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!

2026 Playoffs: Byes and Good Byes

End of the season, and we'll start with the teams that are out of the first round, namely the four teams that earned byes, and the four teams that are eliminated from the playoffs altogether, aka the good byes! Recall our new postseason 3.0 rules and how every did at the end of the year! [ Middle Eight |  Midseason Tiers ]

TeamID - Abbrev - (2026 Record)

#1 ILCN (13-4)

ODE: 1/2/16

It all came together for ILCN this season, as they won the regular season crown on the last week of the season, posted their best regular season record ever, and is now entering their sixth playoff contest as the top dog. With a healthy trio of Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, and Paolo Banchero, ILCN’s first ranked offense is humming. The difference this year is that ILCN can play defense too, as they are top-two ranked in REB and BLK. The additions of Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels were huge this year, as the two Timberwolves helped take ILCN to a top-two ODE defense as well. In addition to all that, GM Frank drafted rookies Jeremiah Fears and Egor Denim, while getting good seasons from youngsters Matas Buzelis and Jaime Jaquesz Jr. as well.

While we’d like to have seen an all-in trade, this is unquestionably a roster that is still good enough to win the title, even with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Darius Garland unlikely to make postseason appearances. If the explosive offense and counting stats of Doncic, Mitchell, and Banchero stay healthy, ILCN is the team to beat this postseason.

Note: ILCN’s four losses have come against FJUB, CHMK, SQSQ, and FJUB again, all of them top contenders for this year’s title so it’ll be a bit of a revenge tour for ILCN as well if they can pull off a successful championship run.

#2 FJUB (12-5)

ODE: 8/3/9

It didn’t take long for FJUB to bounce back from missing the playoffs last season—only their second miss in seventeen seasons. A regular season crown was even in the sights of FJUB, before a narrow WK17 loss and a late season stumble that saw them lose two of their last three. However, their lone win over that period was over ILCN, the regular season crown winner, so that must be good for morale.

So, how did FJUB leap back into contention so fast? Well, they had some breakout seasons from Kyshawn George and Peyton Watson that really juiced their depth. The pre-draft addition of Trey Murphy also gave them an offensive spark to go alongside Karl-Anthony Towns—and Trae Young, when he was playing. The tough defense is still here, as FJUB ranked as the third best defense in the league, behind a league leading STL and solid BLK and excellent REB.

This team was rocking and rolling so much that GM Eric went for a win-now move, shipping out Zaccharie Risacher to MEMM for Kawhi Leonard in early January. Leonard could be the title difference for FJUB this year, as he has looked like prime Kawhi for months. With a roster full of long two-way wings, Towns in the middle, and whoever can bring the ball past half court, FJUB is looking like a strong contender for their third SlamNation title.

#3 SQSQ (11-4-2)

ODE: 6/6/3

SQSQ has the best cumulative regular season winning percentage over the last two seasons and they are poised to make some noise in the playoffs. Sound familiar? Long a regular season powerhouse, SQSQ has been prone to upsets over the years, so this new format of a first round bye might be the best blessing for them. Coming off seven wins in their last eight, SQSQ certainly seems to think they can win it all this year. Right before the trade deadline, they exchanged an injured Anthony Davis for a healthy Bam Adebayo, setting the stage for a title run that has them not only healthy, but extremely dangerous.

The old guy crew of LeBron James, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan are iron men, and they’ll have a fully healthy roster to work with. Super glue man Derrick White can do it all and Payton Pritchard, Kevin Porter Jr. and Saddiq Bey are underrated offensive add-ons.

Our Games Played leader is also very well balanced, with their only weakness being FG%, while everything else hovers average to above average. Substituting Adebayo for Davis should really help across three categories, at least. The prerogative for SQSQ is to win now, and we love that they made a big move to do so. If heart was being measured, this is the team we want to see win it all this year, or at least to make their first Finals appearance. Let’s go Squirtles!!!

#4 SPDE (12-5)

ODE: 5/5/1

Another team entering the playoffs on a hot streak, SPDE has won six of their last seven and have an outrageous combined ODE to show off, as they are not only top-five on offense and defense, but somehow the most efficient team in SlamNation as well. SPDE can put up points without turning the ball over and then there’s their league leading blocks and outrageous percentages in both FG and FT to start off every matchup with a huge advantage. Their only losses on the season have been against top tier teams and three of those were when Victor Wembanyama was out.

