Happy New Year

Welcome to 2011 everyone! Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great night and a great 2010. When I look back at 2010 I keep thinking of how fast it went by. It seems just like yesterday that the JBL masses were in Las Vegas. Now, we're finishing up week 10 of the JBL season. Holy cow.

Anyways, with 2011 rolling in I thought it would be a good time to start looking at some potential keepers for next season. Remember, our keeper trade deadline is the NBA All-Star Weekend. And that weekend isn't that far away now. It's February 20th so we are about 7-8 weeks away. For those JBL teams who continue to struggle with mediocrity it's almost time to start thinking about building for 2011/12.

So, without further delay, I'm going to quickly go through some the top keepers (currently) for next season. Of course, as NBA players get traded, other great keepers could emerge in the coming weeks. My focus this morning is to look at those guys who would likely be bargains at their current price and in their current situation. And if I miss some guys...oh well. I'll list the players protected price beside his name...

Kevin Love $22 - 21ppg and 15reb. I know he doesn't do much else. But those numbers for $22 bucks are insane. What would he go for in the JBL Auction?? Way more than that!

Kevin Martin $22 - a 22ppg scorer who shoots it lights out from downtown. Another guy who doesn't contribute much anywhere else. However, I think if you see how close the PTS category is in the JBL these days it's clear that having big time scorers is recommended.

Amare Stoudamire $55 - 26 & 9 with 104 combined steals and blocks. Oh vey.

Luis Scola $23 - 20 & 8 for the always under-rated big man in Houston.

Tyreke Evans $23 - 17ppg, 5ast, 5reb. But can he stay healthy?

Eric Gordon $28 - The #10 scorer in the NBA at 24ppg. Again, points are good.

Michael Beasley $17 - 22 and 6 with good %'s. The Beaz found new life in Minnesota.

Rudy Gay $29 - 21 and 6 with 96 combined steals and blocks and good %'s. Lethal.

Joakim Noah $27 - 14 and 12 with BIG steals and blocks and good %'s.

Wilson Chandler $17 - 18 and 6 with 51 blocks. Quietly darn good.

Serge Ibaka $9 - big time shot-blocker gets 10 and 7 with 76 blks

Danilo Gallinari $12 - 15ppg and a 15 Tendex.

Carlos Boozer $35 - 21 and 10 and fitting in nicely in Chi-town.

Landry Fields $6 - the cheapest guy around that can get you 10 and 7 with a 15 Tendex.

Stephen Curry $20 - 19 and 6 with good %'s and steals in an injury filled year.

Well, there you have it, 15 of the top current keepers that JBL teams will be looking at protecting for next season. Others will emerge as NBA teams shuffle their deck chairs....

Will Ty Lawson will the starting PG in Denver at year's end?

Will Evan Turner be leading Philadelphia?

Can Tiago Splitter ever get consistent minutes in San Antonio?

Will Wesley Johnson emerge for Minnesota?

Can DeMar DeRozan be the #2 man in TO?

Has Anderson Varejao peaked as a player or can he bump up his numbers?

There are lots of players to keep your eyes on in the coming weeks...

Enjoy the New Year everyone. All the best for a happy and healthy 2011.

Cheers,

John

Pershick Christmas Summit

Well, it took awhile on Boxing Day, but a deal finally went down. I'm talking about the Pershick Christmas dinner. Idaho, Brussels, and Arctic all gathered together to share the Christmas spirit, some light beverages, and of course to try and wangle a few JBL trades. Well, late into the night, the CBS alert wire brought be news of an Idaho and Brussels trade.

Idaho gets Monta Ellis and Brussels gets Chris Bosh and Nick Young.

So Johnny, who got the better of the deal? I ask this of myself because everyone always wants to know what I think. Is that because of the 7 JBL crowns? Is it because they just want someone else's opinion of their deal? Or is it because I have a blog and could very well write about the trade? Maybe it's a combination of all of them.

OK, I'll break it down. First, I have to look at Idaho's roster to see who else is going to be playing this week in his lineup so we can compare apples to apples. This is ultimately a 2 for 2 trade. So, who is that 2nd player. It appears to be the recently signed Mickael Pietrus. So, lets see how it affects both teams...

