Plan B... 2016 Free Agents

[GreekAlex]

Looking at all the options available for this year would it make more sense to aggressively pursue Danny Green, Demarre Carroll & Tobias Harris or get a short term fix to be more flexible next season.

Opportunities present themselves every season and although it seems ideal to have a young core moving forward and lock in another 23 year old like Tobias Harris it might be best to let this group develop and take a wait and see approach.

Suppose the Pistons dealt Meeks to the Nets for Joe Johnson. Johnson was still solid last year and seems like he has a tough veteran attitude he can bring to this young locker room. Johnson could start at the 3 and back up the 2 spot and after the season the team could weigh all of it's options including some 2016 wings such as:

Wilson Chandler

Nicolas Batum

Danilo Gallinari

Jeff Green

Kevin Durant (yes I know the odds are very bad... Just worth the lottery ticket)

and while I'm dreaming, Anthony Davis will be a Free agent as well. Maybe Andre can recruit him and sell him on not having to be physical in the post because he's here.

I think many teams are going to spend foolishly because of the rising cap numbers and other team with available space will get some better deals from superior talent.

[joedumars1]

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2015/06/29/detroit-pistons-free-agency/29492669/

If the Pistons whiff on Carroll and Green, they might turn to Plan B.

When you look at players like the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton, 23, and the Orlando Magic's Tobias Harris, 22, and their ages, you probably would think they should be higher priorities.

But they — along with Golden State's Draymond Green (Michigan State) — are restricted free agents.

"It's ... if you get past Plan C ... we might be stymied a little bit," Van Gundy said. "Then again, if we get past Plan C, it may be (time to) head to the bar."

I can't look to next year yet.

[Snakebites]

Andre Drummond is an RFA next offseason. Unless you want the possibility of another Greg Monroe style situation looming over our heads, we need to hope SVG works to exhaust all feasable options to improve this team for next year.

[GreekAlex]

Andre Drummond is an RFA next offseason. Unless you want the possibility of another Greg Monroe style situation looming over our heads, we need to hope SVG works to exhaust all feasable options to improve this team for next year.

I think Joe Johnson as a starting SF and Backup SG is a significant upgrade over last year. This deal with the other moves make the Pistons very competitive this season and very flexible moving forward.

I would love to start the season with:

Jackson, Jennings, Dimwiddie
KCP, J. Johnson, Hilliard
J. Johnson, S. Johnson, C. Martin
Ilyasova, Tolliver, Q. Miller
Drummond, J. Anthony?

[Snakebites]

I wouldn't take him on without getting other assets (picks I guess, they don't have much else). That's 24 million for a player who might be worth 8, assuming he's even as good as he was last year.

[Southern Piston]

I've been thinking Joe Johnson for months, he one of the best 4thq guys there is. He can play the 1,2 and 3. But lately I'm thinking we should try to land Josh Mcroberts he has three yrs left but he could be a stretch 4 if needed. Probably cost us 2nd rd pick or maybe Cartier Martin.

[GreekAlex]

I wouldn't take him on without getting other assets (picks I guess, they don't have much else). That's 24 million for a player who might be worth 8, assuming he's even as good as he was last year.

I think he's more or less worth 12M for one season but thats splitting hairs. His real value is giving the Pistons flexibility and a massive expiring trade chip come the trade deadline. I love what SVG has been able to parlay marginal assets into since he's been here.

I think locking in players like Danny Green, D. Carroll or T. Harris could possibly work out very well but teams always need a veteran presence and I think a move like this could be the best combination of improving the roster and flexibility together.

I don't think the Pistons would win any more games in 2015 with Danny Green or D. Carroll vs. Joe Johnson.

Tobias Harris on the other hand, I could see doing more by being able to play both forward spots.

[DBC10]

Brooklyn doesn't have picks, so we won't worry about them trying to include it in any deal. They really don't have any real assets since King is a a buffoon.

[Snakebites]

I wouldn't take him on without getting other assets (picks I guess, they don't have much else). That's 24 million for a player who might be worth 8, assuming he's even as good as he was last year.

I think he's more or less worth 12M for one season but thats splitting hairs. His real value is giving the Pistons flexibility and a massive expiring trade chip come the trade deadline. I love what SVG has been able to parlay marginal assets into since he's been here.

I think locking in players like Danny Green, D. Carroll or T. Harris could possibly work out very well but teams always need a veteran presence and I think a move like this could be the best combination of improving the roster and flexibility together.

I don't think the Pistons would win any more games in 2015 with Danny Green or D. Carroll vs. Joe Johnson.