With Wemby back in action, anything is possible, even if the three tower trio of Chet Holmgren and Walker Kessler—out all season—aren’t quite all there. Jarrett Allen and Naz Reid are just perfect as defense and offense options in the middle though, giving SPDE the tallest team ever.

However, it’s the smaller guys on the team that has given SPDE their contending gas this season. Tyrese Maxey has been healthy and an absolute terror this year, giving Devin Booker a running mate and teaming up with Immanuel Quickley to fuel plenty of offense for SPDE. The duo of Maxey and Quickley really are something, and don’t look now but Jrue Holiday is back and also doing some interesting vet things.

While Booker is ailing a bit, the health that matters here is Wemby and Maxey, and with those two and an interesting collection of pieces, SPDE could be the dark horse to win this year’s ring, or to at least get to their second Finals ever.

#13 FUNK (5-12)

ODE: 13/16/12

After treading around in mediocrity for a few seasons, FUNK blew up their keeper roster and went all in on the 2026 rookie class. After successful seasons by Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, Cedric Coward, and Derek Harper, the youth movement has been supercharged. While FUNK closed out the season losing five of their last six—and lost a playoff spot as well—their metric for success this year was solely development.

Alongside those rookies, FUNK also had youngsters Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr., and Anthony Black really spark the team as well. Now comes the next phase of rebuilding: which rookies to keep for the long term. With a presumably healthy Jayson Tatum coming on board next season, FUNK should have a bright future ahead even as they juggle which of their future stars will be kept and which will be traded away.

On the season, FUNK finished with the lowest combined ODE in the league, as they were last or near last in PTS, REB, BLK, and FG%. The only thing FUNK did well was drop 3PT, which was largely a result of Knueppel nearly leading the NBA in made threes during his rookie year. FUNK couldn’t shoot a lick this year, but they somehow still hit all their targets!

#14 ABCX (4-12-1)

ODE: 11/11/13

We had mostly left ABCX for dead at three-fourths of the season, but as it turned out, they weren’t as bad as predicted. Four wins and a tie ain’t much but that’s still an improvement over last year’s 4-13-1 season. Well, a slight improvement. Still, it’s better than going winless two seasons ago!

Strangely, ABCX wasn’t bad by ODE, ranking just slightly below average in offensive and defensive ODE, with real strengths in REB and AST, likely due to the injection of Josh Giddey—who was exchanged for Ja Morant before the season. In fact, the only thing ABCX was terrible at was generating STL and not exactly generating PTS or efficient FG%, but otherwise ABCX could be respectable at a glance.

Other bright spots include sophomore Donovan Clingan emerging as a double double monster when healthy, Keyonte George showcasing star potential, and a semi healthy LaMelo Ball to provide weekly highlights. Compared to past versions of ABCX, there is some real talent the roster, especially in the backcourt with Ball, Giddey, George, and Benedict Mathurin.

Intriguingly, there’s also Damian Lillard and a late pickup of Jimmy Butler on the injured reserve. Will either veteran be part of ABCX’s keepers next year? We’d guess “no” but it’s nice that these retirement guys can find a bunch of youngsters to hang out with.

#15 SOUR (3-13-1)

ODE: 8/8/8

Now this is a very strange case of a team that looks decent on paper—look at that exactly league average ODE—but somehow stumbled to their worst record ever. Traditional powerhouse SOUR might finally be down in the dumps. However, history tell us that SOUR won’t stay there for long, as after their last cellar dwelling season in 2020, they bounced right back to two Finals appearances, and one title in 2023. Never count out SOUR!

For the year, SOUR was still good at putting up PTS on good efficiency, with a good volume of assists and BLK thrown in. That speaks to a good offensive system, and even with Steph Curry in and out of the lineup, SOUR could rely on new All Star Deni Avdija, a jaw dropping offensive season from Dillon Brooks, the always underrated Miles Bridges, and OKC surprise Ajay Mitchell to generate offense. Avdija certainly looks the part of an offensive cornerstone, and with Scottie Barnes doing wonderful all-around and defensive things, SOUR is not a team bereft of talent at all.

