David tops the class, Kenny steals Kawhi, and Kevin buys every rookie in the shop
Every roster graded against the 9 October projections, then stress-tested against the other fifteen in a simulated head-to-head season. If you hate your grade, take it up with the spreadsheet. If you hate your roster, the trade desk is open.
Draft grades
Grades weigh two things: how good the roster projects against the field, and how much value each team got relative to where it picked. Category ranks are out of 16, current rosters, after the 14 October waiver run.
The awards
Trophies will not be posted. Screenshots will.
Steals and reaches
Proj is the projected per-game nine-category rank. ADP is the market's average draft position. A steal went well after both. A reach went well before.
Ten best steals
Ten biggest reaches
Pecking order
Each roster's projected chance of winning a weekly matchup against an average opponent from the other fifteen. The dashed line is a coin flip. Current rosters, games-weighted.
Category map
Where every roster ranks in every category, 1 to 16. Green is a strength, red is a hole. Tap a column to sort. A punt shows up as a wall of red in one column, which is the point.
Deals that help both sides
Find your deal
Numbers are the change in projected weekly win rate for each side. Easy sell means the other manager gets the higher draft pick, which is how deals get accepted in this league.
Most wanted
Players who appear in the most win-win swaps.
Season preview
The Knicks are defending champions after beating the Spurs 4-1 in June, with Brunson as Finals MVP. Here is what moves the needle for Showdown rosters.
Title odds
MVP odds
Rookie of the Year
Storylines that shape the Showdown
Ten players who decide it
Inside the Showdown
History from the almanac, applied to this season.
How this was built
Rosters come from the draft board and the 14 October waiver run. Player values are the 9 October projections: per-game nine-category z-scores, with field goal and free throw percentages weighted by volume and turnovers counted against. Proj rank in the tables is that per-game rank.
Team category totals add up every player's projected value, weighted by projected games. The pecking order plays every roster against every other in all nine categories and reports the average chance of winning the week. Grades blend that projection with value gained relative to draft slot, then a human applied judgement and some spite.
The trade desk tested every one-for-one swap between two rosters where both players went in the first 140 picks and within 45 picks of each other, and kept the ones that raise both teams' projected weekly win rate. It does not check positions or how attached anyone is to their guys.
Odds and news are as reported between 22 September and 14 October 2026 and will date quickly.