Roster Moves

Well, it's Saturday morning, October 16th and the Juan de Fuca Yo Mamas are on the clock. I got an email from Ron this morning that the 3-headed MGMT team is working on the final 2 cuts. I guess the pre-season play of DeJuan Blair has made things interesting. With only 3 keeper spots I would have thought that Zach, Wallace, and Gallinari were locks. Now, with Blair stepping up his game and maybe even earning the starting nod in San Antonio - he could be worth a look. Anyways, he said he would have his drops to me by tonight.

So, what's going on in the JBL with just one week until the 20th Draft??

Golden hooked up with Chilliwack on a trade. Aaron Brooks for Andrei Kirilenko. I know why Benny did this. He is loaded with bigs and to get his hands on a potential 20ppg PG for just $16 bucks - no brainer. Why did I do it? Well, for one, I didn't see Brooks being in my top 4 at the time. I also liked AK47's potential in a contract year. Yes, I was concerned about his injury history, but this deal was a minor one when our rosters are less than 1/3 full.

After reviewing the state of the Center position in the NBA I decided it might be prudent to get a cheap Center prior to the draft. That's where the AK47 for Anderson Varejao deal came up. Trevor pulled the trigger from a Palm Desert house where he is relaxing before he makes the trip to Vegas. This deal certainly had some interesting "hair" involved. If anyone remembers the Center's I rolled with last season during the JBL this was a must move for me prior to the draft. Yes, Varejao is injured right now but he could be the starter for a really bad Cleveland team that is going to want to run as often as possible. I am hoping Varejao's upside is somewhere around 10ppg, 8reb, 80stls, and 80blks with some decent FG%. I'm not asking him to be Brook Lopez, just a #2 Center who can get me some all around mediocre numbers.

Why did I drop Josh Smith?? Well, based on all the other JBL rosters this is clearly a draft with loads of top notch talent and I didn't want to be sitting there for an hour without the ability to get some! Josh Smith is a fantasy beast - but at $48 dollars that represents his top end value. So he really wasn't a 'bargain' - just a good player at the right price. At least that's the way I see things at the moment. If he breaks the $50 dollar barrier I guess I might regret the drop.

Seoul is down to Nene as a keeper. The 2-time defending champ is looking for the 3peat and is going in with a fantastic bargain in Nene and all the money in the world to try and build another winner. The tendex is being reviewed and Woo is able to start from scratch in his attempt to pull off something that has only been once before in the JBL. The only question remains is can Woo survive all the temptations of Vegas (the ladies, the smokes, the beers, the gambling, and the farting)???

Yuma ended up keeping just David Lee and Brendan Haywood. He released S-Jax, Maggette and George Hill. No real surprises here. Maggette would have been option if he was healthy but he is always a guy available at the end of the draft for that price anyways. Even though Haywood is in a potential time share with Tyson Chandler I think he's still a bargain at $6 bucks because of his ability to block shots.

With the Manhattan Beach Ballers returning to the JBL this season - blocks will be in high demand. Quick - how many players in the NBA blocked over 100 shots last season?? 19. That's it. So, with 13 teams in the JBL it isn't difficult to determine that it's going to be difficult to get your hands on those precious shot-blockers. That's why I like the size of the Chilliwack team - he has 3 guys on his roster ALREADY that blocked over 100 shots last season.

Arctic has protected the 3 guys I thought he would - Horford, Love, and Beasley. It could be argued that Horford is near his peak value - but looking at his stats he's one great fantasy player. Love is looking like a double double threat every night and Beasley is out to prove everyone who doubted him wrong. The Arctic squad looks very well equipped heading into draft night. I like this team's foundation.

Bangkok is having a very quiet off season. He has his 4 keepers (Westbrook, Curry, Gay, and Kaman) and is apparently sitting back just waiting for the season to begin so he can claim his 1st ever JBL title. I have to say (again) that I am a HUGE fan of this roster heading into the JBL draft. Although the firing of Don Nelson in Golden State does hurt Curry's value slightly. That being said, he's still a great bargain and probably a top 10 Fantasy player this coming season. Kaman and Griffin appear to be getting along just fine in LA and Gay appears to be a 20ppg player. And Russell Westbrook looks like he's Rondo, Kidd, and Nash rolled into one. OK, I'll say it, going into the JBL draft, this is the best line-up..

So, in my mind, who are the top 5 teams heading into the JBL draft??

1. Bangkok
2. Brussels
3. Chilliwack
4. Arctic
5. Golden

So, one week to go. I am excited. Very excited. I can't wait. This is the 20th JBL season and I am really looking forward to the entire experience.