It’s not hard to see how SOUR could climb of the cellar quickly next season, so we’d suggest 2026 was just a blip of a season from them. After all, they were just in the Finals last season as the presumptive favorites, and they have proven to be legendarily dangerous.

#16 MEMM (3-14)

ODE: 15/12/3

Our newest team came out with three wins in their first eight matches, giving MEMM a taste of early success. However, nine straight losses torpedoed their momentum to end the year and MEMM will have to prep for a brighter sophomore campaign. Still, three wins is all previous owner UFOS managed to pull off in two combined seasons and if MEMM can hit four wins next year, they’ll have eclipsed anything this moribund franchise has done since 2021.

We won’t bother looking at ODE for MEMM, as they were dealing from a short deck, as their Games Played was last in the league, and fell apart near the end of the season under a haze of lineup violations. The lone bright spot was their sixth ranked FT%, which maybe says something about MEMM ability to convert on free stuff!


As for the keeper core, there’s an argument that every keeper from their first year could be replaced, save Ja Morant. Even then, the mercurial Morant barely played this season, and Onyeka Okongwu, Josh Hart, Keegan Murray, and new-Celtic Nikola Vucevic could all likely be replaced by better options. We did like MEMM spinning Kawhi Leonard into Zaccharie Risacher, but the former NBA number one overall pick is still only promising at best. Still, getting something of value for Leonard was a step in the right direction.

There is hope on the horizon: With the worst combined record from the last two years, MEMM has a great shot at a franchise talent in the 2027 draft. Securing the likes of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, or Cam Boozer would really jump start the inevitable rebuild, or spinning that high pick into more assets.

Overall it was a rough rookie season for MEMM that had them swimming a little out of their depth, but it also provided them with the fuel to do better.

2026 Playoffs RD1

With our new playoff 3.0 system under way, we have four teams on bye, and four teams knocked out of the playoffs. Congrats to ILCN, FJUB, SQSQ, and SPDE on those byes. Let's look at our RD1 matchups.

ROUND 1 Matchups

• 5 SCRM vs 12 TRUO
• 6 CHMK vs 11 SBUK
• 7 SWMP vs 10 KSKT
• 8 BUFF vs 9 MELO

5 SCRM vs 12 TRUO

After picking up a title last season, our defending champs seem like they’re taking a bit of a break from contention. With a late night pre-deadline trade away of a healthy Bam Adebayo for the injured Anthony Davis, SCRM is signaling that they are effectively throwing in the towel on a title defense, likely due to the unknown health status of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Pivoting toward youth, SCRM should still be good enough for a first round win here.

As for TRUO, they slid into the playoffs by picking up a WK17 win and giving them their first taste of a championship chase since 2018—albeit this season’s new playoff format is twelve teams. TRUO has a little bit of defensive toughness and offensiveness explosiveness, but it would take a minor miracle for an upset here.

6 CHMK vs 11 SBUK

Entering the last week of the regular season, CHMK was looking at a very likely bye. However, a WK17 loss and then wins by the teams behind them pushed CHMK down to a sixth seed. Ouch. Entering this season on the heels of a big ball revamp, it’s an open question how they’ll fare without the services of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Part of the blame for a late fall down the standings was some games played management to wind down the season. Can CHMK pull it together for a title run?

SBUK isn’t exactly the picture of health themselves, as Joel Embiid, Franz Wagner, and Alex Sarr are all likely out for at least this week.  And rookie pugilist Moussa Diabate is likely out as well. While CHMK is ripe for an upset, it’ll have done by a mish mash compilation of Desmond Bane and Nickel Alexander-Walker to happen.

7 SWMP vs 10 KSKT

Another matchup that is ripe for an injury fueled upset, SWMP has Jalen Williams, Zach LaVine, Paul George, and most likely Jalen Suggs out of the lineup. That means it’ll be up to Nikola Jokic and Jalen Johnson to carry them through. That’s hopefully enough actually, as both are premier triple double threats. What SWMP can do further down the line however, is an open question. I guess it’ll be just one opponent at a time!

Never the picture of health, KSKT is actually only missing Tyrese Haliburton and probably Kristaps Porzingis for this first round matchup—neither of whom has really played anyway. KSKT has the MVP-esque stylings of Cade Cunningham, flanked by Norm Powell, Michael Porter Jr., and a quite healthy Zion Williamson. That could be enough to pull off an upset against SWMP, and if there’s a dark horse in the first round, KSKT is it.

