Drama drama drama! Another big trade with Stephen Curry getting moved AGAIN put the league in a furor, with it the talk of the town. The REL water cooler at the REL office had all sorts of rumors going around. “Is it fair?” “Which team wins?” “Is Slim’s beard from taking too many beaver tranquilizers?!” In the end, both teams felt like winners, it was a joyous week with hoards of FAAB adds, everyone is happy… well, everyone except for me and my luck and scrubby team. Here’s how the rest of week 11 went down in the REL:
1. Martyball – IFBL (72-25-2)
FAAB Remaining: $80 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
2. Barking BassetHounds (67-29-3)
FAAB Remaining: $69 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Yeah I was one of those who initially squawked at the Curry trade 2.0. But my policy as a commissioner has always been to give the parties making the trade every benefit of the doubt. In practical terms this means that if you can intelligently defend the trade, then it passes, even if I disagree with your argument.
This trade was intelligently defended, yet I still disagree with the argument.
The basis of my disagreement stems from how I think having a team roster of 17 (as opposed to 13 players) in a H2H format impacts player values. It also stems from how I think having 340 owned players (as opposed to 156) impacts values. Now I won’t get into the details on this, but suffice it to say that this is the reason why the most expensive player on my team is Jeff Teague ($32) and why at the time I thought I overpaid a little for him (I obviously don’t feel that way now). But this is my opinion only and I may be wrong.
So where does that leave Barking BassetHounds. I think Slim is now the clear favorite in this league. But with a playoff format, luck and the relative health of the teams involved at the time will still be huge factors that are outside of our control. Looking at my team I don’t see obvious paths to improve via the classic present-for-future type trades. I put John Henson on my trading block, but I would have to be convinced the trade significantly helps me this year to pull the trigger. Maybe there is a team out there that likes one of my $1 bargains (Henry Sims or Sefolosha) so I can make a small improvement (not that I expect any Henry Sims trade to be a biggie). Other than these possibilities I see few opportunities for the classic future-for-present trade types to improve my team.
Maybe at some time I will look to make an even-Stephen trade that strengthens me in some categories while weakening me in others. This would be determined closer to trade deadline.
Anyway this weeks matchup has me up 8-1 Sunday evening. Looks like the only category in doubt is FG%, which I would lose only if my 9:00 starters crap out. So it is time for some bench strategery here.
3. Slim – Razzball (64-34-1)
FAAB Remaining: $38 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Another week another win. Over the last 3 weeks this team has combined for a record of 25-2, not too shabby if I do say so myself. I recon that means it’s time to rest on my laurels and hope this team is good enough to win it all. Eh, not so much. After offering up Curry to pretty much every team in the league I was able to find a trade partner and flip Steph for some high end non-keepers who fit my team needs. Well I didn’t entirely fulfill my needs, my turnovers went up far more than I would have liked. I went from about 4.0 per game combined from the players I traded away to about 6.5 per game combined from the players I received. Obviously I’m not too thrilled about that but it wasn’t the only category I lost some of in this trade. Assists, steals, and 3s all went down and now that is where I hope to focus on for my next trade. Speaking of which here’s some guys who are on my trade block and why.
My PGs of Lillard, Conley, Beverley, Cole, and Burks I believe is still my biggest strength and of those Norris Cole and Alec Burks I’m expressly open to trading. I would assuredly be looking for assists and low TOs back for either. As for Burks though I’m only interested in trading him for a similarly priced, high upside, young keeper. I won’t hold my breath waiting for that though and if I have to finish the year with only 16 active players then so be it.
My wings of Wiggins, Brewer, Tucker, Solomon Hill, Marcus Morris, and Marvin Williams all have plenty of ups and downs due to inconsistent minutes but the only one I’m really looking to move is Marcus Morris. At 25 years old and only $1 to keep I believe Marcus still has a fair amount of trade value even if he remains a career backup. I imagine I would be open to trading P.J. Tucker and Solomon Hill too but they are pretty useful pieces for me so I’m not going out of my way to sell them.
After the trade my bigs are now comprised of Marc Gasol, Hibbert, Adams, Nurkic, Amir Johnson, and Hassan Whiteside. Lots of changes here and nearly all of them are now on the block. Marc Gasol at $41 and soon to be 30 years old is not a keeper for me. I will gladly trade him if I can get better this year or if I can get a decent keeper back. Roy Hibbert at 28 years old and $17 to keep doesn’t fit my keeper profile either, but a good FT shooter and shotblocker fits my current needs well so even though he’s on the block he will be very difficult for me to move. Amir Johnson at 27 years old and $13 to keep is right on the keeper borderline for me. With Nurkic looking like a sure fire keeper though I probably won’t have the room anymore to hold onto Amir past this year. I realize he’s playing terrible right now and I’m willing to give him up for pretty much anyone who shoots 3s (with low TOs) and plays 25+ minutes. Lastly there’s Mr. Whiteside, who at 25 years old and only $1 to keep might just be able to work his way into my long term plans. Then why is he on the block? For this year I no longer need his blocks and it is well known that he is a very poor FT shooter. Obviously I’m not going to give him away but he can be had for the right price.
I’m well aware this post has gotten far too long but I should say something about what I’m looking to get back in a trade. What I’m looking for is mostly assists and 3s with low TOs. I’m very interested in adding potential keepers but obviously so is everyone else. Finally, I don’t have an open roster spot for waiver moves anymore so a 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 trade would go a long way in helping to push me over the edge.
