Season in Review - The Middle Tier

Finishing 5th just sucks. You miss out on the 4th keeper and you only get 5 ping pong balls. So yes, Golden has the distinction of being that team this season. The Golden squad just couldn't keep up with the big boys this season. For starters, way too many injuries. Just look at these man game totals for the core of the Showers squad - SGA (55), Ingram (50), Hayward (45), Nurkic (56), Giddey (39). Add in a shockingly poor season from Richaun Holmes and all the other things and there is any wonder how Golden was even competing for the top 4. Golden worked the waiver wire pretty hard and ultimately used 41 players over the course of the season. Ultimately, the disastrous start to the season in 3PT% could never be recovered. Looking back at how guys like Lillard and SGA and others all shot to start the year was just shocking. Oh well, as they say. On to the next season. With just 3 keeper spots it's looking like Miles Bridges, Darius Garland and Josh Giddey could be the core. Why Giddey? Because I have anxiety over letting another young guard go. If you remember, my rookie pick 2 years ago was Tyrese Haliburton for $2. I could have protected him for $7. Instead I went with Holmes, Nurkic and SGA. So, yes, I have trust issues. I have to keep Giddey in case he goes off. Besides, who doesn't love having a nightly 3x2 threat that allows you to shotgun a beer or two during the season. 

Our defending champs from Brussels finished 6th this season. As usual, they ran out of FA dollars just after the New Year. That always limits the options to improve the squad. The defending champs didn't exactly 'run it back' either with the team sending out Luka and Cam Reddish to the Wack for Bam Adebayo and Derrick White. Unfortunately, Bam got injured and only played 48 games for Brussels. This team did set a JBL record for FG%. With Poeltl (62%), Gafford (71%), Clarke (65%), Okongwu (69%) leading the way it's easy to see how they finished about the 50% mark. Brussels is a staunch supporter of more keepers as this squad had so many undervalued guys that would be the ultimate role players on any team. This team was 1st in blocks and FG% but really struggled in scoring (13th). With 3 keepers for next season I would expect to see Poeltl, Sengun, and the ironman Mikal Bridges back. Did you know Mikal has not missed a single game in 4 NBA seasons? He also didn't miss any in college or high school either. True gamer. 

Phil and his Seoul squad were about to finish 8th. But the last second heroics of Klay Thompson bumped Seoul back to 7th. It feels like Seoul was in 7th for about 4 months.  He sold the farm awhile ago to make sure he had good keepers for next season so he's starting with Ja Morant, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam. Or he could go the cheap route and keep Gary Trent Jr.. Regardless, this is a very good core for next season. Seoul was middle of the pack in just about every category this year. Who played the most man games for Seoul? Mo Bamba. 71 games. It's hard to really comment any further on such a middling squad. Seoul saw there was no route to the title - so he cashed in and grabbed Scottie and Ja and just waits for next season. He could get a decent rookie pick with his 7 ping pong balls and add another young stud too. Until then, Phil hits the golf links without a care in the world.

Idaho was floundering in the 9-12 range for quite some time this year. Then he decided to 'give up' and build for the future and traded All Star Rudy Gobert for the injured Zion. What happened? Idaho climbed to 8th. Behind a true stars and scrubs approach, Idaho almost pulled off the unthinkable. Trae Young, Devin Booker, James Harden, and De'Aaron Fox made up the core of this squad. Solid role players in Thubulle, Boucher, Morris, Quickley (not Quincy), Okeke and others led to a very solid 8th place finish. Look, if you're going to finish outside the top 4 then 8th is the place to be. 3 keepers and 8 lottery balls. Idaho will look to build around Zion, Trae and likely Jamal Murray. That could be a very strong core if Zion and Murray are truly healthy. Idaho is calling Zion to New York so we'll see if that happens. When it comes time to ranking the JBL teams for next season, based on keepers, Idaho is likely to be higher than 8th that's for sure. 

Alright....taking a break....back later with 9th and beyond....

