The War for the Iron Throne

The following transcribed from Lord Greyjoy's maester:

But now the rains weep o’er his hall,
With no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
And not a soul to hear.

It is with a heavy heart that I must report the demise of House Baratheon. Once the rulers of Westeros, the Baratheon family has been extinguished from existence. King Robert could beat anyone with his Warhammer, but his love of wine was the cause of his demise. Minstrels sing of his drunken exploits with the Dornish Red (and many Dornish redheads, as well), but he was not a man who could hold his drink. At the Tournament of the Hand, he once pissed himself before the damn joust could start. Finally taken down by a wild boar, his death was the beginning of the downfall of the Baratheon line. King Robert was not a strategician, preferring to win battles by sheer might. Once he became king, his army was turned over to Ser Anderson the Glorious, Ser McCown the Not Quite Glorious, and Ser Beat Hard the Not-At-All Glorious. These sycophants got fat and happy in the larder of Storm’s End, but were ill-prepared for the battles to come.

To the west, the white hedgehogs of House Wode, led by Lord Ronjeramie, have been wiped from existence. House Wode was a minor house in the Riverlands, and how they are even less than that. However, there were two battles of note for these fallen knights; they secured a minor victory over House Egen in the Battle of the Sad Sacks, and led a surprising sneak attack against the reavers of the Iron Islands. The seat of House Wode has been transferred to a lesser house who proved to be more loyal to the crown.

Winter has come to Westeros
“MOTHERFUCKING ICE DRAGONS!” – Ser Samwellel Jaxon

Winter has come to Westeros. The Wall has been destroyed, the Night’s King has marched south, and
all of the Seven Kingdoms have trembled in despair. Houses great and small put their past transgressions aside and banded together to battle this threat. Bastards fought next to kings, priests fought next to whores, Maesters fought next to whores, and whores fought next to knights. There’s a lot of whores in Westeros. As the fields and farmlands from the Trident to Highgarden turned to frozen tundra, the army of the dead marched south, intent on ending the eternal fight between life and death. In their darkest hour, the armies of twelve of the mightiest houses fought valiantly and turned the tide of battle. The Night’s King was defeated, he was last seen fleeing north of the remnants of the Wall, into the lands of Always Winter. Having secured the victory in the name of life, humans did what humans always will do. They bickered and squabbled and told lies, each vying for control of the remains of the kingdom. However, each of these armies had been laid almost entirely to waste, so their leaders decided to award the Iron Throne in a series of melee battles, eight men on a side, fought to the death.

The four most distinguished of the twelve armies were allowed to rest their soldiers. The armies employed by the Iron Bank, the greenseers of the Children of the Forest, and the ordained knights of houses Banefort and Forrester each earned the right to ride back home and defend their keeps in  uture battles.

The battles begin forthwith!

Free Folk vs House Greyjoy (at Pyke Coliseum)
Led by Tormund Giantsbane, the Free Folk do not kneel to any Southron lord.
Led by Euron Greyjoy, the Iron Born do not kneel to anyone.
The Free Folk are not a seafaring people, but they will fight anyone, anywhere if they believe that the
cause is just. In the Battle Against The Dead, the Greyjoys scrapped and clawed their way along, but
they also were responsible for killing many of their own side in petty arguments. There is no love lost between these two armies, even though they have never met each other in the field of battle. The army of Free Folk is larger and fiercer, but the Greyjoy army is cunning and deceitful.

House Royce vs House Hardyng (at Hardyng Hall)
They say familiarity breeds contempt, and these two houses have plenty of both. Royce, the old hand, is already experienced in the battles for the Iron Throne. House Hardyng swept in and collected allegiance from the army of House Arryn after the death of poor Sweet Robyn. These two armies have fought each other four times, with House Royce winning three of these previous battles. However, House Hardyng was victorious in the most recent melee. “Remember The Eyrie” is the battle cry of the Hardyng army, and they are fighting not just for pride, but to avenge the death of their beloved Lord Jon Arryn. Unfortunately for Hoyce Royce, his greatest knight Ser Elliot sits in the dungeon of High Priest Goodell, and will not be released from his bondage for another fortnight. Ser Hardyng has received sub-par leadership from his anointed warrior priest, Ser Dascott. His flaming sword has failed him in recent battles, when he has been separated from his brothers and forced to fight alone. Fortunately, Ser Wilson the Miniscule has been mighty, speeding through armies and decimating them singlehandedly.

House Lannister vs House Targaryen (at Stormlands Stadium)
These two titans of Westeros have been in an uneasy alliance for far too long. Both of these great houses have tremendous histories and their exploits will be sung for centuries. The armies allied with these houses were involved in a minor skirmish previously, and cries of “A Lannister always pays their debts” have been haunting the nightmares of Storm’s End ever since. House Targaryen has the advantage of defending their homelands and that may turn out to be the advantage that turns the tide of this battle, especially since Ser Crabtree has been summoned to pay a penance to the High Priest for previous acts of heinousness and will be unavailable to fight for House Lannister

Sneaky Sand Snakes vs House Tyrell (at Madison Square Highgarden)
The Tyrells and the Martells have been feuding with each other since Robert’s Rebellion, and this
animosity has finally boiled over into open warfare. The Sand Snakes are “wanting war”, and they are going to get one. Riding giant sand worms, they have taken the remnants of Prince Doran Martell’s army north to lay siege to Highgarden. Lord Mace Tyrell is the most experienced field general in Westeros, having directly fought the Night’s King (and losing), and then reforming the army of Westeros in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. The Sand Snakes are riding high after an earlier victory against Ser Loras Tyrell, but the son is not as experienced as the father. This battle is certain to be tremendous with two very strong armies squaring off against one another.

Trading Archetypes

Welcome back to Iron Bank’s trading post. Going a slightly different direction with this one. Most of my posts here review specific aspects of our league. However, this is one inspired by my time trying to trade in this league.

One of the things that makes this league my favorite is the diversity of the teams/owners. Every league has teams that fall all along the win now/productive struggle spectrum. The part that makes this league special is the variety of strategies within that spectrum.

There are struggle teams looking to build through picks/the draft, others building on buzzworthy high potential prospects that just need time to marinate, and others who invest in undervalued assets due to either injury of public perception.

By that same token, the win now teams that weight the importance of each position differently. Some are stacked at WR, some super deep at RB, others invest heavily in getting the best 2 QBs they can get their hands on.

This dichotomy of values and teambuilding approaches, in addition to the level of activity of the owners in the league, leads to a rich trading landscape (one that I frequent regularly). At this point, I have a pretty good idea about what each owner is trying to do when they trade, the best way to approach them, and what to expect from the dealings.

I’ve consolidated these to 9 archetypes of trading. In many cases, owners are a blend of them, but fall primarily into one or another. I won’t share who’s in which (unless you’d like to know, feel free to PM me on Groupme).

1.      Trade block or bust- These are your most Vanilla traders. They post what they want to deal on their trade blocks. If an offer comes in not around one of those pieces, it’s often declined without further discussion beyond “not looking to move them.” Occasionally one of these “cold calls” will bear fruit, but it’s best to stick to what they want to trade.

