The trade deadline hit on July 20 and top teams were angling to improve at the last minute. Everyone has been looking up at St. Louis, with their stacked lineup, trying to figure out how to catch them. Columbus was comfortable with their starting four, and was just trying to gel in time for a playoff run as strong as they made last year. Brooklyn has not been in action lately, but appeared satisfied with their lineup and unlikely to trade.

 

That left LA and New Jersey as the top five teams looking for trades. New Jersey was disappointed with how they played in the Mid-Season Tournament. Their loss to St. Louis appeared to shake their confidence. For LA, they did not look good at the Mid-Season Tournament, and MLP San Diego confirmed they were reeling, as they fell all the way to a very disappointing third place. LA’s loss to Dallas in group play was especially telling, revealing structural flaws with their team. Thus, going into the trade deadline, all eyes were on LA and New Jersey. Sure enough, those two teams executed big trades. But did those trades do enough to threaten St. Louis?

 

 

This trade was announced just after the close of MLP San Diego. LA had been rumored to be looking for a trade for at least a week before. LA turned down a trade with Miami. That would have brought Dylan Frazier to LA for Max Freeman and $110,000. The failure to trade for Frazier was a huge mistake. Frazier is ranked in the top 10, while Freeman is #32. More importantly, anyone who knows pickleball can see the talent that Frazier brings. No disrespect to Freeman; at #32, he is one of the best 32 pickleball players on the planet. But, let’s be real, Frazier is a significantly better player than Freeman. Frazier is one of the very best right side men’s doubles players and his game is similar to that of Collin Johns, only with more offense. Thus, Frazier would have fit in perfectly next to Ben Johns.

 

Frazier is also better than Freeman at mixed doubles, although that one is closer. Frazier would not have fixed all of LA’s issues. One big problem for LA is that their women’s doubles pair of Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto has been very average this year. They were a very top team in 2025, but are middle of the pack in 2026. Furthermore, Parenteau and Freeman have been so-so at mixed. There are no teams willing to trade women who are better than Parenteau or Kawamoto, so LA’s trade options were limited to the men’s side.

 

 

After the unforced error of not trading for Frazier, LA then went to MLP San Diego and all their issues were again on full display. Questions were raised about the effort level of Ben Johns; the women’s doubles team was not great; and Freeman was not good enough to elevate the team. Immediately after MLP San Diego, LA did execute a trade, but not an expected one. They sent Gabe Joseph off their bench and $125,000 to Utah for Connor Garnett.

 

Garnett is a very solid player. He is a high effort player. He will bring needed energy to a low energy team. But, the word is that LA will only use Garnett in mixed doubles, replacing Freeman to pair with Parenteau. Garnett is primarily a left side player and he will improve that mixed team. But he is not the upgrade Frazier would have been. I would still play Garnett in men’s doubles over Freeman. While Garnett has not played much right side, his game can fit that side, as his forehand dink is just fine and his backhand counter is very good. I would rather play Garnett’s higher skill level over Freeman’s greater experience on the right side. Indeed, by playing Garnett over Freeman’s greater experience with Parenteau in mixed, LA is acknowledging who they think is the better player. If you know Garnett is better, why not play him in men’s doubles?

 

I spoke to a lot of players and GMs about this trade. The vast majority agree LA not trading for Frazier was a big mistake, some using pretty strong language. The consensus was that there must be something behind the scenes that LA is not disclosing. Many people believe that Johns told LA he did not want to play with Frazier and vetoed the trade.

 

 

In any event, let’s grade the trade.

 

LA gets a B for the trade they did. They improved their team, albeit not as much as they could have. Their team is still in contention to win it all, but they are now likely the fourth or fifth choice to win it. LA gets an F for the trade they did not do; they should have traded for Frazier, and for less money than they spent on Garnett. The Johns/Frazier men’s pair would have rivaled Gabe Tardio/Hayden Patriquin as the best in MLP.

