15thMemphis Grizzlies
| PG | John Wall |
| SG | Pat Beverley |
| G | Elfrid Payton |
| SF | Andrew Wiggins |
| PF | Julius Randle |
| C | Marcin Gortat |
| F/C | Rodney Hood |
| 8THMan | Trey Burke |
Let’s get to it… Memphis, bottom of the West. Justin, sorry bro but this is a 3 stud league and John Wall, with his fitness issues and off season body, cant do it alone. Major bummer is that the Grizz do not have their 2019 1stso will really need to get creative in the transfer market this year. I couldn’t be lower on Wiggins as fantasy prospect and Payton’s (even though the contract is great) assists will take a huge hit with Jrue handling the rock in NOLA. Julius Randle is a nice piece that would be a key candidate to sell high or move at the deadline.
14th San Antonio Spurs
| PG | Spencer Dinwiddie |
| SG | Jamal Murray |
| SFG | Avery Bradley |
| SF | Evan Fournier |
| PF | Jabari Parker |
| C | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| F/C | Jusef Nurkic |
| 8th Man | Kristaps Porzingis* |
Next up, Sean with the San Antonio Spurs. This is purely down to 2 things… Porzingis being out until the new year and Jabari Parker being fit. KAT will be doing KAT things, irrespective of if Butler stays as a team-mate. As with Memphis, San An simply do not have the firepower this season to pull up any trees although Fournier and Murray will have the usual breakout season hype they bring every season.
13th Phoenix Suns
| PG | Chris Paul |
| SG | Josh Richardson |
| G | Bogdan Bogdanovic |
| SF | TJ Warren |
| PF | John Collins |
| C | Hassan Whiteside |
| F/C | Jordan Clarkson |
| 8thMan | DaMarcus Cousins* |
Phoenix are missing Cousins due to injury for the best part of the season and this will really hurt their campaign. Seth Curry coming back will be a bonus as long as he gets mins in a stud back court in Portland as well as the development of John Collins. Whiteside is required to step up and be a max guy in Miami with CP3 staying injury free all season if the Suns are to manage a season of respectability. Having said that, with 66m of expiring contracts and a potentially high lottery pick next year should see exciting times next off season – Swap young talent or picks for a CP3 rental at the deadline to put the franchise on the front foot going in to 2019.
12th Dallas Mavericks
| PG | Kyrie Irving |
| SG | Klay Thompson |
| G | Eric Gordon |
| SF | Harrison Barnes |
| PF | Paul Millsap |
| C | Nikola Vucevic |
| F/C | Otto Porter |
| 8thMan | Colin Sexton |
I love this side in 9 cat – I don’t love it in a points league. There is so much name value its untrue… The only issues are players like Klay, Barnes and Porter just don’t do enough in this format. Love what Sexton will develop in to once he has the minutes behind him, Vuc is always good value in this league and I think everyone hopes Denver Millsap can turn back in to ATL Millsap.
10m in the bank means there could still be moved to be made but, with 2 x 1stsand 3 x 2nds, the future looks bright for Dallas.
11th LA Lakers
| PG | Dennis Smith Jnr |
| SG | Tyreke Evans |
| G | Lou Williams |
| SF | Kawhi Leonard |
| PF | Rudy Gay |
| C | Brook Lopez |
| F/C | Luka Doncic |
| 8thMan | Markelle Fultz |
I really like this franchise, and the ranking of 11 is more a testament to how competitive this conference is. Having DSJ, Fultz, Doncic, Isaac, Bridges and Bell tied up for a few more years is great news for LA.
Kawhi’s move north of the border raises so many questions over his dedication for this season. All Lakers vets are in relatively new positions this season so how this pans out for them has huge ramifications to how the IBL Lakers perform this season.
10th Portland Trailblazers
| PG | Damian Lillard |
| SG | Gordon Hayward |
| G | DeAron Fox |
| SF | Nikola Mirotic |
| PF | Dwight Howard |
| C | DeAndre Ayton |
| F/C | Taj Gibson |
| 8th Man | JJ Redick |
In 10th we have The Trailblazers, they have 1 stud in Lillard and a plethora of middle of the fantasy road guys in Hayward, Fox and Howard. The drafting of Ayton with the 1.02 was a no brainer and a move that will work out for both the short and long term. A lot will rest on Lillard maintaining his insane levels of fitness and Howard and Hayward fitting in with their respective franchises. I can’t see them cracking the play offs if teams 9-5 stay relatively injury free – But you never know.
9th Minnesota Timberwolves
| PG | Russell Westbrook |
| SG | Jaylen Brown |
| G | Trae Young |
| SF | Gianni Antetokounmpo |
| PF | Lauri Markkanen |
| C | Willie Cauley-Stein |
| F/C | Jarrett Allen |
| 8thMan | Josh Jackson |
Feast or famine is on the agenda here…. Minnesota have done a great job turning their 34 rookie picks in to Russ & Giannis and a host of youngsters – The issue I see here is that there is no in-between. Westbrook’s and Markkanen’s injuries really hurt but there is so much to look forward to with this franchise.
With 4 more 1stnext season, will these be used for youth or packaged for strength that mean the signing of 2 of the top 6 players in the IBL won’t be in vain?
