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One of the harsh realities about the early part of the season is just how difficult it is to make a trade. Since everyone has very limited information to evaluate from, the margin for error on any kind of trade tends to be fairly high. As a result, most owners are reluctant to make any significant trades during the first month or so.

It also tends to be difficult to work out early-season trades because the most concrete valuation tool we have to go on is still the draft position of players. Unfortunately, however, once the season gets going, such a ranking is really just an imaginary construct, and if two owners deviate in their evaluation of a player, it's difficult to close the gap since few want to pay significantly more -- or sell for significantly less -- than the round in...