 

For Utah, they get an A+. If there was a higher grade, I would give them that. Garnett had zero value to Utah. He could not be kept for next year and Utah is unlikely to make the playoffs. Utah stole $125,000 for a player that had no value to them. It just does not get any better than that.

 

 

The Staksrud to New Jersey trade was predicted by me back in the first week of June. It just makes all the sense in the world. New Jersey’s strength is and always has been Anna Leigh Waters. She gives them a near unbeatable record in women’s doubles and a great record in one mixed event. New Jersey’s issues have always been on the men’s side. Will Howells and Noe Khlif are very good players, but they have been inconsistent. They switched this year to playing Khlif on the left, but it has not worked very well. Khlif has looked hesitant on the left and in replacing Howells as ALW’s mixed partner, Khlif has been picked on. Khlif does not look like a confident player right now. Howells meanwhile has started to take more and more court from the right side, indicating he thinks Khlif needs some help.

 

Staksrud brings to New Jersey the talent of a top five player. He can do it all. He can play either side, he is solid at mixed, and he is a great singles player. The only knock on Staksrud is that his effort at MLP has been so-so. That is 100% due to his being on a mediocre team. Now that he in on a great team, I am very confident we will see max effort from Staksrud.

 

 

I do question why Orlando did not insist on getting Khlif in the deal. I also question why New Jersey did not include him. From Orlando’s perspective, Khlif is a valuable asset. He can be retained for 2027, at the reasonable cost of $50k. Orlando was clearly more interested in the cash. With $400k, it provides them a big leg up in the 2027 draft. If they use that money to upgrade the women on their team, it will be money well spent. We do not know the exact negotiations between Orlando and New Jersey. Perhaps New Jersey offered only $200k if Khlif was included. If so, you could argue that $200k is more valuable than Khlif, as a lot of solid men will be available in 2027, and they can potentially use that money more effectively by bidding for top women.

 

For New Jersey, it sounds great to have three really good men. But who plays which events and which sides? There is an old saying in the NFL: “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.” What is means is that if you have two quarterbacks, even good ones, you create divisions on your team. Players argue over who is better, the locker room gets divided, fans complain either way, etc. What will happen in New Jersey? I guarantee you that all three players believe they should play. I also guarantee you that all three think they should be playing left side in men’s doubles. All will want to play mixed with Waters. Decisions will have to be made and two of the players will not be happy. I would play Howells on the left, with Staksrud on the right. Staksrud is slightly the better player, but he is easily best on the right and Howells is close to Staksrud on the left. I would also play both Staksrud and Howells in mixed, with Staksrud playing with Waters. Khlif is a very good player, but I think he’s third best on the team. But, I will bet big that New Jersey tries to placate the players by playing all three. By playing all three, they will make two or three of them unhappy; I would bench one and just make one unhappy.

 

 

Trade grades: for Orlando, they get an A+. Like Utah in the Garnett trade, Staksrud was of little to no value to Orlando. He could not be kept for 2027, so at most Orlando would have had the right to retain him by matching a bid for him in 2027. By trading him and getting $400k, they have the ammunition now to just get him in the 2027 auction or an equivalent player. Or even better, they can use the money to buy top women, who are more valuable than top men. Making it a two for two trade so $400k can be included instead of $200k, just makes the trade even better for Orlando.

 

For New Jersey, I give them a B+. They followed my advice from early June to trade for Staksrud, so obviously I like the move. But, I downgrade it slightly for the decision to keep Khlif. I would have traded Khlif and $200k for Staksrud. I see possible dissension from having three really good men on the same team. Hopefully, that will not occur, but I would have included Khlif to avoid that possibility and save $200k for next year. And yes, Orlando would likely have been willing to trade Staksrud for Khlif and $200k.

Whatever you think of the trades, it just made MLP Orlando and the playoffs more intriguing. I know I can’t wait to see the new look of LA and New Jersey in action. Will their moves be enough to take down St. Louis? We will see.

 

Follow me for more news and inside information on X @pickleball_jim.