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It boggles my mind, but Thorn was sooooooo high on Keyon the last time he was on the FA market, and we are on his jock again. What is it with this dude?

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Jayhawk, so Dooling coming from Missouri doesn't help. But seriously, he's a tweener guard that does not have an outside jumper, is not extraordinarily long or strong, CANNOT defend SGs, and CANNOT run offense. He gets the reputation for being able to do both, only because he was better than everyone else in the putrid Orlando Magic guard rotation. They say "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king", and I think this philosophy is driving up Keyon's market value.

I am so glad we got a shooter with size like Hayes with our LLE, but Keyon actually said yesterday that he was "insulted" by Orlando offering him the LLE. WHAT?!

I'll give credit where credit is due: he has a highly advanced mid-range game, and he has become responsible with the ball (2:1 AST:TO ratio last year), even though he doesn't have the playmaking ability of a PG. But every time I hear that the Nets would love to offer him $3mil or at most $3.5mil (more than we're paying Najera!), but they don't think that will be ENOUGH for Dooling, I just want to scream! Stop the tunnel vision! Look at other FA guards! I wouldn't mind having any of these veteran guards:

Tony Allen (BIGTIME sleeper FA! Proved in Boston that he CAN run offense, but is a great combo guard option off the bench! Put up 18/4/4/2/1 when Pierce was injured in '07! Coming off of ACL surgery 15 months ago, but played well in Finals)

CJ Miles (Jazz are not committed to him, but he hasn't received a substantial offer yet. Only 21, has prototypical SG size but has a PG's court vision, plays good D)

Salim Stoudamire (innate scorer in the mold of Eddie House)

Dan Dickau (recovered from injuries, has elite court vision)

Sebastian Telfair (hey, he's only 23, and played well for MIN down the stretch. Should come cheap, since this IS a buyer's market for guards. Sports an over 3:1 AST:TO ratio, plus he's from Brooklyn...)

Smush Parker (yeah, he's regressed since wilting under Phil Jackson's scrutiny, but he's still a solid player with size, length and athleticism. Vet's min of like $1.2mil is all he'd need)

Geez, if we're dead-set on getting a Keyon Dooling type player, we could sign Ronald Murry or Juan Dixon for half the price that Dooling wants ($4mil+).

Please everyone, let's band together and tell our front office that there are plenty of fish in the sea! If Dooling wants to hold out for top dollar, he may end up a Latrell/Bonzi cautionary tale. Meanwhile, we'll find a diamond-in-the-rough bargain.

Because Marcus isn't the greatest backup PG because he doesn't play any D ?

And sorry if he had to chose between all of your options and Dooling as backup PG i chose Dooling.

hes whack

My guy is still Janero Pargo. He's basically Harris's twin and I think he'll actually come cheaper than Dooling. Regardless, from what I've been reading, even if they clear roster space for another player, they don't have enough of the MLE left to offer Dooling a contract. He turned down 2 years, 4.2 million from Orlando. We can only offer 2 years, 4.5 million. I'm pretty sure he can get a better deal. Miami has shown interest in him too so we can rest easy if they get him.

Pargo is my boy though. Tony I'm scared of thanks to his knee injury but I loved him when he was tearing it up on a garbage celtics team. No thank you to Telly or Smush or Dickau. CJ Miles is intriguing though. I wonder if we have enough money for him though. I personally think we're probably gonna try to make trades to fill out the rest of the roster, unless someone is willing to take a pay cut and a 2 year deal for the remaining amount in the MLE.

Pargo and Lue are better options IMO, because they both can defend, shoot and run offense better than Dooling. Both Tyronn and Jannero are also likely to sign deals for less than the $4mil-plus that Keyon is supposedly demanding. So, I ask again: what is going on?! Dooling hysteria?!

Serpo, I don't know about you, dude. Keyon over Tony Allen?! He's had almost an entire season without recurrence from that injury, and played at a high level throughout the year. It's not like Shaun Livingston or something, where Tony had to learn to walk again and was out two years or something. And unlike Dooling, Allen is actually a lockdown defender at both guard positions. He's a mini-Iguodala, if you're unfamiliar with his all-world athleticism and leaping ability, and could be had for less than $3mil for sure.

But whether or not you feel Keyon is better than the players I listed previously, you must at least admit that he's not as good as Lue or Pargo, players who also could be had for the remainder of our MLE (~$2.5mil). Dooling is looking for a sugar daddy paycheck that is more than his talents are worth, so we should forget all about him.

Out of the guys you listed in your first post I would consider Tony Allen but that's about it. The rest of those players are garbage or come with too much baggage.

I'm just wondering where you get that Dooling is a poor defender? From what I've seen, he's at least above average, with good length and quickness. He's not better than Tony Allen defensively, but I'd put him over Lue and Pargo on that end because he can guard 2's also.

The team seems to be going after versatility. We have numerous guys who can play numerous positions. With Devin Harris playing close 35-40 minutes a game next season, a combo guard would be ideal as he can play WITH harris as a backup sg. Pargo played SG for the Hornets at times, but he wasn't guarding them.

Dooling isn't exactly a knock-down shooter from deep, but has a good mid-range game and can slash well, which actually seems to be an area we're lacking in. I don't really see him needing to be much of a playmaker, because I don't see him in a lineup without either Harris or Carter (for significant minutes anyway), who would handle that responsibility.

