JBL 35 Season Preview

What a night. So much fun. Chez Golden had 5 JBL owners (Golden, Dayton, Maui,

French and Idaho) and Chez Bangkok had another 4 owners (Kok, Seoul, Norfolk,

Bellingham) in attendance. The draft went smoothly with limited auto-pilot slip ups. We

used a 20 second nomination time and a 20 second bidding time. All told, we drafted

158 players in under 3 hours. Last year was 2:55 and this year was 2:58.  Well done everyone.

As usual, everyone wants to know what the Godfather thinks after the auction. Who’s

the favourite? Who drafted poorly? How does their team stack up against everyone

else? Well, let’s look at all 14 JBL teams and get my early thoughts on each. Again, I

can only go on the roster as it currently stands and I’m very aware that all these rosters

will change dramatically over the coming weeks and months.

All that said, this is your canvas. There are 5 steps to winning a JBL title. Not all of them

are as important as the others – but, like an onion, there are layers.

Step 1 – Keepers. Teams with great keepers set themselves up for great drafts and JBL

seasons

Step 2 – The Rookie draft – Lady luck plays a big roll here but landing top shelf rookies,

for cheap, can be nice building blocks

Step 3 – The JBL Auction. Drafting solid players form the backbone of your roster for

the year

Step 4 – In season free agents and trades – you don’t have to do either but making sure

you address your team needs and take advantage of waiver wire gems is always

important.

Step 5 – in season roster management – making sure you have 12 healthy bodies each

week is important while also making those tough decisions of whether one guy’s 3

game week is better than another’s 4 game week.

So, the auction is your Bob Ross moment. Did Bob Ross take 1-2 hours to lay the

foundation down (keepers and rookies) and you are just working with him to paint the

masterpiece? Did Bob do a quick outline of what to do but is leaving all the heavy lifting

to you? Or did Bob fail to show up at your house and you’re stuck with a blank white

canvas?

This is your starting point for the JBL 35 season. Let’s goooooooooo.

Up first is my “LET’S JUST PUT A NICE LITTLE TREE OVER HERE” draft group.

Golden Showers – A team loaded with great keepers drafted well and Golden should

be back in title contention (barring injury setbacks). The Showers should be able to

compete in 5 of the 7 categories. A little lacking in ATO and 3% - but those can be

addressed over the year. I hate to say it, but LaMelo is the x-factor of this team. If he

can stay healthy and improve his %’s – Golden is very strong. If LaMelo jacks 12 threes

a game and shoots horribly – some major adjustments will have to made. I wanted KAT,

got him. I wanted Duren, got him. I wanted KD, got him. So overall, I’m pleased with the

draft – even if I STILL left $13 bucks on the table. Fun fact – Golden employs 3

Wizards.

Brussels Muscles – Maybe my favorite draft of the night. This team is stacked with

talent from 1 to 15. Brussels success comes down to one thing. HEALTH. Zion, Kessler,

JJJ, Edey, Keegan, McConnell, Kyrie. Studs and valuable contributors who are already

injured, nursing injuries, or are injury prone. If they stay healthy – Brussels is strong

across all 7 categories. This squad should invest heavily in bubble-wrap, bandages,

physios, icy hot, ankle braces, knee pads, steam showers, ice baths, masseuses, and 4

leaf clovers. Fun team that is a strong title contender. Fun fact – Brussels employs 3

Rockets.

French Lick Legends – Another team stacked with talent from top to bottom and

needing some health luck (Kawhi, Lively, Mark Williams). Otherwise, a very veteran-

laden team with experience and history of producing fantasy totals. Gobert, Maxey, and

Bane are all really solid pickups. The late-night values of Grayson, Tobias, Eason, and

Aaron Gordon were all good additions. This roster feels very much like the same 12

guys can just be rolled out week after week. It also looks competitive in all 7 categories.

What a surprise, French will be in contention again. Yawn. Fun fact – the smile on

French’s face when he got Jayson Tatum for $9 bucks was worth far more that that.

Arctic Circle Jerks – Maybe it was the matinee start time that allowed Crikker to draft

players instead of auto-pilots like Cautious Carl, Frenetic Frank, Anxious Andy or

Random Ralph. I like this team. This is a punt-points team that can be likened to the

Brussels squad that won a title a few years. Arctic only drafted 4 centers this year (last

year it was 6 center-only guys) and ultimately one can be moved for more assets.

