Mike Lowry wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2026 8:59 am
What makes for a good deadline deal?
Who are some of the star players you added or shipped at the deadline, and how did the trade impact winning that season?
What is the same or different or the same about trading at the deadline as opposed to the rest of the season?
I hate to say it, but sometimes it's a combination of injury and opportunity.
Back in the first season of the league, James Donaldson went down for a month near the end of the season. I swapped him for a healthy Bill Cartwright (cost me a late first); at the time I saw them as very similar players - Cartwright was more polished on offense while Donaldson was more defensive. Of course, the next TC, Donaldson got a boost and became a much better player, but I couldn't have seen that coming and Cartwright helped me keep my seeding and fed my run to the Finals, then because a mainstay for my next few years.
Would I have made the trade had Donaldson not gotten injured? No; I was happy with my team at the time. But sometimes you have to adapt to circumstance and injury - or a competitor making a big move - is usually the impetus for a "good" deadline deal.