The All-Star weekend is over. Finally. Personally, I thought it was one of the worst weekends I can remember a large portion of NBA fans probably never heard or Jeremy Evans before last night. Evans plays just 5.6 MPG with the Jazz and played just 14 minutes so far this month. I also had a big problem with the introductions and I thought it was over the top to have that lady sing a whole song between every chance she could. Maybe it's because I'm getting older or something, but everything about the weekend was disappointing to me.
Let's get back on track here. A lot of fantasy leagues might have their trade deadlines coming up in the near future. One important thing to remember about making trades is while it's nice to make your team the best it can be, it's not the most important thing you should think about when making a deal for H2H leagues. The most important thing is to put together a team that can beat the other contenders in your league. At this point of the season you should have a pretty good idea which teams are setting up for the playoffs and those teams should have some noticeable strengths and weakness. For example, let's say that one of the elite teams is totally stacked in blocks. Yeah, it's nice to get some more blocks to combat them, but chances are it's a futile effort. It makes more sense to go after a category where you and the other contenders are neck and neck with each other. If your team can dominate five categories and you have players with nice playoff schedules, you're putting yourself in a good position to win.
Speaking of schedules, some fantasy leagues only have four more weeks of the regular season and if you're one of the owners that is really struggling to get into the playoffs, you had better be sure that the next four weeks for that player doesn't have multiple weeks with three or less games. Conversely, if your team is stacked and you know you're a lock for the postseason, then make sure you get some guys that have backloaded schedules. This will be addressed in a column very soon. Stay tuned.
One other thing I wanted to repeat is how much I love making 2-for-1 deals. Once the trade deadline comes around there's a pretty good chance that there will be a nice new crop of players to add off the wire. Gerald Henderson and Jordan Crawford last year are two players that come to mind. You'd be lying through your teeth if you said you thought Jordan Crawford was going to bust out before the deadline. He was totally off the radar and logged a DNP-CD in 10 of his last 11 games with the Hawks before being dealt to Washington. The point is while we can all guess that Ramon Sessions, Tristan Thompson and Stephen Jackson figure to see an uptick in value, there will be a handful of guys that will come out of nowhere. As you guys know, it's a lot easier to add the next big thing when you don't have to second guess yourself about which player to cut. The 2-for-1 is a way to make your roster more potent and makes you more likely to have semi-disposable players at the end of your bench.
OK , Ask away! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @MikeSGallagher for tons of stats and players to watch.