4. Scurry to the Left (63-35-1)
FAAB Remaining: $68 FAAB Moves this week: Ryan Kelly ($15), Meyers Leonard ($15)
5. Kap’s Team (59-38-2)
FAAB Remaining: $87 FAAB Moves this week: Bismack Biyombo ($11)
6. Youth Movement (59-39-1)
FAAB Remaining: $62 FAAB Moves this week: Elijah Millsap ($0)
Managed to pull out a 7-2 win against a second division team and avoided being relegated for one week. I lost assists as expected and lost turnovers, again, as expected. I play one of the big four teams this week and expect to get killed, but I will put forth my best, ahem, lineup. I see how Slim has surged in the standings after our trade (the non-controversial one), and I ponder whether I made the right decision dealing Curry for two, and potentially three, keepers. About two seconds later, I realize that my record is padded by a easy start to the schedule, including playing better teams when they were injured, and realize I would get killed by any one of several teams in the playoffs. Or worse, I would trade my best assets, Tobias, McDaniels, Collison, etc for an upgrade this year and lose anyway to one of the big four. My keeper list is starting to round into form, as I start to look to next year. I foresee having well over $100 to spend next year. Kevin Martin should be back this week or next and he will be available to anyone “going for it” or if anybody wants an $8 keeper for next year.
7. Breaking Batum (52-46-1)
FAAB Remaining: $59 FAAB Moves this week: Travis Wear ($0), Jordan Clarkson ($0)
Another week, another loss. This stretch of schedule is brutal, with us facing top 5 opponents again this week and next. We lost 1-8 to Slim, losing by 1 TO and 1 Blk (Gasol got 2 blocks in the double OT of that game).
8. Hoopus Alleyoopus (52-47-0)
FAAB Remaining: $30 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
A 5-4 win isn’t anything to celebrate, but considering it was over the 3rd place team I am satisfied with the result. A very tight matchup with assists and steals decided by 2 and blocks decided by 1. Upcoming schedule is brutal with matchups against the 4th, 5th then 2nd place teams. Some tough sledding ahead.
I really got a conversation going with my message board post about the recent Stephen Curry trade. I wasn’t doing it just to be a dick, despite it maybe coming off that way. The trade just made zero sense to me. What another guy does with his team is his business, but at the time I wasn’t sure if it was made by a team at the bottom of the standings that just didn’t care anymore and was giving up on the league. High as Greg Kite explained his reasons, so party on.
9. Pete Nice – Razzball (48-50-1)
FAAB Remaining: $40 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
10. The Nature Boy (48-50-1)
FAAB Remaining: $88 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
11. Team Tough Guy Town (45-51-3)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
12. JB Gilpin – Razzball (43-46-1)
FAAB Remaining: $0 FAAB Moves this week: Langston Galloway ($18), Tarik Black ($0)
Because why wouldn’t I play a team that owns Rudy Gobert AND Trevor Booker the week Enes Kanter happens to be out… Gets a 4 game Jazz week with 3 without Kanter. Unbelievable.
I lost 2-7, but Pete’s team should easily finish top 8. I lose 3s by four with Wilson Chandler missing a game, maybe that could’ve swung, but Pete is healthy across the board while I’m without my studs. I win fairly comfortably in 3s/Pts/Ast with Kawhi and Rubio back, with a good chance I would’ve won steals losing by 14. I might lose TO, but that’s a 6-3 or 5-4 win if I’m healthy. Why couldn’t I play Pete any other week?! I didn’t go through it all, but I beat Pete 6-3 or 7-2 through weeks 1-5. I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but when Rubio severely sprained his ankle, that night I texted Slim and said my season was over.
There were some ups and downs, I don’t see why the Magic don’t give O’Quinn more of a role, but Wroten has picked it up, Snell got a start, LaVine played well, and CoJo can still put up stats even with Tony Parker back. Seraphin and Mike Scott continue to show progress when given minutes. Not so bad for $12.
I’ve amassed some good young keepers like those guys, and still have Ibaka on the trading block. He’s my last big asset I’d want to move, as I’m losing big man stats anyway. Surprised I got Galloway off the wire, it’s more myopic as I don’t know if he’s even a $1 keeper next year, but he’s young and flashy and I think starts for the Knicks late in the year. Jose Calderon has got to be on his way out.
13. SethDaSportsMan (42-57-0)
FAAB Remaining: $22 FAAB Moves this week: Andray Blatche ($0)
14. High as Greg Kite (40-58-1)
FAAB Remaining: $13 FAAB Moves this week: Adreian Payne ($5), Quincy Miller ($3), Elliot Williams ($3), Seth Curry ($3), Khem Birch ($3)
15. Like A Josh – IFBL (40-58-1)
FAAB Remaining: $85 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
16. ChazTop–KevinBottom (40-58-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
17. Cigar Smoking Monkey (39-59-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
18. Ben – RotoGold (37-67-1)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
19. Mr. Green – Nowhere (34-63-2)
FAAB Remaining: $24 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
Victory.
There’s not much else to say. My team has hit the easier part of their schedule and they started it off the right way with a 6-3 victory to get out of the basement. Victory is sweet!
This is only my teams second win, but I feel like we’ve ended up very respectable in 5 of 11 matchups. Which considering the schedule and the injuries is pretty good. I still didn’t get DeRozan back, maybe this week, but other than that everything is looking up.
I’m sure others above have already touched on ‘the trade’ so I won’t spend too much time on it. Would I have done it? Nope. Does that mean another manager with a different perspective shouldn’t be able to do it? Not at all. To each their own, everyone has a different idea of how to succeed which is what makes things interesting. I’m very anti-veto so I’ll be happy to see it pass.
20. The Struggle is Real (32-67-0)
FAAB Remaining: $100 FAAB Moves this week: n/a