Leaving $20 bucks on the table could be costly but we shall see. But this is just a

steady-eddy team that can be competitive in all categories outside of points. Outside of

Harden, it’s the ultimate glue-guy and role-players squad. No other player on this roster

is going to make the All Star team – but they will all contribute to maybe the best Arctic

squad in several years. Fun fact – no one has left more money on the table since the

Golden days of old.

Cali Fornication – Is this is the best Cali squad assembled after draft night? Quite likely

based on the names on the roster. Scoring, blocks and 3% are all very strong. Looks a

little light in rebounds, steals, FG% and ATO (which Cali always punts anyways). Strong

top end guys like Antman, Wemby, Brown, Randle and LaVine should score at will. And

there’s lot of blocks with Wemby, Myles and I-Jax. Year 3 of the Wemby journey is

underway and there are a lot of solid role players (Beal, Cam Johnson, Naz) along for

the ride. Fun fact – the JBL record for team blocks in a season is held by Maui Ribs

(2016) when they blocked 842 shots. I’m thinking this squad has a chance to take the

all-time record.

Chilliwack Offs – What a night for the Wack. It took him 89 nominations before he was

able to secure a player. And the laughs and giggles in our draft room every time

someone sniped a player from him was very entertaining indeed. All that said, Benny

just needed to draft any 10 guys to be able to put himself in the contender bucket. This

team looks good across most categories. It appears the Wack can just go ahead and

punt on the blocks category. I like this squad because it would be a fun team to

manage week in and out (see Step 4 above). There should be a lot of $1 FA’s in and out

of the lineup each week. For someone who likes to ‘set it and forget it’ – this roster

wouldn’t be much fun at all. Fun fact – our draft room very much enjoyed the Jordan

Poole snipe by Maui over the Wack.

Bangkok Fighters – Our defending champs held up well during the auction considering

it was his first time drafting after a JBL title. Maybe the pressure is off now a bit in

Bangkok. Between pouring the Doctor more scotch and strutting around in his custom

fit Kok champion shirt – the night went well. A lot of solid picks during the night that I

really liked (mostly because I was bidding for the same guys). I always wondered if

Giannis would be back – and he is (more on that shortly). The core here looks very

strong with the keepers (Giddey, Okongwu, Pritchard) and now Giannis, Scottie,

Bridges, Gaffy and Herb Jones. Not sure any of the late night $1 dollar guys should be

buying any property in town. I could see 4-5 of those guys not lasting long in town

(which again makes Free Agency so much fun when you can rotate through guys and

try to find hidden gems). The Kok is very solid in 5 categories already so expect the Kok

to make a strong title defense. Fun fact – Giannis went for $80 to Bangkok. Golden said

$79 and said if Kok bid $80 that would be it. Of course, in the chat moments later, the 

Kok said if Golden had said $81 he would have passed. A couple of bucks either way

would have greatly changed the draft directions for both teams. Bonus fun fact –

Bangkok has the youngest team in the JBL (25.2 years old)

Dayton Yer Daughters – Fun team from the youngster here. Going into the auction he

already had 8 players rostered so the draft list was pretty short. Grabbing 2 of his main

targets (Curry and Butler) was good business. Grabbing 2 Blazers (Camara and Jrue) to

go with Avdija means Dayton is cheering hard for Blazers success. Our household has

a combined 4 Wizards, 4 Blazers, and 2 Hornets. Not sure that’s a good thing but it

certainly makes our TV viewing more streamlined. The squad needs some more blocks

but otherwise appears quite competitive in all other categories. And Dayton does have a

big chip to play if needed – a $3 dollar Tyrese Haliburton. Fun fact (for Benny) – no one

drafted Fred VanVleet or Damian Lillard so they will NOT be eligible or protection

(unless they play 20 NBA games).

Up next is my “OH YA, THOSE ARE PRETTY COLOURS. BUT WAIT, I STILL HAVE

TO PAINT THE BUILDINGS, RIVER AND THE SKY??” draft group…

Norfolk N Chance – yup, that’s right. Norfolk. Right here. I like what he’s done here.

SGA, Derrick White, Brunzy, Norm, and Ware were all great pickups. His role players

(Grimes, PJ, and Westy) are all fantasy contributors (usually). The rebounds look light

but the other categories appear to be competitive. There are a lot of questions with this

group. Will Brook get enough minutes in LA? Will Queta win the Celtics center job? How

do Monk and Keon fit in with the Kings deep backcourt options? Overall, good start for

the Doctor this time around. The big question, and I would say this happened about

multiple ‘sleeper’ guys, if Queta had been brought up even later – would he have gone

for less than $10 bucks?