Brussels - Timbo got the size he wanted by acquiring Bosh. He also acquired an adequate scorer in Nick Young. Of course, Young's increased production has come while John Wall has been out of the lineup. From Brussels' perspective, I do like this deal. Yes, he loses a lot of steals and a little bit in ATO. However, I see him gaining in most of the other categories.

I'm not sold on Nick Young from a fantasy perspective. Yes, he can score. And he actually shoots a decent FG% and 3PT%. However, I'm not a fan of the rest of his game. How does a Guard have a negative ATO? I don't get that. He also does contribute in steals or blocks and of course he's a weak rebounder. However, anytime you can acquire a 14ppg guy (for now), you do it.

Tim is really challenging himself this season in the JBL. He loves the challenge I sense. Take last week for example, he played with just 10 guys. Now, most of us in the JBL like to go with 12 man active rosters. Not Timmy. He went with 10 by electing to play Terrence Williams and the injured Gerald Wallace. Now, in fairness to Tim, his bench was filled with other guys he's holding out hope can gain (or re-gain) fantasy relevance. He's got Splitter, Troy Murphy and the Birdman all waiting in the wings. Well, none of these guys are good enough right now to help his squad. And in fact, that's why he played G-Wall last week. Because even 1 game from 'Crash' is better than a week's worth of those guys.

Tim is suffering from what I call "keeper-itis" or "don't-want-to-move-on-itis". We all have it. We never want to see a player have success if we drop them. Tim has it with Murphy, Splitter, Terrance Williams, etc. I have it with Roddy Beaubois. Yuma has it with Kelenna Azubuike. We all have those players that we don't want to let go for fear they turn out to be great on someone else's fantasy team. And in most cases, JBL teams stash these players on their injured list. However, most JBL teams have just one of these players. Brussels appears to have several and they are taking up bench spots.

Tim is caught in between "can I still challenge for a money spot" and "I want to have good keepers". It's a difficult place for anyone to be in. My 2 cents - no point in having multiple potential keepers when you're only going to be able to keep 1-2 guys. Enough about Brussels.

Idaho acquired Monta Ellis. Superstud scorer and Mr. Steals himself. I love his fantasy game. I was lucky enough to watch him in Chicago last season when the JBL roadtrip rolled through the Windy City. Why is Monta so great in Fantasy? Because he's a ball hog. Now, don't get me wrong, that's absolute great in terms of Fantasy!

Idaho gets a big time scorer and stealer and also improves slightly in ATO. However, he has lost a lot of rebounds by giving away Bosh. According to a reputable Fantasy basketball analysis website, this trade costs Idaho big time in the rebounds category. And as we all know, rebounds are very tight. Can Idaho keep his current 5th place standing in rebounds? We'll see. Idaho will need K-Mart to help in this category asap.

And what kind of fantasy impact will Mickael Pietrus have?? He had a great game the other night but isn't PHX loaded with guys just like him? Jared Dudley. Grant Hill. Josh Childress. Hakim Warrick. They're all very similar in my books. However, Pietrus does have the advantage, along with Grant Hill, because they play defense.

Pietrus could struggle to find consistent minutes in PHX and his all around fantasy game isn't that impressive. He's another guy who struggles to have a positive ATO. And he certainly isn't a great rebounder. He's a real wild card in the deal and his play (and K-Mart's) will have a big influence on how Idaho did in this trade.

So who won the trade?? Too soon to tell. Starting week 10 Idaho has 906 points and Brussels has 423. Let's see how many points they have in 3-4 weeks. And then we can crown the winner...

So this appears to be the only Pershick-summit trade that went down. I wonder if Arctic was ever in the mix?? Did he have anything brewing? From the sounds of things, Arctic is quite pleased with his Arctic juggernaut at the moment. Crikker is in the ultimate position because he will only do a deal if he wins the trade hands-down. The rest of us have to make 'speculative' trades where we have to risk that a player is going to improve in the coming weeks/months. We should all be jealous of the position the Arctic is currently in.

Anyways, that's all for this morning...

Christmas!

Well, it's 10:24pm and I am waiting for Ryan to fall asleep. Not the easiest task for a 7 year old at Christmas. He's anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival. He can't wait. He' so excited. I love this time of year.