2.      With a side of sass- Lots of owners I’ll send a feeler offer to in order to gauge interest. These tend to be on the low side of value, but everyone knows I’m game to negotiate. These owners, however, don’t bother with such tactics unless you feel like catching hell for it. Their approach is to respond to low/even offers with comments either in trade responses or public chat indicating what a piece of shit the offer/you are. Why? To get you to overpay of course! I tend to stay away from these owners unless they clearly state their intentions for a move either via trade block or mentions in chat.

3.      Nickel and Dime- By far my least favorite type of trader to deal with. Their approach is simple.

a.       Step 1- They want to trade player X or for type of player Y, you send an offer

b.       Step 2- They like the offer, but they need a little bit more, after negotiation, you give a bit more

c.       Step 3- A little bit later, they’re really struggling with it, just need a bit more to hit accept, thinking it’s a done deal, you add a bit more

d.       Step 4- They just can’t do it as constructed, they watched more tape and really love this player unless you add more, you walk away or continue perpetuating the cycle

Some of my worst trades were due to falling into a trap associated with this approach, be mindful of what the other owner is doing, know the price you’re willing to go up to and stick to it.

4.      Hit or Miss- Another set of frustrating owners. Not because of their approach to trading, but more that when you send them an offer, it comes back with a decline with no comment or an accept with no comment. No indication of what’s good, what’s bad, are you close, are you far off. Nothing.  One owner in this group has indicated they do this on purpose to get an overpay, but this isn’t fun to deal with. Giving some feedback won’t kill you, and it makes the offers you get better.

5.      Hard Days Night- As the archetype implies, trading with these owners is like a hard days night and you’ll work like a dog to get a deal done. It takes sending an offer, following up on that offer multiple times, and usually doesn’t result in a deal. Kicking the tire on deals with these owners is a good approach from time to time, but clear your schedule if you expect to get a deal done.

6.      Blood from a stone- One of my favorite quotes when it comes to trading/sales/life is the foolish man laments the 99 that say no while the wise man celebrates the 1 that says yes. With these owners, that ratio skews a bit higher. You’ll get the 99 no’s still, but that yes is, like the archetype implies, squeezing blood from a stone. You might get some, but expect some of yours to be in there as well.

7.      Take it or leave it- A very interesting set of owners. As mentioned, most owners will send an offer on the low side and leave room for negotiation. Not these. The offer sent may allow for a little wiggle room, but is mostly take it or leave it. While sometimes refreshing to avoid the haggle, often this take it or leave it bakes in a rather healthy profit for the other owner, making it less of a win-win unless there’s an arbitrage to be had

8.      What would it take- These are my favorite owners to make a deal with. They don’t send many offers, but you almost always get a counter to an offer you sent them. For those of us who don’t subscribe to the “core player” approach and that anyone can be traded, these owners are a godsend, because even if we can’t come to a deal, I understand why.

9.      Checking the Market- People must have been wondering “gee Bank, where do you fall in this spectrum?” We’ve arrived. This archetype (which I admit I belong to), focuses on testing the waters/feelings of different owners on players. They send out a ton of offers to see which make the most sense. Due to the volume of offers sent out, they tend to be the more active traders in a league. Working with these owners is the equivalent of antique picking. You’ll see a lot of stuff that’s either worthless or not interesting, but eventually you’ll find a great deal that you need to jump at.

Anyways, those are my thoughts at this point. As usual, I welcome any feedback people have or any other archetypes you think I missed.

2016 GoT Waivers in Review

If you've been listening to the podcast the last few months, you know we've been going through each division one at a time with a deep analysis of their 2016 season.  One aspect of those analyses was my waivers in review segment.  Below you'll find my notes from those casts for each division.  Keep in mind there may be some out of date information regarding my commentary on players, since some of these were written months ago.  Also I'm terrible at this game, so take it for what you will!

Anatomy of a Rebuild- House Tyrell's Postseason

Happy new season Lords and Ladies! It's time for another ad hoc analysis from your favorite scribe, The Iron Bank. As I did with the earlier "What Ifs" I'll take a look at some of the interesting topics that come up during the offseason and try to consolidate them here for easier digestion.

This piece takes a look at the massive re-shuffle of troops going on in Highgarden. After narrowly falling to the White Walkers in the championship, Chase of House Tyrell took a look at his team and decided it was time to get younger. To jog your memory, his post-week 16 roster was (final starters in bold):

QB: Tom Brady, Eli Manning, and EJ Manuel
RB: Ezekiel Elliott, Frank Gore, Bilal Powell, Doug Martin, Andre Williams, Antone Smith, Christine Michael, Theo Riddick
WR: Dez Bryant, Dontrelle Inman, Quinton Patton, Andre Johnson, Andre Holmes, Trevor Davis, Torrey Smith, Devante Parker, Victor Cruz
TE: C.J. Uzomah, Will Tye, Larry Donnell, Tyler Eifert

Since the finals, Lord Tyrell has made 11 distinct moves (consolidating a few trades for simplicity's sake), to reform his team. I've grouped his moves into three categories: Breaking up his core, Selling his fringe assets for youth, and Securing trickle down value. Some of these won't be in the same order the trades took place, but group together well

Break up his core

1) Gave Brady, Zeke, and Riddick for Blake Bortles, Jordan Howard, Spencer Ware, and Michael Thomas (NO)

2) Gave Dez for Tavon Austin, 1.09, 2.09

3) Gave Eli and Austin for Allen Hurns, 2.20, and 2.24

4) Gave Eifert, 2.09 for 1.15, 2.04, 3.05

Tyrell wasted no time in starting his rebuild, using arguably his most valuable asset, Ezekiel Elliott, to acquire a QB1, 2 RB1s, and a WR1. With this newfound youthful production, he turned to converting Dez, Eli, and Eifert into Hurns, 2 1sts, 3 2nds, and a 3rd.

Sell Fringe Assets for Youth

5) Gave Gore, Martin for Jeremy Langford, Tevin Coleman

6) Gave 2.24 for Charles Clay, Dion Sims

7) Gave Powell, Inman, Cruz, Smith for 2.28, 3.11

To support his broader transformation, Tyrell moved some of his non-core pieces for later draft capital, Tevin Coleman, and his new lead back's handcuff. In addition, he acquired a very cheap, but startable TE in Clay and a TE who has a chance to emerge in Miami if the newly acquired Julius Thomas stumbles.

Securing Trickle Down Value

8) Gave Ware, 3.05 for Hunter Henry

9) Gave Henry, 2.04 for 1.22, 1.25, 3.10, 3.12

10) Gave Bortles, Tye for Cody Kessler, 2.05, 2.09, Baratheon's 2018 1st

11) Gave Michael Thomas (NO), 2.20, 3.10, 3.11 for 1.17, 2.01, Lannister's 2018 1st

Not one to rest on his laurels, Tyrell took to converting some of his newly acquired assets into further draft capital. Tyrell breaks down the pieces received as part of his 1st deal not named Howard to add 5 more 1st round picks and move some of his later 2nd and 3rd round capital forward into earlier in the draft.

