Au Revoir and Bonjour!

With the NBA trade season winding down—with some mega-trades obviously—we have a nice deal that dropped in Slam yesterday. It’s not quite as big as Luka Doncic becoming a Laker, but the SBUK and SQSQ deal could have championship implications and points to a new direction for SBUK as well.

Trade ID#170

• SBUK receive Alex Sarr
• SQSQ receive Rudy Gobert and CJ McCollum

For SBUK, this is a move to get younger. The 2022 championship core is aging fast and with a 7-8 record and just three weeks of regular season to go, it was time for GM Josh to make moves. Acquiring 2025 RD1.11 rookie Alex Sarr is a nice start. While Sarr has little offense to his game, his BLK are already at 1.6 per on the season, and Washington is invested in giving him big playing time. He could soon be a double double guy with good stocks, and more importantly, the nineteen year old has upside. He’ll join Franz Wagner (23 years old), Desmond Bane (26), and maybe Ausar Thompson (22) as SBUK’s young guns.

An eulogy for Gobert and McCollum while we’re here. McCollum was acquired by SBUK in 2017—via a trade for Myles Turner—which also doubled as Josh’s first SlamNation trade ever. After eight years of service to SBUK, he’ll be feted on his way out. And Gobert has been on this team even longer, as he was drafted in 2015 with a RD4 pick—along with Joel Embiid—making it ten seasons of continual service for the Frenchman.

Take a look at the list of players from one team that have stayed with their franchises the longest: Steph Curry (15 years), Paul George (13), Kyrie Irving (13), Joel Embiid (10), Rudy Gobert (10), Nikola Jokic (9), CJ McCollum (8)… You’ll notice that four of those players are on SBUK, and if thirty-one year old Kyrie Irving gets moved this season as well, the championship core of SBUK will truly be a thing of the past.

Cheers to the next generation of SBUKs and we’re excited to see where this youth movement will be heading!

As for SBUK’s trade partner, SQSQ is leading the league right now in win percentage and are perfectly positioned to win a title in this wide open season. SQSQ has been in this position before, as they took the regular season wins crown in both 2020 and 2022. Alas, one of those seasons was interrupted by COVID and the other by a first-round upset by eighth-seeded SCRM. This time around, SQSQ is taking no chances, as they level up for another championship chase.

SQSQ is led by LeBron James, new-Maverick Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and the Doncic-less Daniel Gafford. Adding the still very productive Gobert (10.4 REB, 1.6 BLK, 0.650 FG%) and McCollum (22 PTS, 3.8 AST, 3.1 3PT) really rounds out the lineup. Heck, maybe new Clipper Bogdan Bogdanovic turns into a nice backup wing for them as well.

We’ve heard that SQSQ has been shopping Scoot Henderson around and that makes sense as the 2024 RD1.2 is miscast on this veteran team. Rumors are swirling that there are a few title chasing vets being shopped around in Slam, so this might be SQSQ’s chance to go even further all in. We hope to see SQSQ rewarded with their first ring this playoffs for their aggressive moves!

Pre-Draft Trades: 2025

While there weren’t a whole lot of pre-2025 draft trades--unlike last year--there were the usual shifting of keepers around as Jalen Duren, Jonathan Kuminga, Bradley Beal, and Coby White were all moved to other teams for mid-round draft picks. Duren and Beal netted RD3s while Kuminga and White were sold for RD4s. The standard is now to attach a RD6 to those players, which is hell for the SlamNation interns to process—but we are a professional league so we get it done!

Aside from those four player-for-pick trades, the only other exchange was between SOUR and FUNK, who did a clean swap of Lauri Markannen and Dejounte Murray. Both are about the same age and solidly in their primes. Markannen signed a big contract with Utah this offseason, securing his future there, while Murray was traded to New Orleans, which should negatively impact his scoring but up his assists and presumably defense by quite a bit.

While rumors swirled of bigger moves, in the end it was just some light business before the rookie draft!

Monkey Moves

After back-to-back Toilet Bowl wins, we figured CHMK was headed into the playoffs and wouldn’t see the loser’s bracket for some time. Instead, in a season that will likely require fringe playoff teams to be at least one game above 0.500, the 8-7-1 Monkeys were determined to be mere playoff hopefuls.

So instead of waiting around to see how the regular season would play out, GM Evan went to work and reshaped his roster for the future, dumping half his 2024 keeper core—and all his Jalens—and using his depth to consolidate into two future-Hall of Famers. Maybe.

With two trades, CHMK moved Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Williams, Jalen Johnson, rookie Keyonte George, and Jalen Duren in exchange for Anthony Edwards and Alperen Sengun. The new core for CHMK will be Edwards, Jamal Murray, rookie 2024 RD1.3 Amen Thompson (finally showing some signs of life), Sengun, Bam Adebayo, and Evan Mobley.

Murray and Adebayo are the youthful veterans, at twenty-seven years old each, while the rest of this roster is all under twenty-three. Insiders told us that CHMK’s primary goal was the acquire a top-ten player and Edwards will likely fit the bill. Rumors had Adebayo being heavily pursued but with CHMK retaining him, this must be considered a win-win that the defensive stalwart was kept.

The drafting and scouting team for CHMK must be commended here, as they have unearthed gems left and right over the past few seasons. Don’t forget that they also engaged in a three-for-one pre-draft to acquire Jamal Murray—sending off Nic Claxton, Jabari Smith Jr., and Jordan Poole. All in all, that’s nine players for three keepers, and all of those nine were good players! If CHMK can’t make the playoffs next season, something is going on we may need to create some CHMK rule to stop this monkey menace.

Let’s look at how the other teams made out in the deals as well. For SWMP, moving off Sengun was a bit of a surprise. Drafted as a rookie by Eddie back in 2022 (RD1.15), Sengun has slowly matured into baby-Jokic. We thought SWMP’s Houston roots would make Sengun stick around for awhile. However, with a frontcourt that already featured the real Nikola Jokic, perhaps it was time to move on. Getting Jalen Williams as the Paul George heir apparent is pretty great, and Johnson and George have both been very promising this season. (Williams and Johnson are actually both older than Sengun, who is a mere 21.6 years old—Williams is 22.9 while Johnson is 22.2.) This does leave Zach LaVine out in the cold however, and GM Eddie is already shopping him—or Bradley Beal—around. With a very deep roster, this move could also be interpreted as SWMP's push for a title, as they are 10-6 and just outside of the championship favorites.

As for BUFF, moving off their only successful early draft pick of the past five years was similarly surprising. GM Roger has usually skewed toward veterans during their drafts, with their past ten RD1/RD2 picks being: Russell Westbrook, Jordan Clarkson (2024), Collin Sexton, Tobias Harris (2023), Spencer Dinwiddie, Jakob Poeltl (2022), Anthony Edwards, Blake Griffin (2021), De’Andre Hunter, Paul Millsap (2020). Note: Hunter was a rookie at the time. Only one of those players became keepers the following year: Edwards in 2021, who was a steal at RD1.6. The five picks before Edwards was: LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Killian Hayes, Tyrese Haliburton, and Deni Avdija. The now 22.5 year old Edwards could have a decade of greatness ahead of him.

However, with a keeper roster that started off with Dinwiddie and Klay Thompson this season, getting a three-for-one made sense for BUFF, even at the cost of Edwards. Brunson and Bridges are both 27.5 and All-Star quality, while Jalen Duren keeps flashing impressive talent. The trade with CHMK adds up to a much better keeper core for BUFF—along with Brandon Ingram, Domantas Sabonis, and Kyle Kuzma. Now likely headed into the playoffs, it’s exciting to see 10-6 BUFF make a push for a longer playoff run, where they haven’t been since 2021.