So, what would the JBL teams want for Christmas? Let's have a look...and we'll start at #13 and work our way up...

#13 - Maui Ribs. Trev could use some health for starters. He's been ravaged by injuries this season. Unfortunately, those injuries have killed his 'average' players. There are no superstars on this team and that has hurt Trevor all season long. He can block (4th) but everything else he's in 12th or 13th place. What Trevor needs for Christmas is a stud keeper for next season and then the ability to climb into 12th place so he can keep said stud keeper. Maybe Trevor can leverage Granger or Bogut into someone magical for next season?

#12 - Belgrade Zombies. Marko needs his role players to emerge and become blossoming stars. He needs the DJ Augustin, Carl Landry, DeMar DeRozan, and Linas Kleiza types to become better than what they currently are. He needs Lopez to rebound like a big man - not like a small forward. He needs Carmelo and Odom to continue their all-star like play. And he really needs a time machine to go back and re-think trading Chris Bosh for Devin Harris.

#11 - Brussels Muscles. Here's another team that needs some health. Timmy needs John Wall and Gerald Wallace to get healthy, get on the court, and perform like the potential superstars they are. Brussels also needs time. He has some big names (Zach, Monta, Wall, Wallace) but he is going to need more from those so-called role players (Flynn, Ilyasova, and Terrance Williams). And most of all, Timbo needs Troy Murphy out of New Jersey and back into Fantasy relevance asap.

#10 - Juan de Fuca Yo Mamas. The 3-headed Ontario monster team needs Mr. Bargnani back soon. This team is loaded with 'name' players but needs to stay healthy as he's lost man games to Bargs, Johnson, Barbosa, and Gooden. Juan is 11th in 4 categories, one of which is Scoring, and I think they should be better than that with the players on this squad. I am thinking Juan needs some patience to see what this team can do when healthy. But if it's not working, he has the ultimate keeper chip to play with Kevin Durant. He should be able to parlay KD into any keeper he wants.

#9 - Golden Showers. My team is slowly climbing in points but still has a long way to go. Golden needs 2 players to become Fantasy factors in 2011. Tyrus Thomas and Roddy Beaubois. Both have oodles of talent and just need to be set free. The coaching change in Charlotte could be a dream come true for Tyrus and Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki still rave about Roddy Buckets and can't wait to get him on the court. So, that's what Golden wants for Christmas - for those 2 guys to become Fantasy must-start players.

#8 - Manhattan Beach Ballers. Bobby Hucul needs a 4th stud to emerge from his team of balance. He has Amare, Pau, and Manu leading the way. But he needs someone else to elevate their game. Can that guy be Baron Davis if he leaves LA? Can Josh Howard be a fantasy factor again? The other thing Santa should bring Bob is a permission slip. Santa should let Bob know it's OK to trade and shake things up. Answer me this readers of the Chronicles - have you been offered a trade from MBB? Have you? Cause I would love to know if Bob has thrown something out there. I mean, come on, MBB has enough blocks...he should be moving Darko for some other categories...shouldn't he? This team is 13th in ATO and should look to acquire someone to assist him there (get it?).

#7 - Yuma Thurmans. Chubby needs to get out of mediocre-ville. Yuma spent a lot of time there last season. You remember, he was 8th for 20 of 24 weeks (or something like that). Well, this season appears to be shaping up to be quite similar. Pat is lacking in blocks and rebounds right now and that equates to the need for a big man (something many JBL teams could use). Hey, wait a second, Yuma is 2nd in ATO and is lacking REBS and BLKS? MBB is strong in BLKS and is lacking in ATO? Shouldn't a Darko for Mike Conley deal be discussed? Anyways, Pat is not afraid to trade and will likely be looking to make a move to improve the squad in 2011.

#6 - Chilliwack Offs. Benny is nicely positioned in the top 6. Or the elite status teams as I like to call them. Losing Joakim Noah for 10 weeks hurts but Benny is still loaded with talent to compete. Benny's weakest category is 3PT% and he could really use a Reggie Miller or Glen Rice type right now. The Wack is the #1 scoring team in the NBA these days and it will be difficult to pry top scorers away from the Offs. However, if you look at a team like Juan (11th in scoring and 4th in 3PT%) maybe there's a way for those two teams to hook up on some sort of deal. Just saying. Benny is no stranger to tweaking himself or his JBL team and I expect this team to be in the running come April.

