Fit for Fit

Our first trade of the season and it’s a blockbuster! Just kidding, it’s only a minor roster move but usually once the first trade happens a slew of moves follow. Let’s dig into this deal as it’s the kind of move we like to see, with both teams getting better at a fair price for both. Defending champs Sour Snails move Evan Fournier to Soup Dumplings for Gorgui Dieng.

At 8-0, Snails have been running roughshod over SlamNation again so far but was still looking for a big man complement to DeMarcus Cousins. Joakim Noah, Andrew Bogut, and Kelly Olynyk have all gotten some run, but Trieu felt moving for Dieng (10.5 PTS, 7.4 REB, 1.1 BLK and 56.1 FG% over the past month) would be an upgrade. Snails is ranked third in FG% and REB already, but only ninth in BLK. We hear that Trieu took a hard look at Bismarck Biyombo (11.5 REB, 2.1 BLK over his past month) but went with Dieng instead. Will a strong team get even better? We’ll see!

• ID#59: Sour Snails receive Gorgui Dieng from Jedi Knights in exchange for Evan Fournier

As for Soup Dumplings, who are a surprising 0.500 semi-expansion team, they had big men to spare with Dwight Howard, Derrick Favors, Kristaps Porzingis, Kenneth Faried, Dieng, Luis Scola, and Biyombo on board. Soup needed a swingman to take over from the disappointing Danny Green and Fournier has emerged this young season as a solid option with 14.3 PTS, 2.0 3PT, and 1.3 STL on the year.

This is the sort of little deal that all SlamNation owners should be aiming for, and we hope to see a few more in upcoming weeks. Thanks for starting us off Trieu and Brandon!