Early Season Moves

Two early season trades -- after some draft movement -- I love it! So let’s take a look. First up, we had Chunky Monkeys and Jedi Knights engage in a mysterious trade the raised more than a few eyebrows. The deal was even put up to a league wide vote, but there wasn’t enough votes to overturn — ten is needed according to our rulebook — and so the trade went through.

Undefeated Monkeys wanted to bolster their wing position and got a rising gem in Otto Porter, who is finally breaking out some, to the tune of 51.4 FG%, 14.7 PTS, 7.1 REB, 1.7 STL, and 1.4 3PT. He’s a perfect complement to the dinged up Jae Crowder and Marvin Williams, and adds another piece to Evan’s championship hopes. And at twenty three years of age, Porter has plenty of upside left to explore.

• ID#69: Chunky Monkeys receive Otto Porter in exchange for Jedi Knights receiving Joakim Noah and Patty Mills

As for the winless Knights, they moved yet another young for old, receiving Joakim Noah (and Patty Mills) in exchange for Porter. Noah is thirty-one, and clearly past his prime, yet GM Chris saw fit to move for him. Patty Mills was the throw-in, and he’s a sharp shooting backup — 11.2 PTS, 1.9 3PT, 50.0 FG% — but he’s not in line for starting job and he’s also twenty-eight years old. We scratched our heads over this trade, and hope Jedi has a grand plan, but for now, we call this one a major win for Chunky Monkeys. I mean, Noah is averaging 4.1 PTS, 8.4 REB, and only 0.7 BLK on the season...

Our second trade in as many weeks was a doozy, as So Buckets participated in their first ever trade since joining the league five years ago. After years of collecting high potential big men, Josh moved sophomore Myles Turner for the high scoring CJ McCollum.

McCollum is the perfect complement to Kyrie Irving and the red-hot DeMar DeRozan, and is averaging 22.3 PTS, 2.6 3PT, 1.3 STL on 47.3 FG% so far this season. Buckets still has Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon, Dario Saric, and Alex Len on the frontlines, so this trade balances out the roster quite a bit.

• ID#70: So Buckets receive CJ McCollum in exchange with Fat Jubas for Myles Turner

As for the Jubas, they cashed in on McCollum’s breakout last year and may have gained another fantasy monster in Turner. The sophomore Pacer showed flashes of his potential last season and is averaging 14.7 PTS, 7.6 REB, 2.4 BLK, 1.0 STL, on 53.4 FG% and is the rare big man who is good from the line (79.4 FT%) — a key factor for Eric’s teams. Losing McCollum’s scoring hurts a little, but Harrison Barnes has been better than expected this season, and Jubas now has another strong front court player to pair with Jonas Valanciunas for the future.

We love this trade for both teams, as it’s a classic case of big for small. Good luck to both 4-1 squads moving forward!