Pre-Draft Trades: 2024

A blistering nine total trades before the 2024 season even starts! That's so exciting. Eight trades were made pre-draft--four by SOUR--and one more mid-draft. Let's take a look at some of the highlights shall we? We're off to a very thrilling campaign already!

Trade ID#149

• CHMK receive Jamal Murray
• UFOS receive Nic Claxton, Jabari Smith Jr, and Jordan Poole

Our first ever pre-dispersal trade was a doozy! We’ve never had to encounter this situation before but new GM Victor leveraged his current player base—the former FOBS roster—to shake things up before he even got to pick over the carcasses of the rest of the non-keepers.

Jamal Murray and his championship pedigree was moved to CHMK for a trio of excellent young pieces. It’ll be quite a haul for UFOS. The twenty-four year old Claxton was the second leading blocker in the NBA last year, as he had a breakout season. And the ex-future of the Splish Splash Warriors, Jordan Poole, will now get to shoot as many shots as he wants for the Wizards.

And then last year’s first overall pick, 2023 RD1.1 Jabari Smith Jr., won’t even get to hit the keeper roster for CHMK before being moved along. Is this the fastest a former number one draft selection has been dumped by his team? Hope Smith rented and didn’t buy in Chunkyland!

This trade came as a result of Monkey’s ultra-successful—and fast—rebuild as GM Evan had too many keeper-level assets on his roster heading into 2024. We’ll cover that their keepers later in our keeper article but for now, congrats to both teams for making history!

Note: We instituted a new rule that a pre-dispersal team is allowed to trade players off their current roster, but then must take/keep an equal number of players traded off that roster into the dispersal process. “One for one rule” or let’s get Fullmetal and call it the “Law of Equivalent Exchange.”

Example: UFOS traded away one player, so they must keeper designate at least one player off the pre-dispersal roster before dispersing—and then selecting their next five players.

This rule closes the loophole of a pre-dispersal team trading off all their current assets for future draft picks and then using the dispersal to take six new players.

Trade ID#147

• SOUR receive Lauri Markannen
• MELO receive Pascal Siakam

Trade ID#148

• TRUO receive De’Aaron Fox and Austin Reaves
• SOUR receive Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett

Trade ID#150

• FJUB receive Jerami Grant
• SOUR receive Mark Williams

Trade ID#152

• UFOS receive RJ Barrett and SOUR 2024 RD4.3
• SOUR receive Keldon Johnson and UFOS 2024 RD6.16

What’s an offseason without a sprinkle of drama? Defending champions SOUR has already revamped more than half his title winning roster before the 2024 season even started! The first move was a slightly eyebrow-raising trade off of coffeepreneur Jimmy Butler for Lauri Markannen—fresh off completing his mandatory Finnish military service. (Who knew BTS and Markannen had so much in common?) The eyebrow-raising wasn’t due to Butler’s exorbitant coffee prices but rather his age: thirty-four. That makes Butler eight years older than Markannen. And while Himmy is still at the peak of his (playoff) powers, thirty-four is thirty-four and Butler averages about 60+ regular season games per year since 2017.

While no formal complaints were lodged, the first potential move of 2024 did undergo a round of social media inquiry. In the end, the trade terms were adjusted as SOUR sent Pascal Siakam over to MELO for Markannen instead of Butler, closing the age-gap and soothing those pundits who had their eyebrow raised. It’s hard to be the champs! 👑 The bad news for the rest of SlamNation is that every time Butler has joined or re-joined the SOUR roster, they have won a ring the same year. So since Butler was technically off this team for a day, this might have been yet another genius move by GM Trieu.

Two more trades for SOUR moved out De’Aaron Fox, 2023 SlamNation Finals hero Austin Reaves, and Jerami Grant in exchange for Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Mark Williams. The Fox for Barnes swap is fascinating as Barnes was once drafted as a rookie by SOUR two seasons ago (2022 RD1.5), and will make his homecoming. And then in another follow-up move, SOUR shipped off the Barrett to our newest franchise, UFOS, for Keldon Johnson, along with swapping 2024 RD4 and RD6 picks. All in all, Trieu turned over the entire keeper roster around Steph Curry, which will make SOUR’s ring night quite the lonely celebration, but could portend a new and exciting title defense. Four trades before the season even started, incredible stuff Trieu!

Trade ID#151

• SCRM receive Giannis Antetokounmpo
• SQSQ receive Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, SCRM 2024 RD2.2, and SCRM 2025 RD1

And lest we think the fireworks died down after SOUR’s moves, we had a mega-deal that came out of nowhere. Two franchise level players were exchanged in Antetokounmpo and Davis. That’s two former NBA champions and cornerstones for their teams. After spending nine seasons with SQSQ—he was drafted in 2014 RD4—there was little warning that Antetokounmpo would be on the way out. The twenty-nine year old is still in his prime and despite some fantasy flaws—namely FT%—Giannis is still an incredible fantasy asset. The swap for Davis, an injury-prone thirty-one year old, could pay great dividends as SCRM pushes hard for a title. (We’re a little curious why SCRM didn’t go get LeBron James off SQSQ too, but maybe that’ll come in a later deal.)

As for SQSQ, turning Giannis into Anthony Davis and DeMar DeRozan will boost productivity in the short run. Davis does get hurt quite a bit when but he plays, he can still be a dominating fantasy force. And there’s also two picks attached here, a 2025 RD1 and this recent draft’s RD2.2 (Buddy Hield) which could help even out the trade. We applaud such bold moves from both franchises and am excited to see what Antetokounmpo and Davis can achieve in their new homes.

Some other trade tidbits:

ID150: FJUB acquired a small forward, Jerami Grant, by moving off Mark Williams, which was a nice piece of work for a possible non-keeper.

ID152: UFOS acquired a free RD4.3 (Deni Avdija) basically from the flip with SOUR of RJ Barrett and Keldon Johnson. Note that UFOS didn’t actually keeper Barrett in the end.

ID153/154: ILCN sold off extra keeper assets in Walker Kessler and Bradley Beal, recouping future 2025 RD2 and 2025 RD3, respectively.

ID155: During the draft, CHMK and SBUK did a direct positional exchange of Jalen Brunson for Desmond Bane, which was about as even a one-on-one positional swap as we’ve seen in awhile!

Trades 2023: Funkyfied

It was a slow year for trades, very slow in fact. Aside from the huge James Harden deal back in the beginning of the season and a late November swap between SOUR and TRUO, it’s been mostly quiet aside from a flurry of activity from FUNK to end the season.

In early January, FUNK sent a 2024 RD3 to CHMK for Trey Murphy III and CHMK’s 2024 RD4—essentially a draft position swap—and then followed that up by sending a 2024 RD5 to KSKT for Al Horford. But FUNK wasn’t done that day, as a mega-blockbuster was on the way.

After many offers and almost-dones, FUNK traded away Karl-Anthony Towns, their first overall pick from 2016. The deal with SCRM ended up involving nine players, with Towns, DeMar DeRozan, Mike Conley, Tyus Jones, Tim Hardaway Jr. being exchanged for Dejounte Murray, OG Anunoby, Terry Rozier, and Derrick White.

For FUNK, this will translate to a huge bump in 3PT, and some depth to make a playoff push. For SCRM, it’s championship or bust, and with the likely pairing of Anthony Davis and Towns for the postseason, Jordan will have the best big man duo in the league as he pushes hard for a championship.

Next season: more trades!!!

