2010 Offseason Power Rankings

OK, the rosters are being reduced day by day...
The JBL title was only decided 48 hours ago but I think it's time to do some quick hitting blogs. Sure, I could do my traditional season in review, but that can take hours to go through all those stats and details. And frankly, I'm far too busy these days for that. What I can do though, is these quick hitting blogs that might keep the JBL interest alive over the summer.

So, without further ado, I begin with my 1st official off season power rankings for the upcoming 2010/11 JBL season - the 20th season in our esteemed history.

#1 - Seoul Brothers - did you really expect anyone but the 2 time defending champs?? I mean come on - a championship has its privileges. We know that Phil knows what he's doing when it comes to the JBL. He drafts well. He pays attention to the FA wire. He trades well. He takes chances. And he gets lucky too. All good things for a JBL team.

This team will likely bring back Nene, Bogut and then maybe Lebron, Corey Brewer, or Marcus Thornton. He can keep 4 guys. Is $83 too much for Lebron? What about the old days when 10 guys would go for $100 bucks? Isn't Lebron worth $83 dollars? I guess we'll have to see what zip code Lebron calls home next year. My current guess is Cleveland. Now, if the Cavs go out and win the NBA championship - then maybe James says, "well, I won them a title, nothing left to accomplish, time to head to NYC". What's Lebron worth in a Knicks uniform with Mike D'Antoni as his head coach??? I think Woo is holding onto Lebron at this point to see if anyone will trade for him....

#2 - Bangkok Fighters - the 3rd place team from 2009/10 deserves this early perch based on his strong finish to the season and the fact that he will certainly bring back Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Kaman. Who the 4th will be is still up in the air. My bet would be Rudy Gay or Jonny Flynn.

Curry had an amazing season. He plays loads of minutes on a team that loves to score. He can shoot, pass, steal, and really does it all. Stud! Russell Westbrook took my advice and stopped shooting 3's in the 2nd half of the season (only 23 attempts in his last 41 games). His tendex over the last half of 2009/10 was over 20. Nice work Rusty. So, Bangkok gets the 2-hole for now...see if he can live up to these lofty expectations.

#3 - Brussels Muscles - how can a team that finished 10th in 2009/10 be ranked this high Johnny? Well, I'll give you 2 reasons - Tyreke and frickin' Kevin Durant. Both are extremely undervalued for next season. KD led the league in scoring! In the 2nd half of the season his tendex was over 30! The kid is only going to get better. Read that again and remember he averaged 31 and 8 over his 40+ games. While most JBL teams get a $260 starting budget, Timmy is essentially starting with a $300 budget as both Evans and Durant are severely under-valued to their true value. How does Timbo build around these 2 dynamic studs? More depth guys? Or another super stud? I can argue either way...but I won't. Not yet.

#4 - Golden Showers - OK, I have to put myself in here somewhere. I have to admit, I do know what I'm doing when it comes to building a JBL team. Sure, my latest team came up a bit short and maybe didn't have the usual Johnny-like-flair to it - but it was still pretty good. In the last 5 JBL seasons, the Golden team has been 1st or 2nd every year.

My keepers for next year could be Landry, Josh Smith, Luol Deng, Aaron Brooks, or Derrick Rose. Those would be my leading 5 guys at this point. But I will hang onto Darren Collison for now in case something happens in New Orleans. He proved he can play. No super values in my list but I do think Josh emerged as an all around Fantasy stud since he stopped shooting 3's this season. He ended up with over 300 steals/blocks combined. I believe only Dwight Howard can say he also accomplished that feat.

#5 - Chilliwack Offs - The 4th place team from this season now has back to back money spot finishes. Throw in 3 stud keepers in Marc Gasol, Andrea Bargnani, and AK47 and I like the looks of this team for next season. I mean, come on, the real reason to like this squad is the all-Euro potential that is screaming at them!! Come on Benny, do it, no one born in the USA on this team. That still leaves guys like Nash, Duncan, Nowitzki, Okur, Turkoglu, etc to fill out your roster. You gotta do it. How much fun would that be?? Heck, I'd help identify all those obscure guys born in weird places (Anthony Randolph born in Germany).

#6 - Juan de Fuca. This squad now has some tough choices to make as they will only be able to keep 3 players for next season. They have Monta, Danilo, G-Wallace and Z-Bo all under-valued at their current price. So, which 3 will they choose?? I think you know what to expect from Monta, Zach, and Wallace. What will Danilo do in NYC? Will he be the #4 option or the #2 option - all depends on what the Knicks do. Juan's 3 headed monster are coming off back to back disappointing seasons. This year's 7th place finish is only marginally better than the 9th place finish the year before. However, they do get some slack as they were devastated by injuries all year in Juan. Losing Chris Paul was a killer. Throw in all the other man games lost and I am willing give them a slight mulligan and rank them #6 for the 2010/11 season.

Quickly, here's how I break down the rest of the JBL....

#7 - French Lick - his team looked great in 2009/10. Another team crushed by injury. Always seems to wind up just out of the top tier.

#8 - Arctic - has some good keepers and appears to be right on the cusp each year.

#9 - Yuma - Pat figured some things out this year. Can he make the jump into the elite in 2010?

#10 - Boston - Trev will participate in his 20th JBL draft in October 2010, but his 1st as a married man. Does that change his luck? He must change his team name before being allowed to participate in the draft.

#11- Belgrade - rookie owner felt the rookie lumps. But he's pumped for a comeback in 2010. He will need to earn a higher ranking though.

#12 - Idaho - look, there is no easy way to put this, Idaho sucked balls in 2009/10. There is nothing positive to report. He is starting from scratch though and that might be a good thing. Tuna will have to prove he belongs higher than this as his 2008/09 money finish appears to be nothing but a fluke at this time. Prove me wrong young one.