Mid-Season Look: Transformers

We took a look at Voltron, now for the Chamberlain Conference's Transformer division! [2016 Previews: Playoff Teams | Non-Playoff Teams]

Another Bad Creation (5-3)
Hey hey, Kevin Durant is back! And with him returns ABC’s winning ways. And guess who’s leading this team in games played? Old man (and draft steal) Dwayne Wade, who hasn’t missed a game yet and is the second leading scorer for this squad!  We said pre-season that this is the most firepower Durant has ever had and it’s been true, as this team has LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe, JJ Redick, and Alec Burks all hovering around 15+ PTS per game, plus rookie Jahlil Okafor has been as advertised with 17.6 PTS. While Oliver’s team is weak in AST and STL due to a dearth of point guards — Raymond Felton anyone? — they are strong in PTS, REB, FG%, and TO, with balance everywhere else. ABC is back!

Silent Crows (4-3-1)
Our champs from two seasons ago started off the season 1-3-1 and struggled to find their footing. Their traditional strengths of offense and long range shooting had basically deserted them and their defense was a sieve as well. Three straight wins — against admittedly weak opponents — have righted the ship and for now they’re back on the right side of 0.500. Between Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, and the immortal Dirk Nowitzki, this team can get hot pretty quickl but the question is how much the supporting cast of Derrick Rose, Enes Kanter, and (basically M.I.A.) Markieff Morris can add to the season. At least Avery Bradley has been balling out to the tune of 15.4 PTS, 2.4 3PT, and and 1.6 STL on 44.8 FG%. Do the Crows fly high or sink again when the schedule stiffens?

LA Buffy (3-5)
This is Tim Duncan’s last stand right? As a fantasy player anyway? Duncan’s reduced minutes this season have given him 8.9 PTS, 7.9 REB, 1.5 BLK on the season, and those are still very good, but not like last year. It could be time for GM Roger to move Duncan away and complete the transition. But who will pick up the reins? The best player on this team so far has been Isaiah Thomas (20.9 PTS, 6.8 AST, 2.1 3PT, 1.4 STL) but he’s not exactly a franchise cornerstone. The trade that brought in Thomas and Danilo Gallinari has paid off very nicely — despite the two of them contributing to Buffy’s last place FG% ranking — but is Buffy staring at a true rebuild after losing four games in a row? Where to Roger, where to?

Squirtle Squad (2-6)
Whoa, what’s going on here? Squirtles lost only seven games all last season and they’re basically there now. They haven’t won a game since WK3 and put up a 0-8-1 laugher against Pogiboys in WK4. We could blame Ty Lawson’s swift decline but it’s not just his fault. And unless Chandler Parsons was the answer, him rounding into shape won’t lift this team's fortunes. The huge break out from Giannis Antetokounmpo still hasn’t quite arrived (15.8 PTS, 6.7 REB, 2.0 STL/BLK, 51.2 FG%) and the main bright spot from this team has been Jarrett Jack and his surprising 13.3 PTS and 7.1 AST. Adding to the hurt, it looks like the young draft class of Bobby Portis, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Shabazz Muhammad won’t add up to much. Hey, at least Zach LaVine and Bojan Bogdanovic flash signs of life! It’s all about looking for the silver linings on a two win team right?