Assessing the Jose Calderon Situation

[Dr. James Naismith]

Good read courtesy of blogger Pardeep Toor from "The 12th Man". Jose certainly has stepped it up since returning to the line-up as back-up, but this is a role that I don't foresee sitting well with him beyond this season heading into next.

So, hence the dilemma. I know on the main page of the blog here we have a poll which asks what fans would like to see happen come deadline time and most right now don't want to do anything. So, should BC sit with Jose as the back-up and deal with the issue this summer or should he shop him before the trade deadline?

As the article points out, you surround him with the right players where his defensive lapses aren't noticed as much, and he becomes an extremely valuable asset to any team in the league right now. So are we stupid for even shopping him right now if that is indeed the case?

I think he's a starting point guard in the league. With the right players around him, his defensive lapses can be mitigated and he provides enough offensive value to overlook his slow feet. Only problem: nobody wants to take on salary right now.

I'm not sure what Colangelo's plan is for the trade deadline but I do hope he has one because the Raptors, unless they defy playoff folklore and explode for 115-120 points/game, are not ready to win a playoff series.

Calderon's departure would have little impact on the court this year. If anything, it frees up Hedo Turkoglu to take a more active role as the primary ball-handler/playmaker (something he has griped about this year) in specific situations, which could actually improve the team, creating more mismatches and slow herky-jerky pick-and-rolls that defenders are not accustomed to seeing.

Off the court: huge. If the team can exchange Calderon for expiring contracts this year (a move I would be fine with), the Raptors increase their cap space to about $15 million this offseason and much more in the following offseason with Reggie Evans and Marcus Banks (finally) expiring.

After (potentially) re-signing Bosh and accounting for the luxury tax threshold going down, it leaves the team a bit of space to tinker with the roster.

Expiring contracts for Calderon is wishful thinking but I think it's fair value when considering the back-up role that Calderon has been relegated to since his return from injury. Expiring contracts are a non-committal return that won't hinder the team's chances at winning a playoff round this year while relieving them of cap duties in the years ahead. It's ideal, which is exactly why it won't happen.

Biggest problem: who really wants Jose Calderon?

Source - Click here

[Tim W.]

One problem with his argument is this line...

"Calderon's departure would have little impact on the court this year."

I wrote this on the site, but I'll say it here, too. When Jose went down with his injury, the Raptors averaged 98 ppg and went 8-5 (.615). Since he came back, the Raptors never scored below 100 points (108 ppg) and went 12-5 (.706). The offense struggled a lot more when Calderon was gone, and as we've seen even when he's healthy, if he's not on the floor there are periods when the Raptors have troubling getting into their offense.

Calderon is a lot more important to this team than some seem to realize. That said, if the chance came to get Iguodala, I'd regretfully part with Calderon.

[T.L.]

Really the biggest problem is who would want Jose?? REALLY?

there's rumors a few times are interested and can right away think of teams who would have him on the squad immediately. Wizards maybe?

Also Jose is a great piece in our team and as mentioned by the writers of the blog, unless a game changing 2 guard is in play, his value to the Raps success is undeniable.

[Marz]

One problem with his argument is this line...

"Calderon's departure would have little impact on the court this year."

I wrote this on the site, but I'll say it here, too. When Jose went down with his injury, the Raptors averaged 98 ppg and went 8-5 (.615). Since he came back, the Raptors never scored below 100 points (108 ppg) and went 12-5 (.706). The offense struggled a lot more when Calderon was gone, and as we've seen even when he's healthy, if he's not on the floor there are periods when the Raptors have troubling getting into their offense.

Calderon is a lot more important to this team than some seem to realize. That said, if the chance came to get Iguodala, I'd regretfully part with Calderon.

I'm going purely off memory here, but if I recall when Calderon was out it was also when Hedo was shitting bricks at the rim. Now that Hedo has "bounced back" (of course it's only been two games), do you think we'd have the same offensive deficiencies?

[Apollo]

I think they need to get on the horn with Washington because there seems to be a fire sale in the works down there.

[Tim W.]

I'm going purely off memory here, but if I recall when Calderon was out it was also when Hedo was shitting bricks at the rim. Now that Hedo has "bounced back" (of course it's only been two games), do you think we'd have the same offensive deficiencies?

