The Trilogy

Who are you Lum?! With another mega-deal in the books, GM Lum has turned the league upside down with his wheeling and dealing. Let’s take a look at the new new new Jedi Knights.

• ID#48: Jedi Knights trade Wesley Matthews and D.J. Augustin to Pogiboys for Brandon Jennings and Roy Hibbert

All the offense Lum acquired in the two previous deals — Monta Ellis, Wesley Matthews, Al Jefferson — takes a slight turn as Roy Hibbert enters the picture for Jedi. His 11.2 PTS, 7.2 REB, 1.8 BLK are nice, but his real life reputation is probably better than his fantasy one. Still, Hibbert replaces some of DeAndre Jordan’s BLKs and gives another big to slot next to Jefferson and Mason Plumlee.

Taking on Brandon Jennings is a bit of a gamble. His Achilles heel ruptured and that’s probably bad news for a speedy guard. Jennings was spectacular when he played, with 15.4 PTS, 6.6 AST, 1.9 3PT (albeit on 40.1 FG%) but can he return to form next season? At the same time, Jedi Knights didn’t lost much in this deal. D.J. Agustin, Jennings’ replacement in Detroit is gonna have a huge second half, but Lum isn’t worried about this season anyway. Plus, Agustin was this season's lone free agent pickup for Jedi so far. Moving Wesley Matthews for two potential keeper pieces can be seen as an upgrade.

If you’re keeping track at home, including the earlier season deal with Sour Snails, Lum turned Jimmy Butler and David Lee into Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, and Roy Hibbert. Time will tell if that upgraded the team’s talent overall.

As for Pogiboys, this was a perfectly timed deal as they are cashing in on Jennings while he’s on the injured list. Augustin will directly replace him in real life and in fantasy (and maybe even outdo him, as he’s averaging 18.3 PTS, 9.0 REB, 1.6 3PT in his last seven games), and adding a gunner like Wes Matthews gives the second-to-last 3PT ranked Pogiboys a shot at being competitive in that category.

GM Alvin knew that he was already way far ahead in BLK — Pogiboys literally have 125% more BLK than the second place team — so losing Hibbert won’t be a big deal. And they’ve got Gorgui Dieng waiting in the wings anyway. In fact, Pogiboys has a ton of young talent sitting in the stables, and they probably have some more moves ahead of them as they try to consolidate keeper talent and prepare for their first playoff run!

Mid-Season Report: Thundercats

What was once a powerful division has crumbled as only one team sits with a winning record and the worst team in the league resides in Thundercats. Ouch. [2015 Pre-Season | 2014 Early Season]

Team Spade (9-6)
After assembling a juggernaut in the dispersal draft, Randall saw his powerful team fall to Earth due to numerous injuries. Still, Spade’s first year in SlamNation was an unqualified success as they got a playoff appearance, and a semi-upset win, under their belts. This year, Spade started off 5-1 before going 4-5 in recent weeks, but they'll likely still win the division and face off against one of the strong Voltron teams. A 2015 draft heavy on veterans reflected Randall’s championship aspirations. The return on that draft, fifteen weeks in, is David West and Paul Pierce, as guys like Ersan Ilyasova, J.R. Smith, Anderson Varejao, and Nene Hilario are all gone, after logging about 25+ combined games for Spade.

Injuries have again been an issue this season as Kawhi Leonard has only recently returned, Kobe Bryant is gone for months again, and Al Horford was slow the start the season. Also, franchise cornerstone Kevin Love has been good, but his 42.7 FG% and non-All Star status must hurt. But let’s not weep for Spade as they still have one of the best and most balanced rosters. Horford and Millsap are a wonderful tandem, Eric Bledsoe has adjusted to life with Isaiah Thomas, and Pierce plus Wilson Chandler is just right on the wing. There’s still enough here to contend, as this team has no true weaknesses and is also ranked tops in REB, third in PTS, and fourth in STL. Let’s see what Spade can do in the playoffs for their sophomore season!

Chunky Monkeys (6-8-1)
This is kind of a weird team. Despite a team of mostly gunners, Monkeys rank first in FG% (not to mention third in FT%). Much of that can be attributed to Marc Gasol and Goran Dragic’s high volume shooting combined with ultra-high efficiency. Plus, MVP candidate James Harden is throwing up 27.5 PTS on 18.3 shots and 45.5 FG%. This team is also pretty good at AST/STL, which is expected for a guard heavy team. But then they are near the bottom of the league in 3PT, and near the top in BLK. Very strange!

We can’t continue without shining the light on the #1 and #2 overall picks, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. Wiggins is already on the cusp of stardom and while Parker is out for the year, he showed enough in his twenty five appearances. The two of them will team up with Harden, Gasol, the wonderful Jeff Teague, and either Dragic or Jrue Holiday to form a core that could soon bring Monkeys back to their winning days. In fact, maybe they’re already on their way now. After coming out of the gates with three losses, Evan’s team has managed three straight wins. They are also in the playoff race, as a non-winning record could still get them into the post-season. They have huge weaknesses in 3PT and REB, but after the greatest draft positions ever, we don’t expect Chunky Monkeys to be down for long.

