Mid-Season 2017: Transformers

We’re at ten weeks in, meaning we’re halfway through and looking toward the playoffs. Now that football is behind us, we can fully focus on fantasy basketball! Let’s take a look at Transformers division, which we had dubbed "officially the most competitive division in SlamNation” just three short months ago… [2017 Preview | 2016 Mid-Season]

Another Bad Creation (6-4)
While our defending division champs have a two game lead on the rest of the pack, ABC is actually only the third best team in Chamberlain conference this year, as they are behind two Silverhawks teams in win/loss. After starting off 2-2, ABC got four wins in a row -- albeit against pretty weak competition -- before dropping their last two games in close matches. And now they’re about to face five of six opponents who are all over 0.500. Get ready Oliver!

So far it’s been the Kevin Durant show, as expected, as he’s averaging 25.7 PTS, 8.7 REB, 4.7 AST, 1.9 3PT, 1.5 BLK, and 1.1 STL on 53.7 FG%. "M-V-P, M-V-P!” Adding a second / double alpha in Dwyane Wade was an excellent move, and let’s not forget LaMarcus Aldridge in the frontcourt too. Other good news includes Wesley Matthews’ return to full health and 3.0 3PT and 1.5 STL per game from him, along with steadying work at point guard from Sergio Rodriguez — now TJ McConnell as Rodriguez recovers.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows though, as Greg Monroe, Jahlil Okafor, and old man Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t exactly lived up to preseason promises. Monroe and Okafor aren’t getting more than 20+ minutes of playing time to show their stuff and Dirk is only just now suiting up for work. There is some nice spot shooting help on the bench behind Marcus Morris and Terrence Ross, but this team needs a dose of help on the boards — and FG% — more than anything else. Anyway, if the all offense / no defense big man trio can can pick up their games, Another Bad Creation could capture the first back-to-back division titles in Transformers history!

Squirtle Squad (4-6)
The good news is Squirtles have already outpaced last season’s three wins. The bad news is three of those wins have come against the worst teams in the league. Right now they’re second in Transformers but outside looking in on the playoffs, and they’ll need to pick it up if they hope to get to the postseason. Buuuuut, who cares! Because Dark Giannis has fully arrived! Antetokounmpo is eligible for four ESPN positions, shoots 53.6 FG%, scores 23.8 PTS, grabs 9.0 REB, dishes 5.9 AST, and st(bl)ocks for a combined 3.8!!! On top of that, Zach LaVine has also been dumping in 20.9 PTS and 2.9 3PT, while the two of them provide nightly dunk dunk dunk highlights. Who needs the postseason?!?

Well, GM Brian would probably like to get some better coaching involved — bad FT%, not much ball movement -- he’s been busy scouring the waiver wire for talent and has already shifted through a mass of bodies. Aside from Nikola Vucevic (still underrated) and Goran Dragic (same), there’s not a whole lot going on here. Mo Harkless (keeps auto-correcting to “Mo Harmless”) has emerged as a nice swingman option, and Josh Richardson has been finding his scoring groove post-injury, but otherwise this team is just waiting for rookie Marquese Chriss to get more minutes and for Chandler Parsons to prove that he can stay on the court.

We’re not really sure where Squirtles are headed this season, as a hard schedule awaits, but who cares, Giiiiiiiaaaaannnnis is taking over!

LA Buffy (3-7)
Is Isaiah Thomas a better offensive player than Isiah Thomas, or am I just a heavily biased Celtics fan? I mean, the non-HOF version of Isaiah is throwing up 27.9 PTS, 6.1 AST, and 2.6 3PT on 45.0 FG% this season. For his career the Pistons’ Isiah’s highest scoring season average was 22.9 ppg, and he only shot 29.0% from three… Should Thomas Jr. book his ticket to Springfield?!

At least someone from Buffy will get to travel somewhere nice this season, as Roger’s team isn’t likely to get to their 0.500 record of a year ago. This year’s version of Buffy has a terrible FG%, is second to last in AST, and is dead last to STL. They hit their FTs and take care of the ball though! The four man frontline of Tristan Thompson, Robin Lopez, Kenneth Faried, and Zach Randolph are all kind of having so-so seasons, with none of them close to approaching a double-double. And even as big as they are, they can only get Buffy to slightly below average in REB.

At least Thomas is getting scoring help from Danilo Gallinari and George Hill, who are both having excellent seasons. Hill, especially, has been killing it in Utah to the tune of 18.8 PTS on a shocking 54.7 FG%. That other Utah vet though, Joe Johnson, should be put out to pasture soon. There’s an outside chance Buffy has the firepower to make some noise in the eventual Toilet Bowl, but some of that hope rests on Brandon Ingram showing some more, well, everything. In a not so slight 27.4 minutes per game, the #2 overall pick can’t get many STL or BLK with those long arms. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many consecutive zeros on a player’s steals and blocks scorecard column before! Take a look. But Ingram will get better, and so will Buffy. It’ll just take some time.

Sager’s Suits and Ties (2-8)
We covered the then one-win SST two weeks ago, and since then they’ve gone 0.500! Sure it was a win versus a winless team but as an replacement owner, Matt will take it! The news is bleak however for Blake Griffin, who has now hurt his other knee and could face a few weeks on the IR — just as Victor Oladipo comes off of it. Suits and Ties won’t hit an easy patch in their schedule again, and they’ll have to just get ready for a Toilet Bowl run and a nice bunk in the cellar.

The irony is that huge injury risk Bradley Beal has stayed healthy and is playing great — 22.0 PTS, 2.8 3PT, 45.3 FG% — and he has Oladipo and Louis Williams as his mini-clones, but it would help if someone other than Draymond Green could protect the rim — even Steven Adams only averages 0.9 BLK and is actually better at STLs. We’re not saying Green can’t do it all, but he’s been unhappy with his team’s effort even amid injuries. But still, all in all, Matt has just been feeling out SlamNation before he prepares to crush us all in the near future. Let’s wish him luck in the near future plotting our demise!