Yes Yes Yes!! Please!!!! Seriously though, he's not that bad. He's a bad defender but he's a decent shooter, low turnovers, would be pretty good with Roy, allowing him to handle the ball and letting Jose shoot open threes. Also a good distributor, albeit too careful, but from reading these forms that wouldn't be a problem in Nate's half court system. He's bad on the Raptors because all our players are bad defenders, so no one can cover up his defensive deficiencies which may not be as big a problem in Portland since you have Oden and Batum. And we want to run'n'gun so Calderon's cautiousness is probably not the best fit.
I agree. Bayless is not that. Bayless isn't going to get us that. Calderon is actually a PG, and can actually shoot. So we give up somebody further away from your ideal to get somebody closer to your ideal. Seems like you should approve.
He probably holds the title as 'worst defensive player' in the NBA. A complete and utter liability on defense. Yeah, I'm so sure Nate would love to have Jose.
That's not going to help me convince Portland fans... Groans all round from the Nate Haters who see him being the New Blake.
Here's the deal: Andre Miller actually IS old. And can't/won't shoot threes. Bayless is not (really, he isn't) the PG of the future. He doesn't even work well with Roy, because he's just not somebody who can work off the ball. Do we have somebody who IS the PG of the future in the pipeline? Maybe if you hold out hope for Armon Johnson, Elliot Williams, Patty Mills or Petteri Koponen (and actually, I kind of do, at least for two of them, but not for a year or two), but otherwise there's an ugly dropoff after Miller. Calderon could be a safe, efficient (albeit flawed, obviously) gap-filler. But wait - what's that I hear? The Blazers are trading for CHRIS PAUL!!!!!!!!! Well never mind then!
You makes some good points but if we were going to go for a questionable PG I rather go for Conley. I think we could get either Calderon of Conley fairly cheap.
Here are some stats. To be fair to Calderon and Conley I used 2008/09 because they both had rough goes last year partially due to negative team dynamics. Interestingly, and in no doubt due to Oden/Przybilla/Camby, Miller has the best Drtg. Somebody posted a better defensive metric, I think RR7, but I can't remember what it is or where you can find it. Regardless, I can use the eyeball test to know that Calderon is in the same mold as Rudy and Sergio on that front and performs the time honored tradition of the matador defense.
Cho is on the record saying he likes players who play at both ends of the court. Translation: "Fuck Jose Cal_eron"
That is exactly what I see--someone who can legitimately run point for a few years, until/unless we find someone we like better. I would LOVE it if one of our rooks can show that he can get it done, or if Bayless can somehow develop the mentality necessary to be an effective point guard, but I think Rasta's right. We can complain about Calderon's defense all we want, but it's not as though we have any defensive stalwarts at that position now. For this system, it would be an upgrade. And then in a couple years, he'll be a $10.5M expiring contract. YAY!
Which of those two do you see as potential PGOTF just out of curiosity? Also, gap filling has to end at some point. First Blake was the gap filler, then Miller. At some point we need to get our guy. I'm not sure hoping one of the guys in our stable will develop into that with 15 minutes a game is a viable option. All the guys we target got tons of minutes early on, that's probably not something we can afford to do. I think we have to trade for a guy who has cut his teeth, but also has the two critical qualities (shooting and defending) and hopefully somewhat decent penetration and passing.
There are plenty of NBA point guards I'd rather have than Calderon. However, as it relates to this thread topic, I'd take Calderon over Bayless at the point guard position in a New York second. Bayless is not a good point guard. The Blazers just signed Wesley Matthews as their backup shooting guard to replace Bayless and Rudy at that position. Both are trade bait at this point.
