2015 Free Agency and Offseason - Part II

Post #1 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 4:40 pm

Continued from here

gambitx777 · Post #2 » by **gambitx777** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 5:22 pm

If the Wizards trade for a wing, it would make sense to keep either Blair or Nene as back-up Center. Otherwise the depth is pretty bad for the bigs. I think Dudley is more a stretch-4 than a 2, so it isn't quite as thin as that line-up seems.

There are plenty of Cheep bigs out there, Hump has been working on his 3 and I think he could end up as a major back up. I still fell like famous is going to make the team. Aaron Whites euro fate is not totally sealed. Withey is out there and so is sims, And otto would be starting and playing a good number of minutes at the 4.

keynote · Post #3 » by **keynote** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 5:39 pm

How is Teletovic on defense? The Nets may be disinclined to match, given their luxury tax bill.

Dat2U · Post #4 » by **Dat2U** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 5:42 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/618129371119886341[/tweet]

Jay81 · Post #5 » by **Jay81** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 5:48 pm

Dat2U wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/618129371119886341[/tweet]

what would it take to get him you think? Besides a competent GM

Post #6 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:05 pm

Jay81 wrote:
Dat2U wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/618129371119886341[/tweet]

what would it take to get him you think? Besides a competent GM

If we could trade Webster, Blair and our 2016 1st, that could make some sense.

It would get the cost of the 1st and the cost of Webster's buyout off the books, saving us about $1.5M next year. (We actually save $2M, but then have to account for a minimum salary cap hold in place of the draft pick). Morris would cost $8M next year. Overall, our payroll next year would be $59M with just Wall, Beal, Porter, Oubre, Morris and Gortat. Add Durant and it's $86.3M. 3 minimum salary cap holds gets us to $87.8M. So if the cap jumps to $92.4, we could keep Humphries. Otherwise, we'd have something like $2-4M in cap room to go after another decent backup. Add Sato with the Room Exception and we have a roster of 9. Minimum salary vets after that (one of whom would hopefully include Aaron White).

Post #7 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:10 pm

The question is: do we really like Markieff Morris? Is he worth our pick and $8M a year in salary? He can score, but he doesn't rebound very well and his 3-point shot is passable at best. I haven't seen him in action much. How is his defense? Any explanation for the lackluster rebound totals?

Post #8 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:15 pm

Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

Post #9 » by **Rafael122** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:18 pm

nate33 wrote:Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

He's still getting paid by Detroit is he not? I wouldn't offer more than the vet minimum.

FAH1223 · Post #10 » by **FAH1223** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:19 pm

nate33 wrote:Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

I'd totally do Josh Smith at the MLE for a year.

He's getting paid by DET for the next two years.

Post #11 » by **miller31time** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:19 pm

I think Morris is a great option at this point. He doesn't hinder the KD2DC plan, he's a legit stretch-4 and he's relatively young and cheap. His numbers in 13-14 were really solid and that is without playing alongside a top-tier distributor (Dragic is very good but not the floor-general Wall is).

Post #12 » by **miller31time** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:22 pm

nate33 wrote:Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

I'd do it because the acquisition cost would make it worth the minimal risk.

But would it be a productive 1 year rental? I wouldn't put the odds high on that one. As you pointed to, Nate, Wittman is the Prince of Long-2's (the King will always be Flip Saunders) and you know once Smith gets the green light on them and away from the highly analytical Rockets organization, it will be right back to the norm.

But again, it's still worth the gamble.

FAH1223 · Post #13 » by **FAH1223** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:23 pm

The thing with Markieff Morris...

Aren't he and his brother potentially going to go to JAIL???

Post #14 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:23 pm

FAH1223 wrote:
nate33 wrote:Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

I'd totally do Josh Smith at the MLE for a year.

He's getting paid by DET for the next two years.

He wasn't amnestied though. It's not like Detroit is going to be refunded whatever we pay him (the way it works with amnesty). Smith was simply bought out by Detroit. End of story. It has no bearing on his contracts going forward. We would need to pay him whatever it takes to convince him to come here. If that number is substantially less than the MLE, great. I'm just saying we have the flexibility to go all the way up to the MLE. It really doesn't matter. We're not going to spend the money on anybody else.

deneem4 · Post #15 » by **deneem4** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:23 pm

I would like kieff over smith...but neither are bad targets...Both can pay defense...
I think kieff would benefit from a real system and a vet center...while josh smith would try to play for a bigger contract next season...which migh not be good

Post #16 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:25 pm

FAH1223 wrote:The thing with Markieff Morris...

Aren't he and his brother potentially going to go to JAIL???

I heard that it was mostly Marcus doing the punching. Markieff was more of a bystander. FWIW, guys on the Phoenix board say that Markieff is the more professional and responsible guy of the two, and would probably do better without Marcus around.

J-Ves · Post #17 » by **J-Ves** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:36 pm

nate33 wrote:The question is: do we really like Markieff Morris? Is he worth our pick and $8M a year in salary? He can score, but he doesn't rebound very well and his 3-point shot is passable at best. I haven't seen him in action much. How is his defense? Any explanation for the lackluster rebound totals?

He is worth it if he plays more like he did in 13-14, his deal is solid for a starting quality PF even if his rebound numbers are sub par for a big. His 3 pt shooting hasn't been great in his career, but its good enough to keep defenses honest and hes still young so it wouldn't surprise me if he improves in that area over time. I would be hesitant to make the deal though due to his legal trouble.

dobrojim · Post #18 » by **dobrojim** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:50 pm

nate33 wrote:The question is: do we really like Markieff Morris? Is he worth our pick and $8M a year in salary? He can score, but he doesn't rebound very well and his 3-point shot is passable at best. I haven't seen him in action much. How is his defense? Any explanation for the lackluster rebound totals?

I'm not sure I'm down with the idea of giving up our 1st next year which seems to be
a popular idea. Giving up draft picks just seems to have a way of not working out
in a lot of cases.

JWizmentality · Post #19 » by **JWizmentality** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 6:59 pm

David Lee to Boston for Gerald Wallace. WTF?!? That's all it took?

sfam · Post #20 » by **sfam** » Tue Jul 7, 2015 7:20 pm

nate33 wrote:Serious question:

Should we consider Josh Smith on a 1-year deal for the full MLE? I don't like him for the long term because then there's no leverage to keep him in line, but a 1-year deal may be the way to get him to listen to coaching. He's gotta rehab his image before a team will pay big money for a new long term deal.

He showed in Houston that he can dial back his long 2's. (He was terrible in the playoff series against Golden State, however.) He shot a passable .333 percentage from 3pt range for Houston in the regular season. If he just sticks to 3-pointers and defense, he might be our best PF. Of course, Randy Wittman may not be the right voice to get him to quit the long 2's.

I'd definitely sign up for Josh Smith for one year at the MLE. I don't think we can expect him to dial back his 2 point shots all that much but the Wall effect should boost his 3pts to the upper 30s at least. I think he's potentially a lot better option at the PF than we currently have. Totally agree the 1 year contract gives us leverage and keeps his less savory tendencies in check.