2015 Free agents that can make us tougher

[BonesJones]

Obviously pipe dreams: Marc Gasol, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard
Pipe dream (we just don't know it yet): Khris Middleton, DeMarre Carroll, Kosta Koufos
Possibly gettable: Brandan Wright, Amir Johnson, Jae Crowder, Bismack Biyombo
Bargain Basement:
Jared Dudley (always liked him, loved his interview, surprisingly good rpm, and if the Bucks are keeping Middleton along with Giannis and Jabari Parker, they won't want to spend on ANOTHER wing)
Jeffery Taylor (the domestic violence conviction is offputting. If it weren't for that I'd be keen: he's an athletic 3-and-D wing)
Jonas Jerebko (another Swede. Had a great rookie year with Detroit, then injuries derailed things, but got back on track with Boston. A stretch PF who can guard slower SFs. Rebounds AND shoots 3s at a 40% clip)
CJ Watson (already 31, but has got to be better than Blake, and also shoots 40% from 3.)

Also open to Aminu, but unlike the ones listed, he's a poor 3 point shooter, even though he takes a lot.

If I had to pick one of my Bargains, it would be Jerebko, because he has a surprisingly high rpm. He's 14th in the league for PFs (above Pau Gasol and Kenneth Faried):

Jerebko? We already have 2 PFs. Maybe if Aldridge leaves and you decide to start Leonard you could get Jerebko to come off the bench.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

True heres what I think we do if we keep our big man rotation intact

PF Aldridge(34)/Leonard(21)
C Lopez(26)/Kaman(15)

What do you think?

I'd almost rather have Leonard as starting 5 over RoLo if we bring him back.

 

[rig]

I'd almost rather have Leonard as starting 5 over RoLo if we bring him back.

Leonard in the starting 5 intrigues me. I love the thought of it offensively, spreading the floor and opening up more room for LMA, but we would be nonexistent on the offensive boards without Rolo.

Defensively, who knows. If the playoff Meyers shows up it could be great.

It could weaken the bench though - would Rolo score in the second unit as I imagine Leonard next year would?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Jack/CJ/Dudley/Leonard/Kaman
*drooling*

I think you should get to a doctor quick as you're showing all the signs of a stroke.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Leonard in the starting 5 intrigues me.

Really? I would have said "terrifies" or "saddens" myself.

 

[BonesJones]

Leonard in the starting 5 intrigues me. I love the thought of it offensively, spreading the floor and opening up more room for LMA, but we would be nonexistent on the offensive boards without Rolo.

Defensively, who knows. If the playoff Meyers shows up it could be great.

It could weaken the bench though - would Rolo score in the second unit as I imagine Leonard next year would?

you can't start Leonard there yet. He has the physical tools to be a good defender but needs more time. I think you sign Rolo toa short deal and try to get Meyers 8-10 minutes a game at center and while he's playing PF he can sometimes take the task of guarding good centers. Just to get movies minutes under his belt

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Every year some team finds an American player who has honed his game in Europe and is ready to make an impact. The Rockets are particularly good at this, as Darryl Morey's strategy seems to be spend big on stars and then get bargains for the minimum: they got Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley (and to a lesser extent, Joey Dorsey) this way. I think we might find our backup PG this way. I have already mentioned Daniel Hackett (who played at USC with Vucevic and Taj Gibson), although technically he may be Italian. But an actual American who didn't get much interest in the draft because he was mostly an undersized SG in college, but has successfully shown he can play PG and win, is Malcolm Delaney.

"All Malcolm Delaney does is win championships"
(Well, he didn't this year, but he took Lokomotiv Kuban way farther than was expected, seriously threatening deep-pocketed Khimki Moscow (the team that could afford to pick up Victor Claver mid season, when you know just about any team in the Spanish League would've loved to have him).



(To be fair, the highlights don't really show that he has progressed from a short SG, but that's highlights for you.)