8 BUFF vs 9 MELO

It took some work, but BUFF closed on a 5-1 run to end the season and they’ll have the upper hand versus MELO—a team they narrowly lost to in WK11. Similar to almost every team these days, injuries abound for BUFF. They are down Domantas Sabonis, Lauri Markkanenn, and likely Coby White and Jonathan Kuminga. The duo of Jalen Brunson and Brandon Ingram have taken BUFF to a winning record, but all those missing players could make it tough for this offensive focused team to push further into the playoffs.

After knocking CHMK out of a top four seed and a first round bye, MELO has to be riding high and looking to pull off another upset. They have no real important players on the injury report and this is one team that definitely has to offensive power to go head to head versus BUFF, behind Jaylen Brown, Kevin Durant, Pascal Siakam, and Brandon Miller. This is our premiere match of the week, and it’s a toss up who could win!

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)

Post-Season RD2 Recap and RD3 Matchups: 2025

  👑 Playoffs RD3

3 SCRM vs 8 SOUR

Playoffs RD3 Consolation

2 MELO vs 4 SWMP

5 SPDE vs 7 ILCN

1 SQSQ vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD3

11 FUNK vs 12 BUFF

Toilet Bowl RD3Consolation

9 SBUK vs 10 CHMK

13 FJUB vs 15 TRUO

14 ABCX vs 16 UFOS

Playoff RD2 Recap

Uh oh, SOUR is on a heater! With Miles Bridges leading the way, SOUR wiped the floor with MELO, dashing their postseason hopes. While some of the categories were closer, a 7-2 victory is pretty dominant. Now they’ll make their return to the SlamNation Finals, where the stage is set. This will be SOUR’s ninth Finals appearance, their first since 2023. And despite being the lesser seed, there’s no question they are the favorites. Plus, their track record in Finals is seven wins in eight tries, so their Finals opponent will have their work cut out for them. Triuuuueeee does it again!

As for SCRM, this will be their first Finals, as they dispatched SWMP in a slightly closer game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 34.5 PTS and took down SWMP behind SGA’s offense and a strong overall defensive effort. This will be SCRM’s first Finals after joining us in 2021. It’s a bit of a surprise too, as SCRM had more all-in rosters in the past, and actually traded away James Harden midseason. 

This will be a gargantuan week as SOUR would’ve won RD1 vs SCRM 6-3, while SCRM would have turned the tables for their own 6-3 victory in RD2 had they faced SOUR. Now we’ll see who will win this epic 2025 SlamNation Finals!

Over in the consolation games, both SQSQ and KSKT got waxed 1-8, leaving them in the final week matchup as ILCN and SPDE face off for a higher pick in next year’s draft.

Toilet Bowl RD2 Recap

What a doozy over in the Toilet Bowl! FUNK had already conceded by Saturday night to CHMK, with the owners trading “congrats, ggs” and Jon already booking his post-Toilet Bowl vacation. Lo and behold, Sunday brought CHMK’s required five rebounds from Oshae Brissett but then Coach Evan didn’t pull his players and ended up losing the matchup by one turnover! Incredible stuff!

We love the CHMK attitude to play it out and let the fates decide, but perhaps they’ll rue letting FUNK slip through. Either way, this now sets up an actually exciting RD3 because FUNK and BUFF can now play for 2025 RD1.1 and RD1.2, while CHMK and SBUK will duke it out for RD1.3 and RD1.4. Thanks Evan for giving us some drama! (Note: CHMK and SBUK were slotted for those picks anyway, with the SWMP Rule in effect--which we'll revisit this offseason.)

BUFF is on a heater as well, despite having both Jalen Brunson and Brandon Ingram out. Similar to the upset filled playoff side of the bracket, Toilet Bowl 2025 has the lower seed, BUFF, tapped as the slight favorites in Capture the Flagg.

Over in TB consolation, ABCX almost upset TRUO, as they were a few STL and PTS away from a victory. Alas, they’ll face off against UFOS—who lost to FJUB handily—perhaps as a “winner goes home” match for SlamNation?!

