Well, we are just a day away from the start of the 2015/16 NBA season. More importantly, we are a day away from the start of the 25th JBL season. Not since the 20th year have we had as many owners in one place as 8 of us ventured downtown to hold the draft inside a swanky Level boardroom. Unfortunately, once we left, they are going to need to steam clean the walls (I think Trevor and I left a lasting impression through our beef jerky inspired flatulence) and also clean the carpets due to Woo’s hamster-like approach to eating spitz.
We also saw an old school methodology as Bangkok relied on a magazine for his player education. I didn’t think they actually printed magazines anymore.
I thought, since this is our 25th Season and I had some words of encouragement, that I should bring back the JBL Chronicles. My take on everything JBL so that 12 other readers can laugh, cry, and argue over my opinions.
So, without further ado, I thought I would take you through my observations and my take on some of the teams and picks…
We had a much better time with the CBS draft room this year – only a couple of auto-pilots and those were due to Norfolk spending too much time researching instead of being active in the draft room. I think Norfolk should be grateful for Trev’s extra laptop usage otherwise he would have been drafting from his phone. A lesson for next year – I-Pads don’t work for this draft. My other take away would be is make sure you know who you are nominating next so you don’t get stuck with someone you don’t want.
Arctic was aggressive early as he had to get to the annual Haunted House show at Potters. He had Westbrook, Aldridge, Howard, and Love in about 20 minutes before auto-draft took over and landed him such gems as KG, Diaw, Blake, and Bargnani. At least we know Arctic will be busy on the waiver wire. I think we can expect to Steve Blake, Frye and Diaw looking for homes pretty quickly. But you never know with the Arctic – maybe Bargnani was targeted? This team can certainly rebound with the horses he’s brought in. He’ll need to be crafty on the waiver wire and pick up some more gems to go with the core.
Once again, Golden didn’t feel the need to use all of the $260 budget and left a lot of money ($22 bucks) on the table. Thank goodness this team was loaded with keepers to start otherwise it would have been a disaster. That being said, a 3PT shooter is desperately needed with this bunch of shooters. Can Darren Collison (Johnny’s banking on a Rondo implosion) and Jeremy Lin become fantasy relevant again? Will Markieff Morris stay in Phoenix and stay out of prison? What will Hassan Whiteside do for an encore? Is he a one year wonder like Gerardo’s Rico Sauve or will he become something of a classic play-anytime Rick Astley ‘Never Gonna Give You up’? I can’t believe I’m actually looking forward to Tyreke’s return as I certainly need his scoring. Of course, I expect Bangkok to come calling for this perennial Fighter.
Seoul will be singing the Paul Simon song ‘You Can Call me Al’ to start the season as he’s paired Jefferson and Horford as cornerstones to the roster. He will also need to invest in a new hot tub as D-Wade and Mr. Parker will need to be monitored closely at their advancing ages. Will Seoul get some gems in Patterson and Plumlee? I expect this to be a very good shooting team and I don’t see any glaring holes on the roster. The one thing missing, so far, is a quality volume 3PT shooter. This appears to be the year that Seoul re-establishes himself as a JBL title contender. Maybe Phil drafts better in a crowded room? Maybe he needs to be aromatically pleased with Maui arse smells? The banter that Seoul and Bangkok and produce in a draft room is simply amazing.
Norfolk is a student of the JBL game. Know how I can tell? Because Norfolk and Golden had bidding wars on deep sleepers – that tells me Norfolk does his homework. The question is whether guys like Aaron Gordon, TJ Warren, and Meyers Leonard will actually pan out. That being said, I’m a fan of the Norfolk approach. He got his blocks this year by nabbing Ibaka and Duncan. Norfolk now has a no-drinking policy in the locker room though to try and keep Mr. Lawson on the court. Lots of guys on this roster with unknown performance levels this coming season. How will guys like Kemba, Jack, KCP and Afflalo pan out? And how will those guys shoot the basketball? Are there enough steals on the roster?
Dare I say that Maui is my favourite team after draft night? What is the weakness on this team? I know, having Unibrow for $30 bucks is a luxury but the guys Trevor added at the Auction are perfect compliments to the roster. He has the bigs to rebound, block and FG% (AD, Gobert, Vucevic, Jones, Dirk). He has 3PT shooters (Korver, Gordon, Calderon). He has steals and ATO (Rubio, Teague, Oladipo, Calderon). Well done Mr. Stinky Pants Arksey. Seriously, his arse almost set off the smoke detectors. He stank. Which is the opposite of what he did with his roster. This is a 7 category team. This ladies and gentleman, is my #1 ranked team coming out of the Auction and the early favourite for the JBL title.
MBB went the classic route of golden oldies. He’s taking a major risk with Kobe and Rose. I know Rose isn’t technically old but let’s face it – he’s got the knees/body of a 56 year old. MBB is also Laker heavy with Kobe, Bass, and Swaggy P on board. But let’s not forget to mention that MBB does employ Lebron, John Wall, and Klay Thompson. If everyone stays healthy, this has the potential to be a high scoring team. The weakness of this team appears to be rebounds and blocks. That being said, this could be MBB’s best team yet. Unfortunately, that doesn’t say much about their history. A potential gem or early waiver-fodder is Jeremy Lamb. He could either be Charlotte’s answer at SG or he could be a bench player. If it’s the latter, then I could see Lamb and Mayo on the waiver wire pretty quick.