Putting it all together

All in all, Tyrell has turned over more than half of his 2016 roster. He's now positioned to rebuild around Jordan Howard, Tevin Coleman, Devante Parker, Allen Hurns, 7 1st round picks, 4 2nd round picks, and a 3rd round pick. In a class many pundits expect to be loaded with difference making talent, a strong draft could see Tyrell back in a long term competitive position as soon as 2018.

Gave: Brady, Eli, Zeke, Riddick, Powell, Gore, Martin, Dez, Inman, Cruz, T. Smith, Eifert, and Tye

For: Kessler, Howard, Langford, Coleman, Hurns, Clay, D. Sims, 1.09 1.15, 1.17, 1.22, 1.25, 2.01, 2.05, 2.09, 2.28, 3.12, House Baratheon's 2018 1st, and House Lannister's 2018 1st.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. As other compelling storylines come together during the offseason I'll post them here. Feel free to make suggestions of other things you'd like to see either via email or in the groupme chat.

2016 Trade Year in Review- Part 2

Welcome back to the Iron Bank’s trading post where we accept BB $, future draft picks, startup picks, knights, and squires as compensation. Last week I went through the first 16 houses summarizing their trade dealings throughout the year, now I’ll wrap up the final 16 houses and put forward my nominees for best and worst trade of the year

House Forrester

19 trades- 9 startup, 10 pre/during season

Trade overview: Forrester came out of the gates firing in this league, trading up for the 1^st overall pick….then trading it away. Forrester drafted quite well in the startup and effectively straddled the line of good luck and bad luck in deals, never pulling too far ahead or behind on value. 

Biggest Trade: Gave 1.31, 4.02, Forrester’s 1^st for 1.01- I’ve tried to avoid using startup trades whenever possible, but when you deal for 1.01, it’s your biggest trade. As mentioned, he didn’t keep it long, flipping it with the 5.31 to move down 10 spots and get the 4.05, continuing to set himself up with as many elite assets as possible in the startup.

Best Trade: Gave Tyrod Taylor, Theo Riddick, and Richard Rodgers for Carr, Langford, Stark 3^rd – Cashed out of 3 asssets at the near peak of their value for a QB on the rise, a valuable handcuff, and a 3^rd. Very solid upgrade

Worst Trade: Gave DeMarco Murray, 9.31 for Kelce, 12.32- that’s right, he gave Murray and a 3 round upgrade to Tyrell to get Kelce. I can see that making sense in TE premium, but I don’t think we’re playing that format here.

House Targaryen

9 trades- 6 during startup, 3 pre/during season

Trade overview: A reserved trader, Targaryen only accepted deals with a clear purpose. In the startup, he moved around to gain 2 1^st round picks, to maximize his picks in the top 150, and not surrender his 2017 1^st. In season, he bought 2 lotto tickets and cashed his 1^st in for a playoff push. All in all, he was able to be the top scoring team in the fire conference while maintaining a few long term assets

Biggest Trade: Gave Jimmy Garoppolo, Tevin Coleman, Targaryen’s 1^st for Big Ben, Tyler Gaffney- his all in trade to add a 2^nd premium QB in a playoff push. The overall value will depend on how healthy Ben can be over the next 2-3 years or what return he gets when flipping Ben.

Best Trade: Gave Phillip Dorsett for Tyler Boyd- very well timed deal, flipping a blocked WR asset for one with a clear path to productivity.

Worst Trade- Baratheon’s 3^rd for Karlos Williams- a roll of the dice for potential production, but due to taxi thievery, likely must keep him on his active roster while this he serves his suspension, limiting his ability to make other moves

House Swann

8 trades- 3 during startup, 5 pre/during season

Trade overview: Swann didn’t really trade much. Yup, there’s that deep and amazing insight you all read for. But with only 8 trades, and none for core pieces, Swann has decided to bet on her ability to draft rather than her ability to time a market. Considering her run to the Fire conference finals this year, it’s tough to argue with that.

Biggest trade: Gave Yeldon for Simean- Swann’s Achilles heel for most of the year was not being able to run a 2^nd QB out in her flex. This deal filled that hole just in time for the 2^nd week of winter

Best trade: Gave Egen’s 4^th, Bank’s 5^th for Pierre Garcon- say what you will about Garcon, but he’s currently the WR32 aka a WR2 this year. Getting that production for a 4^th and 5^th is a price most will be willing to pay.

Worst trade: Gave Rawls for Yeldon, Egen’s 4^th- At the time, people were running out of patience and faith that Rawls would return to his previous role with Seattle. Clegane took advantage of this doubt to pry him free for an underperforming Yeldon.

House Fell

7 trades- 5 startup, 2 pre/during season

Trade overview- Fell didn’t trade often, but when he did, he traded down. All 5 of his startup trades were focused on moving down from the most valuable asset in the deal, except for one where he sold a pick for a 2017 2^nd. His in season trades helped acquire assets for his draft warchest

Biggest trade- gave 7.25 for 8.28, 10.28- who cares who the players are, seriously this is the trade with the highest priced assets that Fell did this year. I’m getting nothing from this team….

Best Trade- Gave McCown, Fell’s 3^rd for Bara’s 2^nd, BWOB’s 4^th, and Wode’s 4^th

Worst Trade- traded 11.29 (Jamison Crowder) for Baelish’s 2^nd- Crowder might be worth a bit more than this today

Oldtown Maesters

65 trades- 21 during startup, 44 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Maesters’ trading style this year was akin to a pendulum. In the startup, he focused on moving down and adding 2017 picks (primarily 1sts). After the startup, he shifted to being a buyer swapping those hard-earned picks for target players before any football had been played. In season, he served in a clearing house role, willing to deal any member of his team for the right price. After the dust has settled, he has 4 potential starting QBs, youth all over, and still a few picks for the 2017 draft. Time will tell how fate treats the maesters and their chain adorned with yellow gold.

Biggest Trade- Gave D. Henry, Egen’s 1^st, Hightower’s 2^nd for Corey Coleman- in a vacuum, comes out as a 2017 1^st and 2^nd and 1.10 for the 1.02. Definitely in line for a price paid in a rookie draft next year, but probably the largest exchange of capital maesters made last year.

Best Trade- Gave Booker for Crowder- very very nice cash out on Booker, and shockingly Crowder held no grudge from being traded away in the first place

Worst Trade- Gave Baratheon’s 1^st, Egen’s 2^nd, Brandon Wilds for Devin Funchess- again this is with the benefit of hindsight, but funchess hasn’t come close to fulfilling his preseason expectations

House Tyrell

19 trades- 11 during startup, 8 pre/during season

Trade overview: Game of Thrones lore has made two prices very well known to us- The Iron Price (paid through conquest) and The Golden Price (paid through money). This league has introduced a 3^rd price, The Tyrellian Price. This price includes the players Tyrell likes at his values for them or you are either “out to lunch,” placed on the no trade list, or subject to mockery by the league. This stinginess helped preserve his team’s value, in many cases improving it at critical times, which has led him to the title game.