#5 - Idaho Udapimps. The youngster has assembled a solid, well-balanced team led by Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh. Tuna has been blessed with good health through the first 8 weeks but is starting to feel the effects of the long NBA season as he lost Brandon Jennings for 4-6 weeks. He traded for the hurting and struggling Tyreke Evans and he also brought in Mr. No Meniscus Brandon Roy. Tuna is certainly hoping for a magic elixir in Santa's bag to keep his team healthy because his roster from 10 to 12 isn't that pretty (Dragic, Sessions, Ben Gordon).

#4 - Seoul Brothers. Philly Woo is still hoping for those platform sneakers that Santa promised him in 1994. It's not happening, move on. Philly Woo is cursing the trade that took J-Rich from PHX to ORL. Damn you NBA trades! The Brothers are a very good team and their only real weakness right now is ATO. However, his team has been OK in this category lately. As usual, Woo is waiting in the wings and his teams traditionally go on late season runs. Woo is looking for the 3-peat and still has some tricks up his sleeve. Look out Santa, I mean JBL, the Brothers are coming.

#3 - French Lick Celtics. French should want 1 thing for Christmas - a shot blocker. He is 20 blocks away from gaining 52 points and going over the 1000 point plateau. Just 20 blocks. That's all. In fact, if you look at the other categories, French is very close to going over 1000 points and it could happen in the next 4-5 days in fact. He's close in ATO. He's close in FG%. He's close in steals. He should gain more in PTS. Yup, this is another 1000 point JBL team in a heartbeat. Now, if he adds that shot-blocker - look out JBL. Look out.

#2 - Bangkok Fighters. The crown jewel of the JBL thus far this season. He's spent the majority of the year in 1st place and at the moment trades places with Arctic for 1st place on a nightly basis. This team is strong but does need to get healthy again. He's missing Biedrins and Kaman right now and that's a lot of rebounds out of the lineup. He's also missed Stephen Curry for the better part of almost 3 weeks now. He has been able to maintain a strong position in the standings despite the injuries because of the great depth he has and the strong seasons he's getting from unexpected sources (Brand and Dorell Wright). I think Rick is asking Santa for some health pills and some consistency in 2011. He has the horses. We'll see what happens.

#1 - Arctic Circle Jerks. 2010 has been a magical season for Crikker. He won the baseball pool on the last day and he has assembled an absolute JBL juggernaut that is fighting for the ultimate Fantasy prize. His big man combo of Love, Griffin, Horford, Camby, and Beasley is stuff that GM's dream of. And think about this - he has 1061 points as I type this and he's 10th in blocks. 10th I say!! With a mere 25 more blocks the Arctic squad would be at 1227 points!! So, how would Arctic get those blocks without sacrificing much else?? I've long thought that the perfect trade for Arctic would be Kevin Love for Dwight Howard. I have no idea if Tuna would be interested in something like this but this would a killer trade for Arctic in my mind. What does Chris want from Santa. He wants 2011 to be just like 2010 - because 2010 was working out just fine.

A Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

John

Early Christmas Gift...

Well, when Timbo woke up this morning he must of thought it was the 25th already...
You see, he received an early Christmas gift when he landed Monta Ellis AND Andrew Bynum for Brook Lopez and DJ Augustin.

Which one of those players is #5 in the NBA in scoring? Answer: Monta Ellis.
Which of those players has the most steals? Answer: Monta Ellis.
Which one of those players is the best rebounder? Answer: Andrew Bynum (assuming he stays healthy).
Which player has the best FG%? Answer: Monta Ellis. No, its not Lopez. It's Monta.
Who is the best shot blocker? Answer: ??? Right now it's Lopez with 41 blocks. However, we know that Bynum can block shots. Last year he did it at 1.4/game. Lopez is at 1.5/game this year. So, they can both block shots.

I could listen to an argument that Lopez is the best rebounder but the stats do not indicate that's the case. Lopez is averaging 6.3 rebounds this season!! For comparison sake, Luol Deng is averaging 6.3 rebounds. Andre Iguodala is averaging 6.3 rebounds. So, these 2 small forwards are rebounding at the same level as this big center!!

