Post-Calderon thoughts on the off-season..

Calderon has indeed completely changed this team, and in doing, completely changed my thoughts on the off-season..

#1) I think we should resign Calderon. Now that I've seen what a TRUE point guard can bring to this team, I can't live without one. Looking at the market and draft class, I don't really see any as TRUE as Calderon (CP3's not coming here; no college point is THAT ready). Sign him through his 35th birthday, a four-year deal. He might age a little on us, but he's a great team leader, and he can groom a young replacement.

**Now, what do we have? It's sort of strange to look at now. We've got a great, TRUE point guard...and four really talented (at least solid), young, cheap starters - Drummond, Monroe, Singler, Knight. And a TON of cap space!! Even more if we amnesty Charlie-V (something I think we should do...regardless of how well he shoots, his defense and attitude is unacceptable). And even more if we can trade Stuckey (another thing I think we should do...hate his attitude).

Here's what I'd like to see us add...in no particular order:

A) A great third big man. An improvement over Max. Someone who brings a lot of energy. Gets a lot of boards and loose balls. Plays great post defense. And has some offensive skill to add as well. Max is limited in too many of these categories, I'd like to see an upgrade.

B) An instant offense-wing off the bench. Someone who can come into the game and end a cold-streak. Someone who puts the ball in the basket. A 3, a 2, perhaps even a 4. Instant offense. Better D than Charlie.

C) A defensive shut-down wing. Knight's small. Singler's limited. We need someone who can guard LeBron-types well.

D) A young point for Calderon to groom. Burke in the draft I like.


2013/14 Detroit Pistons:

C: A. Drummond, *?*FA*?*, Kravtsov
PF: G. Monroe, Jerebko
SF: K. Singler, *?*FA-Def Wing*?*, Middleton
SG: B. Knight, *?*FA-Off Wing*?*, English
PG: *J. Calderon, *?*Pick-Burke*?*

*I'm hoping Villanueva is amnestied and Stuckey is traded.
This could be a team that gets to the ECF if we make good decisions this off-season.

I'm not so sure that the Clips will be able to keep CP3. They signed Griffin to a huge deal and between him and DeAndre Jordan they are almost up to $30M next year. They won't be able to afford a max contract to CP3 without gutting the rest of the team.

Landing CP3 outright is not a possibility. If we land another big time FA first, we might be able to convince Paul. Remember that Celtics tried to trade for KG several times and he wouldn't even talk to them. The signing of Ray Allen was key to convincing KG to sign with them.

We already have a great front court with Moose and Drummond. We can be serviceable at the 2 with Knight. If we sign/trade an all-star level 3, we can then get in on the CP3 sweepstakes because of all the cap room we have. I would keep a very close eye on Danny Granger's health and Indiana's commitment to him. The rise of Paul George has made him somewhat expendable. If he comes back full strength from injury, he might be a good target. He'll have a year left on his contract, so it'll give us a chance to try him out for a year.

Of course it is still a loooooooong shot for us, but it's not impossible. We'll be one of the few clubs that will have the ability to offer him a lot of money without gutting the whole team.

Walter, I like your thinking.

At this rate, we're going to have more Calderon threads than Darko threads....

I haven't seen anything like this anywhere else, but I perked up when I read this:

NBA AM: Deals For Bucks, Pistons and Jazz? | HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

I haven't seen the Pistons linked to Smith anywhere (although that would be my dream scenario). Did I just totally miss something somewhere?

I am starting to like Singler as our first SF. He can be a good fifth option on our team. So :

1. Sign Calderon. A MUST DO!
2. Move Knight to the bench. He is not a starting caliber player, and he has to learn a lot. He can be important for our team and bring energy from bench.
3. Get a legit SG. Mayo? Reddick?
4. Get a legit big on bench. Millsap?
5. Get rid of Stuckey.
6. Don't sign Maxiell, Bynum

Now our team

PG Calderon / Knight / Burke?
SG Mayo / Knight / English
SF Singler / Jerebko
PF Monroe / Millsap / CV
C Drummond / Monroe / Kravtsov

I want this team!

If the Pistons re-sing Calderon they'll most likely have to overpay him to do so. That's the nature of the beast.

Thinking out loud.. looking at the market..

Calderon seems to be our best option at the point (CP3's not happening)

Millsap or Hickson could make for a great third big man off the bench (both of whom we've showed interest in before).

Then at the 2 and 3 there are number of players we could add to either support Singler and Knight off the bench, or to start over them. Iguodala is a solid player if he opts out. Josh Smith - who's a stretch as a 3 - might work. Kevin Martin could bring instant offense off the bench at either spot. That Gerald Henderson we're interested in, I'm guessing, is a plus defender.

Kevin Marin? WOW I forgot about that dude. It will be very difficult to get him, but if we will get him and Millsap in offseason it will be beautifull. I don't like Hickson, he is super athletic, but his basketball IQ is low.

Here's a nice list of the summer's top 30 FA's from Dime Magazine. Best list I've seen thus far.. Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers » Blog Archive The Top 30 2013 NBA Free Agents » Page 6 of 6 » Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers

Thoughts.. (*I'm not going to waste time getting into restricted FA's, who knows who will be available?)

#1) Josh Smith's going to get a max deal. He's probably the best FA we're going to have a shot at. But he's a natural 4, and he'd be a little out of place at the 3. Is that what we want? Is, more or less, a three-headed monster front-court of Smith, Monroe and Drummond what we want?

