that there will be a period with no "trades"This is true... hwoever there are times when they do server maintenance etc, where, basically the expiry time of a trade is extended out. so eg: if you had a guy who's sale was going to finish at 3pm and they take the server down for 2 hours, his sale will now finish at 5pm. So really, thats all they have to do. I used the wrong word when i said 'disabled'... really i just meant 'postpone'. either way its not a big deal. heck id be happy with something in the game manual that says 'be wary of trades around this time'.... at least its out there.
that there will be a period with no "trades"
it is clear on the players page where it says 'Player X was pick #X in season XX draft, by team ABC' If the player had already been draft that year, it would have said Seaon 18 draft.