 

[ThugginPaulyGAllen]

Sign Tobias Harris outright

Lillard
Batum
Harris
Aldridge
Leonard

Run n fun

 

[Rastapopoulos]

The Top Ten Free Agents in Europe
(I wish #6 would give the NBA a shot before retiring, like Prigioni. But he almost certainly won't.)

Who will sign Boban? Maybe Memphis, to replace Koufos? Who else plays a slow enough pace?

 

[tester551]

The Top Ten Free Agents in Europe
(I wish #6 would give the NBA a shot before retiring, like Prigioni. But he almost certainly won't.)

Who will sign Boban? Maybe Memphis, to replace Koufos? Who else plays a slow enough pace?

He is one big dude. I was just flipping through that top 10 and he is the only one that would even remotely interest me. He's 26, so he could come to the NBA if he is athletic enough.

 

[42N8Bounce]

The news that Detroit traded for Ersan Ilyasova indicating that they won't be looking to re-sign Greg Monroe started me thinking about the options for the Blazers. It was rumored that Olshey went after Monroe last year. What are chances that he tries again? Could the Blazers even get the CAP space available to sign a major free agent?

Here are the Blazer salaries for 2016:

Damian Lillard $4,236,287
Nicolas Batum $12,235,750
CJ McCollum $2,525,160
Meyers Leonard $3,075,880
Allen Crabbe $947,276
Steve Blake $2,170,465 (player option)
Mid Level Exception $5,465,000 (CAP Hold)
Draft Choice #23 $1,112,900 (CAP Hold)
Chris Kaman $5,016,000 (team option, $1M guaranteed)
Aaron Afflalo $7,750,000 (player option)

LaMarcus Aldridge $20,130,000 (CAP Hold)

Assuming (big assumption) that LaMarcus re-signs, and the CAP is $67.1M, that only gives the Blazers $2,436,282 of CAP space.

To get that $2,436,282 of CAP space, the Blazers would have to renounce the rights to:
Wesley Matthews $10,868,460 (CAP Hold)
Robin Lopez $9.187,092 (CAP Hold)
Dorell Wright $4,075,500 (CAP Hold)
Joel Freeland $3,766,890 (CAP Hold)
Alonzo Gee $947,276 (CAP Hold)
Tim Frazier $845,069 (CAP Hold)

If Aaron Afflalo does not opt in, and the Blazers cut Kaman, that gives the Blazers $14,202,282 of CAP space.

The max for a 0-6 year NBA vet like Greg Monroe is 25% of the CAP = $16,775,000.

Without additional trades to cut salary (Batum on draft day?), it's not looking like the Blazers will be able to keep LaMarcus Aldridge and sign a major (max or near max) free agent. With the salary cap going up significantly in 2017, my guess is that we're going to see a lot of inflated short-term offers making acquiring a quality free agent very difficult.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

He is one big dude. I was just flipping through that top 10 and he is the only one that would even remotely interest me. He's 26, so he could come to the NBA if he is athletic enough.

The bad news is, he can't jump. The good news is - he doesn't need to! (#s 4 and 1 are almost Sabonis-esque. Which is fitting, as he has the size and mobility of Sabas.)

 

[mediocre boy]

anyone they add should be a tough, gritty defender, period

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Dellavedova (RFA) would be an under-the-radar move. He showed flashes this year - big PG @ 6'4"

Bump.

Any guesses as to what Neil is going to offer?

MLE money would be my guess.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Bump.

Any guesses as to what Neil is going to offer?

MLE money would be my guess.

I hope not. He's not more than a $3M/year guy IMO.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I hope not. He's not more than a $3M/year guy IMO.

For Deladova? I hope he offers a pass. I don't want that guy on our team. He had his 15 minutes and will now be back at the end of the bench.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

For Deladova? I hope he offers a pass. I don't want that guy on our team. He had his 15 minutes and will now be back at the end of the bench.

Wouldn't be the worst idea to have a defensive backup PG (Delly) to offset our offensive backup PG (Frazier). But I wouldn't pay much for it.

 

[oldfisherman]

For Deladova? I hope he offers a pass. I don't want that guy on our team. He had his 15 minutes and will now be back at the end of the bench.

