Weekly: Jan 6

Coming off the heels of our trade wrap-up article, let's look at some of the teams affected, plus both 8-3-1 teams!

Swamp Dragons (8-3-1)
Let's start with a team that has been 🔥! Swamp Dragons have gone 5-1-1 since we last checked in and are now just one-and-a-half games out of the Russell Conference lead behind cousin Evan’s Chunky Monkeys. It’s mostly been business as usual for Swamp as they’ve ascended to an ODE of 4/5/2 and trail only Sour Snails and Monkeys in overall ODE rating. In addition, Eddie graded out as the best owner two weeks ago and are well positioned to go ring hunting this playoffs -- after consecutive Toilet Bowl wins -- behind Paul George and Nikola Jokic.

Are there any causes for concern? Perhaps a low FG% and BLK ranking during the past month — thirteen in both — could be something to watch, but otherwise Swamp is top-three in five different categories, just like two months ago. The ultra-competitive roster is even sourcing for young backcourt options behind Jeremy Lamb and Josh Hart, as rookies Kevin Huerter and  De’Anthony Melton are getting some run. I mean, someone has to make up for Markelle Fultz right!? (Shout out to Jusuf Nurkic’s recent insane 24/23/7/5/5 line.) A WK15 matchup with fellow 8-3-1 Squirtles is looming and it could be a key game for playoff positioning — recall we don’t seed by conference anymore, but by the entire league.

Funk Coalition (7-5)
The hottest team in SlamNation is coming off of five straight wins and nipping at playoff contention, a far cry from when they were floundering with just two wins to begin the season. The bad news is all those wins have come against opponents that are 20-39-1 (0.333), as Funk has beat up on all teams with losing records, save So Buckets in WK8, when Buckets was otherwise occupied with a baby birth. Funk’s upcoming schedule is against four winning teams who are a combined 28-16-4 (0.636), so we’ll see what kind of team they really are over the next month.

Never one to rest on his laurels, for better or usually worse, GM Jon revamped his bench so that his fourteenth-rated offense could get a boost -- Funk is ranked fourteen in PTS and fifteen in 3PT — brought in a lot more shooting to fit around Ben Simmons and company. Out went veteran stalwarts Rudy Gay, Lou Williams, Trevor Ariza, as well as up-and-comer Jerami Grant. In comes Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart, Nemanja Bjelica, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Kent Bazemore. While that lot should boost Funk’s long range scoring, it’s an open question how their ninth-rated efficiency and third-rated defense will now fare after the changes. We’ll find out over the next month if Funk is a contender or pretender...

Squirtle Squad (8-3-1)
Another team involved in the three-way trade, Squirtles have sat atop Chamberlain Conference all season, as they started off 6-0 before going through a mini-swoon in WK7-10, going winless during that time. The Squirtles ship has righted itself though and they are currently tied for the second-best record in the league after two straight wins and a signature WK12 defeat of top-ranked Chunky Monkeys! Armed with two new scorers, there’s a chance Squirtles have another level in them and they will definitely end their three-year long playoff drought.

For the season, Squirtles are rated second in efficiency and fourth in offense but have just the eleventh rated defense. Over the past month though, those ODE ratings have dropped to 7/12/14 splits, a dramatic shift in efficiency especially. A change was clearly in order and GM Brian made the two-for-two swap of Zach LaVine and Evan Fournier for Tobias Harris and Lou Williams. Aside from solving a positional hole at power forward, that should net more more PTS and REB, plus slightly more AST and STL, which are exactly the only four categories Squirtles are below the league average in. With Giannis Antekokounmpo gunning for NBA MVP and Nikola Vucevic playing like a top-ten fantasy player, Squirtles have raised their ceiling and are now true title chasers.


Standings, three months in: