Jan. 13 -- Ladies and gentlemen, ‘tis Friday the 13th. While the generic response to this occurrence would be fear of failure, and maybe some sort of bad luck in which my column was sent to the wrong source, rewritten in Portuguese, then sent to my editor, I’m going against the grain. That’s right, I’m embracing this date, and using it to my full marketing advantage. Since one of the themes in this week’s column is injuries, here’s what I’m thinking: Friday the 13th…Not just bad luck in the real world. It’s like the stars have aligned for this once-in-a-lifetime marketing opportunity, and who am I to question fate? Hey, it could work….Let’s hit the files.

I was just wondering if I should make any trades to make my team a bit better and if so what would be a good trade I can make. I am in a 10 team league. My team has won points and rebounds each week. I've lost steals twice out of 9 weeks, lost assists 4 times, lost 3's 5 out of 9, and lost blocks twice. Here is my team as of now. The only categories we have are 3's, points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks.

PG: Wade SG: Allen G: Arenas SF: J. Howard (Houston) (Gonna put Peja in when he gets going again) PF: Randolph F: Dwight Howard C: Bosh C: Shaq Utility: B. Knight Utility: M. James (Toronto)

Bench Mourning (for when Shaq gets hurt again) Peja Jason Williams (Miami)

Where do you think I can improve and let me know which players I should go after and who would be good to offer. Thanks for the expert advice in advance!

Bryan

I have to start this out by saying thanks for the thanks in advance. I’m a fairly big fan of the thanks in advance, mainly because there’s no need for post-question thanks, and it leaves no uncertainty as to whether your heart is in it or not. You know, I read that and – quite frankly – it’s a confidence booster. Add to that the subtle yet all-important use of an exclamation point, and you’ve got a nice tandem of gratitude going. That’s right, our underrated sentence-ending friend known as the exclamation point can bring as much joy to a person as a box of chocolates or a get well card. You see, without it, you’ve got nothing. With it, though, I’m excited. I want to provide you with the expert advice you ask for, and I’m not going to lie – I may step up my game because of it. But enough with the random punctuation analysis, let’s get down to business.

First, you’re loaded with assist men; with Dwayne Wade, Gilbert Arenas, Brevin Knight, Mike James and Jason Williams all contributing healthily in assists, you should be more than set there. Also, you’re not looking too shabby in the big man cats, with Zach Randolph, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and Shaquille O’Neal all dominating in boards, and most of them dominating in blocks. The fact that there are no percentage cats is a big plus, considering you have Shaq and a bunch of point guards on your team. Once Peja Stojakovic gets going, you have two amazing three-point guys on your squad in Ray Allen and Stojakovic.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t see the need to make many moves – and I’m willing to bet you’re at or near the top of the league in the standings. I’d consider dealing one of your point guards for a third three-point and scoring threat, but this is an extremely well-balanced team so you’d be perfectly fine sticking with what you have right now.

As for who to offer up in a potential trade, I’d look to guys that are hotter than they will remain at this point – for example, Juwan Howard (no way he maintains his 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds per game averages achieved over the last month) and Mike James. As I said before, you could stand to acquire a third three-point/scoring guy, although it may not be necessary with the talent you’ve currently got.

Looking at what you said about how you’ve done each week, it’s obvious that you have a very well-balanced team. In only one instance have you not won a category over 50 percent of the time (threes), and you’ve still won it four times out of nine, which isn’t bad at all for your worst cat. Watch the wire, but most importantly stick with what you’ve got unless a flattering offer is sent your way.

Mr. Cates

I have a two part question that needs answering. The first part has to do with the consistently injured fantasy stud Marcus Camby. He has been sitting on my bench for weeks now all the while his stock is dropping. Should I stick it out and wait for Camby to return or try to trade him and get whatever I can?

The second part of my question is in regards to another fantasy stud who never seems to play, but for other more annoying reasons. I am interested in acquiring Ron Artest in a few of my leagues now that his value is at an all time low, do you believe this would be a good move? Thanks for taking the time.

Mr. Ham

I’ll say it right now – I hate Marcus Camby. He’s very difficult to assess at this point, because he was playing like the best player in the league, but there’s that injury problem, so his trade value is in serious question. One has to believe that people are very wary of him right now, so you would obviously be trading him for much less than he is actually worth. As things currently stand, Camby will be back before the end of January. It all comes down to your confidence in the fact that he’ll stay healthy. If he stays healthy all year but you trade him now, you’ll have been ripped off in a big way. If he is the injury-prone guy he’s always been once he returns and you trade him right now, you’ll be sitting pretty.

As hard as this is for me to say (I’ve held on to Carlos Boozer all season in multiple leagues, still to no avail), I’d hold on to him. I believe that once he returns – even if he misses a game every other week or so – he’ll be giving you a solid 12-13 rebounds and two blocks a night, something that can’t be said for anyone else in the league.

As of right now, I would expect no more than Brad Miller or Zydrunas Ilgauskas in return for Camby. In my opinion, that’s not near enough considering Camby is a one man wrecking crew when healthy. Stay put and you’ll be better off.

As for Ron Artest – rumor right now is he’s headed to the Clippers for Corey Maggette, whom he’d replace in the starting lineup once healthy. I don’t think there’s any question Artest would flourish for Los Angeles, but at this point the fact is that everything is strictly rumor. Essentially, he won’t play as long as he’s with the Pacers, and there’s no telling how long it will take them to trade him. I am confident that he’ll be moved sometime in the foreseeable future, however, so I would advise going for him right now, especially if you can get him cheap.

Start by offering much lesser guys, and work your way up until you have a trade. Given his current “situation” and the way he was playing before all of this, it’s hard to imagine you’d have to give up much for him. If that ends up being the case, then by all means go for him. Artest is a risk worth taking given his low price and amazing potential, and even if he ends up missing the whole year or getting hurt, I doubt you’d be giving up someone that would make a huge impact on your team, so you wouldn’t be hurt too badly.

Alright, get out. That’s the end of the road. But – before you leave – if you’d like to drop me a question at catesfiles@talentedmrroto.com, you’re more than welcome. Hey, you could go a little crazy and drop me two questions at catesfiles@talentedmrroto.com – I wouldn’t complain. As you’ve probably heard, I’m a man of the people. So, naturally, if you have a question that needs to be answered or simply a suspicion you need to have confirmed, I’m the man. Until next week, it’s Kobe Bryant’s world, and we’re just living in it. Wait – Until next week, The Cates Files are officially closed. Yeah, that’s it.

Chris Cates is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column The Cates Files runs every Friday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at CatesFiles@TalentedMrRoto.com.

The views expressed by the TalentedMrRoto.com represent only the views of the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA team.