why not Jose

With all this talk about Kirk, and the need to upgrade at the pg spot I tried to find one
who fit this team. We need a pg who can defend, pass, make 3's and penetrate. Calderon
can do all those things plus he shoots 98% from the ft line and he has played with Rudy.
Neither Kirk or Blake are known as penetrating pgs while Kirk is an upgrade from Blake, he
doesn't put pressure on opposing teams defense by penetrating and collapsing the defense.
At 27 Jose still has 5-6 good yrs left if not more, he is under contract for 4 more yrs at 37
mil. 8.2 9 9.8 10.5 those numbers are a great price for a excellent pg.

Jose is a byc player until July so we can't trade until then. I think a package of Blake,Outlaw
and a first rd pick might get it done. Toronto gets a better 6th man in Outlaw then they have
now, they do lose talent at the pg spot, but this allows them flexibility to sign Shawn Marion,
and get a better bench. With both Blake and Outlaw expiring contracts next yr they might be
able to use those contacts to land another player at the deadline and keep Bosh happy.

This would give us an upgrade at pg, free up minutes for Webster and still leave us 6-7 mil
to spend on free agents this summer.

 

His D is too weak..he really had a down year this year
I like Bibby, Dre Day, Monta (if we are giving up on Bayless), and Conley JR

 

Andre Miller, I presume? It took me a little thinkig as well.

Jose doesn't play defense. Doesn't penetrate often. Doesn't take chances with the ball. He's not really what we need for our team, I don't think. I would prefer to not get him.

 

His defense is a little better than Blakes and maybe not as good as hinrich,
but I think he is a better fit. A players style of play should be considered.
Kirk doesn't break down the other teams D as well as Jose and we need someone
to do that to help out Roy. besides Jose is comfortable passing to bigs. Bosh and
both of the Gasol brothers.

 

while I like Andre Miller at 33 he won't be around for long and he doesn't shoot 3's which we need to
spread the floor for our bigs.

 

We don't need a PG that takes chances with the ball. Nate has shown he doesn't want and Pg that does that. Portland doesn't cause enough turnovers to take chances and create more turnovers.

 

No.

 

I don't even think Toronto would consider that deal of Blake, Outlaw, & a later 1st rounder. Calderon may have some defensive flaws, but he's still a great PG and is very efficient.

 

Jose is a downgrade from Blake on defense. This right here is where we need to stop. We can live with the offense we get from Blake - where we will really need improvement is defense.

 

The cognitive dissonance is overwhelming.

I like the idea of Calderon (which is why I like the idea of Sergio Llull with one of our picks) because he is a very good PG and a good scorer. The only reason Toronto might be willing to part with him is if they commit to a running style, because he's NOT suited to that style (or so I've read). Actually he sounds remarkably like Mike Bibby, with the same positives and negatives.

 

Depends what you mean. He has a decent shooting %, but he's crap at creating offense for the team. His offense is also very easy to shut down. I could live with Blake's defense (he got torched by Brooks in game 1, but adjusted fairly well for the rest of the series) but can't live with his complete lack of penetrating skills and apparent inability to get Oden involved. In fact, I think I'd be happy with losing Blake with no replacement rather than have him stay as our starting PG.

 

Calderon is not getting traded unless Toronto gets Rubio. No Chance.

 

We have plenty of 3-pt shooters, and right now, we are way too dependent on them. A PG capable of running a more diversified offense would be a better option.

 

Guys we had one of the most efficient offensive schemes in the league (1st or 2nd) - we won 65% of the time Blake was on the court (3rd in the team) - and he is fantastic at protecting the ball - Yes - we can improve on Blake - but the place we we were hurt more by having him as our starting PG was on defense - not offense.

Again - there is a lot of unhappiness with Blake, I can understand it - but we ran a well oiled offensive machine out there - and a lot more of it when Blake was on the floor then when he was not. Can we improve on him? Sure. By a lot? Not unless you bring a stud PG - and there are not a lot of those made available and they are expensive...

Just for the record - Blake's assist-percent of 25% is respectable - it is better than Bibby's, Conley's or Hinrich's - and especially impressive when you consider that he played so much time next to a ball-dominating guard like Brandon Roy... - Sure Andre Miller at 30% is higher and Ramon Sessions at 34% is a lot higher - but Sessions did not play next to someone that can distribute as much as Roy - and Iggy - while a good distributor - is not up to Roy's level.

For the record - Jose is at a crazy 41% - but as we said - he is a downgrade on defense and Toronto does not have any wing that can create other than him.

The options (some clear upgrades, some questionable) over Blake that are available are:

1. Miller - he will cost more and he is older - but he is clearly better at everything other than protecting the ball (still very good) and 3P shooting - do you bring him along with the idea that Bayless is the heir apparent in 2-3 years?
2. Sessions - fits the team in age, fantastic upside - but have never been given the key to the car by two different coaches and was passed over by KP for Kopo who is not likely to be brought over next year - was it a problem with the coaches and KP simply missing him - or something with the player that we do not know about?
3. Hinrich - Fits the team age wise and personality wise, Vet with playoffs experience and is a big upgrade on defense - but not much - if at all, on offense and will cost more.
4. Calderon - Super Deluxe version of Blake - fantastic shooter, great floor general - but he is not a penetrating kind of guard and he is even worse on defense. Will cost more as well - if Toronto is willing to send him - which is doubtful
5. Bibby - I think the ship has sailed on him - I do not think he is much better than Blake at this point - if he is - it is by a very small margin.

Personally - I think that if you can get Sessions with the MLE you bring him over - and let him and Bayless duke it out for the backup spot until the dust settles and you decide which one is a trade chip.

If this does not happen - either Miller or Hinrich will be great.

 

That looks like the best set of options I can think of ... unless there is somebody out there itching to get rid of a really good point guard that we just haven't thought of.

Frankly I'd dangle Bayless in a sign and trade for Sessions if that's what it took to prise him from Milwaukee.

As for KP passing on Sessions to draft Kopo, the late first round and second round is pretty much a crap shoot. I think Sessions biggest knocks coming out were that he played for a small school at Nevada-Reno and the level of competition he faced might not have been as good and he does have a somewhat unorthodox release on his jumper.

 

Bibby would come at a much lower price tag, hence why I like Bibby. Bibby is also more playoff tested and would bow out in a coupe years, leaving the door open for Bayless.

 

I am pretty sure I read somewhere that Nate had very nice things to say about him after he came for a workout (I can't for the life of me find a link - so maybe I just do not remember it right) - which surprised me since I was not aware of his game at the time. I was really surprised that we did not pick him up with the Kopo pick that year after that - so - there is either something they really did like about Kopo or something they did not like about Sessions - I just find it very strange that they skipped him for another PG...