Trades 2023: Early Exchanges

It's still early on in the 2023 season but we've had some intriguing trades already! Let's take a look!

Trade ID#140:

• SCRM receive James Harden, CHMK 2024 RD3
• CHMK receive Evan Mobley, SCRM 2024 RD1

This was a mega-trade that can not be overlooked. We wondered how long James Harden would be for Chunky-land, as the thirty-three year old was now miscast on an up and coming CHMK team. With the season barely underway, GM Evan answered that question by flipping Harden to SCRM for twenty-one year old Evan Mobley! That now gives CHMK an insane defensive frontcourt alongside Bam Adebayo and Robert Williams III—not to mention Nic Claxton. Mobley’s 14.5 PTS, 8.9 REB, and 1.3 BLK can only improve as time goes on but that’s already pretty solid. Rumors are that CHMK is looking for a seven-foot-two French-sized puzzle piece to complete his rebuild.

Note: With Harden gone from CHMK—after thirteen seasons—it now falls to SOUR’s Steph Curry as the longest tenured SlamNation player. Harden was an original draft pick of CHMK, all the way back in 2020 RD11.2 as a fresh-faced rookie. Thanks Beard, you’ll be missed!

SCRM drafted Mobley with their 2022 RD1.3 pick and it looked like he would be a cornerstone to their rebuild for a decade or more. However, with a fast start to the season and the healthy return of Anthony Davis, GM Jordan decided to go all-in on the 2023 season and traded the potential of Mobley for the win-now of Harden. As of now, the Screaming Eagles are undefeated so that confidence from management isn’t unfounded! Adding Harden’s 22.1 PTS, 11.0 AST, 2.8 3PT and numerous free throw attempts makes for a killer backcourt trio with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dejounte Murray. While Mobley will be missed, Davis and Jakob Poeltl are plenty in the middle for SlamNation’s current number one team.

Trade ID#141:

• FJUB receive Lonzo Ball
• MELO receive Gary Trent Jr.

When this trade came through, analysts thought it was LaMelo Ball who was traded for Trent Jr.! Alas, it was Lonzo, which made a lot more sense. The elder Ball hasn’t seen the court this season but fits in with FJUB’s defense-first aesthetic. We’re not sure if he’ll return anytime soon but FJUB can afford to have him sit on IR for now.

As for MELO, they exchanged defense for offense, with Trent Jr. quietly averaging 17.9 PTS and 3.5 3PT in Toronto. Pushing toward their first playoff spot, MELO wanted to get productivity onto the court and Trent fit the bill perfectly. With both these teams battling for playoff seeding, this trade was the type of mid-level move that could help both sides.

Trade ID#142

• TRUO receive Wendell Carter Jr., Christian Wood
• SOUR receive Jimmy Butler, Ivica Zubac

The annual Trieu-Thien trade came early this year! And this one involves Jimmy Butler returning to SOUR. Last time around--in 2018 (Trade ID#83)—Butler went from SOUR to TRUO, with Butler and Damian Lillard being the centerpieces. This time SOUR sends out a pair of big men in Carter Jr. and Wood, to return the thirty-three year old Butler.

With Wood—the return for Zach LaVine—and Carter Jr. gone—part of the Bradley Beal trade--SOUR will have to make do at the center position with Zubac, Isaiah Stewart, Bol Bol, and rookie Jalen Duren. Adding Butler solidifies the shooting guard position immensely though, as SOUR was starting the likes of Josh Hart, Quentin Grimes, or Lonnie Walker IV there. Butler may miss a lot of games but he is still an all-around stats maven when he plays, and swipes 2.1 STL a game.

As for TRUO, who are currently headed toward the bottom of the standings, this signals another on-the-fly rebuild, which meant old man Jimmy was no longer needed on the team. Wood is twenty-seven and Carter Jr. is still only twenty-three. Both are well-rounded fantasy wise and the rare big men who shoot well from the charity stripe. Losing twenty-five year old Zubac won’t be too much of a hit, as his growth potential was limited, and now TROU can look to continue building around Jalen Green and Scottie Barnes with his center positions all set.

Trades: Mid-Season

Well we had our pre-draft trades and since then there's been quite a few more! Good job guys! Our trade deadline is technically before the playoffs start, which will be after WK16, which is the April 12-18 week. So yes, trade deadline is April 18th! In the meantime, let's look at the trades that went down.

Jonas Valanciunas was moved two times, first from FJUB to KSKT and then three days later to CHMK. Fun fact: The Valanciunas trade ended his eight year run with FJUB, which ranked as the seventh-longest stretch with one franchise. Chris Paul, also a FJUB, now moves up the list, trailing James Harden (11), Steph Curry (11), LaMarcus Aldridge (10), Paul George (9), Kyrie Irving (9), and Kawhi Leonard (9). Thanks for your service JV!

Additionally, this was KSKT's fourth trade of the season and we love to see the action! In fact, we are already thirteen trades into the season and only ABCX and SOUR haven't participated in a move yet -- shocking non-action for SOUR, we know!

The biggest move of the current slate of trades was probably the one in February between SQSQ and FJUB, as they exchanged Tobias Harris and Jrue Holiday. Both are near All-Star quality players and you know we love big-for-small exchanges that help both teams! We got a month for more deals to happen, let's gooooo!

Pre-Draft Trades 2021

We had eight pre-draft trades this season, highlighted by our biggest, #114 between Chunky Monkeys and Squirtle Squad. Our current regular seasons champs are looking to push all-in and win their first title, moving for LeBron James  at the cost of rising star Bam Adebayo.

This marks the third time King James has been traded and so far he’s already brought championships to two Slam franchises  — Sour Snails and Chunky Monkeys. Even at the ripe old age of thirty-six years, James can be the difference maker for a team, especially when he’s now teamed up with back-to-back NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

For Monkeys, this likely signals the start of a slow rebuild, as they have been actively looking to shop their veterans and some ill-fitting parts of their perennial contender. Or is this just a savvy move by Evan to get younger and win at the same time?!

There were some other trades of note as well. Funk Coalition also decide to exchange future for present, sending the injured Jonathan Isaac off to So Buckets for DeMar DeRozan. Note: This was SBUK's third trade ever in almost a decade in Slam. While both FUNK and SBUK have strong cases for contender status, this swap gives FUNK a shorter window to win-now, and gives the stacked SBUK roster another defensive piece for a defensive core that already features Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert.

Players moved for picks: Kelly Oubre Jr. for a 2021 RD3, Montrezl Harrell for 2022 RD3, Dennis Schroder for a 2021 RD4/5 pick swap, and then the first ever in-dispersal trade which exchanged De’Aaron Fox and Jaylen Brown for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and OG Anunoby.

And then to wrap up, the father-son duo of SQSQ and KSKT teamed up to exchange KSKT’s 2021 RD2.12 Donte DiVincenzo for SQSQ’s RD3.16 Mason Plumlee and a RD5.16, which resulted in Tristan Thompson.

Great job guys with all the pre-draft moving and shaking!

Pre-Draft Trades 2020

Last year we saw three pre-draft trades go down before the draft, highlighted by a Damian Lillard for Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris swap. Well, this time we had a dazzling seven trades go off before the draft even started! Needless to say, all that action made this commissioner a very happy man. For the record I think we could have had even more action!

Trade ID#101:
• FUNK receive Trae Young
• BUFF receive Ben Simmons

The biggest names were switched with ID#101, featuring the swap of two young points guards. Ben Simmons has been on Funk Coalition since being draft first overall in 2017. After a redshirt rookie season, Simmons' nightly triple-double threat — 16.9 PTS, 8.8 REB, 7.7 AST — got him to the NBA All-Star game in his third year. Throw in 1.4 STL and 0.8 BLK, plus 56.3 FG%, and he has served as an off-kilter building block for Funk over the past two seasons. Alas, Simmons also suffered from legendary setbacks, like his entire lack of outside shooting. His fit with 2016 first overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns was deemed to be not so great and he was moved out of town.