No matter how I slice this deal, I keep coming back to the conclusion that the Brussels won this trade hands down. I'm struggling to figure out what Belgrade is getting from the deal...
Now again, when I look at this trade, I am assuming that Bynum is going to play the rest of the season. If he gets injured and misses time then this deal will be a bit different...

I know why Brussels made this trade. He was looking for scoring and rebounds and he got both!

From Belgrade's perspective, I'm not sure what the motivation was...
Lopez is a good center (19 & 6 and blocks) and DJ Augustin is a good PG. But he traded away Monta Ellis who is the best scorer of the 4 players.
Monta has 61 steals this season. Lopez and Augustin have a combined 34 steals.
I don't think Lopez or Augustin are great keepers at their current price either.
So, I am confused. I don't get it. Help me understand...

And Merry Christmas Brussels...you got the early Christmas gift.
And Merry Christmas Maui - I think you got one as well as you have a real shot of getting out of the basement now as I think Belgrade will be sliding.
Next up for the JBL, after seeing this trade, will be the pursuit of Carmelo and Lamar Odom from the Belgrade roster.

Now, having said my 2 cents, Andrew Bynum could go down again with injury and the dynamics of this deal will change. And maybe I'm wrong about how lopsided this deal but I guess only time will tell. When this deal went down it was one day away from the end of week 8. Brussels had 440 points and Belgrade had 355 points. Let's see where they are 4 weeks from now.

Week 8 is Great...

It's Saturday morning, 8am. Jayne and Ryan are still sleeping. I am up watching soccer in HD. It's one week to Christmas. The busiest 4 week stretch of my 14 year career at ICBC is over. And the JBL is as competitve as ever. Life is good.

Week 8 has been an interesting one as we've seen a couple of significant injuries to key players. Namely Joakim Noah, Rajon Rondo, and Yao Ming. Yes, Yao hasn't been a factor this season but I think French's next move regarding the big fella is pretty easy at this point. Yao is done in the NBA in my opinion.

I already discussed Benny's loss of Noah. He has put Lebron on the block. I would imagine this is the classic - "I'll trade one of my grade A players for two of your grade B players". We'll see if he can get it done.

And it appears that Arctic has lost Rondo for a couple of weeks as well. Arctic did the right thing last night and signed Nate Robinson. When you lose a stud player - you have to get his back-up. Smart move by Crikker.

Idaho pulled off another good move on the FA wire last night. He signed Ben Gordon. Sure, BG is not one of my favorite players, but with Idaho losing Brandon Roy for a week it's not a bad idea to sign a player who is clearly underachieving on a very bad team. Idaho now has to hope that BG wakes up from his coma. Of course, Idaho could have signed Rudy Fernandez as it appears Rudy could benefit from the absence of Roy and now Batum.

I also like Bangkok's signing of JJ Hickson. Here's another player with significant upside who is just sucking the bone right now. However, long term, do we think that Antawn Jamison is simply going to play out the year in Cleveland? Won't the Cavs trade him for youngsters at some point? Which means Hickson should be fantasy relevant again down the road. Rick is hoping sooner rather than later I'm sure.

So if Hickson is going to be good again - why did Golden drop him. Well, a couple of reasons. I needed steals desperately (Thabo and Brewer) and I may have discovered a gem in Spencer Hawes. He has been a real find for my squad this week. I know he's not going to average 13ppg, 8reb, and 2blks a game for the rest of the season - but it certainly appears that he can be a serviceable center moving forward. So, with Hawes emerging, Hickson was the odd man out. I don't have time to wait for him to fantasy relevant again. I need to put players out there now that can play and hopefully improve my place in the standings. Also, Hickson is $17 bucks so he's not worth keeping.

Talk about a big surprise player in week 8. Let's discuss Kyle Lowry. Oh my. What a week. And for that matter, what a stretch he's had since Aaron Brooks has been out. When Brussels traded Tyreke Evans for Iggy and Lowry - who knew that Lowry was the best player in the deal?? What a great deal for Brussels.

