Marc Stein - Pistons to make run at Horford

[Canadafan]

I pray we get him. We'd need to clear cap still. So Baynes or Meeks need to go. And then Baynes or Meeks need to be traded for our backup PG. Lots of work ahead

[sc8581]

OKC is probably in on Horford now, could Noah going there too

OKC only cut $200,000 as a result of that trade (assuming they let Illy go). That leaves them at roughly $66,000,000 in guaranteed money. That does not include Durant's $26mil cap hold. Add that in and they are at $92mil. They would have to not pick up Morrow, Waiters, or Foye to stay at that $92mil.

In other words... they would have to do considerable more work to dump another $20+mil in contracts to make room for Horford.

I was thinking S&T. I see a lot of Florida guys wanting to play for Billy Donovan again, especially those that won two championships with him. I could also see OKC doing a major overhaul, with Durant possibly leaving this summer or next, Westbrook probably leaving next year and the fact that they just traded for a young guy that plays a lot like Russell, might be a good time.

[roc]

OKC is probably in on Horford now, could Noah going there too

OKC only cut $200,000 as a result of that trade (assuming they let Illy go). That leaves them at roughly $66,000,000 in guaranteed money. That does not include Durant's $26mil cap hold. Add that in and they are at $92mil. They would have to not pick up Morrow, Waiters, or Foye to stay at that $92mil.

In other words... they would have to do considerable more work to dump another $20+mil in contracts to make room for Horford.

I was thinking S&T. I see a lot of Florida guys wanting to play for Billy Donovan again, especially those that won two championships with him. I could also see OKC doing a major overhaul, with Durant possibly leaving this summer or next, Westbrook probably leaving next year and the fact that they just traded for a young guy that plays a lot like Russell, might be a good time.

Who could they even S&T to match what Horford will want? No way in hell ATL would want Kanter's no D playing, overpaid ass. That is the only salary other than KD/Westbrook even remotely in the ballpark of what Horford will want/get.

[sc8581]

OKC only cut $200,000 as a result of that trade (assuming they let Illy go). That leaves them at roughly $66,000,000 in guaranteed money. That does not include Durant's $26mil cap hold. Add that in and they are at $92mil. They would have to not pick up Morrow, Waiters, or Foye to stay at that $92mil.

In other words... they would have to do considerable more work to dump another $20+mil in contracts to make room for Horford.

I was thinking S&T. I see a lot of Florida guys wanting to play for Billy Donovan again, especially those that won two championships with him. I could also see OKC doing a major overhaul, with Durant possibly leaving this summer or next, Westbrook probably leaving next year and the fact that they just traded for a young guy that plays a lot like Russell, might be a good time.

Who could they even S&T to match what Horford will want? No way in hell ATL would want Kanter's no D playing, overpaid ass. That is the only salary other than KD/Westbrook even remotely in the ballpark of what Horford will want/get.

The Hawks could very well want Enes, they are about to have a ton of cap space and little hope to lure big names, they would also need a center.

[Snakebites]

After tonight, I honestly think we use all of our money on a big time combo-guard 6th man this offseason. And by, that, I mean via trade — not Lin, not Delly, not any free agent. SVG & Bower have shown a penchant for using cap space to make deals rather than sign players, and IMHO there's nobody at that position worth our available space on the free agent market. This is our last offseason for the next two years to with cap space to spend with Dre's extension pending and then KCP's next year, so I think we use it the way our front office has best used cap space before — stealing someone from a team who wants to cut salary.

And I think we take SVG at face value when he says that the draft won't impact free agency.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2016/06/22/detroit-pistons-2016-nba-draft/86256466/

“They’d be able to come in and possibly compete, but nothing that we do Thursday night will change the way we look at free agency,” Van Gundy said. “If we draft a point guard … in one of the two spots Thursday night, we’ll still be looking at point guard in free agency. If we draft a true power forward in the draft on Thursday night, we’re still going out looking for one. The way we’ve constructed our roster and the way we’ve gone into the planning in the off-season, those two guys we are looking at as coming in as developmental guys.”