Last year we rated Buffy with the worst keeper core around, headlined by a lack of a "gold" player, aka a superstar. Well, drafting Trae Young at RD1.4 — after DeAndre Ayton, Luka Doncic, and Jaren Jackson Jr. — seemed to help cure that. After an icy start, Young proved himself to be quite the passing and shooting machine, with 8.1 AST and 1.9 3PT, along with 19.1 PTS. While the FG% and defensive stats were lacking, Young was quickly cast as the leader of a growing Buffy squad.

However, Young was operating on a team with two other gunners — Klay Thompson and Kyle Kuzma — and Buffy had one of the worst defenses in the league last season. Nobody averaged over a block a game, or more than 0.7 STL, save for Thompson. Exchanging Young for Simmons should allow Buffy to start constructing a defense, and Simmons’ awful FT% will match Brandon Ingram’s -- which could be mitigated somewhat by Thompson and Malcolm Brogdon’s stellar numbers from the line. In short, it’s a win win!

Trade ID#103:
• SQSQ receive Blake Griffin, Bam Adebayo
• SNAC receive Nikola Vucevic 

Trade ID#104:
• HSTL receive Wendell Carter, Jaylen Brown
• SNAC receive Josh Richardson

Despite losing the 2019 Toilet Bowl, Snack Bears was looking at the 2020 first overall pick coming in, thanks to our new anti-tanking rules. (Fully deserved as they upended their way to a TB Finals showing from #14!) Even with Zion Williamson about to join the team, GM Brandon didn’t rest on his laurels as Snack pulled off a pair of two-for-one trades to tighten their keeper core.

Looking for a center, Snack was rumored to be hunting big fish and got it with the bagging of twenty-eight year old Nikola Vucevic. The first time All-Star put up 20.8 PTS and 12.0 REB, along with a 1/1/1 split. Armed with a new contract in Orlando, Vucevic should serve as the perfect addition to Snack’s frontline of Zion and Kristaps Porzingis.

After getting Vucevic, GM Brandon then went looking for an upgrade at the wing position, bringing in Josh Richardson. J-Rich lost some of his defensive luster last season after being force-fed shots in Miami, but it looks like he should return to his proper 3-and-D ways now that he’s in Philadelphia. With these moves, Snack should move from Toilet Bowl contender to real contender!

Let’s look at what the other two teams got out of these deals. Squirtle Squad acquired Vucevic alllll the way back in 2013 — remember Al Jefferson?! — and has seen him grow into an All-Star. However, with NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo having emerged into his full powers, it was time to put some more pieces around him for a potential championship run.

Blake Griffin may be thirty years old but he’s expanded his game to include an incredible 2.5 3PT last season. And while his defensive stats are lacking, Griffin’s FT% is no longer an anchor like earlier in his career and his 20+ PTS and 5+ AST — along with that 3PT shooting — makes him a unique frontcourt player. Add in the upcoming breakout season from twenty-two year old Bam Adebayo and SQSQ is powered up and ready to go.

After an inactive initial campaign from new owner Dave, Hilt the Stilt made two trades pre-draft. Wendell Carter Jr. — SNAC’s 2019 RD1.6 selection — had an injury plagued rookie year but plenty of potential as a beautiful percentage big man with PTS, REB, and BLK potential. On a roster that was previously filled with centers, Carter will now get a chance to carve out the power forward position all for himself.

Stepping in for Josh Richardson — HSTL’s RD6 dispersal pick — will be Jaylen Brown, who is perpetually on the verge and could be finally edging up a step after this summer’s selection to Team USA. Brown suffers from poor FT% but that won't be a problem on this team, as he'll fit right in next to Andre Drummond. Brown and Carter are twenty-two and twenty years old respectively, which fits right in with Hilt's young build for their sophomore run in SlamNation.

Trade ID#100:
• FUNK receive Kevin Huerter
• SWMP receive FUNK 2021 RD4 

Trade ID#102:
• TRUO receive Julius Randle
• ILCN receive TRUO 2020 RD3 

Trade ID#105:
• SOUR receive Terry Rozier
• HSTL receive SOUR 2020 RD4 

Trade ID#106:
• SWMP receive Kelly Oubre
• CHMK receive SWMP 2020 RD3

These were this offseason’s extra keepers for draft picks results. Funk Coalition scooped up another guy from Swamp Dragons — will they ever win a trade with them? — and will now have the entire Atlanta backcourt.

IL Conceived paid a big price for last year’s rental of Julius Randle, Caris LeVert, and Montrezl Harrell — but having fallen short of getting the number one overall pick, recouped some of that cost by sending Randle to Team Thien, who made the tough decision to drop the ailing John Wall. Randle should be 20/10 guy in New York this season and gives TRUO a nice big man pairing next to Lauri Markkanen.

Our returning champs were actually quite devoid of keeper depth, as Kevin Durant and semi-recent acquisition DeMarcus Cousins are both on the shelf with Achilles tendon tears. After making the tough decision to let Boogie go -- but at least he got a ring! -- Trieu swooped in to grab Terry Rozier from HSTL for a pick. Sour Snails should be able to eat Scary Terry’s terrible FG% in exchange for his starting gig numbers in Charlotte. Or will this ex-Celtic destroy Sour from the inside out...?!

After a 2019 Finals loss to Trieu, Swamp Dragons have their sights set on a revenge season. After deciding not to wait a year for Jusuf Nurkic — or keep Markelle Fultz, again — Eddie made a last-minute deal for Kelly Oubre, freeing up Chunky Monkey to retain their RD1.16 pick from last season, Collin Sexton. The twenty-three year old Oubre was a defensive revelation after getting traded to Phoenix last season, with 1.5 STL and 1.0 BLK. Adding in 16.9 PTS and 1.7 3PT seemed too good to be true. After signing a new two-year deal, Oubre should help Swamp glide over the early season wait for Paul George.

Boogie Back!

Three seasons ago, Sour Snails and Team Thien partnered up for a trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins from Sour to Thien. Now, just one day before the 2019 playoffs start, it looks like Boogie is coming back home to Snails! All the other big names from that trade are gone from the two brothers’ rosters, such as Hassan Whiteside, Bradley Beal, and Rudy Gay.

Trade ID#98:

• Sour Snails receive DeMarcus Cousins, Gary Harris
• Team Thien receive Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel

This bolsters Trieu’s frontcourt even more as even Warrior Boogie is averaging 15.5 PTS, 8.7 REB, 1.4 STL, 2.1 BLK and shooting at a 44.1 FG%. Gary Harris seems like a throw in at this point, which is a dramatic fall from grace for one of last year’s fantasy gems. Maybe Harris puts it back together for the post-season run but probably not? This does mean that Trieu’s pre-draft trade off of Damian Lillard has now turned into Cousins and Zach LaVine.

As for Thien's Do the Tango, adding Kemba Walker gives them the John Wall replacement they’ll need for a Toilet Bowl run. While Thien can’t actually win the first or second overall pick, getting another young talent could really bolster their return to contention. The trio of Walker, Jimmy Butler, and Mike Conley are solid backcourt veterans and with Lauri Markkanen manning the frontline, this team will hope to make some noise after dipping down to their first ever sub-0.500 record. What happens to John Wall now though? Is there room for the ACL injured guard on Thien's keeper squad? Our deepest condolences to Thien, who has suffered two devastating ACL injuries to their two best players in two successive years. Ouch!