Season in Review - The Money Teams

Another year, another first time JBL champion. Congrats again to the Maui Ribs for a completely dominant performance all year long. I’ve already said it here, but Maui was in 2^nd after week 1 and then never trailed again. Sure, there was a couple moments when Bangkok passed him during an evening in Week 23/24, but the Kok never finished the night in 1^st place. That’s what I call sheer dominance from Maui. And even with all the tanking shenanigans, I don’t believe the outcome would have changed at all. Maui won by 125 points. It wasn’t really that close. In the last 4 weeks, 22-25, in the weekly standings, Maui was 2^nd, 1^st, 2^nd, and 2^nd. He wasn’t fading away. Anyways, let’s dive deeper into some of these JBL teams and performances.

 

Starting with champs, a lot of things obviously went right for the Ribs. First off, getting Joel Embiid in a MVP-type season for $46 bucks at auction?  Come on. Amazing value. Look at what guys like KAT, Jokic, Gobert, and Giannis went for.  Embiid for $46 was an absolute steal. Then a career scoring season from DeMar DeRozan. Yes please. LaMelo became an All-Star. Mobley is likely the ROY. Desmond Bane could be the most improved player (18ppg and 44% from deep). The list goes on and on. FVV scored 20+ points, ATO was 2.553, and snagged 112 steals while shooting 37.7% from deep. Aaron Gordon went from 4^th option to 2^nd option in Denver and averaged 15 and 6 on 52% shooting. The scary part is that this team could have been better. Lonzo only played 35 games for Maui and Draymond only played 43. With those 2 healthy, Maui was top ATO in the JBL. Regardless, Maui’s 1216 point total is now the 2^nd highest total in JBL history. And while every great JBL team has it’s stars and breakout guys – it’s often the “role” players that can change your fortunes. I look at guys like Plumlee and Powell for low key big man stats. A guy like De’Anthony Melton had 104 steals.  Even Bledsoe, Gay and Brissett provided value on weeks when others were out injured. Maui put it all together this year and is fully deserving of the JBL title. And you can expect this Ribs team to be contending again as there are loads of potential keepers to choose from. Lamelo, Mobley, Bane and Embiid would top my list.

 

French Lick moved into 2^nd place in the last 5 minutes of the NBA season. So late in fact, I had already given 2^nd to Bangkok and posted that on the JBL site. Little did I know that Klay Thompson wanted to score 40+ points and his 3PT shooting would ultimately impact 4 JBL teams. His 7/14 performance from downtown and 41 point effort moved him up 2 spots in 3PT% and up one spot in scoring vaulting him passed Bangkok for 2^nd place. His move also cost Idaho 7^th place and dropped him down to 8^th which allowed Seoul to narrowly finish in 7^th.  I think I’ve already written more about French than I have all season. They just hung around. All year. And then whammo, on the last night, they climb into 2^nd to keep an unbelievable streak alive. For now 8 straight years, French has either won the JBL or finished 2^nd. I’ll say that again, 8 straight years of 1^st or 2^nd. Dynasty.

 

French has used his Celtic dup of Tatum and Brown to lead the charge for the last couple of years. However, they both head back to auction and I’m curious as to what they will go for. I know Norfolk will be bidding them up as he’s always interested in French targets (and so we all should be). French did everything well except scoring (8^th). And I can’t help but think having LeBron (56) and CP3 (65) and Klay (32) play less than a full season really impacted that. That said, CP3 finished with a 4.590 ATO. You read that right. Horford, Zubac, Adams, and Mitch Rob anchored the big man stats. Jarred Vanderbilt is an emerging fantasy player. And then guys like Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Norm Powell, while boring, just get the job done.  French gets 4 keeper spots and my leading candidates for those are Klay, Vanderbilt, Horford, and Mitchell Robinson. Guess where I’ll be ranking French in my offseason rankings.

 

