182 Picks. Fourteen Alibis.

I asked Hiawatha to give me less material. He answered with LeBron James at 13 and Stephen Curry at 16. That is an excellent response to a 4–56 three-season record: hire people who know what winning looks like and hope they explain it to you slowly.

Jalen Williams and Jarrett Allen followed. Draymond Green arrived in round ten, because apparently this rescue mission needed a louder supervisor. I can respect the opening. I am also keeping the basement keys until the results justify changing the locks.

LeBron and Steph have changed basketball. Let's see whether they can change Hiawatha's address.

John spent September discussing Embiid at number one. Tonight the Professors took Cooper Flagg at ten. Jamel drafted Embiid at 49. Even the bluff found another franchise.

Sabonis, Kyrie Irving, Chet Holmgren and Walker Kessler make the opening look serious. Then Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Collin Murray-Boyles and Cedric Coward turn up, and suddenly I'm reading a course catalog. John, I am not grading the thesis on what this roster might become. I am grading the team you actually submit. The Lab cannot send extra credit.

Office hours are over. Set the lineup, Professor.

Aris and Dan started Greek Freak with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at three. Excellent. Then Kevin Durant, James Harden and Damian Lillard filled the next three rounds. Paul George, DeMar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday joined later. Shai, congratulations: you've been placed in charge of the reunion.

I know these names can play. So does every person who has watched basketball for the last decade. Two managers still have to turn that recognition into one lineup. If this works, share the credit. If it doesn't, I want to see which one of you claims he was only handling the late rounds.

Two managers. One roster. Absolutely no joint custody of the excuses.

I have reviewed the inventory. Victor Wembanyama at two. Bam Adebayo at 27. Jalen Duren at 30. Three selections, three centers on the draft sheet. Big TONE walked into a fourteen-team draft and started buying the ceiling.

Stephon Castle arrived in round four to establish that guards were, in fact, available. The opening is a position bet, and a very visible one. I am not accepting a sales pitch that describes every spare big as untouchable and then asks for somebody else's best guard. We can all read the original invoice.

The warehouse is impressive, TONE. The asking price still needs a second signature.

Antonios took Jayson Tatum at nine, LaMelo Ball at twenty, Jaylen Brown at 37 and De'Aaron Fox at 48. Four rounds, four names that make a draft screenshot look expensive. The desk acknowledges receipt. It does not include a guaranteed finishing position.

Onyeka Okongwu, OG Anunoby and Nikola Vucevic followed. That is enough recognizable inventory to make the Angry Team dangerous on paper. Antonios, retain the paperwork when the season starts. You cannot return a roster because the other manager refused to be intimidated by the letterhead.

The stars are under contract. The outrage still has to produce something.

Luka Doncic at four and Trae Young at 25. Lateef, thank you for finally making selections in a draft room that exists. NYC Above The Rim then added Deni Avdija and Lauri Markkanen. This receipt survives basic inspection.

Myles Turner and Kristaps Porzingis came in rounds eight and nine. The names at the top will sell the argument in the chat. The whole roster has to settle it against Astoria Hoops in the first matchup. Your 2024 championship remains on the books. It is not collateral for every prediction you make this October.

You already own a nameplate. We are billing this season separately.

Mike Petridis began with Scottie Barnes at twelve and Alperen Sengun at seventeen, then Derrick White and Donovan Clingan. It is a new set of names for a question the league already knows: what happens when a very good regular season has to survive the bracket?

The consecutive 16–4 seasons are still excellent. Jamel's 1,737–1,471 final is still the most relevant reply. Mike does not need the Gazette to admire another neat opening. He needs this roster to make the old certificate joke difficult to reuse. We would happily spend the ink on something else.

Fresh roster. Same shelf. Please put something on it.

The Babycakes reached the turn and left with Jalen Brunson at fourteen and Karl-Anthony Towns at fifteen. Janise's complaint about the draft position has now been entered beside two very recognizable selections. Julius Randle in round four adds another familiar New York chapter to the reading list.

Dyson Daniels and Desmond Bane are here too. This is a basketball roster, with a souvenir section. Third place in 2025 and third again in 2026 gave Babycakes the room's most consistent podium address. The aim now is to move upstairs without turning the whole season into a Knicks group chat.

The turn supplied two picks. It did not supply a championship exemption for good taste.