[A Zombie Pirate I Be]

I would not suggest that any owner would dump players to stock another team. My concern would be that once a team is eliminated from the playoffs, all the final year contract players become basically worthless to that owner(except possibly for RFA).

Without a trade deadline, teams would be able to trade players up to and into the playoffs. This would encourage eliminated teams to trade players at a deflated price.

For example, a top positional player, whose usual value would be a first round pick is now valued by his owner as worthless (or possibly a 2.13 pick by letting him go during RFA). The eliminated team would be foolish not to trade his top positional players on a final year contract for second round picks. Basically, selling his players for under market value and stocking up on second round picks.

Yes, this does allow the eliminated teams to hopefully improve their teams the next season, but it also unfairly improves teams that are in the playoffs, by allowing them to add top positional players late and at a deflated price.

Owners work all off season and during the regular season to build and improve a team, only to watch eliminated teams trade players at under market value to their opponents. Trading up to and into the playoffs would open the door to an unfair advantage to teams that have done little to nothing all season to improve their team, winning just enough to sneak into the playoffs, then using next year’s draft to gather top talent to take the championship from owners that worked all year.

We all know what the trade deadline is, so we need to work all season to make trades to improve our teams before the deadline, not wait until teams are eliminated, then start stripping them bare of their final year top talent.

I will go with whatever the league decides, but would strongly oppose no trade deadline or even moving it to a later date.