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By Tony Targan, www.TalentedMrRoto.com

Will Adam Morrison be able to hang all season long? (Kent Smith/NBAE/Getty Images)

After a brief respite for the All-Star break, it's time to reconvene the men of the roto roundtable. Click here to see the first installment. In addition to the usual suspects (see February 13's Grand Theft Roto for our experts' bios), Jim McCormick a/k/a "Jimmy Mac" joins the brain trust in the second half of our session this week.

Roto Roundtable Redux: Players to Trade Away

Tarzan: So, Jimmy Mac, where were you last week? Any lame excuses you care to share?

Jimmy Mac: Sorry I missed you guys, but I was in Vegas for the All-Star game and I'd tell you more, but you know what they say.

Tarzan: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?

Jimmy Mac: Exactly.

Tarzan: I'll buy that. Please introduce yourself to the panel and our readers.

Jimmy Mac: Okay. I write the Expert Eye column and cover the San Antonio Spurs fantasy news for TMR. My day job is as a third grade teacher, and I work weekends as a bartender. I have the typical hobbies of a 27-year-old: playing basketball, playing Madden, and sleeping.

Tarzan: Cool. Alright, if you recall last week we discussed trade vetoes and which NBA players we'd like to trade for or "buy low" after the break. This week, our first topic is who to trade away. Which players' values have peaked and would you recommend to "sell high" while you can get the most for them? Similarly, which NBA rookies do you think will "hit the wall"?

Bstone: Mr. Mustache hit it like a month ago and says it hurts.

Tarzan: If you're talking about Charlotte Bobcats' rookie Adam Morrison, I agree. After starting out averaging 15.3 points in November, his scoring averaged dipped to 12.1 in December, steadied at 12.7 in January, and dropped to only 8.3 so far in February. By a show of hands, how many see Morrison as the underachieving rookie of the new year? Looks like most of you agree. What about "sell high" candidates?

A-Diddy: I'm not convinced Mike Miller can keep up the numbers he has been putting up (especially in threes taken). I would also try to sell Joe Johnson, a career 44.3 field goal percentage shooter, who is somehow making 47.3 percent of his shots. It seems like he's due to cool down, and when streak shooters cool down, it's not fun to be around.

Bstone: A less obvious choice is LeBron James. His stats have taken a hit across the board pretty much every month, including his relatively low 22.9 points a game in February. He has a bad big toe, and you can still get basically whatever you want for him.

Mr. O'Shea: I say Zach Randolph. Come on, we all know he won't keep these numbers up. He's on a really bad team and he's playing over his head. Maybe if this was his second or third season, you could attribute his statistical jump to a break-out season, but this is his sixth go-around. No way he keeps it up (although he did deserve to be an All-Star).

Random33: My vote would be Raymond Felton. His 38.9 field goal percentage is horrible. In seven games in February, he's up to 41.9 percent, but his monthly assists are down to 6.7 from a high of 9.1 in December and his turnovers have increased each month. I am just not impressed with Felton, plus Brevin Knight is on his way back.

Garbageman: Ricky Davis and Jamal Crawford are both are putting up good numbers recently, but are just very streaky and inconsistent players.

Free Flows and Pearls Of Wisdom

Tarzan: So far, this roundtable has been fairly structured. I ask a question and we go around the table in turn. Now, I'm going to take the training wheels off and ask you guys to think outside the arc a little bit. Let's open it up to a free form discussion of your observations about trading.

Coach: Don't ever have "untradeable" players. Guys in my league are so enamored with names that they can't see past that to the fantasy value. In fantasy, a trade is stat for stat, not big name for big name, but it still prevents fair trades from happening for some reason. Oh yeah, reply to the offer when it is made. When making an offer, don't just drop something over the wall without making some sort of other proactive contact. I found out I was offered a trade or two in one league this season, but not until after it expired. Didn't matter since the offers were ridiculous, but I would rather know about it so I can review rather than letting it fall to the wayside.

More from Grand Theft Roto Feb. 13: Roundball Roundtable Feb. 6: All-Stars Revisited Jan. 30: Fantasy All-Stars Archive: Grand Theft Roto

Mr. O'Shea: Yeah, you have to be careful about leaving proposals out there. I've seen guys not respond to trades on purpose just in case one of the players he's trading away was to get hurt. Then he accepts it immediately. Very shady and annoying, and it leaves you at the mercy of the commish to undo the deal!