Bangkok was the 2^nd best team this season. But they finished 3^rd. Either way, no one remembers (unless you’re French and have this incredible 8 year streak running). Anyways, the Kok exceeded all expectations. Coming out of draft night, I had them ranked 11^th but that quickly changed. For me, the trade of Herro for Haliburton was the first turning point. Of course, Dejounte’s first All Star season also had something to do with the Kok surge.  Ant Edwards and Don Mitchell scored the dickens out of the ball. Capela, Ayton, and Wendell got the big man stats (outside of blocks). And Herb Jones became a thing of folk lore. Seriously, for all the credit Matisse Thybulle gets, watch this kid and look at his stock totals. The January trade (2nd turning point) with Seoul where the Kok gave up Scottie Barnes (and RJ and Diallo) for Ayton, Rozier and Hart was brilliantly one-side for the Kok. These are the type of deals you have to make in order to give a title run a chance. Rozier scored 20+, had a 3.797 ATO, shot 45.37, and grabbed 1.4 steals in Kokland. And Josh Hart averaged 18 and 7 while shooting 50% in Kokville. The majority of the role players Kok used this year were also really good. Aside from Jones, look at Hartenstein, Brown, and Kennard. All put up serviceable numbers.  The Kok should be ready to contend again next season as he has 7-8 potential keepers. It appears that Dejounte, Haliburton and Edwards are all locks so who will get that 4^th spot? Herb? Scary Terry? Josh? Johnson? The summer months will tell…

 

The Wack certainly made some impactful moves over the course of the season. He said goodbye to Bam Adebayo and Ja Morant and welcomed Luka and KD. 4^th place wasn’t decided until the very final day of the season but it was Luka and KD (and Ayo Dosumnu, who Golden traded to the Wack) that helped the Wack secure it. If I asked you which 3 players played the most man games for the Wack this season would you guess Russell Westbrook, Harrison Barnes and Jae’Sean Tate? I didn’t think so. While the Wack didn’t employ the ‘draft 3 big guys for high prices’ at auction – he ultimately found himself using this as the year went on. KD, Luka and Gobert filled out those roles. Ultimately, 12^th in ATO and 9^th in steals didn’t allow the Wack to make a push for the title. This was a very good team though and had a bunch of guys that are easy to cheer for (Finney-Smith, Barton, Claxton). I would think that getting just 9 games from Malcolm Brogdon has to be a massive disappointment. So, who are the Wack’s 4 keepers for next season? Luka is a no-brainer in what will be his 5^th and final season before going back to auction. And then who? Barton for $8? The All Star Andrew Wiggins for $24? Barnes for $14? One of the role players? Benny will have some decisions to make.

 

OK, that’s all for today….Next up the middle tiers of the JBL….

Week 25 - Preview

Sunday morning. A big slate of games ahead today. And then the final week. Week 25. For all the marbles. Is Maui winning his 1st ever JBL title in year 31? Or is Bangkok winning his 1st ever title in 27 years?

Currently, Maui has 1227, Bangkok 1091 and French 1059.

Can the Kok actually make up the 136 point gap? Technically? Yes, he can.

But it's going to take a few things to getter done.

3PT% - Kok needs to move up from 5th in this category and hope Maui can drop a spot or two.

ATO - Kok is at 2.076 and Bellingham is at 2.082. So very possible. Also, Maui is at 2.054 and Idaho is at 2.041. So there could be some movement here.

BLK - still +39 available here for the Kok if his team started to swat some shots. Maui appears solid in his positioning.

FG% - the Kok needs to shoot extremely well and needs Golden to talk the final week in order to gain ground. Maui seems like he's stuck where he is.

PTS - Maui will score the most points this season. Doesn't appear that the Wack or anyone else will make up the almost 400 point gap. The Kok currently sits 4th in scoring, 120 points behind Golden and 133 behind the Wack. Needles to say, making up these gaps would be extremely valuable for the Kok.

STL - nothing happening here. Kok wins steals. Maui firmly in 2nd.

REB - as of this morning (Sunday, April 3rd) - the Kok is 6 rebounds ahead of Maui. This is a big 30 point swing for whichever team can rebound well next week. 

I'm not sure the Kok can do it with all the players likely getting rested in the final week. The Kok already knows that Ayton will likely not play much this final week. Who else sits out. Maui has some Memphis players that could be rested but it looks like most of his players should be available this week.

The keys to victory for Maui are pretty simple I think. Don't shoot 3's and maintain 1st spot in 3PT%. Beat the Kok in rebounds. Maui isn't going anywhere in FG%, PTS, Blocks, or Steals so there isn't too much room to drop points. It will be up to the Kok to make the moves to gain ground. 

The advantage is still with Maui for sure but it should be an entertaining week. As I've said before, Maui deserves this title now. 2nd after Week 1 and has been in 1st place every night since Week 2. While it would be a massive shock win if the Kok won it in the final week - the best JBL Fantasy team this season was the Maui Ribs. 