And money aside, my choices would be Dooling or Pargo (doesn't matter much to me), then Tony Allen. No interest in the other guys mentioned other than CJ, but I don't know too much about him.

I wouldn't touch him!

NetsForce wrote:Out of the guys you listed in your first post I would consider Tony Allen but that's about it. The rest of those players are garbage or come with too much baggage.

I mean, honestly, give me a break.

We're not talking about a Christmas wish list of ideal backup guards to pursue. We're talking about finding a veteran FA to ease the burden on Devin, for less than $3mil. I don't think you'll find too many players like that that aren't at least garbage-ish, or have some sort of baggage. You're asking too much out of a roleplayer, but there are some bargains.

The credo of some of the best sports organizations is to 1) always retain your foundation players, and 2) never, over overpay for roleplayers. Most don't think #2 would have any effect on #1, but it certainly does. Look at the Brand situation; say if they hadn't signed Brevin Knight last year, they might've struggled through the latter half of this past season. But they would've had enough capspace to match Philly's offer, and probably would have kept him. You never know when situation like that will present themselves, but there are countless examples of just such an occurrence in the wide world of sports. Smart organizations recognize the unforeseeable, and plan ahead. Thorn and Kiki have done a great job of finding diamonds in the rough (and not overpaying for them) this offseason, and I'm hoping they finish off the summer by adding a backup G at a great price.

We can't afford any of these guys anyway, but Dooling can handle the ball and score with a very good FG% for a small guard. He also defends. What more are you going to get for 4 million? Smush Parker? Are you serious? There are some guys on the same level, like Allen, but we aren't really going to entice anyone with 2.1 million and a 30 win team, if that.

I'd still love it if we could get CJ Miles but he is not a PG. We addressed the frontcourt this offseason. I'm guessing they are waiting until next offseason to address the wing positions.

What I was getting at is that the guys you listed won't provide the same positive impact that Dooling would. You have to pay more money to get a better player, it's as simple as that.

Now just how much the Nets should pay Dooling / how much Dooling is worth... That's up for debate.

I wonder if the Magic would agree to a S&T for Dooling 2 years 3rd year team option ( money not sure but at least 3 Million i per year i guess ) for our TE at 3.5 Million and maybe a 2nd rounder ( though i'm not sure you can combine that )

Doolings a clearly the best available backup PG available considering all-around skills and character.

I don't think Nets can't sign him with whats left of our MLE but if he's not getting that many offers we could work a sign and trade with the Magic . Maybe they even take Swift of our hands since they need a PF .

Huh? Best available point? After all the names I mentioned, plus Lue and Pargo? Plus guys we haven't even mentioned yet, like Daniel Gibson and Delonte West??? WTF???

No, no, no to Dooling being the best available backup PG available. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Ok lets change it to best Combo-Guard. Dooling can play and defend SG's if he was to . ( and our backup SG's right now are Ager and rookie CDR and Ager is crap ) Gibson or West are not available to us because Cleveland will re-sign them btw .

Lue and Pargo ? Well Lue and Pargo can't defend SG's they're too short.

Lue is going to Phoenix or Boston anyway.

I'm still for Pargo or if I had to pick someone from the first list, I'd go with Tony Allen. Before his injury, I honestly loved watching Boston play because I was a big fan of Allen/Gomes/West/Jefferson (Perkins bothers me so much because he thinks he's good). I understand Boston wanted to mortgage their future for 2 years of great basketball, but they had a solid young nucleus to play around Pierce. I'm hoping the Nets don't do something dumb like that with their young guys because if 2-3 of these guys become what they're projected to be, we can be a force for the next decade once they reach their potential.

Is Allen restricted? If Boston loses Posey, I'd give them a call to see maybe if they'd want Hassell. He's just as good a defender as Posey but without the jumper. If they put him on the court with scorers, it wouldn't be a problem though. The problem is our management is kind of shooting ourselves in the foot right now with free agents because of not wanting to give anyone a long term deal unless it's on the cheap. I like the way Najera's contract was structured (front loaded) but now we only have about 2.2 mill of the MLE left so it's not possible. We gotta go the trade route to land anyone of substance now.

Preludepunk27 wrote:Lue is going to Phoenix or Boston anyway.

I'm still for Pargo or if I had to pick someone from the first list, I'd go with Tony Allen. Before his injury, I honestly loved watching Boston play because I was a big fan of Allen/Gomes/West/Jefferson (Perkins bothers me so much because he thinks he's good). I understand Boston wanted to mortgage their future for 2 years of great basketball, but they had a solid young nucleus to play around Pierce. I'm hoping the Nets don't do something dumb like that with their young guys because if 2-3 of these guys become what they're projected to be, we can be a force for the next decade once they reach their potential.

Is Allen restricted? If Boston loses Posey, I'd give them a call to see maybe if they'd want Hassell. He's just as good a defender as Posey but without the jumper. If they put him on the court with scorers, it wouldn't be a problem though. The problem is our management is kind of shooting ourselves in the foot right now with free agents because of not wanting to give anyone a long term deal unless it's on the cheap. I like the way Najera's contract was structured (front loaded) but now we only have about 2.2 mill of the MLE left so it's not possible. We gotta go the trade route to land anyone of substance now.

I'm pretty sure Boston declined the tender Allen a contract which would make him unrestricted. Personally I'd give Allen 1 year for what's left of the MLE with a player option for 09/10, allowing him to hit the market against if he bounces back from his injury woes.