Oh right, and Nerlens Noel exchanged hands too. But I refuse to talk about his upside potential anymore because Nerlens will Nerlens.

Trade ID#97:

• Sour Snails receive Marc Gasol, Dario Saric, 2020 RD2, 2020 RD3, 2021 RD3 (2020 RD2 protected from ID#90, draft slot swap with Fob Stars)
• IL Conceived receive Julius Randle, Caris LeVert, Montrezl Harrell, 2020 RD3 (Squirtle Squad 2020 RD3 from ID#95a)

And let’s not forget Trieu’s trade from three weeks ago, which featured him dumping off three reserve pieces for future picks. Gearing up for a Toilet Bowl run, IL Conceived moved some of his dispersal guys, along with three future picks, for the short-term rentals of Randle, LeVert, and Harrell. Randle and Harrell are FG% machines and should bolster the offense quite a bit, as they have combined for almost 40 points per game over the past month. LeVert is still recovering from injury but could play a role in the coming Zion sweepstakes if he starts to round into shape. It’s likely one or two of these guys won’t make the keeper cut though, so this is really an all-in move from Frank for the 2019 Toilet Bowl.

From Sour’s perspective, losing three pieces obviously hurts their depth but the emergence of rookie block machine Mitchell Robinson made some of their bigs expendable and they get to cash in now on semi-keepers they would’ve had to sell during the off-season anyway. Win win!

Trade ID#99:

• Another Bad Creation receive Evan Fournier and Kent Bazemore
• Funk Coalition receive Dwayne Wade

Sneaking under the wire, our twelfth and final trade of the 2019 season was a swap of Dwayne Wade for two slightly younger assets. Wade is in his swan song year -- averaging 14.2 PTS and 4.3 AST. Fournier is right around those averages with better 3PT, and there's a chance Bazemore still has some 3-and-D to his game this season.

Three Way, Again!

Two years ago we had our first three way trade in SlamNation ever, an eleven player monster that involved Snack Bears, Fob Stars, and Funk Coalition. A little secret though, that was actually technically two one-on-one trades. However, now we have our first real deal three-way trade, between Squirtle Squad, Sour Snails, and Funk (again)! Let’s take a look at what went down. And also with a quick recap of some minor trades from earlier in the season.

Trade ID#95:

• Squirtle Squad receive Tobias Harris, Lou Williams
• Sour Snails receive Zach LaVine, Squirtle Squad 2020 RD3
• Funk Coalition receive Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart, Nemanja Bjelica

After the loss of Caris LeVert to near season ending surgery, Sour Snails had been working hard for a replacement at shooting guard. Well, Trieu finally got his solution by trading away Tobias Harris and re-arming Snails' potent backcourt offense.

As for Squirtle, after a few missed games early, Zach LaVine has returned to power the Bulls and frankly, he looks a lot like Harris statistically. Seriously, check out their numbers, it’s very similar with mostly offense and no defense for both. This was basically a perfect positional switch trade and works great to dilute Snails’ glut of power forwards while filling in Squirtles’ frontline spot that was being manned by a combination of Jae Crowder and Jeff Green.

• Harris: 21.1 PTS, 8.0 REB, 2.2 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.4 BLK, 1.9 3PT, 2.0 TO, 50.3 FG%, 88.7 FT%
• LaVine: 23.6 PTS, 4.4 REB, 4.4 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.5 BLK, 1.8 3PT, 3.6 TO, 46.1 FG%, 87.0 FT%

It’s perhaps rare to see trades between two teams atop the same conference — Squirtles and Sour are #1-2 right now in Chamberlain — but the move strengthened both teams so it had to be done. Win-win!

Along with the main course, Squirtles also gave up Evan Fournier and a 2020 RD3 to acquire Lou Williams, which is a slight upgrade for the shooting guard slot. Sweet Lou is at 19.8 PTS, 5.4 AST on 46.5 FG% for the past month, and he averages a sneaky 7.3 FTA on 83.8 FT%. We'll dig into what the two acquisitions do for Squirtles overall in a later piece.

For Trieu, sending out Smart and Bjelica in return for a future draft pick recoups the 2020 RD3 they’ll send to Fob Stars from the Damian Lillard trade. That means, in sum, Snails moved Lillard (plus a potential RD2 position swap with Fob) for Kemba Walker, Zach LaVine, and a 2020 RD4. Pretty nice!

Trade ID#93:

• Funk Coalition receive Zach Collins
• Sour Snails receive Funk Coalition 2020 RD6, or RD5 if Zach Collins becomes a 2020 keeper

Trade ID#94:

• Funk Coalition receive Jonathan Isaac, Fob Stars 2020 RD3
• Fob Stars receive Rudy Gay, Funk Coalition 2020 RD2

Trade ID#96:

• Funk Coalition receive Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kent Bazemore
• Fat Jubas receive Trevor Ariza, Jerami Grant

And now to look at Funk Coalition, who has made at least one trade in every month of the season so far. It's safe to say Jon will retain the title of "most willing trade partner" title for awhile. Jumping back to November, Funk moved a late round pick for the upside of Zach Collins (just cut), and two weeks ago acquired the upside of Jonathan Isaac for Rudy Gay. There's been nine trades in SlamNation this season and Funk has been involved in seven of them. Doesn't anyone else want to trade?!

Funk followed that up the Collins acquisition with another two trades, the three-way and then one right after, in total exchanging Lou Williams, Trevor Ariza, and Jerami Grant for five new pieces. We’ll see how the new bench mob shakes out but so far this season Funk has traded away seven players while acquiring eleven, so that’s like a brand new team! Jon loves his rebuilds, doesn’t he?

For Fat Jubas, the additions of Ariza and Grant should bolster their defense a little bit, as Ariza has been getting a ton of minutes in Washington while Jerami is at a nice 1/1/1 the past month. Word on the street is that Jubas have decided to lean into their defense to further their chase up the ranks of Russell Conference and it looks to be perfect timing as Chunky Monkeys are down a LeBron and Team Thien is missing a Wall.

All the Wings

Two quick little one-for-ones as the NBA season has gotten underway. Rumors abound that owners are already looking to shift pieces, so study the recent all-time trade analysis breakdown and let's get some more going! 

Trade ID#91:

• Swamp Dragons receive D'Angelo Russell
• Funk Coalition receive Taurean Prince

Just two weeks into the 2019 season, Funk Coalition and Swamp Dragons have teamed up again for a trade. Not happy with being on the (so far) losing end of the Khris Middleton for Gordon Hayward and Andrew Wiggins deal, GM Jon came back for another of Swamp’s slumping wings: Taurean Prince.

Armed with Paul George, Middleton, and Prince at small forward, Swamp needed a point guard to slot in place of Markelle Fultz and it looks like D’Angelo is the semi-answer. (This probably speaks more about Fultz’s shaky sophomore season...) A well placed source from inside Swamp’s camp got this quote from Eddie: "I really hate Russell but I do need a PG. So it’s whatever.” The good news is that Russell is actually still only twenty-two years old and currently on his fourth NBA season, while Prince is entering his third campaign at the age of twenty-four. Let's see how this plays out, otherwise Funk could be back for Paul George!

