| DRIBL LIVES!!! |
| The trade deadline came and went with a whimper. Hell it wasn't even a
whimper, it was dead silence. But when you break it down, it made sense that nothing happened, and it also denotes a problem with our league that may require bringing back an old rule. Whereas the tanking controversy all ended with Neal K last year, the problem this year BEGAN with the Sludge's GM. Not wanting to repeat the previous year when he was forced to take minimal talent for his studs due to lack of participation from the guys at the top, he chose to tank early this time around. This worked out well for Blown Layup, as their team that was considered competitive, bolstered itself to the point of chamionship contender by adding Nowitzki and Hinrich for nearly 3/4 of the year. But by the time the deadline rolled around, Blown Layup had essentially blown their keeper load, and thus did not have much to work with. For those of us who have been in this league a while, we are familiar with how the Rampant Statkings operate. Unlike George Steinbrenner, the other Neil is always reluctant to part with his young, cheap talent. Let's face it, he probably could have gotten the house for a $5 Monta Ellis. And at $6, there hasn't been a more attractive Gay since Rebecca Romijn announced she was bi. But although it might cost him his shot at the brass ring this year, he could still easily win without dealing, and will more than likely be a strong contender next year as well. Which leads to me. You know, there seemed to be a time when a 9 rebound-per-game free agent was as common as a Conservative in Oklahoma. Three pick-ups of Nazr Mohammed later, the Ferns have struggled mightily to make up ground in what is basically the only category they can. Although I felt a little more strongly about cheap keepers in $6 Udrih, $8 Crawford, $9 Maggette and $15 West (I believe the Doc's commentary on my Okur for West deal last year was "feh"), it seemed that the only player anyone wanted from me was Chris Paul. Although his salary ramps up to $25 next year, Paul is unquestionably one of the top players in fantasy this year, and to give him up would not only be detrimental to my protection next year, but to my run this year as well. But being 150 rebounds behind the next team in that cat, and entrenched in a Free Throw dog-fight, I had to get serious return for CP3. Unfortunately, I could not put together a deal that I felt would put me over the top. So I decided to take what I think will be a 3rd place finish, or hope (despite Neal K's counting me out) for a run at the top with free agent pickups to bolster my sorry rebounding. So with the top 3 seemingly established in one order or another, you would think that one of the teams vying for 4th place in KC Masterpiece, Free World Bs and KH Bombers, would give up an injured but cheap Kaman or Brandon Roy... or unreal $6 values in Devin Harris and Lamarcus Aldridge... or even surprise of the year $3 Turkoglu. But not only did none of these teams have interest in squandering those inexpensive studs for a shot at the money, but I actually received TANK offers from each of them. To me this denotes a problem. I remember being chided several years ago for tanking while in 5th place, back when we paid out 5 places among a 13 team league. Now it seems, we have the same problem with 4th place. This fact combined with the restrictions that we have put on trading has damaged league parity and could potentially be the league's undoing down the road. I believe the new restrictions on trading were a complete success, the salary floor being the biggest factor in eliminating the "mega-tank" deal. But I think that at some point this off-season, we need to address the possibility of going back to paying out 5 spots. In my mind, it would have created more opportunity for a team like Satchsquash to rid himself of two X contracts and thus give him a better leg up on next year. If you dont feel it is a problem and take the stance that it is the GM's problem if he is stuck next year without 6 bona fide keepers, consider the Air Sikmas situation last year. Brian didn't feel that his protection was going to get him anywhere, and so he basically left us with a pile of borderline values that very few prospective GMs would have wanted. What Blown Layup has done with this squad is nothing short of amazing to me. |
| NOW TOO FEW TRADES??? |