Biggest Trade: Lewis, Murray, Rawls, Jones, Thomas for Manuel, Zeke, Riddick, Cruz, Inman- spawned an emergency podcast and league-wide reaction. Zeke and Inman have been critical players to carry Tyrell to the championship

Best Trade: Gave Kelce, 12.32 got Murray, 9.31- mentioned it earlier, I know, but just can’t get over the 3-round upgrade. Alrght, moving on.

Worst Trade: Gave Cousins, Terrence Williams for Michael Floyd- sometimes the Tyrellian Price doesn’t make lot of sense, but we all make mistakes…

House Tarly

2 trades-all during startup

Trade overview- Not much to see here, Tarly made 2 connected moves, moving from 4.20 to 4.26 to improve an 8^th round pick, and from 4.26 to 5.02 to improve a 9^th round pick.

House Hightower

42 trades- 29 during startup, 13 during pre/regular season

Trade overview: Hightower was moving around like Ali during the startup, logging the most startup trades I’ve seen thus far. Post-startup, Hightower sat back making only small deals with his core until the time was right to buy in the market. He’s maintained a young core and has positioned himself well to compete in 2017 and beyond.

Biggest Trade: Tannehill, DGB, Stark’s 2^nd for Cousins, Riddick- Cousins has turned into one of the premier QB assets while Tannehill seems to be having the offense taken out of his hands for his team to have success. DGB’s ability to develop will determine how this trade balances out, but paying up to get a QB1 makes this Hightower’s biggest trade.

Best Trade: Gave Kessler & Chris Moore for Garoppolo, Funchess, Rodgers, and starks 4^th – gave a QB that has an outside shot of being the browns starter next year for a QB with an outside shot of being the Browns starter next year, a young WR with good metrics, a fringe TE and a 4^th. A win no matter how you slice it

Worst Trade: Gave Cameron Meredith, Malcolm Mitchell for John Brown- John Brown has had an epic fall from grace. A preseason darling who was picked to be the next Antonio Brown, to a player on a snap count due to a sickle cell trait. In exchange, he surrenders two wrs who have had breakout years (a WR2 for Meredith since week 5 and a WR1 for Mitchell since week 11)

The Faceless Men

10 trades- 5 during startup, 5 pre/during season

Trade overview: Startup focused on trading down and acquiring more picks all in small, discrete moves. His 1^st big move was recovering from a rough break at QB to make sure he could field a weekly lineup. His other big deal was to sell out of an aging asset that didn’t belong on his team (Gronk) for the pieces to help him build his team back up. He is also one of the finalists for the best trade bait in the league.

Biggest Trade: Gave Agholor and Dez for TyGod and Diggs – Shifted Faceless from a likely Castemere candidate to a weekly contender.

Best Trade: Gave Gronk, Starks for Jeffery, Floyd, Targaryen’s 1^st, Egen’s 2^nd – After having Gronk on his trade bait for the majority of the season, he was finally able to unload him to a team making a playoff push. Thanks to nice stretch of TE1 overall games, he was able to garner the offseason price for Gronk and reposition himself for the future

Worst Trade: Gave DuJuan Harris for Keyarris Garrett- The week after Harris puts up 20+ points he gets dealt or a player who wasn’t drafted and isn’t on a roster?

Brotherhood Without Banners

15 trades- 13 during startup, 2 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Really only count his startup trades, as his 2 post startup trades were fringe players for 5^th round picks. He prioritized top 100 picks, strategically moving later assets as needed to get his target players. He ran into some trouble with the Bridgewater injury, but still picked up enough games to show some hope for his team next year.

Biggest Trade- Gave 1.29, 2.04, and 3.29 for 1.11 and 2.18- a combination of two deals where BWoB paid a pretty penny to move up and get obj, one of the top assets in fantasy. But considering AB was the 1.15 (his intermediate 1^st), and Evans was taken in the range of 1.29, was this needed?

Best Trade- Gave Hightower’s 5^th for Lorenzo Taliaferro- tossing a 5^th round pick for Taliaferro, who has shown well in his limited time as the starter.

Worst Trade- Gave a 4^th for a shit ton of picks in the last 5 rounds but didn’t end up making about half off them

Iron Bank of Braavos

70 trades- 21 in startup, 49 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Iron Bank was one of the more active traders in both startup and in season. His team transitioned from a win later depth play, to a consolidated group of studs, to a tweener which missed the playoffs, and back to a productive struggle. His favorite trade format was the sweepstakes, which in some cases turned out well for him, in others, put him in a tough spot of trading a stud for less than his worth.

Biggest Trade: Gave Kevin White, Sammie Coates, Night’s Watch’s 1^st for Antonio Brown- patient zero of his transition from productive struggle to consolidation. Pairing AB84 with Julio put him in a position where not going for it was illogical, and led to many more deals.

Best Trade: Gave Glennon and Hogan for Crowder and Enunwa- Crowder’s accomplishments have been well documented thus far and Enunwa has been very productive as a fill in WR. Hogan has been hit or miss, this deal will come down to where Glennon lands

Worst Trade: Gave Simean for Free Folk’s 4^th – locked in a profit from 5^th to a 4^th, but sold out way too soon.

Sand Snakes

23 trades- 13 startup, 10 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Sand Snakes has his style best described as small moves, and trading only when necessary, nothing more than that. This philosophy allowed him to make small, calculated moves to improve his team above both the Iron Bank and Santagar, who were far more active traders. As mentioned, he eschewed the larger blockbuster deal for small adjustments in the draft, which allowed him to build up a strong warchest of later draft picks, which he was able to draw upon during the year to get the fill in players he needed to win key weeks.

Biggest Trade: Siemean, Wheaton, Snakes 1^st, Santi’s 3^rd for Palmer, Stanton, Walker’s 2^nd – his biggest adjustment, reinforcing my point about small moves rather than major adjustments. This was a tactical swap to grab a QB without a week 11 bye- the 2^nd week of winter- and his handcuff, allowing him to hang on to win his division and the #1 seed in Fire.

Best Trade- Gave McKinnon for Charles Sims, Gillislee- Was able to cash out on the hype/promise of McKinnon, who failed to impress in his debut with the starting role, for another highly regarded PPR back, and a very useful TD vulture/handcuff in Mike Gillislee.

Worst Trade- Gave Don Jackson for Brent Celek and Reed’s 5^th- one of the hotter names as a waiver wire add that amounted to nothing. In the end, not an impactful deal, but you have to think he could have pried more value elsewhere from a GB fan or a Lacy owner panicking about their injured core piece.

Night’s Watch

24 trades- 10 during startup, 14 pre/during season

Trade overview- If a big name wasn’t moving as part of the deal, don’t waste his time with the conversation. This led to a lot of home runs, a lot of strikeouts/bad beats, and a very interesting roster going forward.

Biggest Trade- Gave Adams, Crowder, and Ri. Matthews for Hopkins, which was given for a 1.01- Hopkins is arguably the biggest name Night’s Watch traded for, so he’s got to be the biggest trade. What was interesting was the follow on move selling him for a 1.01. This has been a widely lauded class, but is there a D-Hop in this year’s class, or is this a temporary acquisition of the asset to flip again?

