamberlain Conference winner started the season off on a seven win game streak before a troubling midseason stretch had them going just 2-4-1 as they got upset time and time again. Some of that was due to the injuries to Tyrese Halliburton and Cade Cunningham—the dual-turbo backbone of KSKT—so once they came back, the team rounded back into shape and are now the second-favorites for the 2024 title.

An explosive backcourt surrounding Zion Williamson and Kristaps Porzingis are a handful for anyone, and it looks like everyone’s healthy, which is a huge factor for this team. KSKT’s offense is rated second overall, as they shoot threes and pass with the best. However, their lack of rebounding and defense could be exposed come the playoffs against the wrong matchup. However, KSKT’s roster is deep and talented throughout and a championship breakthrough is overdue after last year’s semi-final upset at the hands of eventual champ FJUB. Playing under the radar most of the season, KSKT might be aligning right in time for an epic playoff run.

#4 BUFF (12-6)

ODE: 3/10/15

After only one winning season over the past decade, BUFF surprised everyone this year with a stunning ascension to home-court advantage in the first round and a top-four playoff seed. Bravo! After a slow 0.500 start to the year, BUFF hit their stride at the end of December and went 9-1 over the next ten weeks, with only a WK13 loss against FJUB. They were an excellent offensive team—with good PTS and AST—while struggling with STL, BLK, and FT%.

Interestingly, there wasn’t much substantive roster change—minus a Spencer Dinwiddie for Ben Simmons keeper swap, and the usual slew of rental veterans from the 2024 draft—but this BUFF team just simply outperformed their predecessors. With the team finally pointed upward, it was a bit of a shock to see twenty-two year old All-Star Anthony Edwards traded away right before the postseason, even as it brought back Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Jalen Duren. With such a significant roster move pre-playoffs, it’s hard to gauge how well BUFF is positioned for a playoff run so for now we’ll laud their stellar regular season bounce back!

#5 ILCN (11-7)

ODE: 4/2/15

A team bursting with talent and conceptually on the rise, ILCN should have been going full-bore toward a title run this season. Instead, ILCN stumbled out of the gate with four losses in their first five weeks and we thought the team was going straight downhill. However, even as injuries piled up, ILCN found itself re-balancing and then used a six-game win streak to finish the season as an outside-ish contender. With just one win separating them from possibly being in the Toilet Bowl, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that ILCN has a true shot at the title.

However, ILCN does possess giant-killing powers, as they are well balanced on offense and defense, and are only held back week-to-week by their poor free throw shooting—and second-to-last TOS. Still a young team, nearly everyone on the roster had a career year—especially Donovan Mitchell--but injuries truly did wreak havoc on ILCN. Entering the postseason, there is a likely scenario where Mitchell, Khris Middleton, and Dereck Lively II won’t suit up, nevermind the long-time absence of Shadeon Sharpe and Mitchell Robinson. It was a valiant effort to climb back into the playoffs, but short of a Luka Doncic led miracle, the 2024 ILCN story may end in round one.

#6 SOUR (10-7-1)

ODE: 5/9/8

Our defending champs were rumored to in a deal for an all-in defense, but alas the trade deadline came and went quietly for GM Trieu. It’s rare to see SOUR so quiet before the playoffs but we’ve heard there’s a new addition to the SOUR household so congrats! And let’s not forget that Trieu already flipped over five of their six keepers from 2023 to 2024, and in retrospect, most of those moves look like wins, especially in the case of Scottie Barnes, who had a breakout All-Star campaign. SOUR had a very good draft too, with potential keepers Miles Bridges, Immanuel Quickley, and Jonathan Kuminga picked up with their first three selections.

SOUR started off the season hot with four wins in their first five games, but the rest of their regular season unfolded erratically, with losses against not only future playoff teams but the bottom dwellers of the league. Closing the year on a 1-3 run took SOUR into the lower echelons of the playoff bracket and now they’ll have to fight their way to another repeat title. As always however, it would be foolish to count SOUR out, as they’ve stolen rings they should’ve never logically gotten. With Barnes and Lauri Markkanen ailing though, it could be a quick exit even with the potential playoff heroics of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler accounted for.

#7 FJUB (10-8)

ODE: 7/8/9

Trolled by an outside source that assured owner Eric he was out of the 2024 playoffs, FJUB had already turned their attentions toward future when they found out they had back-doored their way to yet another playoff appearance. That’s fourteen out of fifteen appearances btw! Despite wanting to turn a page to the next generation of FJUB, this franchise just can’t help winning! Having already moved for Trae Young earlier this season, FJUB traded for Karl-Anthony Towns right before the postseason started, cementing their foundation for next year but having passed up contention this season—Young was out.

With an up-and-down regular season that featured five wins against teams with 0.500+ records, FJUB was hard to pin down. This version of FJUB was less defensive focused but they were still top-five in BLK, STL, and AST—along with 3PT and FT%, while lacking in PTS, REB, and FG%. However, all of those numbers had to change with so much of the roster shifted over. Heading into the postseason with Young out (and KAT now that we see the future), it’l be tough for FJUB to make an impact in this playoffs after last season's surprise Finals run but maybe they’ll still have enough to play spoiler for a round or two. [Editor: Sorry Eric, congrats on making the playoffs again!]

#8 SQSQ (10-8)

ODE: 12/6/3

It’s been a roller coaster tale lately for SQSQ, and this year’s version is in the playoffs after a 7-13 season in 2023. We love to see teams compete and like that SQSQ gave it their all to return to the title chase. With a roster full of super-vets like LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, Bojan Bogdanovich, Jrue Holiday, and Mike Conley, it was the clear choice. Having already pulled of the mega of all mega-trades in exchanging Giannis Antetokounmpo for Anthony Davis pre-draft, karma gave Davis (and LeBron) a full year of health.

It took awhile for this team to gel however, as SQSQ was middling throughout most of the regular season before roaring to life with a 4-2 record down the stretch, highlighted by a WK13 upset against KSKT that likely secured them the playoff bid.

SQSQ is the rare playoff team that is winning through defense—we’ll call that the Davis effect—but their lack of PTS and 3PT can likely only carry them so far this postseason. If they could upset top-seeded SCRM though, wow! Also, are these the real-life Lakers with the exact same strengths and weaknesses? Additionally, it’s unfortunate that 2024 RD1.2 Scoot Henderson has suffered a disappointing second-year, but this playoff team could be the bright spot that takes the pressure off Scoot for a better sophomore campaign.