I have not watched Dellavedova play, so my next comments could be very wrong. From only scouting reports and NBA stats, Dell makes more sense at BUPG than CJ.

Dellavedova’s NBA assist rate (per minutes played) is about three times higher than CJ’s. Plus he has a very good assist to TO ratio, about two times better than CJ.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I not worried about the money we would offer Della so much but what worries me is how many years. I would prefer 2 year deal with team option for year 3. You would think we don't need this guy (at least at what he will probably make) 4 years from now.

He would certainly help our D in the backcourt though.

 

[tester551]

I have not watched Dellavedova play, so my next comments could be very wrong. From only scouting reports and NBA stats, Dell makes more sense at BUPG than CJ.

Dellavedova’s NBA assist rate (per minutes played) is about three times higher than CJ’s. Plus he has a very good assist to TO ratio, about two times better than CJ.

Agreed. Plus he is the type of player you love to have on your team. All grit - full effort (kind of like Wes).

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Ughhhhh. Just say no to delly

 

[Mediocre Man]

Im gonna go get my Delly jersey.

Adding good perimeter defenders will make Leonar_ look as good as you all think he is on defense

 

[Draco]

Bump.

Any guesses as to what Neil is going to offer?

MLE money would be my guess.

He was more popular in that town than LeBron for a week of the finals. The whole team wants him back. He fits an actual need as a defensive small guard and is young. They'll match $5 million per year offer so I'd guess we'd have to pay more like $7 million per year. I don't think having Delly join our team on a larger contract than Ed Davis makes sense for us. But heck many thought the same of Wes Matthews rookie year and he proved less than Delly. Would any of you want Delly for 4 years $28 million?

I think Neil wants to give CJ the opportunity to be our second best player and that will mean most of the backup PG minutes.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Bump.

Any guesses as to what Neil is going to offer?

MLE money would be my guess.

I assume you're talking about this:



Is this based on actual information or just total speculation?

 

[Pinwheel1]

He was more popular in that town than LeBron for a week of the finals. The whole team wants him back. He fits an actual need as a defensive small guard and is young. They'll match $5 million per year offer so I'd guess we'd have to pay more like $7 million per year. I don't think having Delly on the team on a larger contract than Ed Davis makes sense for us. But heck many thought the same out of Wes Matthews rookie year and he proved less than Delly. Would any of you want Delly for 4 years $28 million?

I think Neil wants to give CJ the opportunity to be our second best player and that will mean most of the backup PG minutes.

I am not so sure they would match 5 mil. In the other Dellavedova thread from last week I linked this article that said he was asking for 4 and Cleveland did not want to give it to him.
http://www.fearthesword.com/2015/7/15/8974355/report-matthew-dellavedova-still-not-close-to-deal

 

[Pinwheel1]

Maybe the Blazers will get a wink wink deal done with Cleveland stipulating that if Cleveland does not match a 4 mil a year offer, we will take take Haywood off their hands for next to nothing.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I'm assuming the Delly stuff is speculation until concrete evidence emerges. However, I wouldn't hate the move as some do, not because I think he's very good (the finals, or more specifically, two games of them were his mini-Linsanity, and that's not really who he is) but I like his attitude and it would be great if we were more chippy and less nice. Plus you could stick him out there next to CJ and he could guard whichever guard was more of a threat and allow CJ to be a SG once in a while (he's not the greatest defender, but he's bigger than CJ).

 

[Pinwheel1]

Plus you could stick him out there next to CJ and he could guard whichever guard was more of a threat and allow CJ to be a SG once in a while (he's not the greatest defender, but he's bigger than CJ).

Is he really bigger than CJ?
True he measure in at 3/4 of an inch taller, but his wingspan is 2 inches shorter, and he weighs 10 lbs less.

That being said if he can run the point I am all for it.

 

[oldfisherman]

Wonder how signing Mo Williams will fit into GM LeBron’s decision to re-sign Dell?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Didn't we just see this movie?