Post by Skillz on Jul 6, 2020 12:40:50 GMT -8
Article: BBS’s Top Trade Partners
We love ranking things in BBS, and because GM rankings seem to be recycled ad nauseum, let’s try something different. Here, we are going to rank every GM based on how easy and difficult they are to trade with! As the GM who normally trades the most each season, the sample of trade negotiations to my name is the highest. Let’s get to it.
Here are my Trade Partner Rankings
1. Habes
Habes is the most proactive and open-minded GM in the league and one of the few guys who treats every player as a fluid asset. When GM’s operate that way, they aren’t beholden to a specific direction and GM’s like Habes can be uniquely opportunistic. He sends good offers and doesn’t beat around the bush. The standard!
2. Royal
All of what I say above to Habes also applies to Royal, whose hyper- aggression can get him in and out of trouble very quickly. He doesn’t win as many trades as Habes does, but we are ranking trading PARTNERS, not trade QUALITY. Royal would be tied for # 1 with Habes if he didn’t send his annual truly horrendous trade offer that has no chance at being accepted!
3. Sargo
If guys are open-minded and rational, that’s all you need in my book! We’ll get something done eventually. Sargo is both of these things and pretty solid across the board. He sends the occasional counteroffer and is easy to trade with in general.
4. JR
JR is a straight-forward dude who isn’t afraid to commit to a deal when the right offer appears. No complaints here, and he was easy to work with to complete the Big Dog three-way deal – the only one in this version of BBS to my knowledge.
5. DB
I’ve completed more trades with Dan than maybe anyone else in BBS at this point and they are almost always BIG! I’m a little butt hurt about the Marion deal but all of our trades always even out.
6. Nanz
Nanz is maybe the most affable guy in the league, so it’s no surprise he is in the top 10 here. He’s open minded and likes to make the big trade. He prefers if you do the offering, thought.
7. Ashes
Competence and rationality are probably the two traits that most easily facilitate trades, and Ashes is hypercompetent. We are competitive, and I think he’d prefer to deal with other GM’s over me, but he’s reasonable.
8. Mark
Mark will be in the top 3 by next season. We missed Mark! Checks all the boxes. Just didn’t want to rank him higher since he’s been here for a week.
9. Kobe
If Kobe would just get away from the “this [random role player] is 3 AC’s away from being a good starter line,” he’d be even higher on the list. How has he not retired that tactic by now? Otherwise, he’s good. Sends offers. Open-minded. Etc.
10. Steve
For such a big, opinionated personality, Steve is surprisingly conservative when it comes to teambuilding and trades. With that said, he’s very easy to deal with and is not afraid to counter if he’s actually interested in making a deal happen.
11. Manas
Manas is easy to deal with. He’s fairly transparent with what he wants, and I haven’t had a problem dealing with him in any version.
12. Chipper
Chipper is aptly named, because he’s always in a chipper mood. Really good guy who is happy to discuss deals with you at any time. I think he crowdsources trade offers too much and doesn’t have a clear vision for what he wants to accomplish at times, which makes certain negotiations a bit tough.
13. Frangie
Frangie is similar to Chipper. Really good dude who I like chatting with, but usually get the sense that he is asking multiple people for advice on deals. You guys are smart – run your teams!
14. Svedda
Svedda is smart and competitive. He has rigid rules with which he builds teams. He usually makes you do the heavy lifting on trade offers and isn’t big on compromising. I think that tact loses its effectiveness over time.
15. Ashan
I’ve only dealt with Ashan a few times, but he was pleasant and easy to deal with. He’s not higher because the sample is low.
16. Galo
Galo is a really good dude, but I don’t think we’ve even made a trade in this version. Doesn’t really make much sense!
17. Jeb
Jeb’s gotten a lot better over the last few seasons. Earlier on, he would send some of the worst offers I’ve seen in a sim league and then trade the same guys he was offering for pennies on the dollar the next day. He’s reasonably responsive and does make offers!
18. Footy
Haven’t talked trade with Footy yet, but he’s an Aussie so he gets a bump!
19. Play/Insane
I think others find it easier to trade with play/insane than I do. I like that they are straight-forward when responding and don’t try to hide their motives. But they are fairly slow to respond and almost never send offers themselves.
20. Andrew
He’s been on a role lately, but Andrew is risk-averse and difficult to persuade in trade discussions. He’s an awesome dude and very responsive, but I’ve had more trouble making deals with Andrew than almost anyone else in the league. He also doesn’t send counter offers!
21. Pig
I had to offer Chauncey Billups to Pig like 5-6 times for him to agree to a trade and ultimately needed to post my offer in a Trade Thread to generate enough public pressure for him to make a no-brainer of a deal! That was tough.
22. Erbes
I would imagine Jeff would be in the top 10 of this list if someone else was making it, but he literally had a “don’t trade with SKillz” policy in Season 1 and 2, so to the bottom third you go Erbes!!
23. John
Man, I don’t know. Maybe John should be higher. We did the mutually-beneficial Jamal Crawford for Zbo/Manu deal in about a minute, but John is weirdly slow to respond to PM’s. If you are slow to respond to PM’s, you get boooooooo’ed from these seats.
24. Game
I have not discussed a trade with Game in this version. But he’s made lots of moves with friends and hasn’t reached out. I’m offended. Don’t think we’ve even exchanged PM’s. Hit me up!
25. Greeme
Greeme sometimes makes offers, which is nice, but they are very, very bad. He has a limited (but successful!) conception of player value that he strictly adheres to, which also makes deals tougher to come by. Greeme also has on multiple times expressed interest in players I have, only to later say that he will wait for me to trade them to another team because he doesn’t want to make trades with me .
26. Jah
It’s oddly comforting that we have all taken a decade away from BBS and we come back and JAH is doing exactly the same stuff! His team is off to a great start this season, but his first four .500 seasons were absolutely vintage. Good trades typically make both sides feel a *little* uncomfortable (and involve some concessions), but JAH only involves himself in deals that are easy wins and completely unproblematic. With that type of strategy, Jah will need to continue to hit his drafts out of the park to contend.
27. Brian
Brian would be ranked higher on a lot of other league-related criteria (he has a cool system for ranking players!), but I don’t really understand what he does on the trade market. No counters, lots of 13Rock-esque nonsequiturs, lots of confusion. You can’t count on a consistent response. That’s a tough recipe.
28 Trapstar
This is harsh considering we quickly made that Barbosa deal, but Trap seems extremely inactive for a new GM. The Al Jeff/AI thing was a debacle. He hasn’t reacquired his 06 pick and AI/Camby are still on his roster despite wanting to tank. That tells me that trading with him is going to be quuiiiiite difficult. We want Andy!
29 Break
30 13Rock
Just so we are clear: Trap and everyone on the bottom third of this list are far easier to deal with than these two. Big upgrades!!! I love you all.