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Another interesting battle, at least for me and my Chronicles, is the race for 4th. That spot is all about the 4th keeper. 

As we begin this Sunday's slate of games, the Wack is in 4th at 930, Golden at 912 and Brussels at 897. Any of the teams could still stake claim to 4th place by the end of the week.

Golden's chances for 4th are likely the slimmest, but here's how it could be done.

Golden needs to finish 2nd in scoring (moving the Showers back to 932) and hold all other positions and hope for the best. There is little room for growth in all the other categories so Golden is all about scoring, rebounds, steals and blocks in the final week to hold ground and gain ground where possible.

Golden's cause would be helped if the Wack could drop some points in 3PT%, if Juan could pass the Wack in blocks (only 3 behind), if the Kok could catch the Wack in scoring, and if the Wack can stop rebounding altogether.

For the Wack, there is maybe +65 points available if they play really well this week.

For Brussels, the big category Golden is watching is scoring. Bellingham is just 80 points behind Brussels now and that would be a massive 20 point swing. The other category to watch is 3PT%. Brussels could catch Cali and get +13 or he could drop -13 points if Bellingham got hot. Also, Brussels ATO is 1.928 and Seoul is 1.930. Another big 13 points available. It's also fitting that Brussels, Wack and Golden are all within 28 rebounds of each other so there should be +/- 15 points there on a regular basis. 

I really don't know who is going to get 4th place and that extra keeper. It's too close to call because we don't know which players will be rested in the final week. At this point, I'm not even sure Kris Dunn or Drew Eubanks will be playing as their 10 day deals with Portland expired. They cannot sign another 10 day deal as there are only 8 days left. So, does Portland sign them? 

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Can Bellingham catch the Jizzlies? As of this morning, the Eggers are just 6 points back. The 12th spot means a 2nd keeper for one of those teams and just 1 keeper for the 13th place team. I take it the Jizzlies aren't fussed either way as the last FA they signed was January 24th. 

Can Idaho catch Seoul for 7th? Both teams will get 3 keepers regardless but I can only imagine that the youngster would like to surpass the 5-time JBL champs (and golfing partner) just for pride. 

While Norfolk made valiant efforts to get out of the basement, it's just not going to happen. Norfolk signed a lot of FA's in his attempts to climb, yet somehow, going into the final week, still rosters Kemba Walker, Larry Nance, James Wiseman, Bradley Beal, and on and on. I know he only has $2 FA dollars left now - but why was he holding onto these players? The keeper deadline has passed - they can safely be dropped and no one else can pick them up. They are out for the season. So, I'm not sure exactly what the strategy was for holding onto these guys all year. Anyways, I appreciate Norfolk's efforts immensely considering he could have checked out ages ago. 

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Anyways, best of luck to Maui and Bangkok and all the teams this week. Another 1st time JBL champion will be crowned a week from now. Exciting week ahead as more than half of the JBL teams have something at stake in the final week. 

Week 23/24 - Still too close to call...

I'm blurring Week 23 and 24 into one post. The nightly drama between Maui and Bangkok continues and I really do expect that the final night, Saturday, April 10th, will be the deciding night. I'm told that Maui will be in transit and might not be able to see the drama unfold live. I know I will be glued to the boxscores and Live Scoring page to see how it all plays out.

As I write this, Maui is at 1242 and Bangkok is at 1122. But there is still lots of room for Bangkok (and French) to climb the points ladder.

Could you imagine, after all the talk about Maui and Bangkok, if French Lick swooped in during the last win to claim another title? That would be crazy.

Looking at the totals, I kind of feel like this (1242) is Maui's peak total. Maybe he could get to 1255 with some ATO luck, but this feels like his max point total. Which remember would be an all-time JBL record.

Bangkok is at 1122 but can actually, quite realistically, get to 1261. That would require the sun and moon and all worlds aligning perfectly, but it is actually possible. So that's why I'm saying it's not over.

And while French coasts along in 3rd place, they could still get to the 1175 region. So you just never know.

The other races of interest:

- 4th place is still up for grabs. Brussels has the inside track. Golden is hanging around the Wack could still be a factor as well.