What will Houston do when Brooks comes back? Can the two co-exist? Will Houston want to move Brooks or Lowry? I say Brooks because it seems clear to me that Houston is better with Lowry at the helm. I also think the trade market for Aaron Brooks would be very good as well. Teams like Sacramento and Charlotte could certainly use a PG with 20ppg potential. And what about Portland?? With Roy out - and Andre Miller apparently "slow" - wouldn't a homecoming of the Oregon product make sense? Anyways, Brooks is one of the players I expect to be moved in the coming weeks.

Plenty of rumors surrounding Gilbert Arenas and the Magic. Really? Acquiring Gilbert makes the Magic a contender with the Celtics and Heat? Really? I'm not buying it. We'll see if this deal goes down.

And Charlotte is apparently shopping S-Jax and Gerald Wallace. Will they move one of them? I think the answer could be yes considering last season Charlotte was a playoff team (albeit a bad one) and now they are struggling mightily at 9-17. With MJ and Larry Brown running the show, I can't see them standing pat and watching this team struggle all season. I really expect Charlotte to make a deal.

Well, that's it for me this morning. Ryan is up. Coffee is brewing. Today will be a great day.

Big Injury = Big Free Agent $$

Well, we've had a significant injury and a big night of free agent spending.Last night, Chilliwack's Joakim Noah went down with a big injury - ligament damage to his thumb. He requires surgery and will miss anywhere from 6-10 weeks. In this absence, Taj Gibson, recently released from Bangkok, will be asked to step up and play big minutes.

Before I go much further, Bangkok almost lucked out in this whole matter. You see, Bangkok, in an effort to diversify/stabilize his roster traded Brandon Roy for Richard Jefferson and Rashard Lewis. This meant that someone on his roster had to go. He had 2 obvious choices - Jordan Farmar (who he had signed because Devin Harris was having some injury woes) or Taj Gibson (because he was fading away with the return of Carlos Boozer). Bangkok originally decided to release Jordan Farmar. However, he phoned the Commish to reverse this drop advising he meant to drop Taj Gibson. So, because the JBL Commish is so accommodating, Bangkok was allowed to bring back Farmar and release Gibson.

This is called JBL Karma.

Anyways, Gibson is now Fantasy relevant again and could post some big rebound and block totals over the coming 2-3 months.

As expected, a big Free Agent bid was necessary to acquire his services. French went to $66 bucks to secure him. Personally, I had started at $20 bucks and realized that 10ppg, 6reb, and 34 blocks on the season wasn't going to come cheap. I maxed my bid out at $48 bucks. Obviously well shy of what I needed to be at. French can move in blocks and Taj should help him there for sure. I think it was a great signing for French. He has left himself $10 bucks in FA money to use over the remaining 16 weeks - which isn't much - but it should be enough to carry him through the season.

Despite the JBL poll results - I think it was a worthy risk.

I do wonder where if other JBL teams bid on Taj?? Yuma? Belgrade? Manhattan Beach? These are the teams with all the FA money...where were their bids? Belgrade is last in steals and blocks - wouldn't Taj help out there?? Yuma certainly could have used his services as well. If they bid - good for them for trying - and if they didn't bid - shame on them.

And I know most of you don't look far enough down the standings to notice the Golden squad this year, but the Showers finally had a big night. 190 points and 70 rebs. I haven't had many (any) nights like this so far this season so I had to mention it.

I also picked up 2 Free Agents on the Wednesday night frenzy - Thabo Sefolosha and Ronnie Brewer. The Golden squad is really hurting in steals and both of these players should help me out in the coming weeks in my attempt to get back into the middle of the pack in steals. I guess me working in the Fraud Industry really has affected my players because none of them steal a thing!! Adding Thabo and Brewer they instantly become my top two producers in steals. Go figure.

Maui also got in on the action and brought in Reggie Williams. He has performed very well in the absence of Stephen Curry. Can he keep it up when he returns? Maybe. I'm not sure why he can't be a top 6th man with the way he can score. If you look back to his 2nd half in GS last season - he was really quite good.

Juan de Fuca brought in Martell Webster to help shore up his 3-point shooting. I wonder if there are enough minutes for him in Minny?

