Okay, so, I wanted to make this thing, a basketball trade analyzer. I figured it would be cool to have a tool to check out potential trades, you know? See if they make sense and all that.
First, I started by grabbing a bunch of player data. I needed stats, like points, rebounds, assists, the usual stuff. Oh man, let me tell you, finding a good, clean source for that data took some time. I went through a few different spots before I found one that was complete and up-to-date. It felt like a long time searching, but that’s how it goes.
Then, I had to figure out how to actually compare players. I decided to keep it simple at first. I would just calculate a simple score for each player based on their stats. I gave more weight to points, because, well, scoring is pretty important. I tried a few different formulas, tweaking the weights for each stat until it felt right. It was a lot of trial and error, honestly.
Once I had a way to compare players, I started building the actual interface. I just used some basic HTML and JavaScript to make some dropdown menus where you could select the players you wanted to trade. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. I had one side for the players you’d be getting, and another for the players you’d be giving up.
- Input: Two lists of players.
- Process: Calculate scores for each player, then compare the total scores of the two lists.
- Output: A simple message saying whether the trade was good or bad.
I tested it out with some made-up trades, and it seemed to be working okay. I even tried it with some real trades that happened in the league, and the results were pretty much in line with what the experts were saying. That was a good sign, I guess.
Further Development
The thing is, it’s still pretty basic. There’s a lot more I want to add. Like, I want to factor in team needs, player positions, and maybe even injury history. It would be cool to make it more visual, too, with some charts and graphs and stuff. But, yeah, that’s all for later. For now, I’ve got a working prototype, and that’s a start. I just needed to share it with someone, maybe someone has a better idea, or wants to tell me it’s a dumb idea, who knows.
It’s a bit messy, a bit clunky, but it’s mine. It was a fun little project, and I learned a lot doing it. And hey, maybe it’ll even be useful to someone someday. Or maybe not. Either way, I built it.