Trade ID#92:

• Team Thien receive Andrew Wiggins
• Funk Coalition receive Nicolas Batum

Despite seemingly league wide enmity for Wiggins, Team Thien was glad to welcome the still twenty-three year old Timberwolf to his team, since New Era only had to give up 2019 RD2 selection Nicolas Batum to do it. The much maligned Wiggins averaged 17.7 PTS, 4.4 REB, 2.0 AST, 1.4 3PT, and 1.1 STL, 0.6 BLK last year, on 43.8 FG%. That’s not awful is it!? Is this a case of real life hate turning into fantasy hate? Wiggins will be happily reunited and mentored by Jimmy Butler — Thien’s haul from last year. What could possible go wrong!?

As for Funk, they continue to collect wings, and dumped the remaining remnant of their last major rebuild — which occurred a mere twenty months ago — in D'Angelo. To add it all up, Khris Middleton and Russell has turned into Hayward, Prince, and Batum. Positional versatility and defensive switchability is apparently key for Funk because "defense wins championships!"

The other good thing is that Jon has now successfully acquired his long coveted pieces of Fat Jubas’ 2012 title run in Hayward and Batum. Can a Kevin Garnett signing be far behind? [He's available, thanks ESPN!] Despite Batum’s advancing age and Hayward’s slow recovery, a Funk title is surely in the the cards soon, aka Funk remains open to deal some more...

Pre-Draft Trades 2019

Last year's pre/draft trades was highlighted by a Carmelo Anthony acquisition by Thien. This year the fireworks were a bit brighter, with an All-Pro moved, a recovering All-Star, and a move by IL Conceived that essentially gave them this year's 1.3 overall selection for their sixth keeper. Interesting stuff all around!

Trade ID#88:
• Swamp Dragons receive Khris Middleton
• Funk Coalition receive Gordon Hayward, Andrew Wiggins

Trade ID#89:
• Team Spade receive Will Barton
• IL Conceived receive 2019 RD1 (1.3 - Jaren Jackson Jr)

Trade ID#90:
• Fob Stars receive Damian Lillard, Sour Snails 2019 RD2 (2.15 - Jordan Clarkson), 2020 RD3, and option to switch 2020 RD2 draft slot with Sour Snails
• Sour Snails receive Kemba Walker, Tobias Harris, Fob Stars 2020 RD4

Trade ID#91: The first move was of 2019 involved the same player as the last move of 2018: Gordon Hayward. Swamp Dragons acquired Hayward right before the Toilet Bowl in exchange for Jeff Teague and Robert Covington, to give Fat Jubas a shot at a long playoff run. As it turned out, Jubas was upset in the first round last year while Swamp didn't even need either Teague or Covington to clinch a second Toilet Bowl title. Now they'll add Khris Middleton's well-rounded stat line -- 20.1 PTS, 5.2 REB, 4.0 AST, 1.8 3PT, 1.5 STL -- to their keeper core.

Funk Coalition meanwhile had just acquired Middleton for their playoff run, by flipping over Klay Thompson and Nikola Mirotic to Buffy. Hayward has looked slow to recover from his gruesome injury and Andrew Wiggins is well, Andrew "No Heart"Wiggins. Also, it's safe to say that Swamp's 2016 trade off of LeBron for Wiggins and Jabari Parker was a huge hit for Eddie.

Trade ID#92: Frank took Will Barton with his last dispersal pick and then immediately flipped him to Spade for the third overall pick in 2019. Randall rarely drafts rookies anyway and was looking to poach one of the dispersal candidates, settling on swingman Barton and his 15.7 PTS, 5.0 REB, 4.3 AST, and 1.9 3PT plus healthy percentages.

Even if stretch big man Jaren Jackson Jr isn't in line for a starting job right away like DeAndre Ayton or Luka Doncic, IL Conceived has, at the very least, landed the understudy to Marc Gasol, in real life and fantasy.

Trade ID#91: It looks like Trieu just doesn't like Damian Lillard! After re-acquiring him for the stretch run last year, Sour Snails made a big pre-draft move to ship out Lillard to bring in additional depth. Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris aren't quite franchise-level players -- argue all you want Hornets fans -- but they are pretty damn good. Walker averaged 22.1 PTS, 5.6 AST, 2.9 3PT, 1.1 STL, on 43.1 FG%, which isn't a big drop from Lillard's numbers. And Harris has really rounded out to a nice 19.3 PTS, 6.0 REB, 1.2 STL, 2.2 3PT, on 47.3 FG% during his time with the Clippers. That's a lot of value for Lillard, and Sour Snails is once again pretty deep despite trading off a top twenty-five guy.

As for Fob Stars, while it was tough to part with their top duo, bringing in Lillard juices up their PTS, AST, and 3PT just slightly, while giving them a true franchise player to build around. With Lillard making first team All-NBA last season and rumors of either hed or Walker being traded to Lakerland this year, it'll be interesting to see how Snails and Stars will integrate their new points guards!

Trade Analysis: All-Time

One of the great things about Slam is that the nine category setup is conducive to lots of trading. We’ve had almost ninety trades over nine years, spanning from 2010 - 2019, and we’ve barely started 2019! Sure some of those are for draft positioning or whatnot, minor stuff, but we’ve had some huge blockbusters as well. LeBron James himself has been traded three times!

Note: It would be nice to just respond or give a quick "no" if someone contacts you about a trade. Just to be polite! Going dark is a strategy, I suppose, but a response is nicer!

[Full Trade Analysis Sheet]

Let’s take a look at some trade stats:

• Our last three seasons have all eclipsed ten-plus trade each, while 2012 was our highest trades by volume, fourteen moves that year.
• Historically, most trades are centered around October and March, when each season starts and then when the regular season ends. In-season, Feb and Dec are great times for trading!

• Most willing trade owners (by historical volume): Jon, Trieu, Evan, Thien, Brian
• Most likely to trade owners (by trades / years ratio): Jon, Frank, Trieu, Felipe, Evan/Thien
• Ten of our current sixteen owners — albeit with newbie Dave — average about a trade a season. Not bad!
• Five owners average less than a trade per season: Oliver, Brandon, Jimmy, Randall, Josh

• The only trade Josh has participated in ever is ID#70 in 2017, a swap of Myles Turner for CJ McCollum
• Before this season’s pre-draft swap with IL Conceived, Randall had only ever traded during a draft. And that was a league mandated trade the year Spade came into the league. So this recent swap of Will Barton for 2019 RD1.3 was Randall’s first trade in SlamNation ever! (ID#33 in 2014)
• Josh and Randall have been in Slam for seven and five years, respectively, and that means we need to up their trade volume!
• In just one year at the helm, Frank has already participated in three trades, giving IL Conceived a very high yearly trade ratio. Can it continue?

Who Is Trading With Whom?
It seems logical that we are more likely to trade with those we’re in contact with. For example, I spam everyone when I’m looking for a trade. But since I know where to find all the owners, that seems like a (unfair) communication advantage.

People are always asking me how to reach such and such an owner. Well, let’s find an easy way for us all to connect, and not have organization chaos like Thibodeau and Glen Taylor! Toward that end, join the new Slack, where we’ll have a dedicated #trade_channel to discuss potential trades!

Also, another thing I looked at was how many different trade partners everyone had. For example, Jon has had thirteen different trade partners, while Trieu has had twelve (out of twenty-five possible other owners, historically). Contrast that with Thien, whose trades with Trieu have accounted for eight out of twelve of his total trades. More trade partners everyone, do-si-do!

Most frequent trade partners:
Thien / Trieu (8)
Jon / Brian (5)
Trieu / Jon (4)
Oliver / Alvin (4)*
Eddie / Evan (3)

Eric has been very egalitarian, with two trades apiece with three owners and one each with Eddie, Frank, and Josh (plus C-Lucas who has retired) out of his ten total trades.

