I think the best starting point is to identify who is tradeable, and how tradeable are they.
Defs
Staker - $330,600, B/E 16 - probably the last to be traded, if at all.
Duffield - $426,700, B/E 133 - unsure when he's back, or how good he is. Very tradeable for Coaches with 5+ trades left.
Saunders - $134,400, B/E -12 - too low in price to be much trade value right now.
Mids
Watson - $528,900, B/E 173 - Goodbye
Hrovat - $214,200, B/E -16 - can't be traded for a few weeks yet.
Fyfe, Priddis - potential to be upgraded to Dangerfield, Swan (Griffen?)
Rucks
Blicavs - $371,500, B/E 96 - good source of money
Nicholls - $325,500, B/E 16 - may be a luxury, if you have DPP coverage, and need cash.
Fwds
Macaffer - $321,100, B/E 66 - a good cash option
Rocky, JJK, Dusty - are there solid upgrade targets available (apart from SJ)?
Now we know who can go out, we need to look at who you want/need.
Hanley - $411,100, B/E 49 - need to get on now, his price could explode soon.
Dangerfield - $630,200, B/E 109 - will probably creep in price over the next few weeks
Swan - $590,900, B/E 141 - possibly won't be any cheaper than this week or next.
Goldstein - $551,800, B/E 104 - will hover around this price, probably.
Johnson - $575,400, B/E 122 - could go big this week, and start to climb in price
Cheap DPP's
If you get McBean up into your Ruck line, you probably don't need either of Nicholls and Blicavs, so they can both be cashed out. Nicholls should wait a week or three. We all know everyone is guessing on D5/6, so yes, Goodes and Staker are a suitable D6/7. Outside of SJ, the best scoring Fwd you can get is probably Goldstein! (HUH?!) Obviously what I mean is, Goldy (and Cox) will outscore (probably) JJK, Rocky and Dusty from here. Getting Goldy and shifting Cox down seem like an idea.
So how do we achieve all this? Well, you definitely need to maximise cash generation.
Fortunately, the players you want/need to trade out have decent B/E's or are not playing this week. That removes the urgency on having to get rid of players before they leak too much cash. Your worst player in that boat is Blicavs, and he might leak between $0-$20k this week.
The players you want to trade in have some potential to start jumping in price. We need to focus on them, before we focus on who will leak cash.
Your priorities are Hanley and SJ, and both have the potential to climb in price. So get both this week!
Trades this week:
Watson to SJ, Duffield to Hanley.
Swap SJ down to your Fwd line for JJK. I'm backing SJ, Martin against GC, and Rocky without Moloney in the team to beat JJK. Swap Cox and NicNat, in case NicNat is selected, and is a late out, making Nicholls sub. If Hrovat is missing you can loophole Mitchell and JJK. So your team looks like this;
DEF: Goddard/Heppell/Shaw/Gibbs/Goodes/
Hanley/
Staker/Saunders
MID: Gazza/Pendles/JPK/Barlow/Fyfe/Priddis/Jelwood/Mitchell/
JJK/Hrovat
RUC: Minson/Nicnat/
Blicavs/Nicholls
FWD:
SJ/Bartel/Dusty/Buddy/Rocky/Cox/
Caff/McBean
Cash left: $212,100
Next week - rnd 17
Trade JJK to Dangerfield. This could be any combination of Rocky/JJK/Martin to Dangerfield/Swan/(Griffen?)
According to SC Gold JJK -> Danger will cost $144,100 next week.
This leaves 4 trades, and $68k in cash.
Trade Macaffer to Richards to create Staker link, and get cash. According to SC Gold, doing that next week will raise $227,600, and leave you with 3 trades and $295k in cash. Your team now looks like this:
DEF: Goddard/Heppell/Shaw/Gibbs/Goodes/
Hanley/
Staker/Saunders
MID: Gazza/Pendles/JPK/Barlow/Fyfe/Priddis/Jelwood/
Dangerfield/
Mitchell/Hrovat
RUC: Minson/Nicnat/
Blicavs/Nicholls
FWD:
SJ/Bartel/Dusty/Buddy/Rocky/Cox/
Richards/
McBean
Cash left: $295,000
Week after - rnd 18
Blicavs to Goldstein will cost $186,500 in round 18, according to SC Gold. Your team now looks like this:
DEF: Goddard/Heppell/Shaw/Gibbs/Goodes/
Hanley/
Staker/Saunders
MID: Gazza/Pendles/JPK/Barlow/Fyfe/Priddis/Jelwood/
Dangerfield/
Mitchell/Hrovat
RUC: Minson/
Goldstein/
McBean/Nicholls
FWD:
SJ/Bartel/Dusty/Buddy/NicNat/Cox/
Richards/
Rocky
Cash left: $108,000
It means your Def back up is a little thin, but you still have 2 trades left. You could hang onto them for a couple of weeks. Maybe turn Hrovat into a DPP M/F for extra mid back up, or risk him as being your 2nd Mid back up, and try to get Swan in for Fyfe/Priddis. It would leave you with 1 trade for an LTI, Def back up, or GF side trade.
These 5 trades have sacrificed JJK, but given you Dangerfield, Goldstein, SJ and Hanley, and have also allowed you to have Rocky and Mitchell at F7 and M9. not too shabby!
Which ever way you go, I wish you luck!