Tobias Harris on the other hand, I could see doing more by being able to play both forward spots.

We clearly differ in how we think he can help the team. I see a guy who's a ball dominant defensive liability who's stats have declined each of the last few years and may well continue to do so.

I also could see him not buying in if he knows he's a rental here.

Whether you agree with those 2 things or not, its clear the Nets want to unload him and I think that's the appropriate way to approach any potential deal with them- see what you can get from them in return for taking their liability.

[whitehops]

Andre Drummond is an RFA next offseason.

If the two parties agree to an extension this offseason (which Drummond reportedly wants to do) then he wouldn't even hit restricted free agency next offseason.

Not sure what date they have to do that though, I'll probably look it up later after the big rush of free agency is over.

A quick look says it's October 31st.

[Snakebites]

Andre Drummond is an RFA next offseason.

If the two parties agree to an extension this offseason (which Drummond reportedly wants to do) then he wouldn't even hit restricted free agency next offseason.

Not sure what date they have to do that though, I'll probably look it up later after the big rush of free agency is over.

That would certainly be ideal. I don't operate under the assumption that it will happen, though, and I doubt SVG is either. He's a cautious guy.

[whitehops]

Andre Drummond is an RFA next offseason.

If the two parties agree to an extension this offseason (which Drummond reportedly wants to do) then he wouldn't even hit restricted free agency next offseason.

Not sure what date they have to do that though, I'll probably look it up later after the big rush of free agency is over.

That would certainly be ideal. I don't operate under the assumption that it will happen, though, and I doubt SVG is either. He's a cautious guy.

I looked it up and I think October 31st is the date they have to agree to an extension.

And I agree. While we are clearly shaping our roster around Drummond I think SVG would prefer to see continued improvement from dre next season - at least enough to inspire confidence in giving him a max contract going forward.

Edit: just remembered that gores has publicly said that dre is a max guy, not sure if that does anything for the situation...

[GreekAlex]

I wouldn't take him on without getting other assets (picks I guess, they don't have much else). That's 24 million for a player who might be worth 8, assuming he's even as good as he was last year.

I think he's more or less worth 12M for one season but thats splitting hairs. His real value is giving the Pistons flexibility and a massive expiring trade chip come the trade deadline. I love what SVG has been able to parlay marginal assets into since he's been here.

I think locking in players like Danny Green, D. Carroll or T. Harris could possibly work out very well but teams always need a veteran presence and I think a move like this could be the best combination of improving the roster and flexibility together.

I don't think the Pistons would win any more games in 2015 with Danny Green or D. Carroll vs. Joe Johnson.

Tobias Harris on the other hand, I could see doing more by being able to play both forward spots.

We clearly differ in how we think he can help the team. I see a guy who's a ball dominant defensive liability who's stats have declined each of the last few years and may well continue to do so.

I also could see him not buying in if he knows he's a rental here.

Whether you agree with those 2 things or not, its clear the Nets want to unload him and I think that's the appropriate way to approach any potential deal with them- see what you can get from them in return for taking their liability.

I agree with all the points you made regarding him possibly not buying in and not being as thrilling as the other options on defense but is he really that ball dominant?

I know he can be that way in the 4th quarter but I like that. My thought is that if Stan was considering him before he has the feeling that he can make him buy in and I could see him getting a lot of good looks with the other pieces on the current roster.

[GreekAlex]

If the two parties agree to an extension this offseason (which Drummond reportedly wants to do) then he wouldn't even hit restricted free agency next offseason.

Not sure what date they have to do that though, I'll probably look it up later after the big rush of free agency is over.

That would certainly be ideal. I don't operate under the assumption that it will happen, though, and I doubt SVG is either. He's a cautious guy.

I looked it up and I think October 31st is the date they have to agree to an extension.

And I agree. While we are clearly shaping our roster around Drummond I think SVG would prefer to see continued improvement from dre next season - at least enough to inspire confidence in giving him a max contract going forward.

Edit: just remembered that gores has publicly said that dre is a max guy, not sure if that does anything for the situation...

Good point.... I was just going to mention that Gores comment about him being a max guy. I could see Gores wanting to give him a 5 year max now at the current cap (since in won't be as big as it would be under the next cap figure).

[sfballa13]

I wouldn't take him on without getting other assets (picks I guess, they don't have much else). That's 24 million for a player who might be worth 8, assuming he's even as good as he was last year.

They do have an asset that could help us, Bogdanovich. He is a year younger than Meeks, puts up the same numbers, and makes half (3M) what Meeks (6M) makes. Im sure Brooklyn can throw in a 2nd rounder or two in exchange for us taking on that extra 11M and saving them some luxury tax. Maybe they would even throw Gores some cash like 3M to save 8M.

