Power Circle Hoops—Power Rankings, Volume 1
Oops I meant Luka..

Last Week’s Games


Welcome.
As with any season or sport—fantasy or real-life—the first two weeks are always fun. It’s two weeks filled of hot takes and pump fakes. Two weeks of success, if you have someone like Kawhi, the Greek Freak, Anthony Davis—or Lebron. It’s also two weeks of impatience and angst, if you have someone like Zion, Paul George, or Victor Oladipo.
It’s two week of bold predictions, claiming playoff spots, Finals appearances for others. And, quite possibly, early trade regrets. It’s a bunch of chaos, but we live for chaos.
So what is this going to be? For starters, this won’t simply be a league standings. If you want that, go to the app. From week to week, things change. That’s what these rankings are for, a reflection of the trends that you’ll see. You might be particularly low in the standings, like 9th, but if you have a great week and win your matchup handily, you might find yourself 6th or 7th in this ranking, maybe even higher.
Strap in.
- Lifestyle Uniqurns (14–4–0) — Not that it should come as a suprise, but Anthony Davis has taken quite well to his new life as a Laker, averaging 28.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks a night in the opening two weeks of the season. The Brow is getting it done and flourishing next to King James. And what’s fun if the homie Luka can’t have some? He gave up a lot, but the cardinal rule in evaluating trades is who’s getting the best player. After acquiring Doncic in midweek , Francis can kick back with his feet up, watching these fantasy darlings go to town. Sprinkle in some sneaky good production from Kyle Lowry and Danilo Gallinari, and you have yourself the top spot.
- Lovve (13–5–0) — JP has taken some flak from the group for having an auto-drafted roster, but it’s hard to argue he boasts one of the best squads in the league. Andre Drummond and Giannis had big weeks against the defending champs, and with players like Montrezl Harrel and Tristan Thompson, it’s hard to fathom this team losing many matchups in field goal percentage, rebounds, or blocks. Rumored to have Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre on the block early, will someone take the bait?
- Senzu Beans (11–7–0) — Keep an eye out for Godwin’s team. Not only does he boast the Bearded One, a known fantasy gauntlet, Malcom Brogdon is emerging as an early pick for Eastern All-Star. This was almost a clean sweep, winning across the board except in turnovers. Between Harden, Conley (when he picks up), Butler, Walker, and Brogdon, this team should lose very few matchups in scoring this season. My early dark horse candidate.
- CripStreet Hoops (11–6–1) — This matchup was the epitome of “it’s not over, until it’s over,”. Eric used the final day to get the edge he needed and leaned on production from Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan to get the job done. Russell Westbrook had a poor shooting performance against the Heat, but as long as he’s filling the other categories, the field goal percentage can be made up elsewhere. And Blake Griffin hasn’t even returned yet, watch out. This Eric guy is still a useless mongoose, though, but now’s not the time.
- One/Won (12–6–0) — Seyi will be praying for a speedy recovery for Trae Young as he nurses a bad ankle, but couldn’t muster enough from Kyrie’s middle-of-the-pack peformances this week. Despite playing in one extra game, Bojan Bogdanovic should not be outscoring Uncle Drew. KAT’s suspension also came at an inopportune time, but assuming he doesn’t get into any more mischief, Seyi should have his #1 option at his full disposal this week. Early reactions from a Gordon-for-CP3 trade are positive, we’ll see how it plays out.
- Gusauce Mainstream (11–7–0) — My other early dark horse. I’m not sure about you, but I would be shaking my boots facing Donovan Mitchell, Pascal Siakim, and Damian Lillard for a whole week. Benga’s team is exciting as hell to watch, and despite his big men not at their peak yet (J.Allen, C.Capela, H.Whiteside), his stars will do the heavy lifting. One name to watch? Taurean Prince. The young swingman looks to have found a home in Brooklyn, averaging 23.5 points and over 5 made threes in his last two outings.
- JoJo and Friends (8–9–1) — This is about where the committee projected Kelly to be after a decade out of the fantasy game. He’ll be wondering if he should have stayed put with his roster, after dealing away Luka Doncic for a nice return of Sabonis, Aldridge, and Jrue Holiday. Lamarcus hasn’t quite hit his stride yet as with Jrue, but it’s early on. He’s also taking a chance on Eric Gordon, a nice buy-low candidate who surely won’t average less than 10 points for the season. This roster looks much better once Embiid is back on the low block.
- GOAT TopBoyG (6–12–0) — Gary was able to get his first win of the season, off the back of a strong week by De’ Aaron Fox (85 points, 29 assists, 17 rebounds in 4 games). Can he find continued success? This team will go as far as Nikola Jokic takes them, who hasn’t looked his All-NBA best. Glancing at his roster briefly, it’s clear why he’s been involved in trade talks. There needs to be some sort of shaking up. Stay tuned.
- Muscle Memory (6–12–0) — Abey will consider himself a bit unfortunate, narrowly falling to Benga last week. The tandem of Kawhi and Devin Booker will keep every week competitive, but he’d like to see some more production from D’Angelo Russell who’s day-to-day with an ankle injury. And just how much will the Warriors coax out of Russell? This is a lost year for the franchise, it’s interesting to see if his minutes are managed. Looking elsewhere on the roster, Zach Lavine and Isaiah Thomas have been bright spots.
- DDD Allstars (6–12–0) — It’s hard to get a good read on Nick’s team, having been decimated by so many early injuries. Zion, Oladipo, and Draymond Green are all out, three players who would tip the scale in week-to-week matchups. Wendell Carter has had a decent start to the year and we all know what Lou Williams can do with the box score. Nick might also need to dive into the trade market though, if he wants to stay afloat while his stars heal up. Rudy Gobert might be an interesting piece for a team looking for size, rebounds and blocks.
- Mudi Garden Rych (6–12–0) — The last of the 6–12 gang! LeBron James has looked refreshed and revitalized, but outside of him, this roster is pretty thin. Brandon Ingram and Jamal Murray have a lot of work cut out for them if this team wants to climb into the playoff positions, as do Kristaps Porzingis and Tobias Harris. It’s early, but there might need to be some roster shuffling soon.
- Team Mbah (3–15–0) — Dawggaaaaaaa. Another team ruined by injuries. Steph Curry and Paul George would carry this team singlehandedly in any other season, but while they’re out, it’s squarely on the shoulders of CJ McCollum. Can he handle it? So far, no. We’ll see how our Cameroonian comrade responds in the weeks to come.
