JBL Offseason Continues...

Well, the lottery is complete and teams are now starting to look at their JBL rosters again as the start of the 2012/13 season isn't that far away.

Tonight, Brussels made it official and announced that his #2 lottery pick was up for grabs and that he was looking for a player and a lower pick. Smart move by Brussels has he looks to acquire talent for a roster that is currently empty.

Any trades will have to be delayed until October 1st after all the rosters have been trimmed. Why can't he make a move now? Simply because some teams still have 10 players on their team. Chilliwack can't keep 4 players for himself and then offer the other 6 players to Brussels for the #2 pick...that doesn't make sense. So, as previously discussed here in these Chronicles - teams must first reduce their rosters to the maximum allowable of players based on last season's standings. Once that's done - then trades (lottery picks or otherwise) can be made. The season essentially begins because Brussels is technically allowed no keepers for next season - so we have to start the new season for him to acquire players.

So, as you can see on the JBL site we have a couple of significant dates ahead.
September 1st - teams reduce their rosters to a maximum of 6 guys.
October 1st - teams reduce their rosters to maximum allowable # of players (4-3-2-1 depending on your finish)
Once all teams have reduced their rosters - then the 2012/13 JBL season can begin and trading is open and roster limits no longer apply.
IE. If Brussels can trade the #2 pick for 4 players - that's allowed after October 1st.

So - what kind of offers could Timbo get for that #2 pick??

The first team that jumps out at me is Idaho. Tuna holds the #11 pick and will have 3 wicked keepers. Bynum and Harden should be locks. The 3rd spot is up for grabs in my opinion. Rubio would appear to be the guy but he could miss half the season. Can Tuna wait half a season for this guy? Or would Jordan or Thompson be better options if he could turn one of them and the #11 spot into the #2 pick? This could be a discussion that Idaho and Brussels have in the meantime while they wait for that October 1st date to roll around.

The other team that has to be in the mix is French Lick. Brussels and French make a dozen trades every year so this could be #1 for 12/13. Or maybe Brussels wants to beat French this year? The last time Brussels finished ahead of French was way back in the 2008/09 season. Could Jeff Teague and the #7 pick spark any interest for #2? Or is the player available at #7 potentially too good to pass on as well as giving up a guy like Teague.

This JBL Rookie draft will certainly be interesting. Outside of the #1 pick - I think it will be very difficult to predict the order of the remaining JBL picks. It also depends on who is making that 2nd pick. Will it be Brussels or will it be another team? I see 4 top quality rookies in this draft. I see another 3-4 guys that could be very good. And I do think that there are 13 rookies worth drafting. Remember last year - we missed on a few rooks who saw action on JBL rosters (Biyombo and MarShon Brooks to name a couple). I'm sure we'll miss a couple again this year too.

I had already done some rookie research as I had expected to land the #13 pick in this lottery and there were a couple of guys I'd be interested in taking a flyer on for sure. That being said, I may consider moving down in this draft if the price was right. Again, I think it's a fairly deep rookie crop and some bargains may be found at the end of this rookie draft.

I love that Timbo sent that message tonight about the #2 pick. It's August 29th and I'm jacked about the JBL already. Love it.