Very possible, even likely. But that quote was from before the draft, and Stan also said that he didn't think Ellenson would be available and projected he'd play some minutes ("not 20 a game," if I'm remembering right, but still) next season. If they were planning to take a purely developmental guy who wouldn't crack the rotation, but then the "#10 player on our board" (again, SVG's quote) fell to us, I don't think it's absurd to think that yes, the draft might wind up impacting our free agent strategy.

Or, like I said, not. Either way's entirely possible. If there's one thing this FO has shown, it's that they're very, very adaptable.

Horford is an impact player, an honest to goodness needle mover. There's no way we'd say "sorry Al, we got Ellenson in the draft, we're moving in another direction". They'll proceed with a player like that just as they would have otherwise and if by some miracle they end up with both on their roster they'll deal with that too. Having a lot of skilled bigs isn't a problem, its an opportunity. The Bulls drafted Porter despite a loaded front court and now they're in a better spot as they go in a different direction, or if nothing else he's a quality asset.

They also weren't going to pass on Ellenson just because of the 1/100 chance they might get Horford.

[bballnmike]

After tonight, I honestly think we use all of our money on a big time combo-guard 6th man this offseason. And by, that, I mean via trade — not Lin, not Delly, not any free agent. SVG & Bower have shown a penchant for using cap space to make deals rather than sign players, and IMHO there's nobody at that position worth our available space on the free agent market. This is our last offseason for the next two years to with cap space to spend with Dre's extension pending and then KCP's next year, so I think we use it the way our front office has best used cap space before — stealing someone from a team who wants to cut salary.

And I think we take SVG at face value when he says that the draft won't impact free agency.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2016/06/22/detroit-pistons-2016-nba-draft/86256466/

“They’d be able to come in and possibly compete, but nothing that we do Thursday night will change the way we look at free agency,” Van Gundy said. “If we draft a point guard … in one of the two spots Thursday night, we’ll still be looking at point guard in free agency. If we draft a true power forward in the draft on Thursday night, we’re still going out looking for one. The way we’ve constructed our roster and the way we’ve gone into the planning in the off-season, those two guys we are looking at as coming in as developmental guys.”

Very possible, even likely. But that quote was from before the draft, and Stan also said that he didn't think Ellenson would be available and projected he'd play some minutes ("not 20 a game," if I'm remembering right, but still) next season. If they were planning to take a purely developmental guy who wouldn't crack the rotation, but then the "#10 player on our board" (again, SVG's quote) fell to us, I don't think it's absurd to think that yes, the draft might wind up impacting our free agent strategy.

Or, like I said, not. Either way's entirely possible. If there's one thing this FO has shown, it's that they're very, very adaptable.

He said the same thing last night right after picking Ellenson. He said it won't affect free agency at all, if anything it means they probably won't take a PF in the second round.

[zeebneeb]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

[DetroitSho]

Zeebneeb I was sitting here like geez Stan, just say Al Horford already (I realize can't actually can't say it lol). He literally described everything about him without saying "a guy that has #15 jersey".

[MotownMadness]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

If Hawks want him then I don't see it happening

[DETermination]

Please basketball gods let us get Horford

[zeebneeb]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

If Hawks want him then I don't see it happening

that is neither here nor there. I'm just telling you what Stan said on the radio and he absolutely said without saying it we are going after Al Horford.

[MotownMadness]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

If Hawks want him then I don't see it happening

that is neither here nor there. I'm just telling you what Stan said on the radio and he absolutely said without saying it we are going after Al Horford.

OH I don't doubt he is but he's one of the top FAs in a insane offseason. I'm just not even getting excited about it cause it seems highly unlikely

[ChuckVanBrown]

Horford would be an incredible signing, and would transform this team. It would be similar to how Rasheed pushed that 2004 squad to another level.

It's a long shot, but Detroit is a good fit and his ties to Michigan should at least warrant some interest on Horford's end. The good thing is if the original rumor is true, I don't see how Orlando is still the mix since they now have Ibaka. The fewer teams considering Horford, the better our chances.

