Quote
Billy_T
That's not a reason NOT to do it. To me, that's just a sign of too few teams playing smart chess. And we see the results of this in (perennial) losing/mediocre teams. Too many of them. Too many of them being that way for much too long.
There are a host of things that teams don't do, but should. And that goes with human life in general, companies, industries, institutions, etc. etc. In fact, I think one of the all too consistent things about human beings over time, through the millennia, is how many things we don't do but should . . . and how many things we do but shouldn't.
In short, the relative popularity (or its opposite) of X, Y or Z action is really beside the point.
Every GM in the league is well aware of this type of trade and surely have analyzed the pros and cons every which way. There's also a whole new generation of smart, aggressive GM's like Snead who aren't afraid to make moves. If they thought that type of trade would give them an advantage and could find a willing partner. They'd be doing it...frequently. It's not about not enough smart chess players.
The real reason they are rare is because a number of things have to fall into place for them to happen.
1) You have to find a team who is willing to give up a future higher pick....which teams are very reluctant to do.
2) There has to be a player available at your pick that the other team feels like they
have to have.....enough to give up a future pick. That's likely to be a rare occurrence in the later rounds.....like the 6th.
Those two reasons alone are primarily why you see so few of these trades.
Plus on the other side of the deal, there's this:
3) The team initiating the trade has to have a GM who has a very high level of job security. It's no surprise that Belichick is willing to do these deals. He has a job for life. It's a win-now league and many less secure GM's would prefer to use the pick now....if they don't win they may not even be around to use the future pick.
It's difficulty of execution that's the issue, not a lack of smart chess players. There's plenty of those.