Post-Season RD1 Recap and RD2 Matchups: 2025

 👑 Playoffs RD2

2 MELO vs 8 SOUR

3 SCRM vs 4 SWMP

Playoffs RD2 Consolation

1 SQSQ vs 7 ILCN

5 SPDE vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD2

9 SBUK vs 12 BUFF

10 CHMK vs 11 FUNK

Toilet Bowl RD2 Consolation

13 FJUB vs 16 UFOS

14 ABCX vs 15 TRUO

Playoff RD1 Recap

Unfortunately for SQSQ, it’s deja vu all over again as they get toppled as the top seed by a lowly eighth seed, just like back in 2022. Sadly, our must-win all-in team was missing Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Richuan Holmes, leaving a big hole in the middle. While James Harden and Derrick White had some heroic games, Miles Bridges and Steph Curry equaled their insanity and then some, giving SOUR a gigantic upset. Suddenly, SOUR looks like a real threat to win the title, again!

We almost had another huge upset between #2 MELO and #7 ILCN. Their match went down to the wire and even tied up at 4-4-1 apiece. ILCN was down Jaren Jackson Jr., Dereck Lively, and Mark Williams, leaving their interior wide open to assault. MELO fought through their own long list injuries but pulled out the win, with STL being the tied category but 3PT and BLK being very closely contested. And now MELO are the highest seed left, but they’ll have to face off against SOUR for an in-family matchup for a Finals appearance!

SCRM used solid defense and rebounding to take down the defending champs, KSKT. Despite Cade Cunningham and Anfernee Simons’ offensive explosion, SCRM was just too good behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dyson Daniels’ thievery.

SWMP and SPDE tied in REB but that was about all the positives SPDE had for their opening playoff week. With no Wemby, they still dominated BLK—thanks Walker Kessler—but tripling up the opponent in blocks won’t help the other categories, and SPDE went quietly into the playoff consolation bracket with a 3-5-1 loss. They’ll have a tough time ahead with Wemby and Tyrese Maxey both still injured. On the other hand, SWMP is showing seven players OUT to start the week, and while they have a very deep and talented roster, the Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, and Jalen Williams show will have to really drag this team forward.

I can’t believe it… is eighth seeded SOUR somehow the odds-on favorite of the 2025 title?!

Toilet Bowl RD1 Recap

Nothing too exciting here, as all the higher seeds advanced. SBUK had 27 GP versus UFOS 19, and yet only won BLK by three and REB by twelve, so conceivably UFOS had a chance at a big upset there. But UFOS’ coach hasn’t adjusted his lineup in weeks so a win would have been undeserved.

The same thing with ABCX, who basically didn’t adjust their roster—with Bobby Portis still in SSPD and yet starting—and with all the injuries they had, ABCX actually managed to get one extra GP over FUNK, which still resulted in a close 4-5 loss. There was possibly an upset shot here too but as they say, “that’s why they play the games!” Or not, in UFOS and ABCX’s cases.

BUFF did take out FJUB by a mere two BLK and three 3PT, which was pretty exiting down the stretch, as the matchup was pretty close throughout. CHMK waxed TRUO to easily advance, and is looking like the best of the four remaining teams.

Playoffs Teams: 2025

[ Power Rankings 2025 | Toilet Bowl Teams 2025 | Midseason Tiers 2025 ]

We ended the regular season with an exciting matchup between #1 and #2, and there were tie-breaks to be had at the bottom of the playoffs, as four teams vied for positioning. At the end of the 2025 regular season, SQSQ emerged as the winner, with a victory over MELO. Let’s take a look at the eight teams into the 2025 playoffs.

#1 SQSQ (14-4)

ODE: 13/4/1

SQSQ started the regular season off with six straight wins and ended the season with six as well, securing their fourth regular season crown and third in the past six years. Unfortunately, all that regular season success hasn’t translated to the postseason, as SQSQ has never made a SlamNation Finals. To rectify that, SQSQ’s already all-in roster went even further all-in in February as GM Brian traded for James Harden, Rudy Gobert, and CJ McCollum to create a potential playoff juggernaut. The only remaining question heading into their best shot at a title is the health of Anthony Davis, and to a lesser extent Daniel Gafford. Still, this is the team to beat and we love seeing owners go all-in!