NJ All-Stars (5-10)
Our division winners the past two seasons has seen their season collapse into a disorientating mess. Eddie has never faced this sort of adversity before. Can he stay mentally strong? The thing is, NJ All-Stars is still sort of the in the playoff picture. Sure, they’re on a six game losing streak, but LeBron James is back! And if All-Stars can hit the playoffs, could Paul George return also?... This team is last in FG%, turns the ball over a lot, and can’t really rebound. The good news is their motion offense generates a lot of assists and open looks, but you know, that bad shooting isn’t translating to lots of points.

Kyle Lowry has been a stud this year, but Reggie Jackson and Lance Stephenson have lost some of their shine. Both are still doing some versatile things, but their FG% is awful. And Joakim Noah — the answer that wasn’t the answer last post-season — has had trouble with his health and staying in the lineup. The good news is that GM Eddie 2015 RD1 pick, Tobias Harris, has been awesome, with 17.4 PTS, 6.6 REB, 1.1 3PT, 1.0 STL, and 46.5 FG%. He has really helped fill the void left behind by George. However, this season seems like a lost one All-Stars, and they might be better off rallying for the Toilet Bowl and securing a top pick.

Funk Coalition (2-13)
Well, here we go, officially the worst team in the league. Funk started off with six losses, notched two wins, and then slumped to a still ongoing seven game losing streak. They’ve won one category on three separate occasions, likely turnovers. Overall, Funk are pretty terrible at FG%, league worst in PTS, FT% and 3PT, and about league average in AST and STL. They are great at REB and BLK but that just leads to lots of blowout losses and moral victories. The big mid-season trade away of Al Jefferson and Derrick Rose have been a wash so far, as Funk awaits Ricky Rubio’s return to full form. What is owner Jon doing?! Answer: Nobody knows.

On paper, the trio of Rubio, Rondo, and Michael Carter-Williams should throw up an array of counting stats while nuking the percentages and TOs. And the Andre Drummond plus DeAndre Jordan frontline should be enough to provide plenty of everything while also nuking percentages and TOs. However, real life NBA trades have sapped Rondo’s AST numbers and then there’s Josh Smith, who has only found his footing post-Dwight’s injury. Adding insult to injury, sixth keeper Eric Gordon, who was cut earlier this season, is now fantasy relevant again. The most consistent, and only bright spot on this team has been DeMarre Carroll... And let’s not even talk about the 2015 rookies, Dante Exum and Marcus Smart, who have both been erratic to say the least. What’s next for Funk? Another rebuild?!

Mid-Season Report: Silverhawks

There's no doubting who's on top of this division, the ever powerful Sour Snails! At least this year he's got some competition with Fat Jubas a mere five games behind. Oh what are we saying, "Silverhawks" might as well become "Silversnails" until someone can add balance to this division. [2015 Pre-Season | 2014 Early Season]

Sour Snails (12-1-1)
Last season the Snails went 17-2, entered the playoffs on a fifteen game winning streak, and was upended in the Chamberlain Conference Finals by eventual champ Eron, Joven, and Chandler. That's the Snails' story...they keep throttling opponents during the regular season but collapsing in the playoffs. This season, they are ranked first in PTS, 3PT, and STL, second in AST and FG%, and even a frightening fifth in BLKs. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for weaknesses. So far these Snails are on a ten game non-losing streak, and if not for a tie with So Buckets last week, that would be a double digit win streak. The scary part is that this roster might be getting better. Their early season trade of Monta Ellis and 2015 RD1 Wesley Matthews netted them new All-Star Jimmy Butler (20.5 PTS, 5.0 REB, 3.2 AST, 1.8 STL, 1.0 3PT) and the recently returned from injury David Lee. Butler and Ellis may be putting up similar numbers, but there’s no question Butler’s star is quickly ascending.

And speaking of breakouts, Klay Thompson was clearly the right keeper — over Trevor Ariza and Tyreke Evans, both moved for pre-draft picks — and has turned into a true nine category player. Along with his outrageous shooting, Klay is averaging almost a block per game! The four All-Star backcourt featuring Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Thompson, and Butler also have Rudy Gay on the wing plus DeMarcus Cousins in the middle. While GM Trieu was looking for a traditional big man to pair with Cousins — Taj Gibson has been hampered by injury — it looks like he’s found his answer by going with free agent find Robert Covington at the power forward spot. Covington fits right into the rest of this lineup, stretching the floor with his 2.3 3PT per game. Is this the season Trieu finally wins that elusive second championship? We’ll find out soon enough!

