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.