Seoul Brothers – The Brothers drafted a lot of guys I like. We all know Bam has spent

a lot of time in Golden. I do like Porzingis for $23 bucks. Can he stay healthy? I had

Donovan Mitchell on my list too. OG? Yup. Like him. Little surprised McDaniels went for

$25 bucks. That was a head scratcher at the time. This team has boatloads of scoring

and should be very strong in steals. But my oh my, the %’s look ugly to start the year.

The ATO also appears on the low side. But we all know that Seoul loves a good trade.

And we know that 2-3 of these drafted guys will be heading to the waiver wire very

soon. Fun fact – as a Caucasian fellow, showing up at Earls for a reservation under the

name ‘Phil Woo’ draws some questions.

Maui Ribs – Trev got his guys – Sabonis and Jamal Murray. Add in emerging Franz

Wagner, aging DeMar DeRozan, and everyone’s favourite twin and breakout star Ausar

Thompson and his squad has some horses. I like role-players Donte, Davion and

Wendel as well. And Jordan Poole brings me new joy and will always be remembered

for the Maui snipe off the Wack. Who will block shots and rebound on this team? And

can they shoot? Some questions to answer but there are some good core guys there.

Fun fact – no one takes more pride in late-bidding up a player in the auction than Maui.

Love it. Team guy.

Idaho Udapimps – If I told you that there was a team that can score like crazy but they

shoot like a blind kid trying to pee into a toilet from 5 paces – we would all know it’s the

Idaho squad. As always, the names are there. Mobley, Banchero, AD, LeBron, Trae,

PG13, Markkanen, Dejounte, Cooper. How those guys contribute to the 7 categories

that the JBL uses for scoring is always the challenge. Don’t need to do much analysis

on an Idaho roster after a draft because most of the guys will be traded by Christmas.

As always, Idaho can score. On paper, it looks like a fun scoring race between Cali,

Idaho, and Juan de Fuca. Fun fact – Idaho drafted 3 of the first 5 players nominated

(Markkanen, LeBron, AD).

And finally, my last bucket is “HELLO BOB, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO COME

OVER AND HELP ME PAINT TODAY. WHERE ARE YOU?” draft group…

Juan de Fuca Yo Mamas – This team can really score. So, there’s that. I’m just not

sure what other category they will be super strong in. I have many questions about this

roster. Outside of Ayton and Claxton – who will get rebounds? And is Ayton really

projected to be the team’s best shot-blocker? Can Claxy have a bounce-back year and

not just commit flagrant fouls on anyone who looks at him? Can Ingram stay healthy in

TO? Will Fox find his form in SA? Can Mathurin truly break out? Can Risacher improve?

It’s a long season ahead, so maybe this squad can answer all the questions. Fun fact –

it’s the 25 th anniversary since Juan de Fuca won their only JBL title.

Bellingham N Eggers – you can pretty much cut and paste my comments above down

to here. I have so many questions about this squad. The biggest one – which will greatly

impact the success of this team – lies with Joel Embiid. If he stays healthy and plays 50-

65 games – his $35 dollar salary is going to be an absolute steal. The other guy who

needs to stay healthy is Ja Morant. If Embiid and Morant can play 50-65 games each –

this whole summary can just be deleted. It’s a huge risk/reward situation for Bellingham

and someone was going to have to do it. Well done Ham. Josh Hart ($35) was the most

intriguing bidding war of the night for me. I had to go back and check to see if the Knicks

hired Thibs back as coach. We’ll see if Hart can replicate his amazing season from last

year. There are a lot of guys I like on this roster – Buzelis, Jarrett Allen, Garland, Ace

Bailey, Brandon Miller. Regardless of how 25/26 works out, Bellingham is building a

strong core of young guys to build around for upcoming seasons (see Step 1 above).

Overall, someone was going to have to be at the bottom of this list. So, prove me wrong

Ham and shock the world.

Fun fact – none of the Godfather’s preseason projections mean diddly squat.

BONUS MATERIAL – a Q&A with myself:

Q. Which players went for way more money than you thought they would?

A. Jaden McDaniels for $25 ; Josh Hart $35; Ausar Thomson $46; Toumani Camara

$34

Q. Give me a list of some of your favourite bargains based on their auction price?

A. Porzingis $23, Edey $12, Tobias $10, Jerome $1, Middleton $1, Donte $9, Tyrese

$3

Q. Give me 3 guys who should have been drafted at auction.

A. Luke Kornet, Duncan Robinson, and Alex Caruso

OK boys, that’s it for me. Remember to get your Free Agent bids in by Thursday. Good

luck to everyone. Thanks for continuing the JBL legacy. JBL 35 – here we go.