However, a trend I see over and over is that most people tend to trade within their immediate circle. What gives!? For example, the original CTDB fantasy football owners — Jon, Evan, Roger, Eric, Jimmy — have racked up quite a few trades in-between them. For example, take a look at Evan. Booooo. Let's make a commitment to stop in-group trading!

How do we increase communication, and more trading with everybody? I, for one, will now make it a goal to trade with every current owner, no matter how small. So Dave, Evan, Felipe, Frank, Josh, and Randall, step right up, let's talk! Every move doesn’t have to be a mega-blockbuster but the more trades the more fun, plus I'll have stuff to article about!

Some past trade articles:

• Trade Machine: Where we dole out some easy trade ideas like big/small or young/old!
• Trade Machine 2017: In-depth looks at teams needs and wants!
• Take a cruise through the current and replacement owners to get to know them, and our old "Mock Drafting the Owners" article

Everybody Eats

We wanted to give this trade an extra little shine, even though it didn’t affect playoff seeding, but could have big implications for the playoffs and the Toilet Bowl.

Trade ID#86:
• Swamp Dragons receive Gordon Hayward, Tomas Satoransky
• Fat Jubas receive Jeff Teague, Robert Covington, Swamp Dragons 2019 RD3

Technically done after Swamp Dragons pushed Eric Gordon out the door, this traded nets Eddie a recent All Star (and future NBA champion) in Gordon Hayward while diminishing their cache for the upcoming Toilet Bowl, where they will be the #1 seed — after winning last year’s version. Fielding a very deep team that juuuuust missed the playoffs, GM Eddie was actively looking to sell off pieces and found a buyer in Fat Jubas, who was slated to win Silverhawks division. The trade was simple, as Dragons receive an IR stash for the offseason while Jubas bolster their playoff roster for a title run versus a weakened Chamberlain field.

Teague has already been traded once this year, and his reunion with Jrue Holiday (both formerly on IL Conceived) should be fruitful. With Jimmy Butler gone, Teague has been averaging 17.6 PTS, 6.7 AST, and 2.0 STL. Meanwhile, the reckless bombing of Robert Covington may not always be pretty, but his incredible combo of volume 3PT and STL is a nice piece to have. While generally eschewing poor percentage shooters, Eric has decided to roll the dice with Covington as the X-factor in his playoff run.

As for Hayward, how good is he really? We know he’s an All Star, we know plays League of Legends, and we know that he’s got a torn off foot. Two years ago, he averaged 21.9 PTS, 5.4 REB, 3.5 AST, 2.0 3PT on 47. FG%. Those are solid numbers across the board but also nothing superstar spectacular. While this prognosticator is a bit biased, it’s safe to assume that next year Hayward returns healthy, puts up close to the same numbers — we predict more AST — and should solidify his role as a young NBA star in his prime.

If Swamp Dragons can somehow manage to snag a top pick in this loaded draft, turned two above average guys into one really good one, and if Markelle Fultz comes back to, well, something, then Swamp Dragons could be right back in championship contention as early as next season!

Oh yeah, Tomas Satoransky, replacement-Wall, was part of this deal too, and he’s got the ultra-weird ESPN position designation of PG/SF, and averages a plum 5.8 AST, 4.4 REB, and stellar percentages. Satoransky! He'll provide an interesting boost to Swamp's Toilet Bowl chances.

Making Money Moves

There’s always a lot of pre-postseason trades happening and this year was a deadline filled doozie! Let’s not bury the lede here, as Sour Snails, our three time defending champs and suffering from an injury plagued year, looked like they might be headed to the Toilet Bowl. Instead, Trieu got off the mat and swung two huge trades that might have given Snails new life for a proper title defense.

Trade ID#83:
• Sour Snails receive Damian Lillard, Julius Randle
• Team Thien receives Jimmy Butler, Mike Conley

Trade ID#84:
• Sour Snails receive Isaiah Thomas, Markieff Morris
• Buffy receives Kyle Kuzma, Derrick Favors

As if we thought last year’s mega-bomb trades were impressive, Trieu went out and turned all his injured assets into healthy players and maybe even upgraded his keeper core to boot! Damian Lillard has been out of his mind, averaging 29.3 PTS, 6.3 AST, 3.8 3PT in his last month of games. His return to Snail-land means he’ll slide in for the duo of Mike Conley and Jimmy Butler, who were both effectively out for the fantasy playoffs — Conley has only played twelve games total this year. And Julius Randle has been incredibly lately too, with 21.6 PTS, 10.3 REB, 60.2 FG% in his most recent month of playing. That’s two injured stars for one-and-a-half!

As if that wasn’t enough, Trieu swung for the fences again, dealing rookie sensation Kyle Kuzma (and Derrick Favors, the payback from his mid-season deal off of Jason Richardson) for maligned former All-Star Isaiah Thomas and Markieff Morris. While IT4 has had a rough season, t’s inarguable that he’s sort of back to form with his stay on the Lakers, averaging 17.3 PTS, 5.6 AST, 2.3 3PT, albeit on 38.2 FG%, during his past few weeks. While losing Kuzma was painful after stealing him in the draft, GM Trieu decided to gamble on Isaiah’s return to health. After these two deals, Sour Snails are back in title contention with an explosive roster…but first they have to make the playoffs.

As for Team Thien, why do this? A playoff spot was all but locked up, a possible division title, and at first glance this seemed like a deal that was designed to only tank — but with no reward. However, with DeMarcus Cousins tearing an ACL, John Wall sitting pretty on the WAS bench, and even Gary Harris dinged up, GM Thien decided to wisely fold up shop and wait for next year. He gets two star guards in return for Lillard — Butler is 28, Conley is 30 — and will walk away from a title run.

And then we have Buffy, who surprised us all with the IT4 deal which flipped an old Laker for a young one, and gives Roger Brandon Ingram and Kuzma to play with his team. (Is Lonzo Ball next?!?) We like this move for Buffy, as they needed to get younger and IT4’s situation was dicey at best. Kuzma has cooled off considerably but is still averaging a sweet 14.1 PTS, 7.8 REB, 2.3 3PT during his last month. Favors will just be a throw-in, but he’ll get the chance to play in Toilet Bowl action. This leads to our next deal involving Buffy...

Trade ID#85:
• Buffy receive Klay Thompson, Nikola Mirotic
• Funk Coalition receive Khris Middleton

Roger received Klay Thompson (although injured right after) and Mirotic, which bolsters his long range shooting. As one of the steadiest performers in the game, Klay gonna Klay, averaging 19.7 PTS and 3.1 3PT plus sterling percentages across the board. Mirotic had been a minor revelation on the Bulls, and he has been almost as good on New Orleans, making him a possible keeper replacement for the likes of Danilo Gallinari.

Middleton joins the newly competitive Funk Coalition, proving himself healthy with season averages of 20.0 PTS, 5.2 REB, 4.0 AST, and 1.8 3PT. Whether Middleton shines as an NBA All-Star or not, he’ll prove a more versatile part of Funk than Thompson.

Trade ID#87:
• Swamp Dragons receive Chunky Monkeys 2019 RD2 and 2020 RD4
• Chunky Monkeys receive Eric Gordon, Swamp Dragons 2019 RD4

And let’s not forget the current regular season champ’s counterpunch, as Chunky Monkeys added Eric Gordon for the price of a few picks. We’re pretty sure Evan sweated it up after Trieu’s monster moves, and he decided to bolster his roster by adding 18.0 PTS and 3.1 3PT to his playoff team, just to make sure they could keep up with Snails’ new look roster. Will it be enough to topple the champs? We’ll have to find out!