If Turkoglu plays like he did the last two games, I don't think the Raptors would have the same offensive deficiencies without Calderon. However, I don't think Turkoglu is going to continue to play like that.

[brothersteve]

In the games before Calderon got back from Injury, the Raps were scoring between 100-102 ppg on average. Since his return, the team scores 108-110 ppg. I guess he just doesn't have any impact on the Team?
Who would want a PG who adds 8ppg to a teams scoring average in less than 24 minutes per game? Totally useless - there are absolutely zero teams in the NBA who have trouble scoring.

Absolute most anyone could get in trade for him would be an expiring deal on some has-been stiff.

I guess the Raps will just be stuck carrying his sorry ass and have to make due with being the highest scoring team in the league when he plays. Crap - could things get any worse?

[brothersteve]

I'm going purely off memory here, but if I recall when Calderon was out it was also when Hedo was shitting bricks at the rim. Now that Hedo has "bounced back" (of course it's only been two games), do you think we'd have the same offensive deficiencies?

And if Calderon is still coming off the bench and Hedo is starting - how is this a bad thing?

[Arsenalist]

One problem with his argument is this line...

"Calderon's departure would have little impact on the court this year."

I wrote this on the site, but I'll say it here, too. When Jose went down with his injury, the Raptors averaged 98 ppg and went 8-5 (.615). Since he came back, the Raptors never scored below 100 points (108 ppg) and went 12-5 (.706). The offense struggled a lot more when Calderon was gone, and as we've seen even when he's healthy, if he's not on the floor there are periods when the Raptors have troubling getting into their offense.

Calderon is a lot more important to this team than some seem to realize. That said, if the chance came to get Iguodala, I'd regretfully part with Calderon.

Yes, Calderon is important to the Raptors but your stats aren't proving a thing. You'll have to normalize any such stats with SoS and even then, the record without Calderon (8-5 record, .615) is significantly higher than the record without Calderon (21-18, 0.538). In your post you're only factoring the record after he returned from injury, not before.

Also, to say that the offensive struggled without Calderon is not true, as I recall the team had a more defensive feel to it and I'm guessing (don't have time to look this up) that the pace we played it was slower (less possessions). I also recall Jack spreading the ball around very well, especially in two-man-game situations.

There's too many factors in play here to simply take one player's absence or presence as meaning something too significant.

[Tim W.]

You need to go back and watch those games if you don't thnk the offense struggled a lot more when Calderon was out. It was pretty obvious to me.

[Arsenalist]

You need to go back and watch those games if you don't thnk the offense struggled a lot more when Calderon was out. It was pretty obvious to me.

I thought you'd say that.

You should also consider starter/bench scoring efficiency when making a claim like the "offense struggled". I can imagine the bench struggling to score with Marcus Banks at the helm but the starter's were doing fine.

Chew on this, here are the first quarter scorelines in the games Calderons' missed:

32-17 Houston
26-24 Magic
24-35 Miami
26-22 New Orleans
25-21 Detroit
29-22 Detroit
31-26 Charlotte
27-29 Boston
27-19 San Antonio

We won 7 out of 9 first quarters and lost one by 2 points to Boston. That to me speaks of a good starts under Jack. Sure, we're not scoring 35 points per quarter but that goes back to my earlier point that we were playing at a slower pace.

Now, if you consider the second quarters (which is where the bench kicks in), you'll notice that we only won 3 out of 9 which speaks to my earlier point of the second unit struggling with Banks (although he did play well defensively).

[Tim W.]

We won 7 out of 9 first quarters and lost one by 2 points to Boston. That to me speaks of a good starts under Jack. Sure, we're not scoring 35 points per quarter but that goes back to my earlier point that we were playing at a slower pace.

Now, if you consider the second quarters (which is where the bench kicks in), you'll notice that we only won 3 out of 9 which speaks to my earlier point of the second unit struggling with Banks (although he did play well defensively).

I noticed you didn't mention the second half. And obviously the bench would suffer greatly without Calderon. That goes without saying (which also backs up my assertion that the Raptors would miss Calderon, should be be traded away). But the Raptors go through a lot more stretches where the offense struggles without Calderon than with him. I don't think that can be denied.