Best Trade- Gave Alshon, Cruz, Doyle for Bernard, Adams, Crowder, Ebron- Gave the biggest name, but hindsight shows he got the better haul back, especially considering he was able to flip about half of this haul for D-Hop and eventually the 1.01

Worst Trade- Gave Agholor, T. Williams, Forrester’s 1^st, Night’s 2^nd, Night’s 3^rd for C.J. Anderson- A lot of value going out for Anderson, who is in a backfield who loves the timeshare. This deal looks better now than it did earlier, with no other Denver back seizing control of their opportunity.

White Walkers

12 trades- 3 during startup, 9 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Walkers is the first contender reviewed (well, champ at this point) that didn’t load up on trades during the startup. 3 small adjustment deals were all he pursued in the startup, with his attention focused on sticking and picking. Post -startup, he enjoyed a special relationship with The Maesters of Oldtown, executing almost half of his deals with him.

Biggest Trade: Gave McKinnon, Snead, Santi’s 2^nd for Demarco, Teal Julius- The kind of deadline deal that helps put a team over the top, and it did in this case. Grabbing the newly acquired Murray from Stark, allowing him to keep pace with some of his high scoring competition this postseason.

Best Trade: Improving his 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th round picks for free- 3 separate swaps with Maesters where he gave his pick in each round for another pick in that round. As league champ, this turns into his favor in each

Worst Trade: Gave K. Davis, Walker’s 4^th for Jesse James- James was one of the hotter names as the rising Steelers TE. At this point, he seems destined for the waiver wire. Not a major loss, but one nonetheless.

Free Folk

18 trades- 12 startup, 6 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Focused on the startup for most of his activity, attempting to compete with some very strong teams this year in Ice. Led to a strong PP, but lineup trouble caused him to miss the postseason and adjust his approach. The strength of his team still saw him crowned Tourney champion, a crown for which he will receive no prize but pride.

Biggest Trade: Gave Fitztragic, Geno, J Matt for Goff: His official transition from playoff competitor to long term planner. Cashed out of Fitz at the right time and bought Goff at a diminished value. Goff’s learning curve will determine how this trade shakes out at the end of the day.

Best Trade: Gave Bara’s 4^th for Reek- 4^th rounder for a top 10 WR this year. Who says no?

Worst Trade: Gave Hightower for ASJ- Miring away with legal troubles and on a depth chart where TEs go to die, for a player who annually contributes near the end of the season.

Children of the Forest

11 trades- 3 during startup, 8 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Children did well to extract value with well timed/placed deals. While he struggled to move target pieces at times, he was eventually able to get fair value for them, as well as pick up additional draft capital in the process. He’s well positioned to be a major market leader this offseason.

Biggest Trade: Gave up DT, got Moncrief- Was thrilled to finally move DT off his roster, Moncrief is great value back. He’s performed well with Luck in stints, but has not taken over as the WR1 he was supposed to be according to draft pundits. Next year very well may be his make/break year.

Best Trade: Gave up Foster, got Malcolm Mitchell- If Foster didn’t retire this week, he did the week after this deal. Getting an emerging weapon for Tom Brady for that is a heck of a coup.

Worst Trade: Gave Paxton Lynch for Derrick Henry- QBs are gold in this league, especially starting QBs. Henry was a 1^st round pick equivalent in our startup this year, but is well blocked on the depth chart with Murray still looking like a workhorse.

With trading re-opening around now, I'm excited for the fast/furious to return. I'll be back later this week with my nominations for best/worst trades of the year.

2016 Trades in Review- Part 1

Happy Friday lords and lady, and welcome to the 2016 year in review- trading post. As your friendly neighborhood Iron Bank, I'm happy to kick off this most recent segment looking back at the first year of our league.

I'll be going through all 32 teams this year, highlighting how active they were in the trade market and when, their biggest deal, their best deal, and by my standards, their worst deal. I'm going to do my best not to repeat deals between houses, so it if comes across as one house's best deal, I may not highlight it as another house's worst.

Considering the sheer chaos that was our startup draft, I've only selected those deals for consideration in certain circumstances. I'm sure there are plenty of big/best/worst options available, but for the purpose of this year, I've kept the focus mostly on the preseason & in season trades

Last disclaimer, this takes a while, probably 20-30 minutes/house. So the work has been done over a few days. So while there may be some observations that have been overcome by recent events, I don't think they'll change the overall message or ratings of the deals.

Enjoy!

House Baratheon

69 trades total- 12 during startup, 57 pre/during season

Trading overview- Louis was one of the more active traders this year, often gaining the first mover advantage and striking trades before the league knew there was a market. The best example of this was his trade with Faceless where he brought back Agholor and Dez for Tyrod and Diggs. He did a masterful job flowing between consolidation trades and depth trades, optimizing his lineup decisions while maintaining overall flexibility. While many feel he was on the short end of a number of his trades, his willingness to continue trade discussions and approachability as a trade partner will allow him to swing the value pendulum back in his favor.

Biggest Trade: Gave Tyrod and Diggs for Agholor and Dez. Trade that tipped Louis’s hand as a trader who would move anyone on his team. He had talked up TyGod all startup as a cornerstone QB, but didn’t hesitate to trade him when the opportunity presented itself. Sent a strong signal that his team would operate as a free market/clearing house for the better part of the year.

Best Trade: Gave Cam, DA, Ingram, Wallace, and a 4^th to the Iron Bank for Bradford, Hill, Crowder, and Julio. Sold out of Cam & Ingram at their peaks, before Cam’s fall out of the top 10 QBs and Ingram’s demotion to a timeshare.

Worst Trade: Gave DT for AP and John Brown. Praised for the trade at the time, a little distance makes this one look a lot more lopsided. Brown has turned out to have sickle cell traits and be on a highly restrictive pitch count and AP’s coming off another major surgery. Not a terrible piece to have, but in exchange for a 29 yr old WR20?

House Reed

27 trades total- 5 during startup, 22 pre/during season

Trading overview- Reed got out to a rapid pace with his trades, making 3 trades with Arryn and 1 with Iron Bank to obtain 3 picks in the top 45 of the draft. The drawback, was that it left him without a pick for ~4 rounds. From then on he was a targeted trader. Targeting his favorite players in trades and avoiding conversations otherwise. While he takes an impressive amount of shit for his team being bad, he can’t blame that on the trades he’s made, as he’s come out ahead more than most.

Biggest Trade- Gave Cam and fodder for Simean, Hyde, Cooks, Tyrell Williams, and Banefort’s 2^nd- if anyone wants to see where Banefort’s roster shifted from balance to 4 studs and duds, here it is! Reed gave up a lot to be top heavy in the draft, but with one move repopulates his depth and picks up the eventually very valuable Banefort 2^nd as well.

