Trading 102

Introduction

For many FBPro owners, the fun starts when it’s open season for trading. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of landing the missing piece of your team’s puzzle, and for some the haggling of the trade market makes the hunt for talent that much more exciting.

But trading can also be daunting at times. Sometimes shoring up one area of your team creates a need for talent in another area. It can be tough to make the call on whether what you stand to gain outweighs what you’re certain to lose.

This tutorial will spell out some specific considerations to take into account when trading. I encourage you to mull over each of these factors when you’re trying to decide on whether or not to take a trade. The weight you apply to each is entirely a matter of your own priorities.

Know Who You Will and Won’t Trade

This is as simple as it sounds. Just because you receive trade inquiries (possibly lots of them) about one of your players doesn’t mean you should trade them. Keep it clear in your own mind which players are too valuable to you to trade at any cost. If someone is after an “un-tradable” player, just let them know that player isn’t for trade.

After you’ve made your list an offer may still come along that will turn your head. If it’s good enough, you may still decide to take it.

Also remember that players in FBPro generally play to their ratings. If you have a player who looks great on paper but doesn’t achieve much on the field, don’t undervalue them. In the hands of another coach it’s likely that they’ll post statistics in line with their ratings. It may even be the case that they will play to their potential for you if you just make a point of giving them a better opportunity to have an impact on the field.

Have a Goal

If you make a trade without having a clear idea of what you want to do to your team through the deal, you’ll probably be the clear loser in the deal. Never make a trade for the sake of making a trade. If someone inquires about one of your players and won’t give you what you need in exchange, politely move on.

One sample goal would be getting an impact player, no matter how old, at a certain position to help you win a championship in the short term. Another goal could be to stock your team with lots of young players with potential who will mature at around the same time.

A Star in the Hand Is Worth Two (or Three or Four…) in the Draft

Good teams make their mark by acquiring star players. The first two seasons of NPL have been an essay in the trading of star players. The teams receiving the stars were winning teams in almost every case. The teams trading their best guys tended to lose. If someone is trying to get one of your best players, make sure you get a player in return who can make a similar impact. Take time. You may want to test that player in your system in exhibition play to give yourself and idea of what they can do for you.

If the trade involves draft picks, it becomes much harder to assess relative value, especially in the NPL where the draftees’ ratings are hidden. You don’t know what you’re going to get with those picks unless you’re drafting first. And even then,

In general, you are not likely to draft a player who is as good as the star you traded away to get the pick(s), at least not right away. Player age may factor in, but in general a star-calibre player will command multiple draft picks—high ones!

Evaluate Player(s) Realistically

You can refer to the “Trading 101” tutorial for one way of evaluating the relative merits of a proposed trade. If you have a player you value for one exceptional stat that may not be of great importance to an opposing coach—say strength in a WR—be aware that you’re not likely to get a great player in return just on a basis of that score.

Realistic evaluation of the players you’re getting in a trade will also help you keep from making an offer that’s much too high for another team’s player.

Making Your Enemies Stronger

When you receive a trade offer, you may also wish to consider whether you’re giving the coach who made that offer the ammunition to shoot your team during the season. In general, it’s probably a bad idea to load your main competition for the playoffs up with top talent. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t trade with good teams. Just make sure it’s not a deal that weakens you and makes them stronger. That’s not the way to close a gap in talent.

In Closing

It’s impossible to quantify the makings of a trade exactly. When all is said and done, both sides should feel good about the deal they got. But by thinking through the trade as fully as possible, you maximize your chances of making a deal that will benefit your team.