Oh Brother!

Just two weeks into the NBA season and we already got another big move! Trieu and Thien combined to move quite an intriguing set of pieces, especially after there were talks of a four way trade being explored. In the end, it was the reigning R.O.Y. Damian Lillard who will exit stage left, in return for Rudy Gay and Tyson Chandler. (The two brothers last combined in a trade for Raymond Felton.)

• ID#39: Sour Snails trade Damian Lillard and Samuel Dalembert to Super Ninja for Rudy Gay and Tyson Chandler

First up, how about Super Ninja, who has already undergone a name change today (currently they are "Revamped Team”) and is likely going through a few more monikers before we’re done this season. Thien’s team is the only one with a win in Voltron division so far but they’re clearly looking to make some major moves as they revamp a steady winner that is good but always falling short of contender status. It seems like owner Thien has demanded some post-season success!

It’s a little too early to look at team stats, but Revamped Team currently leads the league in STL, is fifth in AST, and average or below average everywhere else. It looks like they’ll add more to their strengths with Lillard, who is having an outstanding start of the season and averaging 21.1 PTS, 5.4 AST/REB, and 3.6 3PT. He’ll pair with John Wall and Dwyane Wade to be a powerful backcourt. Paul Pierce will now have the starting small forward position all to himself, with Corey Brewer and his 1.9 STL backing him up in the rotation.

A quick free agent trigger has had Thien spin through Kenyon Martin, Zaza Pachulia, Jordan Hamilton, Jeremy Lamb, Steve Blake, Marcus Morris, and Jason Smith already. In fact, they are second in the league with 25 moves — second to Trieu’s 27 moves. It seems like they’ve already dumped Samuel Dalembert and picked up Martell Webster. Dalembert’s 8.1 PTS, 6.6 REB, 1.0 BLK, and 0.9 STL would seem to have some use but he’s already off the roster.

Sour Snails got a nice surprise with a quick return from injury from Russell Westbrook, making Lillard semi-expendable. Trieu has been eager to add another big to pair with DeMarcus Cousins, and it seems like Tyson Chandler will be that answer. A team source said, "Chandler is the key as we can boost our defensive stats with the move and still have stud point guards. We're bringing balance to a small ball core but still have the offensive firepower to take everyone else down! Hahahahaha!" [Some of that quote might be added in by the editor.] Chandler is out for quite a few weeks but upon his return he'll add in a ton of REB/BLK, and Snails can easily play small until he recovers.

The Snails are near the top of the charts in FG%, FT%, 3PT, STL, and PTS and Gay will add to all of that with his 19.3 PTS, 1.9 ST, 1.3 3PT, excellent FT%, plus add in 7.4 REB and almost a BLK per game. It would seem like Gay will take over Klay Thompson’s starter position at SF, and we think this could mean that Thompson’s time with Snails is limited — especially with Trevor Ariza currently going crazy, approximating a pretty dead on impersonation of Gay so far this season.

The backcourt for Snails is still beyond strong with Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, and Thompson, so it looks like Trieu is trying hard to diversify positionally while finding more bigs to plug into the lineup. Viva Vitor! We know Sour Snails is always gunning for a championship and we're excited to see how both of these teams will revamp on the fly while still racking up wins. Rumors are that Thien and Trieu are ready to move more pieces, so fellow owners, get on those trade channels!