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Time to bring the smackdown back to the NBBA!

me, copilot, and our staff are coming along to bring fire to the league this season


Get ready

Welcome to the new teams.

Big 8:
ElectricTriangles - champions of league USA II.2
Mountain Eagles - champions of league USA II.4
Philadelphia Cheesesteaks - champions of league USA II.3

Great 8:
Delaware 87ers - best regular season record.
The Phantom Thieves - champions of league USA II.1

Is there a reason there's a pipeline from II.1 to the Great 8?

While I'm happy to be back here, I really don't feel like it's deserved. Yes, I had the best regular season record of Division 2 conference champs that didn't win a league title, but I did not have the best record of the other non League Champs in Divison 2. Kings Knights had a better record than my 19-3, but were unfortunate to be in the same conference as Tough's Mountain Eagles and finished 2nd on PD.

I've been in that exact same spot before. It sucked then, and I think it sucks now. Best record of all non League Champs should promote period, regardless of whether they won their conference.

Just my $0.02.

Last edited by lvess at 4/29/2026 7:14:13 PM

It was a blood bath league and I honestly wanted to get the hell out of there just for all of them to be in my same division LOL.

Thanks! Hopefully can linger around a bit instead of being a one hit wonder

Alright we got some heat! Time to break down some of the preseason trades for those who were living under a rock.
Welcome to SNTV
Where the inSaNity is real

Brought to you by tough, copilot, and friends


Offseason Moves

🚨🦍🥈 SILVERBACKS STRIKE AGAIN

Defending champion Silverbacks weren’t waiting around — they upgraded from Douglas Carmona to John Valentin in a last‑second blockbuster.

💠 Stark Contrast had a handshake deal with the Mountain Eagles, but the champs swooped in late with an offer the Contrast brass “couldn’t refuse”

Silverbacks now form a Big 3 with O’Rourke, Kyle, and Valentin, while Carmona trade buzz popped off instantly once the deal hit the wire


CARMONA ON THE MOVE — AND FAST💨

🦅 Mountain Eagles and 🧀 Philly Cheesesteaks jumped into an instant bidding war, both desperate to land the scoring punch they needed as they promoted from Division II

Silverbacks chose the highest bidder — and the Eagles prevailed, forming a new “Mid 3” with Lince, Marino, and Carmona

Eagles were desperate for a scoring punch and were blindsided after not receiving Valentin while already trading away Pat Connor & Chuck Staley, 2 critical pieces to their II championship core. They paid a hefty price to take his services away from a Division Rival, but their starting 5 looks solidified.

🥩🧀💥 PHILLY CHEESESTEAKS LAND THEIR STAR

After losing the Carmona sweepstakes, Philly pivots FAST and secures Chan Tin On, the Hong Kong scoring machine

One of the NBBA’s most dynamic guards now heads to the Big 8, giving Philly the elite creator they’ve been chasing all offseason

Before diving into the power rankings, we have to address the elephant in the room: what the hell happened to the Big 8???

In recent history, the Great 8 has been beating up on the Big 8, winning 6 of the 7 last championships (shoutout Stark for representing the Big 8) and in my stint over the last 5 seasons, consistently having more top end quality and depth. That looks set to change this season though with the Big 8 looking to go 6 to 8 deep depending on whether a few unfinished teams decide to buy reinforcements (more on that below).

I'm sure a lot of D2 promotees were hoping to go to the Big 8 but Electric Triangles, Philly Cheesesteaks and Mountain Eagles might now be regretting that outcome...

Last edited by TonyC at 5/2/2026 2:17:14 PM

I had always hoped to land in the Big 8 whenever I promoted into the NBBA. Unfortunately, this has probably been the worst season to promote into the conference in a long time.

Seems like the Big 8 may be a bit deeper top to bottom. From my view, as of now the Great 8 still has what may be 2 of the 3 real contenders with yourself and Silver (and Plasma of course representing our side). Though time will tell how each side will shape up.

Preseason Power Rankings

Now diving into the power rankings. As usual, the below are a tier rankings where I group teams together based how I project they will perform this season but do not rank teams within a tier. Some (many?) of you will be mad at where I ranked your team, oh well 🤷‍♂️

Tier 1: Contenders
Teams: Silverbacks, Splash Gang, Mill City Thunder
Analysis: The reigning champ, runner up, and a re-loaded Mill City squad.

This league is Silverback's to lose, but they have some real competition. They were dominant last season on the way to their franchise's 2nd championship, and did not rest on their laurels as they upgraded Carmona to NT star John Valentin over the offseason. And with Carmona's sale, they have a new war chest if they need to make any more moves. Uh oh...

Mill City made 2 big additions to their front court, adding a Father/Son duo (Herman and Hermansson) to supplement their NT guards Q and Cis.

Splash Gang pushed Silverbacks to game 3 in the finals last season but didn't quite have enough to pull it out. Maybe things would be different if they had home court...

HCA could be a deciding factor again in Season 72, but I'd be surprised if the champ is not one of these 3 teams.

Tier 2: Playoffs Probably?
Teams: Electric Triangles, Phantom Thieves, Stark Contrast, Philadelphia Cheesesteaks
Analysis: 3 D2 champs along with a recent NBBA champ. Only 1 of these teams has a relatively high salary (Cheesesteaks at 950K), but all 4 are well built teams that have some star power but more importantly the needed depth to win games and perform throughout the a long regular season.

Stark Contrast rehauled their entire guard rotation over the last half season, with 4 new additions including future NT star Jalen Shaw. Electric Triangles recent TL activity makes Stark's look like child's play, as they added 6 new players to earn a surprise D2 championship as the 3 seed. Phantom Thieves fields a deep team and has not even touched their promo bonus yet, and Cheesesteaks already added a veteran scoring guard to complement their 2 strong SBers.

Tier 3: Relegation Risks
Teams: Neanderthals, LionPride, Mountain Eagles, Visionaries, Tar Team, Delaware 87ers
Analysis: There is a mix of teams in this group. 1 team has the highest salary in the entire league as of now, but also has a 35yo center with a $315K salary listed on the TL for $77K, and he might not even sell at that price (Neanderthals). 2 are Great 8 playoff teams from last season who sold multiple guys before the PO deadline and have yet to replace them (Visionaries and Tar Team). 1 is the victim of being in the wrong conference: they hold the 3rd highest salary in NBBA at $978K (after currently TL sales get finalized) but rely on too many aging players on their bench to beat out the other teams in the Big 8 (LionPride). 1 is a recent D2 champ who made a splash offseason add in Douglas Carmona, but might not have the star power or depth needed to push for the playoffs (Mountain Eagles). The last team is back in NBBA after demoting two seasons ago but currently has a bunch of players who are good in D2 but might not be up to snuff for the NBBA (Delaware 87ers)

I almost bumped Visionaries down to Tier 4 but they've shown an appetite to coast during the regular season while training their new guys, and then load up to win a relegation series. Beware

Tier 4: Are you tanking, or just on vacation last week?
Teams: Big Gulp Reincarnated, LA Lions, TAR HEELS #1
Analysis: All 3 teams sit below $700K salary with unfinished rosters, but also hold enough money from recent sales or their promo bonus to make a real push for the playoffs if they care to. It is hard to project what they will choose to compete or go on cruise control this season, grab the #1 pick and earn close to $2M by staying at the salary floor. Tim

Herman and Hermansson haha that got a chuckle from me