Forever Young

Looking to make a splash after his wildly successful start to the season —  IL Conceived started off 0-3 but then ripped off three straight wins, tripling the number of wins previous franchise Jedi Knights had acquired in 2016-7 combined (a paltry 1-37 record) — new owner Frank moved quickly to trade away the only two veterans from his dispersal draft: Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague.

After many discussions and strategy sessions, it was decided that the time to move Holiday and Teague was now, in a classic old for young swap, as IL Conceived’s small ball team was um, winning too much. The two vets were clogging up playing time for IL Conceived's prize rookie point guards: Donovan Mitchell and Dennis Smith Jr. For example, Teague was averaging 13.8 PTS, 7.5 AST, 1.6 STL, and 1.5 3PT for a nice fourth banana role in his new Minnesota home while Jrue Holiday was putting up 16.7 PTS, 5.6 AST, 4.3 REB, 1.3 3PT down in New Orleans.

With the kids ready for more minutes, IL Conceived looked to balance out their roster and cash in their month-old franchise leaders for some more upside guys. Enter Harrison Barnes and Jaylen Brown. At just twenty-five years old, Barnes has established himself as a consistent high volume scorer at 18.5 PTS, along with 7.6 REB. Rumors swirled pre-draft that Barnes was on the way out in Jubas-land and now he’s finally gone.

The real upside play for IL Conceived was nabbing Jaylen Brown, who was gotten on the cheap in RD5 by Swamp Dragons just a few weeks ago. The versatile sophomore has taken advantage of Gordon Hayward’s injury to get lots of floor time and has looked on the verge of a breakout. (Of course, he has been awful post-trade for IL Conceived…) Brown is playing over thirty minutes a game and putting up 14.8 PTS, 1.8 3PT, and 5.9 REB.

With the old vets Jrue (27 yrs old) and Jeff (29) gone, IL Conceived is now even younger than before,, and has pivoted entirely behind the Aaron Gordon, Dennis Smith, and Donovan Mitchell trio. Or will more trades be forthcoming now that new owner Frank has an itchy trigger finger?!

Trade ID#80:

• IL Conceived trades Jeff Teague to Swamp Dragons in exchange for Jaylen Brown

Trade ID#81:

• IL Conceived receive Harrison Barnes, Ersan Ilyasova, Jubas 2019 RD2 in exchange for Jrue Holiday, Tyler Johnson, IL Conceived 2019 RD5

For Jubas, adding Jrue Holiday gives the team a sudden boost in veteran guard savvy with the additional return of Chris Paul to the lineup. After the recent return of Rajon Rondo in New Orleans, Holiday has actually upped his scoring average to 21.4 PTS in his last two weeks as more of a scoring option. Eric also adds flamethrower Tyler Johnson to the perimeter and could use him for some additional outside shooting. Giving up a 2019 RD2 was the cost of improving now as Jubas fights for a playoff spot -- against the very same IL Conceived franchise!

As for Swamp Dragons, the slow starting NBA career of 2018 #1 overall Markelle Fultz (and the team's own slow start) prompted GM Eddie to make the high value move of Jaylen Brown, a RD5 pick, for a productive veteran right now. Teague will immediately lead Dragons in AST and team with Dennis Schroder to make a nice one-two punch as the playmakers in the backcourt.

Pre-Draft Trades 2018

Pretty quiet pre-draft period this year as many teams talked but only three deals happened. Of course, one of those involved future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony so I guess that's pretty big?

• ID#76: Team Thien receive Carmelo Anthony from Team Cameltoe in exchange for Thien's 2018 RD3
• ID#77: Buffy receive Serge Ibaka, 2018 RD3, 2018 RD4 from Chunky Monkeys in exchange for Buffy 2018 RD2, 2018 RD5
• ID#78: Team Thien receive Cameltoe 2018 RD6 in exchange for Cameltoe's right to swap 2019 RD3 picks with Thien

Durant vs Westbrook...

Will the huge trades ever stop coming? Let’s hope not! In recent days Trieu has moved four of his top six guys in the midst of a title defense and it’s arguable but they probably got even better. With Chunky Monkey’s Kyle Lowry out for the regular season, and Kevin Love of Team Spade out for a similar amount of time, it’s looking like the Russell Conference is wide open now too. (Watch Against All Odds as they weigh some potential moves to conquer the conference.)

Trade ID#74: 

• Sour Snails receive Kevin Durant
• Another Bad Creation receive Russell Westbrook and TJ McConnell

We can debate Kevin Durant versus Russell Westbrook for days but the final story is that they are NBA MVP contenders and top-five fantasy assets. For the year, Westbrook and Durant are averaging:

• Westbrook: 31.0 PTS, 10.6 REB, 10.3 AST, 2.2 3PT, 1.6 STL, 0.4 BLK, 5.6 TO with 42.1 FG% (23.9 FGA) and 83.1 FT% (10.5 FTA) 
• Durant: 25.8 PTS, 8.4 REB, 4.9 AST, 1.9 3PT, 1.1 STL, 1.7 BLK, 2.3 TO with 53.8 FG% (16.9 FGA) and 87.6 FT% (6.4 FTA)

Both are obviously amazing but for their respective new teams, the swap makes perfect fits. The Snails were trying to get more efficient and boost their defensive stats, and aside from having an infallible line, Durant is averaging a shocking 1.7 BLK this season. With this trade Trieu’s team should get a major boost in FG% and BLK, not to mention a big drop in TOs. The AST he’ll lose from Westbrook will be replaced by the recently acquired Mike Conley and now Durant will play next to Brook Lopez to form an insanely good 3PT big man duo.

Overall, the three trades Trieu made resulted in Russell Westbrook, Hassan Whiteside, Klay Thompson, Darren Collison, and TJ McConnell going out the door for Kevin Durant, Brook Lopez, Mike Conley, and Nerlens Noel. Team those four up with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler -- along with Avery Bradley, Dion Waiters, Gorgui Dieng -- and we don’t see any weaknesses. We think Snails are back in line as favorites to three-peat...

As for Westbrook’s new team, Another Bad Creation hasn’t participated in a player-on-player trade since 2011 (they’ve done three pre-draft draft pick for keepers trades), when they traded away Russell Westbrook for LaMarcus Aldridge and Rodney Stuckey. And now they’ve got Russell back, a better than ever Russell at that.

Even though we thought we’d never live to see the day Oliver parted ways with 2010 #4 overall Kevin Durant — our reset season — the offer was just too good to pass up. And it makes sense. With ABC vying for a division crown but caught in a 2-7 losing streak, change was finally in order. And bringing in a potentially historic triple-double player covers a lot of ground for a foundational player. Westbrook immediately moves in to lead Another Bad Creation in PTS, REB, AST, STL, and almost 3PT. With Russell unleashed in the backcourt, there’s now more balance for a team that has long suffered for lack of a point guard. Sure his FG% and TOs leave something to be desired but you don't get (a lot) of something for nothing.

Dwyane Wade will serve as Westbrook’s running mate while Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, and Greg Monroe — RIP Jahlil Okafor's fantasy career — get an on-court seat to the Westbrook show. But let’s not overlook the cherry on top of this already made perfect sense one-on-one deal: TJ McConnell is back on the team also (just like we suggested) after he was cut earlier in the season and he’s been averaging a useful 9.1 PTS, 6.9 AST, 1.9 STL on 52.3 FG% over his past month of games. Clinging to one game lead over Squirtle Squad, ABC could have just made the mega-deal that will secure them the first back-to-back division title in Transformers history.

So, big congrats to both owners, and congrats to SlamNation for another league shattering trade!