Fantasy Theory: Should you trade your 1+6th round for a 2+3?

Question: 

Every year I offer my 1st round pick (paired with a mid-round pick, say 6th round) to get someone's 2nd and 3rd. About half of the years, someone takes me up on the offer. I have had success when pulling this off and I have had success just drafting without doing this trade.

SO, what are your thoughts on this strategy? Trading a 1 and 6 for their 2 and 3, with draft order not determined yet.

I feel like the value of the extra 3rd in exchange for my 6th is greater than the difference in dropping from the 1st to the 2nd. This also helps build a well-rounded team and not rely on one stud. Do enough research and it works. This also gives lots of trade firepower down the line.

Thoughts?

My Answer:

I'm going to assume that depends a lot on the size of your league; it also very much depends on where you are in the first round. Remember that the value of your 1.01 should be a lot higher than your 1.14 pick.

I happen to have a list of Auction dollar values matched to a recent slow draft, and I calculated some dollar values for the 14-team situation. Note that the values are a bit wobbly, because you're looking at real people drafting, so I also drew some trendlines to have a better view.

What you see here is that the dollar value of the first round drops from around $60 to $40 in the first round; then from $40 to $30 in the second; $30 to $25 in the third and the 6th round is pretty much around $10-12 value. Again, this shows you that where you are in the draft (first or last pick) is essential.

Let's also add those values:

If you are at pick 1, that is a losing deal; at pick 14 you clearly win. However, you win more than you lose, so I think it's a winning proposition in the long run.

The above is for 14-team; in a 12 and 10 team the benefit is even clearer. However, it is important to note that if you have the 1.01 pick, you still should hold on to it.

Thanks for the question, that was cool