- 7th/8th place looks to be a battle between Seoul and Idaho. Either way, both appear to be locks to get 3 keepers. 

- 9th to 11th appear to be locked in some order - Arctic, Juan and Cali

- 12th/13th - a bit of a late season surge from Bellingham and disinterest from Vancouver means 12th place is still up for grabs. While it doesn't mean much overall - getting a 2nd keeper could be a real value for one team. 

And while Norfolk is destined for 14th and no keepers, I give the Doctor full credit for signing Free Agents to the bitter end. Full commitment to the craft and trying to improve and he gets an A for effort from me. 

Other random thoughts:

• Did anyone else see what Isaiah Roby and Drew Eubanks did last night? Career nights at the right time for Golden.
• Tanking is reaching new levels and this really does enforce the idea that JBL teams should keep some Free Agent dollars for the late season bargains. While grabbing the star FA's early in the season can be important - so too can getting the late season tank stars.
• Will Zion really get traded this offseason? I didn't think that the Pelicans would ever consider it after having to move on from Anthony Davis - but can they really afford to keep him and pay him max dollars?
• I know for Fantasy that Jokic is still the MVP - but I'm going with Dejounte Murray as my Fantasy MVP. He has been the Viagra for Kok this season. I still think Kok might have the toughest keeper decisions we've seen in awhile for a JBL owner. Getting those 4 keepers right will be important for Kok to come back and be a contender again next season. For the rest of us, as the summer progresses, it will be interesting to see which guys the Kok will be parting with. I think he has 8 options for keepers and will only be able to keep 4 of them. Count me as intrigued.
• The Brussels team is very impressive considering they are in 4th and haven't been able to add any Free Agents since essentially the start of 2022. Outside of Simmons, the team has remained pretty healthy for most of the year and still look to be the favourite to grab 4th and 4 keepers. Imagine if Brussels had used the $45 he spent on Simmons on another player of that caliber. 
• I laughed at Andre Drummond's quote about whether he'd be back in Brooklyn next season. No. That was pretty much his answer. I wonder where he ends up? As bad as he might be in real life, he can certainly stuff the fantasy boxscore when he gets minutes. He has 71 steals and 61 blocks in 66 games in 19 minutes a game. 
• The other JBL team with some difficult keeper decisions will be Arctic. With only 2 spots likely available and Kyrie, Maxey, Jalen Green, Tyler Herro, and Kyle Kuzma to choose from - who gets the axe? 

OK, that's all for now. Enjoy the home stretch. We're getting another 1st time JBL winner. It's going to be close and it will be interesting to see how injuries, tanking and resting impacts the JBL teams.

Week 22 - The Bangkok Attack

As week 22 in the JBL wraps up, we are looking at a very tight race a top the standings. Maui is at 1177 and Bangkok is at 1135. The gap is just 42 and in fact, at one point, was just 29 points as Kok hit 1148 briefly.

Can the Kok do it? A few weeks ago I would have said probably not. But now, with the stars aligning, I definitely believe the Kok can do it. Will he? Well, let's see what the final 3 weeks bring.

How does the Kok reach the top of the mountain? Well, there are actually lots of avenues which has to be concerning for Maui. What categories should we be watching for the final weeks?

3PT% 

Currently, the Kok sits 3rd (36.5%) but has room to gain 26 points with some continued to good shooting from deep. Look at these 3% numbers from last week. Hart 46%, Mitchell 47%, Edwards 52%, Rozier 44% and JJJ 46%. Can they keep it up or will they regress to the norm? For the season - Hart 34%, Mitchell 36%, Edwards 35%, Rozier 38% and JJJ 32%. Whether this bunch stays hot from downtown or not could mean some additional points for the Kok.

Maui sits at 36.2% but could be a hot streak away from getting back in the mix.

ATO

Kok and Bellingham are essentially tied at 2.067 but Kok gets the nod based on percentage points. That's a big 13 points for Kok to hold onto. And Maui is lurking behind at 2.041 so it's not out of the question that they make a late run. Draymond is back and FVV should help. Maui sure could use Lonzo about now but he doesn't appear close to returning. 