Best Trade- Gave Devin Funchess for Jay Ajayi, Pharoah Cooper, and Malcolm Mitchell. Reed has 2 trades where it could be said that he took Iron Bank over a barrel. This one is arguably the worse of the two. He “sold it now” during his Funchess sweepstakes getting the pre-breakout Ajayi, the pre-breakout Mitchell, and Cooper (who is still pre-breakout) for Funchess, who looks to be more flash than substance.

Worst Trade- Gave Jordan Howard, Allen Robinson, and Vance McDonald for Adrian Peterson, Kevin White, and Jordan Reed. If you’re looking for where Reed’s team picked up the injury bug, I found patient zero. The worse news is, it comes with an even worse trade. A Rob had a down year by any measure, but still represents a significant upgrade to White. Howard is the lead back in Chicago, where AP may not make it back on the field. Reed looked like a beast when he was on the field and was the TE1, but how much longer he’s out there is up for debate.

House Mormont

5 trades total- 2 during startup, 3 pre/during season

Trading overview- Doesn't trade often..... and that's probably a good thing. Mormont built a monster through drafting well, and not messing it up through overactive deals

Biggest Trade: Swaps his 1^st two picks (1/2 wrap) for Julio and a mid 2^nd. Everyone has different approaches to a startup. Some want to load up on 2-3 studs, others want to build depth, others want to build up their youth and play for the future. Mormont wanted to get his guy, in this case Julio. From that regard, you’ve got to like the move for him because he got his guy, for essentially swapping pick positions for the 1^st 2 rounds with Night’s Watch, which is inherently a balanced trade on the surface.

Best Trade: Gave Charles Clay for Lance Kendricks. It didn’t end up getting him the win in the 1^st round of the playoffs, but he was able to acquire a starting TE with Reed out for a far more reasonable price than what was being asked on the market.

Worst Trade: Gave Tyreek Hill for Baratheon’s 4^th.  A 4^th round pick for the WR12. Ouch bro, serious ouch.

House Stark

23 trades total- 6 during startup, 17 pre/during season

Trading overview- never scared off by the big name involved in the trade, House Stark executed some of the bigger trades that have shifted the balance of power in the league, let alone the playoffs (swung big trades with 2 of the final 4 teams in the 24 hours before the deadline). Cam, Wentz, Gronk, Zeke, Demarco, and Carr all called his team home at different times in the season (with only Cam still holding court).

Biggest Trade: Gives Wentz, Hill, and Edelman for Rivers, Zeke, and Benjamin- As Zeke emerged as one of the top players in fantasy this year, Stark was able to nab him for what many felt was a particularly low price. If Wentz develops into the next Roethlisberger, Casterly acquired his QB1 for the next 15 years, but that’s still a big if.

Best Trade: Gave Adrian Peterson for Jeremy Hill, Markus Wheaton, Egen’s 2^nd- a 2^nd and a chance to get younger for an aging veteran who may have one good season left in him. Great example of turning the clock back on a big name.

Worst Trade Gave Brent Celek, Stark’s 2^nd for Jesse James- at the time, James was the TE destined to inherit the Miller workload now that Green might have a career threatening injury. Certainly didn’t turn out that way as James was unable to assume the mantle, leading to a timeshare with the likes of Xavier Grimble. Stark certainly wishes he had his 2^nd round pick back.

House Santagar

24 trades total- 7 during startup, 17 pre/during season

Trading Overview: Arguably one of the more successful traders in the league. He was constantly able to peddle an asset to meet his need. He made a consolidation trade (for Dez), a youth for production trade (Moncrief for DT), and a break up trade (Gurley for Booker, Ware, and Henry). Which helped him improve his team to the point of making the playoffs from the highly competitive Essos & Dorne division.

Biggest Trade: Gave Ben, J Stew, and DT for Bradford, Crowder, and Julio- Bara upgrades his QB to his favorite Steeler, but in the process gives up what would become 2 top 7 WRs, giving Santi quite the collection when paired with Evans.

Best Trade: Gave Matt Forte for Davante Adams- Adams didn’t last long on Santi’s team, but this was a swap that most felt was overwhelmingly in his favor. Especially when you take into account Baelish acquiring Forte for his playoff schedule, in which he injured himself 3 minutes into…

Worst Trade: Gave Sant’s 2^nd for Torrey Smith- Not a lot of bad trades to choose from for Santi, but he made two swaps of pick for player. The one above for Torrey, and his 3^rd for Troy Niklas. Based on it being a better pick and a more disappointing player, I’ve picked the Torrey swap, but considering the results of both, I wouldn’t recommend he pursue that kind of trade in the future. Close runner up was sending away Simean for the bust named Matt Jones (who?)

House Tully

17 trades- 10 during startup, 7 pre/during season

Trading Overview: Tully did most of his trading damage in the startup, choosing to trade down early and often to amass as much capital in the top 100 picks as possible. He continued this mantra post-draft, finding opportunities to sell out of pieces that didn’t fit his longer-term vision in favor of players who did as well as draft capital. He’s built an impressive roster, earned one of the top 2 picks, and held onto his name. This is a dangers team 2018 and beyond

Biggest Trade: Gave Booker, Ware, and Henry for Gurley, S. Anderson- classic consolidation trade. Tully gets the best and worst piece in the trade, Santi gets the 2^nd -4^th , win-win

Best Trade: Gave Randall Cobb for Devante Parker. Despite your feelings on the polarizing figure that is Knight Parker, you have to love this trade for Tully. Royce is moving towards a playoff push and wants to add Cobb who’s in the midst of a 3 game hot streak, and Tully is able to sell him at his peak for another one of the metric marvel WRs his roster has attracted. Now all he needs to do is trade for Cooper to complete the set.

Worst Trade: Antonio Gates for Eli Rogers- it’s saying something that this is the straw I have to grasp at in order to find a bad trade for Tully. In the end, Gates didn’t fit on his team, and due to the emergence of Henry, was losing market share in the eyes of many of the owners. In order to not be left with nothing, Tully probably took a discount in the form of Rogers for Gates.

House Greyjoy

29 trades- 21 during startup, 8 pre/during season

Trading Overview: One of the busiest traders during the startup, Greyjoy had three goals in the startup. First- acquire 2 of the top QBs to serve as the cornerstone of his team. Second- surround them with as many top 150 picks as possible. Third- convert all future draft capital to the best startup picks he could get. All three goals were wildly successful, giving him the flexibility to move pieces such as Carson Palmer and Jordan Matthews without putting his core at risk.

Biggest Trade: Gave Carson Palmer for Jordy Nelson- by about the 8^th or 9^th round of the draft, teams were learning a very difficult lesson. In a 16 team superflex league, only the foolish man waits on QB. Due to his foresight, Greyjoy was able to peddle the one of his less essential and older QBs for a very useful starter in Jordy Nelson.

