Just Keep Losing

Let's take a look at a group of teams that have yet to win a game. Really? Four weeks in and no wins? Ouch. Interestingly, these four teams reside in just two of the divisions. As usual, the ultra-competitive Transformers division has every team above .500 and the Thundercats got their worst team out of the winless column last week. Here's a quick look at our worst teams so far this young season.

Jedi Knights (0-4)
It's been an ugly start of the season for this decrepit franchise. They are ranked 14th in 3PT, REB, STL, second-to-last in PTS, and last in AST and BLK (not to mention moves made). Their one bright spot? Turnovers, where they are ranked first in the league. All the promise from last year's roster has mostly been swept aside as players like Dorell Wright, Jared Dudley, and OJ Mayo have way underachieved. Perhaps a new arena deal and move is necessary?

Dirk Nowitzki is averaging only 5.4 REB per game, Nene is at only 13.4 PTS, and while there are some promising pieces, it all adds up to a whole lot of nothing. David Lee is back to his double double game and Wesley Matthews has built upon his breakout season. Other than that though, it's looking pretty bleak out there for a Jedi Knight. We think it's time for a focused rebuild, with Dirk being dangled for a brighter future.

Fob Stars (0-4)
While the Fobbies have faced a tough schedule early on -- opponents are 12-4 on the season -- there is still enough to cause concern for their ownership group. For one, they don't have a single player averaging more than 16 PPG. That's fine but there's also a whole lot of key players averaging less than double digits. In fact, the entire front line of Chris Kaman, Joakim Noah, and Emeka Okafor are under 10.0 PPG. Those three aren't rebounding that well either, as not one of them is over double digit rebounds -- which is not what Noah was brought in here for. Of course, the huge injury to Zach Randolph hurt, but Jimmy needs more from his big men.

Some bright spots include Chauncey Billups' 2.3 3PT, Nick Young's 16 PPG, and DJ Augustin's 6.6 AST. The return of Michael Beasley will be much appreciated and high hopes still rest on Evan Turner's all around game. Overall the team ranks last in FG% and STL, is weak in FT%, 3PT, REB, and is ranked 14th in AST and PTS. They are only above average in BLK and TO. We recommend waiting for some of these players to turn the corner and then maybe pursue a trade or two.

So Buckets (0-4)
While their expansion partner NJ All-Stars has zoomed out to a winning record, Josh's team has suffered the indignity of waiting for their first win. Facing off their first three weeks against teams that were a combined 10-2 wasn't helping matters either. A win last week against winless Funk Coalition would have been a nice moral boost but that didn't happen. Right now the So Buckets are looking forward to a big WK6 matchup against NJ All-Stars and then two games against other winless teams to right their season.

Statistically, this team has been average in most of the stat categories, shading stronger in FG% and TO, while being weak in FT% and BLK. Before the season, we loved this roster and there's still a lot to like, but when rookie Kyrie Irving is leading this team in scoring, it's more Cleveland Cavaliers than winning franchise. Pau Gasol should be at more than 15.8 PTS, David West has been really bad at 11.8 PTS, while Andre Igoudala and Gerald Wallace are still contributing across the board, but they are only combining for 27.4 PPG. It's too early to make too many moves here, but there might need to be a shakeup to get this roster a winning team that eschews PTS but does all of the little things.

Slam N' Dragon (0-4)
What a fall to the bottom of the standings for Thien's team. They almost won their first game of the season but since then have won fewer and fewer categories each subsequent matchup. Ovearll they are bad at FG% and turnovers, weak in PTS, and dead last in 3PT. They aren't too shabby in REB and are strong in BLK (Wade and Wall average 2.7 BLK combined) but there's not too many other high points here.

John Wall and Jordan Crawford are doing their best to sink the FG% category, and Wall has been a TO machine. Still, Wall is having a good sophomore season and he's going to be a fantasy gem for years to come. Rudy Gay has returned to the court with 18.9 PTS (but strangely, only 0.6 3PT) and Andrew Bynum is a beast down low. With Paul Pierce and Dwayne Wade rounding into shape and returning from injury, the Dragon has slumbered for awhile but is getting ready to rise up just after the Lunar New Year. The question is with this short regular season, is there enough time to catch up?

Smooth Moves

With the owners jockeying to take advantage of the short season, trades have been abundant in this young SlamNation season. Last week, old friends Eric-L of the Fat Jubas and Evanof the Chunky Monkeys put together a small deal aimed at shoring up category needs.

The Monkeys shipped off DeMar DeRozan for 3 point shooter Aaron Afflalo and the versatile Austin Daye. Derozan will give Eric some much needed youth and should provides high volume scoring. For the Monkeys, the key to this deal was Afflalo and his long range capability as well as his defensive prowess. Austin Daye was seen somewhat as a project though his recent slate of starts have thrusted him into the Monkeys lineup.

According to the Monkeys' GM, Evan, "It was tough to give up DeMar - the kid was the most athletic guy we had in our lineup. I wish him all the luck with his new team. We're very happy to have Afflalo and Austin on our squad though. Aaron will be an immediate starter and we'll look for him to be that spot up shooter we're always looking for. Austin is the sleeper of this transaction. We love his upside, his versatility to play that PF position and his ability to hit the 3. We'll need coach to find him more minutes but we're looking forward to seeing him in more and more games."