Pull the Trigger

OK, I pulled the trigger. I traded the Kid, Double-Nickel, whatever you want to call Mr. Jennings. He's gone. He's off to Idaho in exchange for Amare Stoudamire and Chris Duhon. Why did I do it? Well, something had to change for the Golden squad if I am to try and climb back in the race.

But Johnny, you were only 13.5 points behind Juan de Fuca when Saturday night wrapped up???

Yes, but Juan is still improving in many categories and I have to try and do something with my own team to keep up. (by noon on Sunday the lead was up to 33 points).

So...I went back to a deal that I really didn't want to begin with. Surprisingly, there were many other options...Idaho proposed another offer I was interested in...Andre Miller and Emeka Okafor for Jennings. This was pretty good because I would be able to replace Jennings ATO in this deal. However, it didn't have the 'star' power I wanted.

I tried Brussels on to see if he wanted to grab Jennings. No dice. I was looking for maybe Gay and one other. I tried Gay and Webster. Nope. I tried Gay and Alston. Nope. Why was it difficult for Tim to pull the trigger? I can think of two main reasons....

1) If he doesn't improve on his 11th place in the standings he will only be able to keep 1 player anyways (that will be Durant) so he wouldn't be able to keep Jennings.
2) He only has $1 free agent dollar left so if he traded away 2 players he would have to play guys like Boykins or Brockman. (poor team FA$ management?)

OK, I buy those theories...but shouldn't there be other factors involved??
How about pulling the trigger and then making a secondary trade??? You're telling me he couldn't make a 2 for 1 deal the other way where he could've moved Kevin Martin or Jamison or Gay?

So, with Brussels out of the equation, I had to resort back to Idaho. Over comes Amare and Duhon. Why Chris Duhon?? Because I have to try and replace Jennings' ATO somehow. Yes, Duhon currently sucks. However, the Knicks could shake their roster up by the trade deadline and Duhon could have Fantasy relevance again in the future.

So, with this deal I am now left with 1 too many players and will have to make a secondary move. I'm OK with trying to pull a 2 for 1 the other way. Personally, I would think Channing Frye (despite his recent demotion to the 2nd unit in Phoenix) still has some keeper value/potential. What if Phoenix moves Amare? What if Amare doesn't re-sign? Frye has shown he can play. I know he's not an All-Star or anything - but he is Fantasy relevant. Shouldn't some other JBL teams have interest in him? And if I paired him with say....Carl Landry or Shaq...shouldn't a Frye/Landry or Frye/Shaq combo be intriguing?

Take Brussels for example - he's trotting out Andray Blatche and Tyson Chandler as his centres currently. His bench options include Jon Brockman and Earl Boykins. Wouldn't Frye and Landry be better options? Who would you rather have - Frye/Landry or Jamison/Chandler? Keeping in mind of course that Chandler was/is injured and his potential replacement is Jon Brockman. (so really it's 2 for 1 because Chandler and Brockman give you nothing!) Oh vey.

Anyways, I have less than 24 hours to make a 2 for 1 deal and I may have found 3 potential partners. These would be much larger deals however. Without much detail, I will say I have approached Belgrade, Idaho, and Boston with multiple deal offers. Some of those deals include Amare Stoudamire - who may end up not playing a single game in Golden.

So what is the best keeper approach? Can't say I've had to employ mine very often over the years...but I know what I would be trying to do...

1) Get as many good potential keepers as I could while trying to maintain my position in the standings.
2) If I can't move up anymore, then I would be trying to get those good keepers away from the other teams so they can't be protected. In this case, do we really want to see Bangkok get to keep all of the guys he wants?? For example, I'd rather see Boston make a trade with Bangkok to get Tyreke Evans out of there...so even if Boston finishes last and can't protect a single player - at least Bangkok can't protect Evans now. (This is the old dating theory of "If I can't have her, then no one else can either" - Then you tell all your male friends she's got a cock so they stay away). And if you're Bangkok - wouldn't you be willing to sacrifice Evans if you could make a run at the JBL title? So, even if your 10th, 11th, or 12th in the JBL standings - I think you can still have a major impact on the JBL rosters. And if you are Boston, isn't it worth a shot to get at least 1 protectable player on your roster just in case you do move up??

Anyways, there will be plenty of more deals...I know it. I feel it in my bones.