Best Trade: Gave Aaron Burbridge for Forrester’s 5^th- sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. Despite what I’m sure was unrelenting pressure to make a big move involving one of his core players, he held strong knowing they could carry him deep into the playoffs. The trade highlighted here is indicative of almost all of his post-startup moves. Small adjustments with non-core pieces

Worst Trade: Gave Jordan Matthews for Doug Martin- TDs help to even this out some, but given the opportunity to switch back, I’d imagine Greyjoy would in a heartbeat. Martin appeared to be the sole owner of the TB backfield once again thanks to injuries to Sims and Rodgers, and proceeded to average less than 3 ypc. Compared to the continued target monster that is Jordan Matthews, the Ironborn should have been wary of this golden price

House Wode

32 trades- 11 during startup, 21 pre/during season (11 by Wode, remainder by Codd)

Trading Overview: It’s never easy to take over an orphan, let alone one mid-season, especially one who has seen it’s own very valuable 1^st traded away on a team that’s not playoff ready. So first and foremost, kudos to Wode for taking on that challenge. That said, Wode probably fell victim to a number of the big mistakes orphan adopters tend to. They trade away their veterans for a discount, they don’t understand the nuances of the rules (taxi theft in this case), and are forced to be patient until time & the market gives them a chance to recoup some value. That said, Wode had some tough lessons this year but absorbed them well.

Biggest Trade: Gave Jordan Howard, Braxton Miller, and Michael Thomas for Jeremy Hill and Royce’s 1^st Pre-week 1, this looked like a much better trade. Howard was stuck behind an impressive looking Langford, Thomas was listed as the WR3 or 4 in New Orleans, and House Royce looked like a team that was going to struggle to make the playoffs. 3 months later, Royce is in the postseason, Howard is the 2^nd best rookie back in the league, and Michael Thomas has arguably unseated Brandin Cooks as the WR1 in New Orleans. The 1^st being the equivalent of the 1.12 helps to soften the blow, but this one could have turned out better for Wode.

Best Trade: Gave Lannister’s 2^nd and Tully’s 3^rd for Zach Ertz- able to take advantage of a tilting Iron Bank, Wode was able to grab the target monster that is Zach Ertz as he becomes one of Carson Wentz’s favorite weapons. Considering Ertz was changing hands last offseason for a 1^st and his recent performances, it stands to reason Wode will be able to flip Ertz for a 1^st if he so desires this offseason.

Worst Trade: Gave Jimmy Graham for Brett Hundley- there were a couple of trades which can only be described as head scratchers for House Wode. Some only look that way with the benefit of hindsight (his big trade above a prime example). Another one is his swap of Jimmy Graham for Brett Hundley. We all heard the rhetoric last offseason about the PCL injury Graham and Cruz were returning from “The next player who is able to rebound from that injury and be an effective player again will be the first.” Fast forward 4 months, and due to Gronk’s Back and Reed’s concussions, Jimmy is arguably the TE1 in fantasy.

House Arryn

75 trades- 34 in startup, 41 pre/during season

Trade Overview: Congratulations to house Arryn for being the most promiscuous trader in the league this year. During the startup, Arryn spent his time focused on getting his two cornerstone QBs and then monopolizing as much of rounds 3-7 as he could. After the startup, he made the conscious decision that 2016 was not going to be his year, kicking off his productive struggle in earnest with an explosive trade with the Iron Bank. He spent the next few weeks meticulously acquiring draft capital in the prestigious 2017 draft. Little did we know he was pulling a “Trading Places” in us (great movie, if you haven’t seen it, go see it). He transitioned from seller to buyer as teams began to look towards the draft to improve their teams’ futures. As a result, he’s sold off almost all of his draft capital, but amassed a roster full of top end talent with a good amount of youth preparing to back them up when called upon. He may no longer be known as house Arryn, but he’s a contender for years to come due to his artful trading this year.

Biggest Trade: Gave Russell Wilson for Bank’s 1^st, Baratheon’s 1^st, Reed’s 1^st, and Free Folk’s 1^st- the lesson to learn in a superflex league this deep is if you don't draft your cornerstone QBs, you pay for them later. That's exactly what Arryn made Bank do here, in the end pulling 4 non-playoff 1st round picks for Russell Wilson.

Best Trade: Gave Lannister’s 2^nd, Hightower’s 2^nd, and Targaryen’s 2^nd for Wode’s 1^st- DISCLAIMER: This trade was made with House Codd, not House Wode. That said, this comes out to the 2.06, 2.07, and 2.13 for the 1.02. Not a bad trade if you can get it.

Worst Trade: Gave Keenan Allen, Jalen Richard, Banefort’s 3^rd, and Forrester’s 4^th for Derrick Henry and Tyler Lockett- not every trade works out gangbusters. Arryn attempted to move one of his many long term assets to improve just enough to keep his name. Unfortunately, Tyler Lockett didn’t understand he was supposed to be the next version of the 2015 Allen Robinson, not the 2016 Allen Robinson and Henry didn’t emerge like he was expected to.

House Baelish

26 trades- 14 in startup, 12 pre/during season

Trade Overview- Baelish was most active, like many of the successful owners this year, in the startup. However, unlike the rest of the teams trading down, he didn’t want 2017 picks. Rather was looking for additional picks in the top 100. Thus, he built the dominant team for this year. What’s truly scary, is a few of the trades where he might have moved himself out of MORE value.

Biggest Trade- Gave DeMarco and Golden Tate for DeVonta Freeman- Another what might have been moment. Demarco outperformed Freeman on his own this year, plus the added depth of Tate later in the season certainly wouldn’t have hurt.

Best Trade- Gave Devonte Booker for DaVante Adams, Egen’s 2^nd – Talk about selling high on an asset. Baelish flips Booker, who you’d be lucky to get Egen’s 2^nd for today, for the pick and the breakout star Adams.

Worst Trade- Gave 4.22 (Drew Brees) and 6.25 (LeSean McCoy) for 4.13 (Doug Martin) and 7.14(Ladarius Green)- The trade was made when everyone was still in draft pick form, but holy wow, imagine if Baelish had Brees and Shady this year instead of Doug and Ladarius?

House Egen

18 trades- 2 during startup, 16 pre/during season

Trade Overview- A lean traded during the startup, preferring to stand his ground and take his guys rather than moving around the board. In hindsight, that’s probably for the best considering how some of his early trades turned out. Egen’s trading skills definitely improved as the season moved on, acquiring a number of cornerstone pieces below market value.

Biggest Trade- Gave Paxton Lynch, Karlos Williams for Dak Prescott- winner of the Dak-scapes, acquiring this #1 QB when he was still on the cheap side ended up being a major coup for Egen’s lean roster

Best Trade- Gave Michael Floyd for Free Folk’s 2^nd, Baelish’s 3^rd – Panned as terrible at the time, considering Floyd’s future completely depends on his ability to stick on NE’s roster, this could end up being a well-timed cash out

Worst Trade- gave 2.24, 3.09, Egen’s 1^st for 2.15, 2.28 – If you look at the players involved, he gives Lamar Miller, T.Y. Hilton, and his 1^st for Derek Carr and Demaryius Thomas, which isn’t very lopsided on the surface. What makes this his worst trade is less than a month after the startup, he’d flipped the 2.15 (Carr) straight up for Cousins (4.30) and 2.28(DT) and Kelce (5.09) for Doctson (4.08) and Fleener (7.21). I’m sure most every team could be held to account for a trade made with post-startup with startup values, but why give up your first to move up 22 combined spots, only to surrender the value a month later?

