Farewell, and 你好!

First off, big thanks to Trevor for stepping in during the 2014 season and taking over a 1-17-1 team that had hit rock bottom. Trevor dispersal drafted a team that featured Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Kenneth Faried, and Eric Gordon, and took them to 6-12-1 in his rookie season. He followed that up with a series of trades that eventually turned his roster over into Dwight Howard, Derrick Favors, Faried, and Tony Parker, and then improved to 8-11 in his second campaign. Trevor, a fantasy newbie, got some experience with SlamNation and then chose to step down to commish his own league. Good luck Inept Henchmen, may the basketball gods be with you! And let's not forget Inepts' great logo!

And so, here steps in our sixth new owner of the new SlamNation cycle: Brandon! Brandon is my classmate from Taiwan, where we slugged through Mandarin lessons together. Originally from San Diego, Brandon mostly resided in the Bay Area the past couple of years and now we’re here in Taipei together, savoring the cheap drinks from 7-Eleven and playing Hearthstone. This is Brandon's first fantasy league and he’s a big NBA fan so we wish him the best.

With the other eleven teams having declared his keepers, GM Brandon got to use his current roster, plus all the non-keepered players to fill out his core — similar to how we gave Silent Crows (then Eron, Joven, and Chandler) the same thing in 2012. He ended up keeping Howard, Favors, and Faried, while jettisoning Parker, Gordon, and Kyle Korver. That front line will bring in a ton of REB, BLK, and FG%, while leaving an empty backcourt. Who would Brandon choose to fill out his roster?

Bypassing a few big name veterans — such as Dwayne Wade and Joakim Noah — Brandon tabbed Danny Green, Gorgui Dieng, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Green, fresh off a new contract, will be a jack-of-all-trades while tossing in a bunch of 3PT and a sneaky 1.0+ BLK per game. Gorgui Dieng will add strength to strength as the fourth big, and will likely put up close to a double double with 1.5+ BLK. And then there’s the big home run shot with KCP, who is coming off an on-and-off sophomore season but could rise quickly with his shooting prowess.

Overall, “The Brandons” (until they reveal their new name and logo), are lacking a floor general but will have a solid foundation of big men surrounded by some excellent shooting. In a tough Voltron division, this team will look to get competitive while building for the future. Welcome to SlamNation Brandon!

Taking His Talents...

In the biggest trade since, well, maybe since when LeBron James was last traded, vacationing cousins Evan and Eddie got into a league shaking deal that will have huge reverberations for the SlamNation. Citing a need to take down the stacked Sour Snails franchise, Evan moved all-in to bring in The King. After making the playoffs last year at 10-8-1, Chunky Monkeys now looks like a whole new team -- we declared them “the most balanced team” in a 2014 article.

Even in slight decline, LBJ averaged 25.3 PTS, 6.0 REB, 7.4 AST, 1.7 3PT, 1.6 STL, and 48.8 FG% last season. While those numbers aren’t likely to increase, they certainly are still top five fantasy worthy. And James won’t even be the best fantasy asset on his team (arguably). He’ll team with James Harden as an unstoppable one-two punch that will basically make the Monkeys instant contenders. Wowza!

Evan already had two fine keeper point guards in Jeff Teague and Goran Dragic, and adding Kyle Lowry to the mix makes them even deadlier. Lowry is a fantasy beast himself, with averages of 17.8 PTS, 6.8 AST, 4.7 REB, 1.9 3PT, 1.6 STL last season. If any backcourt could match up with the awesomeness that Sour Snails has assembled, it’s the new look Monkeys. Who’s excited to see this matchup play out over the season? We love bold moves and none get bolder than trading for LeBron James!

• ID#58: Chunky Monkeys receive Lebron James, Kyle Lowry and NJ All-Stars 2017 RD2, 2018 RD2 in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Nikola Mirotic, Chunky Monkeys 2017 RD1, 2018 RD1

Of course, the cost to acquire LBJ was very high. Since entering the league in 2012, all Eddie has done is go 43-26, with one Finals appearance and two Thundercats division titles. Before falling to 6-13 last season (partly based on losing Paul George), NJ All-Stars was undoubtedly the ruling team in the Russell Conference.

And now they’ll gain the #1 and #2 overall picks from the 2015 draft class: Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. If you’ll recall, Evan won the rights to both by double winning the 2014 Toilet Bowl so it comes as a bit of a shock to see both of them shipped out. Parker kind of had a lost rookie season with his injury but flashed enough scoring prowess to justify his draft position. As for Wiggins, he got a ton of minutes and shots, and ended 2015 averaging 16.9 PTS, 4.6 REB, 2.1 AST, and plenty of franchise potential. And let’s not forget that fellow rookie Nikola Mirotic was part of this deal too, as sweet shooting big man challenged Wiggins for Rookie of the Year honors.

