We started the year by moving across the floor in our office space to make room for some new tenants, so the entire staff spent several days packing and unpacking. The upside is that since we haven’t been in business too long we didn’t have too much stuff to move. Everyone has done a good job of getting the office organized and running efficiently again. One of the first things I unpacked and put up on my new wall was the free agent list as that is the next team priority.

Jan. 15 marks the first day teams can negotiate with free agents; Feb. 1 is the official signing date. I am looking at two lists—one the restricted free agents who can have an offer matched by their current team and the other is the free agents who can take whatever offer they choose. Trades are brewing throughout the league, also, and some teams are starting to call with offers. Teams are trying to anticipate what players they might lose and who they might want to replace them with. Teams look at our roster and can not only figure out what kind of a player we might want in the basketball sense, but as the salary structure is concrete, they can even get a feel for who we can afford.

I am looking closely at who is available on both lists and am playing a chess game of potential moves throughout the league. There are many good players out there and I have to decide if we want an impact player, a well-known name or should we sign younger players with smaller salaries who can grow with us? The college draft, which will take place in April, plays into all of this too as I try to anticipate who will be available with our sixth pick.

All I know is that when the whistle blows in May we will have 11 players in uniform and 2 reserve players. Our current roster is 12, although we drafted 13 last month it appears one of them might spend the summer in Europe.

Ready. Set. Soar.