Random33: I've never had any second thoughts about overpaying for a guy or guys I know I need to win a title, but only if I could afford it. If I'm in a league that starts three guards, but I have four or more guards and each one could start for my team, I'd have no problem trading the best one along with another decent player on my team for a guy I really, really need - that I KNOW would make the difference.

Tarzan: Like positional strength, I think you also need to assess your categorical strength.

A-Diddy: Absolutely. It is critical to get the best players for your system. Trades never happen in a vacuum. If you've already got Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, and Jason Kidd, don't go trading for Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk's best stat is his ridiculous 90 percent free throw shooting and he takes a lot of shots from the line. However, that won't do your team a damn bit of good unless you plan on benching the other three, since they will destroy your free throw percentage more than Dirk helps it. And even if his points, rebounds and threes will help you, the fact that you're not using his biggest strength means that you're not getting full value from him.

Garbageman: I believe that there are two kinds of people who do a lot of trading. Those who aren't confident in their draft and need to shift players to feel good about themselves, and those who get some kind of cathartic pleasure out of emptying their roster during the course of a season, much in the same relaxing way I purge myself after a nice Mexican dinner - simply to fill up again with a different kind of the same crap.

Tarzan: Okay, Jed, maybe a little too much information there, but we get the point.

Billy The Kid: I've realized that my risk tolerance changes at different times of the season. Early in the season, I just want to build a strong team so I stay as far away as I possibly can from injured players. Now that it's later in the season and I'm focusing on the playoffs, I want injured players so I can buy them cheap and then use them when it counts.

Jimmy Mac: Do trades before midnight. You're less likely to get hosed, and more likely to be lucid.

Tarzan: Spoken like a true bartender.

National Word Association

Tarzan: Okay, time for the lightning round. I'll throw out a word or phrase, and you guys fire away with short answers. Just say the first basketball-related thing that pops into your head…

Billy The Kid: The 2007 Las Vegas NBA All-Star Dance Team!!!

Tarzan: Billy, we haven't started yet. Although that's not a bad answer. Here we go. Teams with the best fantasy schedule after the All-Star Break?

Coach: Atlanta, Sacramento.

Vadim: Denver, Washington.

A-Diddy: The Wizards have a great fantasy playoff schedule.

Wirki: Whoever plays Phoenix, Golden State and Memphis most often.

Mr. O'Shea: Generally, teams that play in the Pacific Division.

Bstone: The Mavericks have a nice run through the East in the second half.

Garbageman: The Phoenix Suns because D'Antoni only plays seven or eight guys each game and they still put up 110-115 per (thanks to Nash).

Tarzan: Next word: Counteroffers. How often do you make them?

Coach: I rarely take the first offer, but it has happened.

Wirki: Ninety-five percent of the time I counter - unless the first offer is too good, then I won't counter.

Vadim: I wish somebody would make me an offer I could not refuse.

Bstone: Very rarely take the first offer. I'm pretty fickle about taking a first offer -- I mean, if it's the first offer it's obviously not as low as the other owner's willing to go right?

Random33: I've made more counters than accepted first offers. If you're dealing with an owner who either has lost interest in the league or just doesn't know much about the NBA and fantasy, then if you make the right proposal from the start, more often than not, it will be taken right away.

Jimmy Mac: I have accepted initial offers for sure. It depends on what they're dealing. Sometimes that initial offer can be the best one, because that owner can be desperate to make a move. I never try to open up negotiations with an insulting trade, but I also never offer up ideal value at first either. There's a process of sifting through the rosters to find a match.

Mr. O'Shea: I always counter. Similarly, your first proposal should never be your best … Ever. Anyone knows that only a fool does not counter-offer. However, you can't make a cold proposal that insults the other owner. I have seen guys absolutely refuse to trade with another owner because of insulting initial offers. Most likely, you should make your offer an even-handed one-for-one and offer to throw in another player if the other owner reciprocates. It's the other player you can steal because he is not the focus of the trade. Be wary of trying to rip people off. After all, you will likely be trading with these people in the future.

Tarzan: Okay, we're out of time. My sincere thanks to the panel. We'll resume our regular programming next week, including the ever-popular Theft of the Week.

Tony Targan is a fantasy expert for www.TalentedMrRoto.com, which features free advice, news, stats and analysis for all fantasy sports. It was nominated for four FSTA awards, including best site. Contact him at targan@TalentedMrRoto.com.

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

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