8th Denver Nuggets
| PG | Jrue Holiday |
| SG | Kris Dunn |
| G | Dante Exum |
| SF | Nicolas Batum |
| PF | Blake Griffin |
| C | Jonas Valenciunas |
| F/C | LeBron James |
| 8th Man | Derrick White* |
Shayne had a huge amount to spend in this season’s free agency and his acquisitions of LeBron James and Blake Griffin for a combined $40m looks to be astute. A new coach in Toronto may see JV get that uptick in minutes he has been missing for the past 4 years and Batum with his flex and salary is a risk worth taking. News is that Evan Turner will run the offence a lot more in Portland – If this can translate for fantasy, then this is very good news for the Nuggets. Derrick White injury removed him from starting PG duty for the Spurs so expect Jerian Grant to step up as the 1stman off the bench for Shayne.
7th Golden State Warriors
| PG | Jeff Teague |
| SG | Reggie Jackson |
| G | Dennis Schroeder |
| SF | Will Barton |
| PF | LaMarcus Aldridge |
| C | DeAndre Jordan |
| F/C | Jimmy Butler |
| 8th Man | Marvin Bagley III |
I’m taking this franchise’s season based on each players situation instead of upside… Barton now starts so will not run the offense for the 2ndunit so will take a usage hit, LMA has another mid-range junkie in DDR in San An, Schroeder will be back up to Westbrook once he returns from injury, DeAndre Jordan has to find a fit in Dallas and fuck knows what is going down with Jimmy Butler. Move this side down a couple of spots if it goes totally tits up or move it up 2 if they all click in their respective situations. So much going on here that we aren’t even going to discuss Reggie Jackson coming back off poor form/bad injuries as well as the drafting of MBIII.
6th LA Clippers
| PG | Kemba Walker |
| SG | Devin Booker |
| G | Brandon Ingram |
| SF | Ben Simmons |
| PF | Marc Gasol |
| C | Al Horford |
| F/C | Joe Ingles |
| 8thMan | Mario Hezonja |
Look up “Steady” in a dictionary and you will see “The 2018 LA Clippers”. This franchise has a wealth of top 50 players in Simmons, Walker, Booker and Gasol. Ingram may struggle to push on with LeBron and his vet cronies there and Horford, like anyone in Boston, can be boom or bust on any night given their win-by-committee set up. The 5-8 range is totally up for grabs.
5th Sacramento Kings
| PG | Mike Conley |
| SG | Paul George |
| G | Lonzo Ball |
| SF | Kevin Durant |
| PF | Danillo Gallinari |
| C | Joel Embiid |
| F/C | Robert Covington |
| 8thMan | Derrick Favors |
Ah what an eventful off season was had by Sacramento… But look past the breakdown of the GM and the fire sale for cap space, The Kings are looking in very good shape for 2018. This team is absolutely stacked with KD, Embiid, George and Conley leading the line this season but they also have a nice mix of vets with upside in Gallinari, Favors, Collison and Covington. The top 4 is the top 4 but Charlie is the best of the rest.
4th Oklahoma City Thunder
| PG | CJ McCollum |
| SG | Victor Oladipo |
| G | Ricky Rubio |
| SF | Jason Tatum |
| PF | Andre Drummond |
| C | Rudy Gobert |
| F/C | Draymond Green |
| 8thMan | Enes Kanter |
On any other day I could have ranked OKC 2ndin the West, but today is today and today they are 4th. There are some guys here that are absolute beasts in the NBA but these numbers and intangibles do not translate to the IBL (Tatum & Draymond). Drummond (even though his contract is eye watering) and Gobert do not take the hit most other bigs do with the scoring change based on their insane block numbers whilst the back court of CJ, Oladipo and Rubio is safe if not spectacular.
3rd Utah Jazz
| PG | Steph Curry |
| SG | Donovan Mitchell |
| G | Demar DeRozan |
| SF | Khris Middleton |
| PF | Clint Capela |
| C | Steven Adams |
| F/C | Kyle Kuzma |
| 8thMan | Gary Harris |
Bronze place for Utah… I love this side. Utah might be the most complete side in the West but are hit as their number 1 guy may be rested throughout the season but its looking like Mitchell will make another leap this season to combat this. DeRozan and Middleton will still do a bit of everything although there are question marks over DDR usage. Capela and Adams are walking DD machines so add so much value here. There are worse 8thmen than Gary Harris so this team is definitely one to watch.
2nd New Orleans Pelicans
| PG | Kyle Lowry |
| SG | Bradley Beal |
| G | Zach LaVine |
| SF | Timmy Hardaway Jnr |
| PF | Kevin Love |
| C | Anthony Davis |
| F/C | Myles Turner |
| 8thMan | Caris Lavert |
Now this GM has worked wonders for this franchise… Jeremy took a side that was stacked with contracts and no cap space that missed the play offs and turned this in to .550 side that will now compete for a Western Conference title. Most moves this off season seem to have benefitted NOLA’s guys; Love to run it with LeBron gone, AD to flourish in Cousin’s absence, Lowry to be able to go on the offensive with Kawhi actually being able to defend). When Caris LaVert is your 8thman – You know you are doings things right.
And now on to this fucking limey Brit who is showing up all of North America in this league…
1st Houston Rockets
| PG | James Harden |
| SG | Eric Bledsoe |
| G | D’Angelo Russell |
| SF | Taurean Prince |
| PF | Aaron Gordon |
| C | Nikola Jokic |
| F/C | Tobias Harris |
| 8thMan | Goran Dragic |
I literally have no words for how good this franchise has been run since the start of the league so im not even going to indulge you guys here other than with the words:
I present to you, my former flatmate who I’ve heard have sexual intercourse on numerous occasions* and the 2019 IBL Champions elect; Mark Oakland and The Houston Rockets
*Its an acquired sound.