Ben Johns Trade Shocks The Pickleball World And Raises Questions

SportsMoneyBen Johns Trade Shocks The Pickleball World And Raises QuestionsByTodd Boss, Contributor

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MLP I was initially going to include this as a part of the weekend’s recap, but up writing enough to make it stand alone, given the current landscape

In the middle of the weekend’s event in St

Louis last weekend, the Major League Pickleball world was shocked by the biggest trade in the history of the league, amid market uncertainty

Here’s the inter-connected moves we saw over the weekend: LA picked up Brandon French off waivers to fill the contract-terminated Quang Duong’s sport on their roster

Carolina Hogs trade Ben Johns & Etta Tuionetoa to LA Mad Drops for Brandon French, Danna Funaro, and cash

At the same time, Then, LA trades Tuionetoa to Utah, getting bench player Mehvish Safdar and cash

Post moves, here’s the rosters of the three teams involved: LA Mad Drops: Ben Johns, Hunter Johnson, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, with Mehvish Safdar and Wes Burrows as bench players

Utah Black Diamonds: Etta Tuionetoa, Connor Garnett, Tyler Loong, Allyce Jones, with Genie Erokhina and Yates Johnson as bench players

Furthermore, Carolina Hogs: Roscoe Bellamy, Tammy Emmrich, Liz Truluck, Martin Emmrich, with Danna Funaro and Brandon French as bench players

However, Quick thoughts here, given current economic conditions

Johns was ly languishing on a second-division team, and even previous roster shakeups (dropping Collin and trading for his old partner Etta) didn’t move the needle enough

This move certainly does

Additionally, Johns pairs with the imving doubles player Johnson and will imve their chances to win in Men’s

Parenteau & Kawamoto are 15-4 in Women’s doubles right now, one of the best teams in the league

Now, Johns will play alongside one of the best ladies in the in Mixed, and will represent a very tough out for whoever Mixed No. 1 matchup he gets

Additionally, Lastly, the Mad Drops are now inarguably the most dangerous DreamBreaker team in the league, boasting three top 4 ranked singles players on their roster

However, Conversely, Are they now favorites to win the league

I wouldn’t go that far, but I also wouldn’t want to match up with them in the playoffs, given the current landscape

They currently sit 6th, and bably could get up to 4th if they win out (remarkable data)

Meanwhile, Tuionetoa was surplus to requirements to LA, despite being a top player (remarkable data), in today's market environment

The Mad Drops couldn’t keep her, so they flipped her to Utah to recoup some of the cash outlay sent to Carolina (noteworthy indeed) (this bears monitoring)

Moving to Utah makes a ton of sense for Etta, who is based in Utah (along with fellow teammates Loong and Allyce) and gives them a real town feel of players

It also certainly imves Utah, who has been starting Erokhina all year with limited results (she’s 11-29 overall and just 4-16 in Women’s), in this volatile climate

In contrast, MORE FOR YOU Lastly, Carolina, who showed flashes of competence to jump from 16th place to 11th place in the standings last month, now joins SoCal and NY as one of the weakest teams in the league, considering recent developments

Not everyone was a fan of this move

In contrast, Early last week, the league moved its trade deadline, and the timing of that decision and this trade seems convenient

Shock owner Chaifetz was a bit more blunt, posting on twitter “Let’s call this trade what it is

Orchestrated collusion, given current economic conditions. ” He later softened/clarified that take, but the frustration is real

Nevertheless, At the end of the day, moves this may be d by some, disd by others, but overall increase the engagement of fans across the sport, which is never a bad thing

For neutrals, the spect of a fourth team being added to the mix for title favorites is never a bad thing (noteworthy indeed)

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