Weekend 3-on-2: Free agency, D-League affiliate, Thibodeau, Williams and AmirTV

Welcome to the Weekend 3-on-2, a monthly (maybe) feature that looks at three positive and two negatives with the Raptors and the NBA at large.

Like: Signing a legitimate starting wing

Call me crazy, but I’m out on Terrence Ross. After three years of tepid play, shaky defense and questionable drive, I’m ready for the Raptors to acquire a strong, honest-to-goodness 3-and-D wing. The Raptors haven’t had such a player since the Anthony Parker days.

Should the Raptors renounce the rights to some of their free agents (Chuck Hayes, Landry Fields, Amir Johnson, Lou Williams, Tyler Hansbrough), Masai Ujiri could have nearly $20 million at his disposal to shore up the wing. Granted, there are holes elsewhere on the roster, but there should be enough in the war chest to bring a solid two-way option to the wing.

There are plenty of candidates on the market.

The top names include Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler. But don’t get your hopes up. The Bulls and Spurs will not let these two walk. They’re either re-upping for one year and waiting to cash next season, or they’ll just avoid the headaches and sign a maximum extension this summer.

Then next tier includes a few notable names. Danny Green, DeMarre Carroll and Khris Middleton won’t be cheap, but they would fit the bill nicely. Past that, players like Iman Shumpert (who I’d love for the Raptors to grab with the MLE), Arron Afflalo, Jae Crowder, Jared Dudley or Luol Deng should all be well within Ujiri’s price range.

Going the trade route is another option. If LaMarcus Aldridge bolts in free agency, it stands to reason that Nicolas Batum — Ujiri’s long-time favorite — would be made available. If Denver parts ways with growing malcontent Ty Lawson, former Ujiri hires Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler could both be had.

Upgrading at the wing would be shoring up where the Raptors are weakest. Instead of playing a one-dimensional 3-point threat (Ross) or a jumperless, hyperactive defender (James Johnson), the Raptors could actually pair the starting backcourt with a reasonable third option. No more playing three point guards at once, no more going small with Ross at power forward. A solid, two-way wing who can spot-up, probe off the dribble and adequately defend will go a long way.

Dislike: The way the Bulls treated Thibodeau

This is from the Bulls’ official press release regarding the firing of former head coach Tom Thibodeau.

The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals. While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone’s ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture.

I understand that there was friction between management and Thibodeau, but this is no way to treat a man who has done great work for your organization. It’s one thing to smear Thibodeau through the media — something the Tribune and ESPN Chicago were glad to facilitate — but it’s another thing to kick him on his way out.

Thibodeau is famously stubborn and wears his players out, but where were the Bulls without Thibodeau? In five seasons before Thibodeau was hired in 2010, the Bulls sported a .500 record. That mark rose to .647 under Thibs. Derrick Rose developed into an MVP under Thibs. Joakim Noah became first-team All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year. Taj Gibson was a Sixth Man candidate. Luol Deng was a two-time All-Star. Jimmy Butler blossomed into a star. Injuries have certainly loomed large over the proceedings, but the Thibodeau did a lot for the Bulls’ franchise.

But fine. They couldn’t resolve their differences and a change was needed. That’s fine. It happens all the time in all walks of life. But it shows a startling lack of professionalism on the part of the Bulls to slam the door on Thibs on his way out. They just couldn’t resist. But it’s not Thibodeau who looks bad when it’s all said and done. It’s the Bulls.

Per a league source, at this moment the Bulls have security waiting to escort Tom Thibodeau out of the building.while he packs his things
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 28, 2015

Like: The Raptors getting a D-League affiliate

This is a long time coming and it will absolutely benefit the Raptors going forward.

Owning an exclusive D-League affiliate provides more opportunities for teams to properly develop their players. There’s no point having a young player sitting at the end of a bench. Game action is the best time for players to develop.

The Houston Rockets have found success by using the D-League over past few seasons. Their D-League club runs the same system as the Rockets, and Daryl Morey sends his rookies down for a few months. Once they return, they might still be sitting at the end of the bench, but when called upon, they can contribute.

Marvel at Houston’s cadre of young prospects. Chandler Parsons (now with Dallas), Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Patrick Beverley, Clint Capela are just a few notable names who have seen time in the D-League before becoming contributors for the big club. The Spurs did the same and found a gem in Danny Green. Even the Thunder (who are owned by a cheap tycoon that opted to trade James Harden over amnestying Kendrick Perkins) have their own D-League team. It’s not that expensive, and had MLSE been on the ball many years ago, the Raptors wouldn’t be stuck in the situation they were this past season.

Thus far, the Raptors have not been able to make good use of their D-League affiliate.

Bruno Caboclo played just seven games in the D-League this season. He should have spent the entire season there. In those seven games. Caboclo played 8.9 minutes per game and generally played without a game-plan or any semblance of a development structure. The same for Bebe Nogueira, who averaged 20 minutes per game across four contests.

This quote from Jaren Jackson, an assistant of the Mad Ants, says it all.

“The experience was tough in Fort Wayne for Bruno, it was,” Jackson told Dave Zarum of Sportsnet. “We didn’t have a one-on-one affiliate like some other teams do, and it meant we had different priorities [than the Raptors],” he says. “We were an experienced team. We had a number of veteran players brought down to us, players who we could throw out there and say ‘Go’ and they could contribute and help us win. But a younger player like Bruno sometimes gets lost on assignments figuring out who he’s supposed to defend, situations like that where he walks away feeling uncomfortable.”

The D stands for “Developmental”. That’s where Bebe and Bruno should be learning their craft, working on the core fundamentals of the game and adapting to game speed. It’s not a place where players should feel uncomfortable with developing.

The consequent to all this is that the Raptors still have yet to properly gauge what they have in Bebe and Bruno. They saw very little game action and it’s unclear as to what they can do, and what they’ll reasonably become. They’re both still just lanky youngsters with gigantic wingspans. Beyond that, they’re a mystery.

Dislike: Re-signing Lou Williams

I’m not going to shit on Lou Williams. He seems like a very likeable person and he was a very serviceable player for the Raptors this season. I don’t subscribe to the theory that Williams introduced a “selfish” culture to the team and I definitely don’t miss his predecessor John Salmons (as PhD Steve does).

But I don’t want him back on the team.

It’s a matter of fit, price and value. Williams is a valuable player, no doubt. He’s a great bench scorer who can create offense on his own. He takes a lot of threes and he has a lethal first step that he uses to coax contact and to blow by his defender. He was the only Raptor to post an above-average true-shooting percentage with a usage rate of over 20 percent. For all those reasons, Williams rightfully won Sixth Man of the Year and he deserves to get paid.

But he’s a surplus on the Raptors, and the Raptors aren’t good enough to merit committing big dollars to a surplus.

Williams’s skillset overlaps with Greivis Vasquez, who is already eating up a significant chunk of the Raptors’ cap space. Vasquez isn’t the scorer that Williams is, but he can run an offense just fine. Vasquez can also guard (lol) two positions, whereas Williams can only check point guards. Truth be told, they’re both fairly horrible defenders, which is yet another reason why they shouldn’t co-exist.

Re-signing Williams also means less cap room to spend on an upgrade elsewhere. And while the Raptors could stand to use a player like Williams, the strength of the team is already rooted in the backcourt, which is reflected in the salaries. Lowry, DeRozan and Vasquez are the Raptors’ top three annual earners.

So while it was fun to having Williams on the team this season, re-signing him would be ill-advised. But I’ll miss having my strange namesake on this team. RIP to my SEO scores.