BLOCKS

The Kok could gain 52 points in a perfect world. There are 5 teams within 10 blocks so I think we should see some movement here in the coming weeks.

FG%

The Kok (47.7%) had caught Cali (47.8%) briefly last night so this is another potential 13 points for the Kok. Of course, Golden (47.6%) is right on the Kok's heels and might be a concern. 

Maui and Seoul are deadlocked (Seoul ahead by fractions) at 46.4% and Maui could use a +13 here. 

POINTS

Bangkok is now within 100 points of Golden which would give him another +20 in the standings. The Wack is just 46 points behind the Kok though so there is some movement possibilities here both ways for the Kok. 

STEALS

Bangkok has a 15 steal lead on Maui. That might be too large a gap to make up but you never know these days. That's a 26 point swing if Maui could somehow catch the Kok.

REBOUNDS

Maui is just 4 rebounds ahead of the Kok now. This would be a 30 point swing if it happens. Just this category alone would move the current standings to 1162 to 1150 for Maui - meaning the Kok would only need 13 more points to get into the lead. 

Kok and Maui were the top rebounding teams last week (273 to 248) so the Kok does have the horses to out-rebound the Ribs.

For me, it's 3PT%, Blocks and Rebounds that will decide the title now. If Kok stays hot, there's over 100 points available to him still. That would obviously put him in rarified air and well over 1200 points. Can they do it? Only time will tell.

What I do know is that 2 things will likely happen this season....

1) We will see another NEW 1st time JBL title winner 

2) French's streak of 7 consecutive 1st or 2nd finishes will come to an end.

Buckle up...the last few weeks should be very entertaining. 

Week 21 - Random Thoughts

• Can Bangkok make a late charge?  He was within 100 points on the weekend. This Kok team is not going away
• All that said, French still hanging around. When CP3 went down I thought that was it for them. I didn’t factor in 37 year old LeBron going mental
• It almost feels anti-climatic if someone catches Maui now. They’ve been the best team all year. In 1^st place since week 2.
• Looks like 4^th is between the Wack and Brussels but I am still hopeful, slightly, that my Golden rejects can make a late season charge. I feel like my Golden boys are like the Canucks – dreaming of the playoffs (or JBL 4^th) when really chances are slim.
• To start Week 22 Maui is at 1203, Bangkok at 1089 and French at 1085
• Brussels at 901, Wack at 897 and Golden at 845
• My lineup for Week 22 features 8 Free Agents. My overall salary is $201 and my active roster is just $102 dollars. There is no way I should have a chance.
• Keep an eye on 3PT% as Arctic/Maui/Bangkok are all at 36.1% - could be a swing category
• Watch ATO as Bangkok/Maui/Bellingham are all pretty tight
• Blocks is interesting too as Golden and Cali are proving to be a thorn in Kok’s tip as we keep that category interesting
• FG% is close – Maui could do with catching Seoul and Golden is right on Kok’s tail
• Scoring is really balanced and even. 9 teams in the 11000’s. 4 teams within 41 points (6^th to 9^th in points)
• Kok caught Maui in steals. 26 point swing on the line here.
• Rebounds is also tight. Maui is just 29 boards ahead of the Kok
• Maui really needs VanVleet, Draymond and Lonzo to return ASAP. Looks like Fred and Draymond are back this week so that’s going to help in a number of categories. The challenge might still be teams resting players down the stretch.
•  Some other things I’m watching or thinking about….

§  If Arctic only gets 2 keepers – who will they be? So many good options. Kyrie. Maxey. Green. Herro.

§  Jalen Green is really coming on as of late. Could he be the future star that everyone predicted?

§  Can Arctic catch Juan? The gap is only 43 points to start the week. Both teams have room to grow in the PTS category so it will be interesting to watch. Getting a 3^rd keeper can be a big deal.

§  Who will Idaho’s 2 keepers be – Zion, Jamal Murray and Trae for 2 spots

§  Bellingham is showing signs of life. They are in 12^th to start Week 22. So maybe Kawhi does get a keeper buddy for next season? Cole Anthony? Saddiq Bey?

§  And what’s happening to the Jizzlies? Fading away. Not having PG13 for ages hurts. And now no CJ McCollum. They might be looking at just Cade Cunningham for next season.