Bogdanovich and Johnson make roughly 26M, if we exchange Jennings (8M), Meeks (6M), Martin (1M) then we would only be taking on roughly 11-12M of cap space. That would still give us plenty of money to go after Brandon Wright and a veteran PG.

Jackson / Dinwiddie - Vet PG
KCP / Bogdanovich
JJ / Johnson
Ilyasova / Tolliver - Miller
Drummond / Wright

Johnson will be looking for one final deal so he won't just mail it in, not in his final contract year of his career. He wants to show he is still worth another 2-3 years at 10M. He is also very clutch, one of the best in the NBA, and will take immense pressure of Jackson-KCP-Drummond in crunch time.

[theBigLip]

If this thread is about Plan B, what was Plan A?

Last year when we had a lot of extra parts (and salaries), I thought a JJ trade made sense. But we used that excess to get RJ, and we don't have extra salaries to balance a trade. And I'd rather not use all of our cap space on someone who isn't part of our long term core. So let's be patient and build the right way.

I'm not sure which SF we get, but I'd keep an eye on Butler and Middleton if there is any opportunity for those RFAs, but Harris and Carroll seem like the logical targets and I bet we throw the bank at one of them.

[Snakebites]

If this thread is about Plan B, what was Plan A?

Last year when we had a lot of extra parts (and salaries), I thought a JJ trade made sense. But we used that excess to get RJ, and we don't have extra salaries to balance a trade. And I'd rather not use all of our cap space on someone who isn't part of our long term core. So let's be patient and build the right way.

I'm not sure which SF we get, but I'd keep an eye on Butler and Middleton if there is any opportunity for those RFAs, but Harris and Carroll seem like the logical targets and I bet we throw the bank at one of them.

Butler has already been offered the maximum 5 year offer by the Bulls. If he doesn't want that he won't want anything we can offer him.

[sfballa13]

If this thread is about Plan B, what was Plan A?

Last year when we had a lot of extra parts (and salaries), I thought a JJ trade made sense. But we used that excess to get RJ, and we don't have extra salaries to balance a trade. And I'd rather not use all of our cap space on someone who isn't part of our long term core. So let's be patient and build the right way.

I'm not sure which SF we get, but I'd keep an eye on Butler and Middleton if there is any opportunity for those RFAs, but Harris and Carroll seem like the logical targets and I bet we throw the bank at one of them.

Butler, Middleton, and Draymond Green are out of the question

If we strike out on Carroll, Id rather trade for Joe Johnson for one season then sign Danny Green when Meeks is still on the roster. Danny Green is not a SF and honestly he is nothing more than a role player on a very good Spurs team.

Rather have Joe Johnson, Bogdanovich than Meeks, Jennings (who could and probably would affect team chemistry and will want playing time as it's his contract year), and Danny Green.

[theBigLip]

If this thread is about Plan B, what was Plan A?

Last year when we had a lot of extra parts (and salaries), I thought a JJ trade made sense. But we used that excess to get RJ, and we don't have extra salaries to balance a trade. And I'd rather not use all of our cap space on someone who isn't part of our long term core. So let's be patient and build the right way.

I'm not sure which SF we get, but I'd keep an eye on Butler and Middleton if there is any opportunity for those RFAs, but Harris and Carroll seem like the logical targets and I bet we throw the bank at one of them.

Butler has already been offered the maximum 5 year offer by the Bulls. If he doesn't want that he won't want anything we can offer him.

I think he also wanted an opt out so he could cash in when the cap goes up. So we could sign a poison pill contract with him. But basically I see him and the other RFAs signing with their teams.

[Snakebites]

If this thread is about Plan B, what was Plan A?

Last year when we had a lot of extra parts (and salaries), I thought a JJ trade made sense. But we used that excess to get RJ, and we don't have extra salaries to balance a trade. And I'd rather not use all of our cap space on someone who isn't part of our long term core. So let's be patient and build the right way.

I'm not sure which SF we get, but I'd keep an eye on Butler and Middleton if there is any opportunity for those RFAs, but Harris and Carroll seem like the logical targets and I bet we throw the bank at one of them.

Butler has already been offered the maximum 5 year offer by the Bulls. If he doesn't want that he won't want anything we can offer him.

I think he also wanted an opt out so he could cash in when the cap goes up. So we could sign a poison pill contract with him. But basically I see him and the other RFAs signing with their teams.

There is nothing he could possibly sign with us that wouldn't be matched.