#2) It sounds like Iguodala's going to be the next best FA we're going to have a shot at, *if he opts out. He's a more natural fit for us in the sense that he's a 3 or a 2. It's going to take almost a max contract to get him here. Is that what we want?

#3) M. Ellis is an option, I guess, *if he opts out. I guess he'd be an improvement over Knight at the two-guard (enabling Knight to be a combo-guard off the bench / to be groomed as our future point guard by Calderon). But, idk. I kind of smell Ben Gordon all over again. He takes a ton of shots and plays terrible D. Might be kind of redundant with Knight around.

#4) A. Jefferson. If a third big-man IS what we're looking for, I guess he'd be an option. Though, not one I'd like to invest in.

#5) M. Ginobli. I highly, highly doubt he'd leave SA. But crazier things have happened. He might be cool to bring in on a short-term contract. He and Calderon would be a nice back-court.

#6) P. Millsap. He'd be great as a third big man off the bench. But would he be worth the contract he's going to get?

#7) K. Martin. Similar to M. Ellis. Different in that he'd be cheaper and could come off the bench (which would help to off-set his bad D). An option..

#8) O. Mayo. *If he opts out, an option. He'd make for a solid young starting two-guard, enabling Knight to become a combo-guard off the bench / groomed to be our point guard of the future.

#9) D. West. Possible third big man off the bench. Might be too expensive / old to consider.

#10) T. Allen. Certainly someone who'd garner attention from us, given our weak perimeter defenders at the 1, 2 and 3 positions.

#11) E. Okafor. Another possible third big man off the bench.

#12) J. Reddick. Another instant-offense off the bench type. Bad on D. Might be an option if cheap enough.

#13) G. Henderson. The one restricted FA I'll address (because he's come up in Detroit rumors). He'd be a nice wing defender for us, for sure.

#14) C. Kaman. Home-state kid who could be considered as a third big man in the right deal.

#15) L. Odom. I'd think about him for more than a second, perhaps, but I don't see it happening.

**It sounds like Dwight and CP3 might both sign in Dallas. That'd actually be a SWEET team to watch. Should win at least one 'ship while Dirk's still there.

How much cap space are we going to have?

IF the cap remains at 58.0m.....22.8m

IF we amnesty Villanueva.....31.4m

IF we amnesty Villanueva AND somehow get rid of Stuckey (the Celtics are looking desperate??).....39.9m.
39.9 million. That's quite a bit of available cheddar. And the cap could still go up.

The NBA's maximum salaries range from about 13.7m to 19.1m; so, we're sitting quite pretty.


I'm going to assume that we do amnesty Charlie-V, and we do get someone to swap some expiring deals for Rodney.

39.9m in cap space (at least)

#1) I'll assume we resign Calderon. And, just to be super safe here, I'll assume he gets about 10m per (I don't think he'll get quite that much, but I want to veer on the safe-side here). 29.9m left. That should be enough to sign almost any two players I listed in the previous post.

#2) I guess I'll go with O. Mayo here. He's one of the top-5 all-around SG's in the game, IMO (as weak a group as it might be). Unlike Ellis, Martin, Reddick, Ginobli, etc., he's young and not terrible on D. And he should leave us with enough cap space to sign a max-FA.

#3) Now, I'm looking at the big boys. The max-contract players. Smith or Iggy, basically. I guess I'd go with Smith if I had to chose. He CAN play the 3 in a LeBron sense if he needs to. Drummond's still probably a year or two from being a full-time starter anyways. He gives us a 3rd big man and a strong perimeter defender at the wing, two things we need. And, he's just a stud in general.

C: Monroe.....Drummond
PF: *Smith.....Monroe
SF: Singler.....Smith
SG: *Mayo.....Knight/Singler
PG: *Calderon.....Knight

Reserves: 1st rd. Pick?, Jerebko, English, Middleton, Kravtsov

I guess that's what I've got..

Ryan Andersen did, he leads his team in scoring and he just lit us up for 31. I think Millsap can be sold on the whole 6 starters concept, if he knows that he'll get 30+mpg.

I'd rather get a guy like Reggie Evans for 15 hustle minutes off the bench at a reasonable price than Josh Smith at max, David West at 10+ millioin, JJ Hickson at 8 mil...etc etc.

I kind of like this lineup the more I think about it... in terms of actual minutes....

C: Monroe(16min).....Drummond(32min)
PF: *Smith(32min).....Monroe(16min)
SF: Singler(32min).....*1st Rd. Pick/MLE?(16min)
SG: *Mayo(32min).....Knight(16min)
PG: Calderon(32min).....Knight(16min)

Reserves: Jerebko(9th), English(10th), Middleton(11th), Kravtsov(12th)

Drummond, Monroe, Smith, Singler, Mayo, Knight and Calderon can all get 32 min/game (*if they're deserving). A rookie 3, MLE, or whoever can get 16.

You know what's really funny, Ryan Andersen is proof that Joe isn't a complete imbecile. He's successfully doing for New Orleans what BoT was supposed to do for us, he just failed to effectively evaluate the talent. I had no idea that BoT was so slow and lacked agility.

That's my ideal vision for the team too. Although I'd like a STUD at the SF (with Singler playing backup at SF and occasionally at backup SG) spot, which is why Otto Porter is #1 on Pistons draft board, but no way that kid is available in the 7-10 window.

I'd be doing backflips if we had Reggie Evans coming off the bench at a good price.
That dude would have fit right in on the Bad Boys or the Goin to Work crew.

Sure. Perhaps we'll be able to trade up..

There'll be a few solid SF's just out of our reach - as things stand. Bennett, Muhammad, Porter.