§  Golden is likely getting just 3 keepers. I’m likely keeping Giddey because of his potential. And I need someone to give me the potential to do a shotgun beer. I gotta keep Garland coming off his All Star season. But who gets the 3^rd spot? Is it SGA for $21 or Miles Bridges for $19? SGA has been on fire as of late but earlier this season he was average at best. Miles stuffs the categories but is atrocious from downtown (SGA has been horrid as well this year from deep). Soooo, I’ll be watching the offseason closely. Does Miles stay in Charlotte? He’s a restricted FA and could get a big offer. If John Collins can get 5/125 – what is Miles worth? Probably the same? I also think of Miles as the 3^rd option in Charlotte (behind LaMelo and Rozier) even though he leads the team in scoring. Funny.

 - And I'm quite intrigued by this year's NCAA tourney. There are quite a few interesting teams and rookies. Maybe I'll even fill out a bracket this year. 

OK - that's it for now....onto Week 22. 

Week 20 - Three Things....

 The JBL chat board is quiet. The JBL banter is quiet. While JBL teams can still make trades – I don’t think there are a lot of offers floating around out there. Is the JBL season already over? Have we all just accepted our plot in the standings?

 

I will say, and maybe I say it every year, because we use a season long rotisserie style league – at this stage of the season (75% complete) – it’s really hard to drastically move up or down in the standings. So be it.

 

So what am I going to talk about in Week 20? I could discuss why Maui is going to win. But I will save that for the last couple weeks. I could discuss where the rest of us went wrong. But most of us know those reasons already.

 

So I’m going back to my pie-in-the-sky JBL ideas. Maybe one day we can do our AGM at a restaurant or a backyard patio again like we did many years ago. Would be great to see the JBL gang all together again.

 

1)    Expansion. I’d love to see the JBL go to 15 teams. Whether it’s my son Ryan, a colleague at my work, or I’m told we have other interested parties who want to join – I’m fine with expansion. Currently, with 14 teams and 16 players per team, the JBL uses 224 NBA players on JBL rosters. Adding a 15^th team pushes that total to 240 – another 16 players. Everyone says that weakens the FA pool. OK. Fair enough. But I would also say there are a handful of guys that SHOULD have been drafted on JBL auction night as they all go for BIG bucks when the first night of Free Agency comes around. Adding another team, to me, just means all those early free agents get drafted at auction. A quick review indicates that our opening night of Free Agency saw 14 players signed (almost another full JBL roster) and included guys like Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Coby White, Cody Martin, Jarred Vanderbilt and others. The 2^nd night of free agency saw Lu Dort, Ant Simons, Alex Caruso and Kevin Love all signed as Free Agents. So, initially, there are good players that don’t get drafted at Auction. I think the pool is deep enough to support a 15^th team.

 

2)    Expanded rosters. Currently, it’s 12 starters, 3 bench and 1 injured reserve spot. While I had previously been on the 15 total players bandwagon I’m now on the 16 players total bandwagon. Get rid of IR and just have 12 starters and 4 bench players. Doesn’t matter if they are injured or not. Just give JBL teams more depth and options. And currently, 11 of 14 teams have 16 players on their roster anyway.

 

3)    I’m also a big fan of adding a 2^nd round to the JBL rookie draft. All 2^nd round picks would be $1 dollar. Teams could have the option to ‘PASS’ if they didn’t like the looks of anyone. Currently, there are 17 NBA rookies on JBL rosters and 26 rookies have spent time on JBL rosters this season so we do like our rookies and taking chances on them. So why not add this option at the start of the season? At the end of every JBL auction teams are scrambling for $1 dollar players to take fliers on. Having a 2^nd rookie pick already on JBL rosters reduces our auction time and let’s teams take fliers on players early on in the season. A 2 round rookie draft could mean up to 28 rookies get drafted. Of course, teams could pass if they want to and many teams don’t put much stock into rookies but it could be another trade options for teams. While a 2^nd rookie pick isn’t for everyone, I think it would add a little bit of strategy and fun for those owners who like to take chances on the young guys. If you don't want a 2nd rookie - you don't have to draft one. Simple as that. 

 

I’ve got some other ones but these are relatively easy in my mind….

 

That’s it for this week. Short and sweet.