Post-Calderon thoughts on the off-season..

Calderon/Knight/Smith/Monroe/Drummond is a playoff team.

Swap Calderon with CP3 and it's a contender.

Also swap 2013 Drummond for 2015 Drummond and it gets more interesting... unless Frank ruins him before then by unduly stressing him out with 25 mpg.

Swap Knight with Mayo and it is a contender. We will not get CP3 period. Ever. Period

I used to think the same thing about Chris Webber, Tracy McGrady, and Allen Iverson.

You know, you're totally ruining my buzz.

Not mine

Yeah, but we didn't think we would get them for all the wrong reasons - like, they were turds.

Yeah, I will admit it. You have convinced me. Mayo would be a good pickup, especially if we can get him for around $10m.

I don't love the guy, but based on what's available he's as good as it gets and he's a clear upgrade over EVERY Piston we could possibly play at SG. Right now the pool for SG's is EXTREMELY shallow, especially for young ones under the age of 30.

What about Tyreke Evans?

There are three guards in the L I really don't want on this team - Tyreke Evans, Demar DeRozan and Rodney Stuckey.

I wouldn't mind Evans if they didn't have to give up a lot. I'd take him for Stuckey just for the athaleticism.

I think Tyreke really, really needs a good coach. So, I guess picking him up depends on how you feel about Larry.

Bynum at pg, calderon at sg! He's a 3 point machine

Ok, Knight for me is done. Maybe he will be a good player, but right now he isn't. No court vision, poor at finishing near the rim, turnovers, poor shooting. He just isn't a NBA caliber player right now. All we hear is that he has a great work ethic, so coach needs to bench him in next season and let him earn his minutes. We really need a quality SG. Mayo Mayo Mayo please

I used to think the same about Derrick Coleman, Loy Vaught, and Sean Elliot.

...no thanks.

I could definitely imagine him with Calderon. He wouldn't need Calderon much, but he'd be a good outlet for those possessions when nothing pans out per the diagram. I see Mayo as a two way player with athleticism and ideal size at the 2 spot.

Calderon/ Bynum
Mayo/ Knight
Smith/ Singler
Monroe/ Villanueva
Drummond/ Slava

That looks like a Championship contender to me. Calderon and Monroe would be able to sort out the log jam in the paint with precision interior passing while Smith and Drummond would dunk 10 times per game. Jose and Mayo would spread the floor with their 40%+ 3 point shooting. The defense would be top 5 in the league simply because of Mayo/Smith/Monroe/Drum.

Steps- not sure on the order and viability:
1) sign Smith in FA. Estimating $13.2M price? (same as now)
2) trade Stuckey and Jerebko for space this season.
3) resign Calderon. Estimating $10M? (slight decline due to age)
4) sign Mayo in FA (after he declines his playa option). Est $12M?
5) Resign Bynum: est $5M.


If I made a big assumption and assume Stuck and Jerebko turn into cap spayce, then here is how it would look next year:

Smith: $13.2 (4 years)
Mayo: $12.0 (5 years)
Jose: $10.0 (4 years)
Chaz: $8.6 (1 year)
Bynum: $5.0 (4 years)
Monroe: $4.1 (1 year)
Knight: $2.9 (2 years w/ 2nd one a team option)
Drum: $2.5 (3 years w/ 2 and 3 being team options)
Slava: $1.5 (1 year)
Singler: $1.0 (2 years)
Middle: $0.8 (2 years w/ 2nd team option)
English: $0.8 (1 year)
#10 pick: $2.0 (3 years)
#40 pick: $0.8 (3 years)

Total: $65.2M ($4M less than we are right now)

If we can't unload Stuckey and/or JJ, then add $13.5M next year and $4.5M the year after that. I think we can trade them however. Even at $78M, there'd be plenty of teams with higher pay rolls than us.

If you drop the Smith signing, then you can replace him with another FA or assume that we trade Stuckey, JJ, and a draft pick to get a semi star SF through trade. This position seems to be the key to our rebuild.

You'd have Charlie dropping out after next season, which gives room to resign Monroe. Nothing would be too out of whack salary-wise and your core would be here for a while.

He's a little on the older side, and bad on D, but a lights out rapid fire shooter like Kevin Martin could be perfect next to Calderon; ala Rip.

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

Throw in a pick too. That's a squad. ECF next season..

OJ Mayo > Kevin Martan

The Smith counter argument is that he's better at PF and would suffer as a poor shooting SF. I'm sympathetic to that argument, but feel like the big lineup would outweight it all defensively.

Who's the next best attainable SF?