A Look at the Trade Market

[NOLa.]

It has been an unusually quiet post-Day 60 period for us, with only two trades that have been posted as of me writing this article. One trade involved sending Ryan Anderson from the Jazz over to the Charlotte Bobcats for basically what looks like a 2nd round pick. The other trade involving the Wizards and 76ers saw the Wiz send over SF Robert Covington for 6’11 Nurkic, extra salary, a 2nd round pick and a few points. I won’t comment too much on these trades, but the Wizards add another tall guy, 76ers add depth to possibly move Hayward to the PF position (I’m guessing, since they have been actively looking for frontcourt pieces), and the Jazz give Ryno away for free to the aspiring Bobcats.

Not a lot going on, but looking at the cap report page, it’s not entirely surprising. Only 7 teams are currently under the salary cap, and those teams have a total record of 46-112, a whopping 29% win percentage! Only the Pacers have a winning record in this group of 7 and they are sitting on less than a million left in cap space available to spend. Where I’m going with this is that there is not a team currently out there that has available cap space to take on any big contracts that can compete and win. These teams, for the most part, are not actively trying to win, so these teams do not want players on a big contract who still have talent that can win a few extra games. Looking at this situation from a sim league economic standpoint, the availability to dump salary is not there for many teams over the salary cap. The only place left to go is to try and obtain pieces from other competing teams with the added challenge of matching salaries to make the trade legal.

The league saw such a monumental shift in talent over the offseason, with notable teams like the Magic, Bobcats, and Spurs making big trades that saw the likes of Paul George, James Harden, DeAndre Jordan, and Enes Kanter changing their home address. There were other trades as well, but the list of players previously mentioned are headliners by themselves individually. To have all of them happen at once will require the league to adjust at its own pace.

Even with the perceived limitations of making trades, the biggest factor that drives trades is still strong: there is no clear favorite to win it all. In this writer’s opinion, the Spurs as the defending champions are the favorites, but this is not a super-team most of us have grown accustomed to over the decades. While far and away the best team in the league as far a winning %, I believe competing GMs feel they have a shot this season if they get hot at just the right time (playoffs). Out in the East, there are plenty of teams that have the talent to represent the conference in the Finals, and I think this is where the hope springs eternal. There’s no clear favorite here with the Knicks, Hawks, and Pistons currently leading their divisions.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the East responds to both the Magic and Bobcats advances in acquiring win-now talent. The Southeast has been the worst division since the realignment by design. The Hawks have been consistently good and on top, the Heat and Wizards put up a fight, the Magic were terrible due to a rebuild, and the Bobcats started at a disadvantage starting up with a crappy creation draft and assigned the #4 pick. Magic GM false9 inherited a team that would see them miss the playoffs for 5 straight seasons, and Bobcats GM DarthVegito is not known for letting opportunity knock and left unanswered. While the Magic are still working on a game plan that fits their players, the talent is ultimately there. I believe the rest of the league is praying false9 doesn’t figure it out. The Ryan Anderson addition was solid for the Bobcats, but you have to wonder if the move bumps the Bobcats up enough over the likes of the Hawks, or if another trade may be needed.

Out West, it’s been eerily quiet. The Pacific looks to be a dog fight between the Suns, Clippers and Kings, and injuries sustained by some teams in the Northwest division has opened the door for the Nuggets to push for the top. It’s hard to pinpoint any one team in the conference that looks primed to make a move. The GMs are playing the “who can hold their breath the longest” game waiting for the first domino to fall. The only odd news I know of is that the Kings (hey that’s me) have talked to teams about Derrick Rose, reportedly because the GM wants to build around rookie Jeffrey Duren and could be tempted to start this reset this season if needed.

Shameless plug.

It will be interesting to see if any blockbuster trades happen by the trade deadline, which is still a good few sims away. For now, I don’t see any one team that is primed to make a bold move, and I don’t see any team that looks ready to sell off talent. We will see how it turns out, but if there are any moves to be made, please remember to #sendthemEast.

Thank you.

[Darth Vegito]

Nice Tani...

Also this is an aside but after listening to that painful podcast of scott, yourself, and 29% Doug AND no Bobcats talk, I think something needs to be talked about and very soon. And that's the salary cap situation. This isn't something we can wait and see on. This could bring the league to it's knees so it needs to be discussed and actions may have to be taken. I for get who did an article about the cap(maybe kucoach?) but our contracts are advancing at 10% and getting huge(40 mil numbers in year 4 of some contracts) and our current cap is in the 80s. We can't have 1 max player taking up 45% of our cap. That just won't work. Don't want to spam on your article but it made me think about it so it's fresh in my mind. Great article though.

[IamQuailman]

Nice Tani...

Also this is an aside but after listening to that painful podcast of scott, yourself, and 29% Doug AND no Bobcats talk, I think something needs to be talked about and very soon. And that's the salary cap situation. This isn't something we can wait and see on. This could bring the league to it's knees so it needs to be discussed and actions may have to be taken. I for get who did an article about the cap(maybe kucoach?) but our contracts are advancing at 10% and getting huge(40 mil numbers in year 4 of some contracts) and our current cap is in the 80s. We can't have 1 max player taking up 45% of our cap. That just won't work. Don't want to spam on your article but it made me think about it so it's fresh in my mind. Great article though.

Chad,

I agree. It could be a YUUUGE problem. Possibly kill the league.

[Darth Vegito]

Nice Tani...

Also this is an aside but after listening to that painful podcast of scott, yourself, and 29% Doug AND no Bobcats talk, I think something needs to be talked about and very soon. And that's the salary cap situation. This isn't something we can wait and see on. This could bring the league to it's knees so it needs to be discussed and actions may have to be taken. I for get who did an article about the cap(maybe kucoach?) but our contracts are advancing at 10% and getting huge(40 mil numbers in year 4 of some contracts) and our current cap is in the 80s. We can't have 1 max player taking up 45% of our cap. That just won't work. Don't want to spam on your article but it made me think about it so it's fresh in my mind. Great article though.

Chad,

I agree. It could be a YUUUGE problem. Possibly kill the league.

Stahp

[TheSyndicate]

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