By Tony Ko

There are 4 different kinds of GMs, and they fall in these 4 categories: The Brand Name GMs, Plain Stupid GMs, Lucky GMs and, of course, the Mastermind GM. This article is to train you to be the King of the GMs.

First of all, have a plan going into the draft. Prepare a mock draft. If you're in a league that you've been in before, and you know the draft order, you probably have a pretty good idea of who likes who, which players have a lot of value, which players don't, etc. You should have a very good idea of who you think will be on the board at each pick.

Do not draft for “need.” Always draft the player with the most value. Keep in mind that I am not advising you to draft the BEST player... because the BEST player may not have as much TRADE VALUE as another player. You want to load up on guys with TRADE value. Remember, as soon as the draft is over, it's time to start making trades. So don't be afraid to draft a guy who you do not particularly like if you know that there are owners in your league who covet him. You can always trade him for the guy you really want.

Never trade quality for quantity. Never Ever Never Never do it, under no circumstances, never do it! This means that if you have Kevin Garnett, do not trade him, under no circumstances! Just do not do it! Don't even think about it! Why is this? The reason why is because you win with a handful of truly dominant fantasy players... and you fill out your roster with fantasy role players. These role players can often be found on the waiver wire, or can be easily acquired via trade. These guys do not have big names, and are often veterans who your league mates find "boring." Boring is good! Boring players often are incredibly efficient players. Remember KG and friends is all you need.

Never forget that fantasy basketball and real life basketball are two different things. In real life basketball, not a single human being on the planet thinks that Donyell Marshall is a better basketball player than Ben Wallace. Not one! Not even Donyell's mother! But in fantasy, it's no contest. Never forget that. And take advantage of players in your league who do not understand this. Chances are that there are several people in your league who do not and cannot understand this. Figure out who those guys are, and start offering trades.

Do not develop a reputation as a rip-off artist. There are certain people in my league who cannot pull off trades, because they have developed reputations as people who only make trades if they are ripping the other person off. They do not help their cause by making insulting trade offer after insulting trade offer. I'm not saying that you should not rip somebody off if given the opportunity... but be sneaky about it. If you trade Chris Webber and Jamal Crawford to some idiot for Kevin Garnett, you're going to **** off everybody in the league, the person who agreed to the deal is going to get berated by his league mates. In the future, you will have a hard time making deals, simply because no one wants to be that guy who makes an idiotic trade again, and because no one trusts you. In FACT, if you can somehow convince people that YOU are getting ripped off, AWESOME.

Always trade quantity for quality. This is the converse of the seventh rule on this list. Do not be afraid to trade three players for just one player. If you have a player with fantasy value rotting on your bench, why wouldn't you trade him? By making a quantity-for-quality trade, you are not only improving your starting lineup, you are ALSO opening up roster spots to spend on interesting waiver wire players. The guys who you end up picking up off the wire often end up being as good or better than the extras that you toss into a trade. Remember, you want as many GREAT fantasy players in your lineup as possible... you then surround these players with fantasy role players, specialist players. It's a lot like real basketball, actually. During the Bulls' run, there were obviously teams that seemingly had better starting lineups, as the Bulls were starting at least two guys who bored you to tears. Yet no one could beat the Bulls. Chances are the guy who wins your league will be starting players who other guys in the league would never consider starting.

Avoid injury-prone players. You know who these guys are. It's one thing to miss 5-10 games. It's another thing to miss half the season. You know who the injury risks are. Don't bother with these guys. Even when they ARE playing, there's a good chance that they aren't at 100%. And there is always the chance that they are going to get hurt two minutes into the game. Man, I HATE it when you waste a game like that!

Do not trade damaged goods. If you know a player is hurt, do not be the jerk who trades him to the guy who is unaware of the injury. I hate owners who do this. I think the only thing to do with such owners is to kick them out of the league, immediately. Do not play in leagues where such behavior is tolerated. No matter how good your team is, the league will be no fun at all if you have a guy like that in your league. Remember, the reason you're playing is to have fun. Of course you want to win, but if it's no fun, who cares?

Hope this article will help you in some of the decisions you make during your season, have fun with your league!