House Royce

33 trades- 12 during startup, 23 pre/during season (Tollet was all startup trades, pre/during season was Royce)

Trade Overview- the triumphant hero who came to save us from a fate worse than Tollet (trick question, there is no fate worse than Tollet). That said, Royce inherited a solid team thanks to a few savvy startup trades (moving down from 1.04 for Banefort’s 2017 draft was one), but continued to build on this as he drove the team to the playoffs. Royce eschewed big bang trades early, preferring to keep his young core intact for a longer-term play that all changed when a podcast host Hot Taked “Royce will be the points wild card from Ice.” From there, Evan made big splash moves to grab Randall Cobb, Antonio Brown, and Blake Bortles. Although he was 1 and done in the playoffs, he’s set up well to return next year.

Biggest Trade- Gave Cousins, Petty, Agholor, Bryant, Banefort’s 1^st, Tyrell’s 1^st, Baelish’s 1^st for AB84, Rawls, Targaryen’s 1^st – A lot to give up, but one must pay a lot to acquire the league’s best WR. Cousins and the Banefort 1^st had to hurt to give up, but he ends up getting back the 2^nd best 1^st in the trade in the form of Targaryen’s and Rawls is showing well in Seattle. A lot of capital changed hands in this one.

Best Trade- Gave Michael Floyd for Kirk Cousins and Terrance Williams- his 1^st trade might have been his best. Floyd’s future is tenuous at best, Cousins is a top 8 dynasty QB asset which is gold in this league.

Worst Trade- gave Banefort’s 3^rd for Bryce Petty- Petty’s Iron Price was a 5^th, giving what at that time projected to be a high 3^rd for him is the definition of a desperation overpay.

House Clegane

68 trades- 31 startup, 37 pre/during season

Trade Overview- Clegane’s strategy was clear from the startup. Move down, acquire assets, and play the long game. He had an opportunity to accelerate his timetable to this year, but chose to stick to his initial strategy. Its paid off handsomely as he has a deep, young team with the opportunity to add more in this years draft. Clegane’s trademark as a trader was rarely did he give an outright no with a decline. It usually came with an explanation and often, a counter. Making him an easy person to trade with.

Biggest Trade- Gave Cousins, Abdullah, Riddick, D Wash, Santi’s 2^nd, Hyde, Keenan Allen, and Coates for C. Cook, AB84, D. Robinson, Big Ben, C.J. Anderson, and Devonte Booker- alright, technically this is 2 trades in one, but this committee of 1 knows they were part of a similar strategy. In an effort to re-form his team via sweepstakes, Clegane acquired arguably the most valuable stack this year. While they were being sold together in the sweepstakes, he ended up tradeing them separately to retool his team the way he saw fit.

Best Trade- Gave Charles, Huff, Forrester’s 4^th for Hyde, D Wash, Janis, Hightower’s 5^th – in an attempt not to duplicated trades between teams, I’ll settle on this one as one of Clegane’s best, and it’s indicative of the kind of trade he worked all year. Through good timing and smooth talking, he was able to upgrade Charles- injured again and fighting to avoid a time share for his job, to Hyde- a true feature back when healthy this year. He was able to leverage this value to bring back AB84 later, another example of buying at the right time

Worst Trade- Gave Jimmy G, Funchess, R Rodgers, and Tyrell’s 4^th for Kessler, Chris Moore- this one puzzled me, say what you will about Funchess, but he’s worth more than Chris Moore. It’s unclear whether Kessler will even be the starter next year or relegated to backup behind a 1^st round QB the Browns draft. Comparing that to Jimmy G who is all but guaranteed a starting job next year, and I struggle to see the value.

House Lannister

22 trades- 16 startup, 6 pre/during season

Trade Overview- Lannister did most of his work during the startup. He shied away from moving the premium pieces wholesale, often making slighter moves to go up and down to grab his target players. He made a few small tweaks before the season started and resisted the urge to make any other moves until the deadline. We’ll see if this season inspires Lanniser to get more aggressive in his trade discussions in the future

Biggest Trade- Gave A Rob, Eifert, for Floyd, Green, and Rudolph- Anytime A Rob and Green change hands, it tends to be your biggest trade.

Best Trade- Gave Murray for Dorsett, Louis, Strong, and Bank’s 1^st – As players were flying around near the deadline, it was difficult to get full value for some of the top assets. Lannister was able to succeed in getting a mid 1^st and 3 undervalued WRs in the 2^nd/3^rd round pick range. Considering what Murray went for after this, Lannister has to be pleased with his value

Worst Trade- Gave Simean for Baelish’s 5^th – A starting QB for a 5^th, yeahhhhhhh

House Banefort

13 trades- 4 during startup, 9 pre/during season

Trade overview- long live the Banefort!  He made it a priority this year to focus on consolidating as much premium talent as possible, sometimes to his detriment. This strategy shifted mid-year as the playoffs moved out of reach. We’ll have to wait and see if his transition to asset collection yields him the depth he needs to compete without sacrificing any more of his elite assets.

Biggest Trade- Gave Came Newton for Rivers, Stark’s 1^st, and Casterly’s 1^st – signaled a change in direction from consolidation to asset collection. His follow-on trade to turn Rivers into another pick gave him 3 1sts in the top 11 of this year’s draft.

Best Trade- Gave Matt Jones for Trevor Simean- not a bad cash out considering what happened to Jones the back end of the year

Worst Trade- Gave Brissett, Wentz, T. West, H. Henry for Romo, Deandre Washingon, and Gronkowski- Another consolidation trade that didn’t go as planned. Romo was supposed to get his job back when he returned and Gronk was supposed to be a world beater. Instead, Banefort loses out on his depth he’s trying so hard to rebuild for players that all disappointed this year.

House Casterly

19- 9 startup, 10 pre/during season

Trade overview- Casterly split his moves ~50/50 between the startup and the season. Most of his moves came after he saw the gap in the Westerlands of a division leader and made the decision to fill that gap.

Biggest Trade- Gave Rivers, Zeke, T. Benjamin for Wentz, Hill, Edelman- A very interesting long term play. Swaps promising rookies in order to corner the QB who could be leading the Eagles for the next 10-15 years for the RB who’s taken the league by storm now.

Best Trade- Gave Jordan Matthews, Forrester’s 3^rd for Sanders, Crowder- Playoff teams tend to overpay for assets near the trade deadline, but Casterly avoided that tendency. He was able to acquire 2 of the higher scoring WRs recently for one who has been disappointing and a 3^rd round pick. Well done to take advantage of a tilting Iron Bank to improve his team.

Worst Trade- Gave Boyd for Dorsett- Initially this looked like an exchange of end of the 1^st round rookie picks who weren’t going to live up to expectations. But where Dorsett is well blocked by WRs on the Indy roster, Boyd was only an injury away from an every down role, and taking well to the slot/flanker position. Since the Green injury, he’s shown to be productive in his work thus far and will likely continue to grow in the offense.

I'll be back soon with the 2nd half of the league.