South Surrey is anchored by the Steph Curry & Chris Paul combination. He also spent big bucks on Jrue Holiday who has major injury concerns. If Jrue could only stay healthy. The big men on this team aren’t overly imposing with Towns and aging veterans Zach Randolph and Tyson Chandler leading the way. The only thing I don’t see a lot of at this stage is rebounds and blocks. Are there enough bigs to compete? ATO and both FG% and 3PT% shouldn’t be a problem for this group and I definitely think this team will finish much, much higher than they did in their rookie campaign. This team takes my dark horse contender pick post-Auction.
Juan de Fuca was already stacked with keepers (Harden, Marc Gasol, Knight) so his draft secured him hometown Jenny Craig poster-boy Kyle Lowry. He also took breakout candidates like Smart, Porter, Aminu, and Tristan Thompson. His center combo of Gasol and Brook Lopez could be the best duo in the JBL (if Brook stays healthy). As usual, not a lot of glaring holes on this roster. He does have quite a few guys who like to shoot 2-3 times from downtown every game and that could be a negative on the 3PT%. Juan, as recent history shows, should be a contender again.
Bangkok had his magazine working. Not sure if Rick realized it was from 1998. Rick paired Blake Griffin with Derrick Favors as his twin-towers to go with other solid assets like Batum, Conley, MCW, and George Hill. This team is not lacking big man depth with Cauley-Stein, Mozgov, Nurkic and Kanter available in the pivot. The Kok has the necessary wild cards on this roster with Stephenson and Lavine as great unknowns. I see this as a strong ATO team with some good PG’s and extra ATO from Blake and Batum. I don’t actually see any glaring weaknesses on this team at this time. The only concern could be roles and playing time for guys like Beverley (loses time to Lawson), Nene (loses time to Humphries) and Wesley Mathews (still recovering from Achilles surgery). As usual, Rick’s drafted a ‘nice team’ but I don’t see anything special. They appear to be middle of the pack in every category – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but it also isn’t necessarily a good thing either. I’m thinking Tricky Rick will be active in the trade market as usual.
Brussels had the most money coming into the Auction. Why? As Tim pointed out several times during the draft, he finished last and wasn’t able to protect anyone. So Timmy paired Cousins and Millsap as his big guns. Cousins could be one of the biggest fantasy superstars if he could put everything together. Of course, he could also kill George Karl and end up sharing a cell with Aaron Hernandez by Week 4. I look at this roster and I have many questions. Was the baby shower next door distracting? Will Reggie Jackson earn his 80 million? Will Mirotic be able to score consistently? Will Rondo (along with Boogie and George) be able to co-exist? Will Marcus Morris stay out of prison and hold of Stanley Johnson? Will Burks and Chandler become regular fantasy contributors? Will Teletovic and Cody Zeller be able to earn big minutes? What will Jabari Parker’s role be on the deep Milwaukee roster? Could this be the worst FG% shooting team? Can anyone shoot over 50% for the year? I see lots of guys with potential and I think Timmy is crossing his fingers that all of the gambles pay off.
Chilliwack must have loved the 3pm PST start time. Benny already had KD and Paul George on the roster to start the night. Of course, he could have had Draymond Green for $9 bucks as a keeper but did re-draft him for the smooth price of $44 dollars. The lone PG on this team is the aging Deron Williams. What kind of year will he have on a regressing (my thinking) Dallas team? This team is stacked with 3PT gunners employing Danny Green (won in a classic bidding war with Golden), JJ Redick, and JR Smith. The Wack is doing some wishing at the well with the likes of Ed Davis, Josh Smith, Alex Len, John Jenkins, and the $21 dollar gamble John Henson. What sort of roles will these guys carve out? And of course, we have to mention the health of KD and George – can they stay healthy and return to form? My hunch is a resounding YES for both of them. As usual, the Wack will be in contention and cursing me for tempting the JBL Gods about the healthy return of KD and PG13.
French Lick will score more points than anyone else. Mark it down. In pen. This team could average close to 17ppg (which is insane). I also think they are really good in the steals department. As you know, anyone who can win scoring (260 points for 1st in the category) is likely going to be able to compete. One question I have about the current roster would be around the 3PT jackers (Lillard, Ariza, Ellis, etc) on this team that could bring the percentage down (as well as the FG%). Some questions around the type of years that David Lee and Julius Randle will have (will they play and rebound enough?) Also, will everyone’s (except Rick because he hadn’t read that far in the magazine) breakout candidate CJ McCollum live up to the hype? French had good keepers to start the night and only built on it so I would consider this team a contender for the JBL title yet again.
Idaho has a lovely singing voice as witnessed by anyone who was in the draft room. He also likes guys who rebound apparently. This is a big team with the likes of Monroe, Noel, Hibbert, Valanciunas, and Faried on the boards. This team doesn’t have much ATO currently (awaiting Kyrie’s return) as he has only Jerian Grant (draft night deal) as a PG on the roster. My questions – what type of year does Ryan Anderson produce? Will Kevin Martin be fantasy relevant in Minnesota or does he get traded to a contender? Will Ben McLemore become a factor – or does he fade away in Sactown purgatory? Can Hibbert rekindle any magic in Laker-gold? Tuna is expecting a return to glory and hopes Roy can put up $40 dollar value. I have lots of questions about this roster but it’s also very solid in Points (Carmelo), rebounds and blocks. The one thing you know for sure about an Idaho team is that what it looks like now is NOTHING to what it will look like by Christmas. Tuna is the MOST active JBL owner we have.
My top 5 contenders coming out of the Auction - Maui, Golden, French Lick, Juan, Seoul.
My dark horse team out of the gate - South Surrey.
My top 3 teams with work to do - Brussels, Arctic, Manhattan Beach
So, there you have it. My early take on the 25th JBL season. I wish everyone the best of luck and thank you all for being apart of the greatest Fantasy Basketball League around.