In terms of getting value for LeBron James, this was a heck of a haul. With Paul George returned to full health (hopefully), as well as contract happy Reggie Jackson and Tobias Harris on-board, NJ All-Stars is ready to jostle for contender status again, this time with an even brighter future.

With how good Chunky Monkeys and NJ All-Stars look on paper, we don’t expect the early round draft choices that were exchanged to be very high ones, but perhaps they could be of value down the road if one of these teams suffers a huge let down... All in all, it was crazy of have a mega-mega-super-mega trade at the keeper deadline and we’re delighted that someone is loading up to take on the insane team that our defending champs are carrying over.

Pre-Draft Moves: Slide and Shuffle

After a few seasons of pre-draft trade fireworks, last year’s pre-draft was very quiet, with the exception of two trades. Well, this year it looked like we wouldn’t see much action either, with just some shuffling of picks and extra keepers — plus a big trade veto that caused much deliberation and a compensation pick to boot. Oh right, and an All-Star changed hands, in the form of Chris Bosh. But then, with the keeper deadline ticking down, a HUGE deal went down that will change the landscape of the league. We’ll get to that later though! For now, let’s look at the trades in chronological order.

• ID#54: Buffy trade Chris Bosh to Fat Jubas for Danilo Gallinari and Isaiah Thomas

Seeking an infusion of youth and some more keepers, Roger moved Chris Bosh, fresh off successful heart surgery, to Fat Jubas for Danilo Gallinari and Isaiah Thomas. We all know about Gallo’s injury history but when healthy, he’s a devastating scorer and distance shooter who will get a ton of shots in Denver. And then there’s Isaiah Thomas, the best offensive spark plug in the league. After moving to Boston late last year, Thomas really elevated his burst scoring to new levels and he’ll provide a nice jolt to Roger’s team. As for Jubas, Bosh will fill in nicely next to Jonas Valanciunas and Robin Lopez, stretching the floor with his 3PT and likely leading Eric’s team in PTS.

• ID#55: Squirtle Squad receive Zach LaVine from Jedi Knights in exchange for 2016 RD5
• ID#56: Another Bad Creation receive Alec Burks from Morrie’s Pogiboys in exchange for 2017 RD4
• ID#57: Another Bad Creation receive Wesley Matthews from Morrie’s Pogiboys in exchange for 2018 RD3

The re-monikered Another Bad Creation (formerly Half Man HalfImAsian) move two future picks for Alec Burks and Wesley Matthews. Both are coming off serious injuries but their scoring and outside shooting are nice additions to a roster that already features Kevin Durant and J.J. Redick firing from outside. ABC will be looking for a bounce back year and will have two new pieces for cheap to replace past keepers Mario Chalmers and Amir Johnson.

Brian’s Squirtles could have kept Kelly Olynyk, Dennis Schroder, or Ersan Ilyasova but opted to move a late round pick in this year’s draft to take on Zach LaVine’s dunk show. LaVine is Minnesota’s starting shooting guard this year and his potential is unlimited.

And now for the doozy, which really deserves a post of its own. In fact, let’s do that shall we? When else do we get NBA MVPs moving and last year’s #1 too?!

2016 Keepers

Draft Order 2016

2016 DRAFT ORDER

1. Funk Coalition (3-16)
2. Fob Stars (4-14-1)
3. Jedi Knights (5-14)
4. Half Man Half ImAsian (6-13)
5. NJ All-Stars (6-13)
6. Inept Henchmen (8-11)
7. So Buckets (8-10-1)
8. LA Buffy (8-10-1)
9. Chunky Monkeys (10-8-1)
10. Silent Crows (11-8)
11. Fat Jubas (11-6-2)
12. Squirtle Squad (12-7)
13. Team Spade (12-7)
14. MoRRie’s Pogiboys (14-5)
15. High Riser (13-5-1) *Runner up
16. Sour Snails (17-1-1) *Champion

Toilet Bowl winner: Funk Coalition
Toilet Bowl runner-up: Fob Stars

Tie breakers:

• 6-13: NJ All-Stars vs Half Man Half ImAsian, No H2H matchups, Most Categories won for season is NJ All Stars 76 categories won versus Half Man 72 categories won
• 8-10-1: Buffy vs So Buckets H2H, Buffy wins 1-0 WK12
• 12-7: Spade vs Squirtles H2H, Spade wins 1-0 WK5