Bayless a Hidden Gem in Free Agency

[Miekenstien]

I would rather go another year with Calderon than commit 4 years to either Bayless or Dragic.

agreed. i don't think we should get rid of calderon if there isn't a clear upgrade available. that said i think that if a deal for jose comes up on draft day colangelo will do it and take his chances signing another guard to start or letting bayless do it.

[bounty]

Over the past 5 games

Dragic is averaging: 20.4 ppg, 7.6 apg, 4 rpg, 54% FG shooting, 48% from 3

And he's an ok defender aswell just imagine what DC could do with someone like that

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Sure to shock many but I'm not keen on keeping Bayless as a starter.

I would be interested in knowing what Calderon could fetch on the trade market. Could he bring back Wesley Matthews - maybe throw in a 2nd round pick? Portland is going to be in desperate need of a PG.

With a glaring hole at PG now, Dragic could be an interesting possibility with next year's draft focus being a PG (Kabongo maybe?).

I won't mention Nash - oh sh!t, I just did.

It's funny you mentioned that, as I was just thinking last night that if the Raptors think they have a real shot at signing Nash, they should try to work a deal to send DeRozan & Calderon (and Amir and/or both 2nd round picks) to Portland for their 2 lottery picks (assuming they get NJ's pick). Imagine the Raptors drafting MKG & Beal & Marshall? Then they use all their cap space to go hard after Nash and Mayo.

STARTERS
C: Valanciunas
PF: Bargnani
SF: MKG
SG: Mayo
PG: Nash

2ND UNIT
C: E.Davis
PF: Kleiza
SF: J.Johnson
SG: Beal
PG: Marshall

BENCH
- Gray (true C)
- Forbes (3rd SG/PG)

Yes it's 4 rookies, but seriously good rookies and only 2 per unit, with 2 good veterans being signed. Of course it's largely contingent on being able to lure Nash back home to replace Calderon!


As for Bayless, if I'm BC, I'm distributing that article to every other GM in the league with a personalized message at the end... "S&T??? Love, BC". Bayless only role on the Raptors going forward, should be as an asset to improve the team and make it better than it is with him playing the point (as a starter or backup).

[Nilanka]

STARTERS
C: Valanciunas
PF: Bargnani
SF: MKG
SG: Mayo
PG: Nash

2ND UNIT
C: E.Davis
PF: Kleiza
SF: J.Johnson
SG: Beal
PG: Marshall

This would be a dream scenario, which means it's almost guaranteed not to happen

[Hugmenot]

It's funny you mentioned that, as I was just thinking last night that if the Raptors think they have a real shot at signing Nash, they should try to work a deal to send DeRozan & Calderon (and Amir and/or both 2nd round picks) to Portland for their 2 lottery picks (assuming they get NJ's pick). Imagine the Raptors drafting MKG & Beal & Marshall? Then they use all their cap space to go hard after Nash and Mayo.

Why would a Portland trade 2 lottery picks for DeRozan, Calderon, and AJohnson? I am not even counting the 2 second round picks because the majority of players selected that low end up as fringe players who are out of the NBA very quickly.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

This would be a dream scenario, which means it's almost guaranteed not to happen

buzzzkill! lol

It wouldn't require too much luck at all for the Raptors to get the #2 pick and Portland to end up with #4 and something around #10-12.

Going back to last year's trade deadline, I've read several rumors that had Portland being quite high on both DeRozan and Calderon as well, so it's not entirely out of the realm of impossibility. DeRozan and Batum would be great on the wing together and Calderon would be fantastic running the P&R with Aldridge (and Amir if they wanted him for the 2nd unit). Giving up 3 good rotation players, as well as 2 2nd round picks, seems like a pretty good haul for their 2 lottery picks. Hell, Toronto could even through in a future top-3 protected 1st round pick to sweeten the deal.

Signing Nash and Mayo would be the most unlikely parts of the scenario, but money could talk for Mayo and Nash almost seems destined for a Canadian reunion, so who knows... we can dream in the wake of this post-NCAA tourney, draft pick kool-aid drinking bball fest, right?!?!

[OTFP]

Both players are spazzy pants-on-fire outta-control hot-potato jack-it-up slither-slather akkk-what-the-feck-did-you-just-dooooo guys that, for me, are unwatchable.

[Apollo]

To paraphrase: They're not prototypical PG's who can consistently run an offense.

[NoPropsneeded]

they are guys who will do some crazy shit sometimes and also fuck up at times. Pass first pg's are frustrating too, like watching jose dribble it under the basketball a hundred times instead of laying it up

[Joey]

Pass first pg's are frustrating too, like watching jose dribble it under the basketball a hundred times instead of laying it up

Hahahah Thats my favourite move!

[Hugmenot]

Why does the title of this thread brings back nightmarish memories of waking up to half-hour long Zirconia Cubic infomercial in the middle of the night?

[ebrian]

Who's this Mr Wright that this thread is referring to?

I cannot think of a single impact point guard in the NBA named Wright. Come to think of it, I can't think of a single impact player at any position in the NBA named Wright.

[Nilanka]

I love/hate how we simplify the PG debate into 2 large generalizations (i.e. pass-first, or shoot-first).

I don't want either type of PG. Instead, I want a quarterback able to create easy looks for his teammates, and can make the defense pay when they cheat. Stick with Calderon until that PG is discovered.

[Soft Euro]

I love/hate how we simplify the PG debate into 2 large generalizations (i.e. pass-first, or shoot-first).

I don't want either type of PG. Instead, I want a quarterback able to create easy looks for his teammates, and can make the defense pay when they cheat. Stick with Calderon until that PG is discovered.

Agreed. There are a lot of variables at play here. It's all about fit, and that's about the other pieces that will be around our 'pointguard of the future' which we don't know yet.

Suppose we get a sg like Eric Gordon, who handles the ball a lot and can adequately play the pick and roll; in that case the need to get a high caliber ball distributor who can play the pnr at the pg position wouldn't be as much of a need. As long as the team has at least a secondary guy to play the offense through (Bargnani - with a questionmark - ?) and e.g. a second unit guy like Barbosa/Barea/Bayless, it would be ok to have a pg who can defend the average pg pretty well and who can hit an open shot; a 4 milj/year guy.

First and foremost we need more talent, nevermind what kind of talent. Secondly, because of 'fit' I think we need a ballhandler who can play the pick and roll, but then again, 90% of the nba teams need that to be succesfull.

[SuperRaptor]

Bayless is the man.

Bayless is stacked, I can't believe all the bayless haters ... all this guy does is put up all star like numbers whenever he gets a chance to start, and all we do is bash him.

His assist numbers are not bad enough for him to be a ball hog, but yes he is more aggressive with his shot than Jose, that is not a crime.

Bayless ftw.