[roc]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

If Hawks want him then I don't see it happening

I don't see why he would sign back with ATL (other than that extra year on his contract) since he has wanted to play PF for quite some time now but ATL keeps playing him at C most of the time. My guess is he goes somewhere he can play PF most of the time (unless he is all about that 5th year).

[MotownMadness]

I just got done listening to an interview with Stan Van Gundy on 97.1 and he just literally described Al Horford to a tee and he said the list is pretty damn short. If anyone else heard that interview you know exactly what I'm talking about. He basically said we're going after Al Horford without saying we're going after Al Horford

If Hawks want him then I don't see it happening

I don't see why he would sign back with ATL (other than that extra year on his contract) since he has wanted to play PF for quite some time now but ATL keeps playing him at C most of the time. My guess is he goes somewhere he can play PF most of the time (unless he is all about that 5th year).

You would think but he's on record talking about how much he wants to stay there

[zeebneeb]

If you look at all the options Horford has, Detroit without question is a great fit. The upside is that it moves one of our fantastic forwards (Harris,Mook) to the bench, bolstering it in a huge, huge way.

If Horford signs here, the Pistons are a real threat in the East when you combine another training camp with the whole team, and the valuable experience both the team earned last year, and the addition of Horfords experience.

It's nice to think about, but I'm not getting excited over a possible. I'm just relaying the fact that Stan sounded intent on signing a veteran PF, that's not to old.

Take it as you will.

[coordinator0]

Joe Barry posted this on the first page of the thread:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/LarryCoon/status/743936250311172097[/tweet]

Horford has 9 years of NBA experience, so his first year max salary would be $26,600,000 if the $94 million cap projections hold. There's no reason to expect Al taking any less and moves have to be made for Detroit to sign him. By my sheet dumping Meeks, Anthony, Brown, and Bairstow while renouncing the rights to Tolliver and Blake would give them just under $25.5 million in cap space so someone else would have to be moved for nothing in return as well. Bullock would get them there with about a million to spare which is enough to cover Ellenson's variable cap hit depending on what percentage of his draft slot he signs for. This is what the team would look like:

PG: Jackson
SG: Caldwell-Pope / Hilliard / Gbinije
SF: Harris / Johnson
PF: Horford / Morris / Ellenson
C: Drummond / Baynes

Not bad, although there's still a huge hole at backup PG.

[zeebneeb]

With a team like that though, you can live with that hole at backup pg and see what the players on your own team can do.

That team above is legit, and I would take it and run.

[MotownMadness]

I would not pay him that kind of money I'm sorry. But 30 years old avg 15 and 7 is not worth close to 30 mil to me. He would make us better for sure or he could just decline further from here out.

[sfballa13]

Joe Barry posted this on the first page of the thread:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/LarryCoon/status/743936250311172097[/tweet]

Horford has 9 years of NBA experience, so his first year max salary would be $26,600,000 if the $94 million cap projections hold. There's no reason to expect Al taking any less and moves have to be made for Detroit to sign him. By my sheet dumping Meeks, Anthony, Brown, and Bairstow while renouncing the rights to Tolliver and Blake would give them just under $25.5 million in cap space so someone else would have to be moved for nothing in return as well. Bullock would get them there with about a million to spare which is enough to cover Ellenson's variable cap hit depending on what percentage of his draft slot he signs for. This is what the team would look like:

PG: Jackson
SG: Caldwell-Pope / Hilliard / Gbinije
SF: Harris / Johnson
PF: Horford / Morris / Ellenson
C: Drummond / Baynes

Not bad, although there's still a huge hole at backup PG.

I think we could pull of a Meeks for Nelson deal. Reunite Jameer with SVG and give Denver around 6M

PG: Jackson / Jameer
SG: Caldwell-Pope / Hilliard / Gbinije
SF: Harris / Johnson
PF: Horford / Morris / Ellenson
C: Drummond / Baynes

Not bad!