And Arctic picked up Chris Douglas-Roberts. Can he stay in Milwaukee's constantly rotating lineup?? I really wonder if he can. I think the only 2 constants in Milwaukee are Bogut and Jennings - everyone after that really is a fantasy risk (in my opinion). However, he's played big minutes in 3 straight games so we'll see how he pans out. It looks like Arctic is going to play CDR next week.

Going back to Noah's injury for a minute I noticed that Chilliwack essentially offered him up on the Live Scoreboard. What would it take to get Noah?? Is he a good value for next season? He's $22 bucks currently. Is he worth $27?? Looking at his numbers this season I would have to say absolutely yes - he's keeper material. So, what would it take to get him?? And will anyone make Benny an offer? And what is Benny looking for?? Would Tyrus Thomas and Nicolas Batum be enough?

Still working on my list of top keepers for next season...stay tuned.

JE

Crazy....

I know, here I am again, blogging away. Oh well, I'm on a roll I guess.

So, today I got a trade offer from Idaho. It's been weeks. Today he offered me Tyreke Evans and Nick Young for Derrick Rose. Of course he included the comments that Tyreke at $18 bucks would be an awesome keeper to protect alongside Carlos Boozer. While I'm not going to disagree that Tyreke has value as a potential keeper - it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early to make this sort of trade. This is last minute desperation at best. It's not a good trade for me in week 8.

Tyreke is a talented player. He averaged 20-5-5 last season. One of few rookies to approach those numbers. However, he's currently injured and has not played well this season. Is he worth keeping at $23 bucks? Absolutely. But I think he has a lot to prove over the coming months of this NBA season. Can he stay healthy? What is his injury exactly? And how does it get better? If the remedy is to take 8 weeks off from basketball activities then I'm not really interested in his services right now. And how is his injury going to affect him next season? Does it linger? Does he have ongoing problems for the rest of his career?

You know how you always over-value your own players? It's very common when you have middle of the road players to over-value them and what they 'could' do down the line. Now, imagine how I value Derrick Rose. A player who is clearly playing some great basketball right now. Rose is #5 in the NBA in scoring right now. He's learned to shoot 3 pointers (over 40% currently). He's averaging a steal a game (up from last season) and his ATO is over 2.000. Rose is having his best season ever. What's my point? It's going to take a lot more than Tyreke to get him.

Part of the reason for my stiff demands is that I already have a plethora of potential keepers. Depending on where I finish in the standings I might only be able to keep 1, 2, or 3 guys. I already have a bunch of players that could be good values for next season. So if I'm going to move Rose it has to be for a player who I know is severely under-priced and is a good or better bargain than any of the current players I can protect for next season.

I posted a JBL poll today asking what others thought about potential keepers for next season (looking at the current top 6 JBL teams). All of them have some good keepers. Some have more than others. Seoul has Scola. He's a good value at that price. Will Seoul move him? If it means it improves his team -then yes he would. Will Arctic move Love or Beasley? I don't know. We haven't had to see that side of Crikker in some time. I know Benny, Rick, Hildy, and Tuna would all make moves if it meant their team got better. So, it will be interesting to see who they target as players who could help them.

I would think players in Golden like Rose, Aldridge, and Deng would be of interest.

Maui has Andrew Bogut and Danny Granger. And before you go knocking Trev that he doesn't make any deals - I think it needs to be pointed out that he has already made a couple this season - which is more than can be said of some other JBL teams.

Belgrade has Odom, Carmelo, and Monta.

Brussels has Zach, Brook Lopez, Iguodala, and Wallace.

Juan de Fuca has Durant, Kidd, and Bargnani.

My point is that all the lower tiered teams do have talent that the top teams may want to add in exchange for one of their keepers.

Arctic needs blocks. Is it hard to fathom that he would go to Maui to try and get Bogut? What about a Love/Beasley for Granger/Bogut trade?

And if any top team wanted to improve their scoring - wouldn't they go to Juan de Fuca to inquire about Durant - or to Belgrade for Monta - or to Golden for Rose?

I think this season's keeper trade deadline will be very busy....

I think my next poll will be around who the best keepers are for 2011...

Is it Curry? Love? Beasley? Boozer? Ibaka? Fields? Gay?

There are a number of choices. I think I would find it very difficult to narrow it down to just 10 choices.

Anyways, that's discussion for another day....