Fat Jubas (7-5-2)
It looked like Eric’s team was gelling nicely as Jubas came out of the gates 3-0-1, but then they hit a 1-3 patch and have been a little erratic since. For a team that has played about 0.500 ball over the past two seasons though, this mid-season record is an improvement. And after last season’s Toilet Bowl appearance — Jubas went to the Toilet Bowl Finals, albeit with their pick destined for Chunky Monkeys in the Chris Paul trade — they should be able to get into the playoffs pretty easily this year. The trio of Suns on this team, Markieff Morris, Isaiah Thomas, and Alex Len are probably better in real life than fantasy right now, although Morris’ center eligibility makes him a neat piece to have. Gordon Hayward is having a far better year percentage-wise than last season, and has ascended to near All-Star levels. The disappointment here has been Nicolas Batum, who is averaging a paltry 9.0 PTS on 38.0 FG%. His all around numbers are still decent, but Batum needs to step it up or he might be moved.

The return of Danilo Gallinari gives this team their (questionable) sixth keeper back, and he’ll be needed for a bit of offense as this team is a little low on PTS. Gallo won’t help Jubas’ paltry REB but he is perfectly suited to build on the team’s fourth in 3PT and first in FT% strengths. The Jubas are still in rebuilding mode a bit, but CP3 wants to win now and it’ll be interesting to see what GM Eric can do to put some more pieces around him. Can a lot of useful but ultimately second tier guys have a sneaky post-season run in them? Or is this team still looking for another superstar to slot alongside Chris Paul? We hear rumblings that just such a superstar may be on the trade block...

Jedi Knights (4-10)
Oh Jedis! With two blockbuster trades already under their belts, Lum’s team has certainly shaken things up this season. While we love the big moves, we would love to see more than one free agent add — for D.J. Augustin, admittedly a great FA grab post-Brandon Jennings. GM Lum is still ranked last in “moves” and we think he can show Jedi fans that his re-dedication to their team will come with lots of panning for gold on the waiver wire. Let’s talk about the team Lum has rebuilt so far though. What has dramatically changed about Jedis from last season is the sudden influx of outside shooting in the form of Wesley Matthews (3.1 3PT), Chandler Parsons (2.1 3PT), 2015 RD2 pick Arron Afflalo (1.6 3PT), Avery Bradley (1.5 3PT), and even Monta "He Got It All" Ellis (1.1 3PT).

The mega trades seem to have worked out pretty well so far for Jedi too. Sure, losing their only rim protector in DeAndre Jordan hurt, but this team was ranked last in REB/BLK anyway. Al Jefferson has been slow to get healthy but it looks like he’s fully back now. And the Monta for Jimmy Butler move didn’t hurt this team statistically, as Ellis has actually been better across almost all categories. Not having Michael Carter-Williams’ smorgasbord of numbers is offset by also offloading MCW's horrendous percentages. 2014 RD1 pick Deron Williams started the season off hot but has cooled off dramatically, making the case that maybe a rookie could have been drafted in his place. Then again, this year’s rookie crop has been horrific fantasy-wise. So what now for Jedi? They have four wins already, after totaling five last year, and they are strong in FG% and TO. They’re still a long shot for the playoffs but at least they have been active, which is half the battle. Let’s see if these Knights can take the fight to more teams this season as they slowly construct a winning foundation.

Fob Stars (3-10-1)
Well, this is not good. After going 17-20 in the past two seasons, it looks like Jimmy’s squad has fallen off a cliff. We thought the revamped keeper core would bring Fob Stars into the post-season but instead they’ve regressed in nearly every category. This team can’t shoot, can’t score, can’t rebound, are dead last in assists, and can’t really play any defense either. Hey, at least they’re leading the league in (lowest) turnovers! Let’s start with some good news to offset the eventual bad. Kemba Walker was having a lights out season earlier, before his meniscus ripped. Um, right, bad news. Well, Kevin Martin is back and ready to be moved off the IR list?

Okay, it’s pretty much all sad news for this squad, who may be in desperate need of a makeover. The trade that moved Joakim Noah for Nerlens Noel and Ryan Anderson is still under evaluation. Noel has been outsanding with 2.3 BLK and 1.8 STL but his PTS and REB have been much lower than anticipated. Anderson is still scoring and bombing away from three point land, but his days as a strong REB might be over. And Fob Stars have been injury plagued, with Marcin Gortat, Anderson, and Evan Fournier leading them in GP. That's not good. Overall, we’d love to some moves here, as Zach Randolph (17.2 PTS, 12.1 REB, 50.3 FG%) and the sneaky decent Khris Middleton (11.0 PTS, 1.5 STL/1.3 3PT) could be useful on a contender. Also, with Trey Burke’s current hot streak, maybe now is the time to move his 37.2 FG%? After starting off with seven straight losses, Fob Stars has gone 3-3-1 recently, indicating that the worst is likely over. A roster of pieces now needs a steady hand to shape them into playoff contenders...after one more trip to the Toilet Bowl.