#2 MELO (12-5-1)

ODE: 5/13/11

Recovering from a bit of a midseason slump, MELO finished the regular season strong, with a 5-1-1 record and the H2H tie-breaker to take the second seed in the playoffs—and winning their first ever Russell Conference title. This will be MELO’s second playoff appearance—their first came in 2021 when Jack entered the league—and they are well positioned to challenge for a title. Likely R.O.Y. Stephon Castle (2025 RD1.7) has been fantastic lately and he’ll have to pick up the slack from a hurt Brandon Miller. Otherwise, MELO is all locked in and ready for a long playoff run!

#3 SCRM (12-5-1)

ODE: 9/1/15

Another team that ended the regular season on a hot streak, last year’s crowns winner SCRM has been 8-1-1 since mid-December and has now gone 43-10-3 over the past three years. Even with a slight pivot to more youth—trading away James Harden for Scoot Henderson—SCRM has managed to ride SlamNation’s best defense to a top-three seed. With a healthy Kawhi Leonard on-board, maybe this is Jordan’s shot to get to their first ever Finals after building another deep and talented roster. Note: With their 0.694 regular season this year, SCRM Jordan has overtaken SOUR Trieu as the winningest regular season owner in SlamNation history—by winning percentage. Congrats!

#4 SWMP (11-6-1)

ODE: 2/5/6

After missing the playoffs last year—after making five in a row—SWMP is back to their winning ways, finishing up 2025 with a 4-1-1 streak. While SWMP’s glory years of leading the league in wins might in the rear window, it looks like they could still be a dark horse contender for the title as they have the league’s most balanced combined ODE. It’ll be a tough road ahead with Jalen Johnson—and Deandre Ayton—out, but SWMP still has Nikola Jokic and to lead the way. They took the Toilet Bowl last year, can they add a long awaited title this time around?

#5 SPDE (10-6-2)

ODE: 5/6/10

After starting off the season 3-5-2 and looking like a bottom tier team, SPDE went on a seven game win streak, ending their season on a 7-1 run and are now back in the playoffs as a mid-sized threat. Note: SPDE finished with the second most regular seasons last year. Interestingly, a lot of the win streak was done with Victor Wembanyama out and Tyrese Maxey and Tyler Herro bouncing in and out of the lineup. Unfortunately for SPDE, those injury woes persist and even the reappearance of Chet Holmgren won’t fix the Wemby-sized hole in the middle. So that’s a sigh of relief from the rest of SlamNation, as the franchise with the best keeper core heading forward seems to have taken a pause this year on contention. Next year/decade though…

#6 KSKT (11-7)

ODE: 4/9/13

After an electric title run last season, KSKT has slipped just a little back to the pack. Their title defense will be an uphill one, even as Cade Cunningham has elevated himself to All Star level. Kristaps Porzingis is likely out for a few weeks while Tyrese Haliburton will miss the first round of the playoffs at least. That leaves KSKT a bit shorthanded, even with Zion Williamson available. KSKT did take out ILCN, SBUK, and SOUR during their four game win streak to end the season, proving that they still have some bite in their championship follow up season. Are their back to back chances legit?

#7 ILCN (10-7-1)

ODE: 12/7/3

As our top rated combined ODE team, ILCN has a strong defense and efficiency paired with a lackluster offense. However, that lack of offense is deceiving because Paolo Banchero and Luka Doncic have traded off being injured. Given full health, ILCN can score with anyone, giving them a very solid all around team. However, ILCN has stumbled a bit since midseason, registering only two wins in their last six, and looking a bit out of sorts. For the playoffs, they are going to need Mark Williams to step up, as Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dereck Lively II will likely start the week on the shelf. Will Luka magic be enough for ILCN to go further in the postseason this year?

#8 SOUR (10-7-1)

ODE: 1/9/14

The ever dangerous SOUR franchise has been good this year but not great by any measure. Still, SOUR are in the playoffs—fourth year in a row, after two years in the Toilet Bowl in 2020-21— and are always a tough out. The loss of Dejounte Murray for the season is a big blow to the backcourt but the rejuvenation of Jimmy Butler—now on the same real life and Slam team as Steph Curry—could result in playoff magic for SOUR. There’s a top ranked offense to contend with here for SOUR’s opponents and as Trieu has proven over and over: never count SOUR out!

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!

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