Royal Ivey's contract expectations/status

[BigBurd]

The Raptors need a defensive guard who can bring the ball up. If they offer Royal Ivey a 2 year $5M contract as their primary backup PG + possibly some SG time... do you think he'd take it?

Are the Bucks offering more?

Any words of wisdom on this guy?

[Mags FTW]

If Royal Ivey plays significant minutes for your team, you aren't going anywhere.

[BigBurd]

In 2008/09 we only have $3M to spend on backing up the PG & SG because of the JO trade... so it's more about what we can get then what we'd like....

Right now we expect to have only a PG/SG prospect in Roko Ukic (6'5 slasher, very skinny), and Jason Kapono somewhat out of position at the SG spot. From the outside looking in Ivey seemed to be complimentary to these guys and our starters, he'd play at least 15 minutes a game, possibly more.

This is all based upon the assumption he can in fact defend the point and/or guard positions at least a little bit. Any truth to that?

I noticed he took 32 chargers last year - so it seemed like he makes an effort.

[Mags FTW]

This is all based upon the assumption he can in fact defend the point and/or guard positions at least a little bit. Any truth to that?

I noticed he took 32 chargers last year - so it seemed like he makes an effort.

He's a high effort guy. He makes hustle plays that lead to charges/steal/lose balls, but he is by no means a great defender.

[paulpressey25]

You can get him for less than 2/$5mm. He's a minimum contract type guy.

Good guy...not a very good player though.

[BigBurd]

Good to know - I was under the impression he'd established some value this year. At the min for a 5th year player I'm sure the Raps would love to have him, especially if he's content as a backup.

Thanks.

[MickeyDavis]

He was a marginal player on a very bad team. Good min guy for the end of the bench if you need one.

[aboveAverage]

He's not as bad as some people here say he is. He plays good defense and is a solid ballhandler. However, he shouldn't be playing more than 10 minutes a game. His biggest flaw is that he doesn't have good court vision, so he misses a lot of open players. He also presses a little too hard on defense, and commits stupid fouls in the backcourt. However, as a third string point guard, he is not a bad player to have around.

[MickeyDavis]

There was a video posted here during the season that dispelled the Royal Ivey is a good defender myth. I'll try to find it.

[emunney]

Royal Ivey has a good defensive stance.

[Captain Erv]

He becomes an elite defender when he punches opponents in the balls.

[paulpressey25]

This was from Ty's blog in March

The Ivey illusion

"Full of sound and fury signifying nothing."

Royal Ivey is constantly getting praised by the Bucks television announcers, but when you look at his statistics after the game, they inevitably stink. I think I figured out the disconnect.

Remember the episode on Seinfeld when Costanza revealed his trick for seeming busy at his Yankee job when in fact he wasn't doing anything? He said he would make "stressed out" noises and gestures, like sighing loudly or grimacing, and whenever he did his boss Wilhelm would think he was actually getting something accomplished.

I think that's what happens with Royal Ivey. Everything he does looks difficult. He looks so active on defense, which leads to observations like "Tenacious defense from Royal Ivey!" But then his man scores on him at will.

Or he'll doing things like making a bounce pass while falling down, which he did last night. "What a pass by Ivey!" the announcers proclaimed. But it wasn't that great a pass... its just that he made it look more difficult than it was by losing his balance.

[MickeyDavis]

Maybe that was what I was thinking. I knew there was something about there debunking the myth.

[Mags FTW]

That trade really hurt the Raptors' depth and cap flexability to fix that problem.

[midranger]

Royal Ivey was the worst defender on the team last year. That is saying ALOT.

The guy looks like he's playing really hard, but he sucks.

[trwi7]

I would love to see some team besides the Bucks offer Ivey a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal.