Clippers should target KG in offseason

[scoobs07]

Blake and DJ are great athletes and in time, they could both develop into great post players but the fact is the Clippers need more skill in the low post at this time. I know it is a bit premature to be discussing this with the playoffs here, but this is Real GM and the bst GMs are working 24/7, 365 (I hope Olshey is) Well here is my off season plan as of right now:

1. Amnesty Mo Williams (This saves 8.5 million)
2. Use the "Spread" clause on Gomes (This spreads his contact over a 3 year period) It would pay him 1.3 million per year over the next three years instead of 4 million next season.
3. Renounce Foye, Billups and KMart.
4. These moves would create aproximatly 8-10 million in cap space. The Clippers should offer KG a 3 year deal for 8-10 million per year. KG might do this because he knows he would have a great shot for some more rings before he retires, plus he lives in Malibu.
5. Sign Billups and Evans for the vet minimum.
6. Sign a free agent small forward like Pietrus, Miles or GHill with the vet minimum.
7. Sign Foye or Young with the 2.5 million "room exception" (2years/5million).

PF-Griffin/Evans/Thompkins
SF-Butler/Pietrus
C-Garnett/Jordan
PG-Paul/Bledsoe
SG-Billups/Foye/Leslie

[azncorruptedo17]

Blake and DJ are great athletes and in time, they could both develop into great post players but the fact is the Clippers need more skill in the low post at this time. I know it is a bit premature to be discussing this with the playoffs here, but this is Real GM and the bst GMs are working 24/7, 365 (I hope Olshey is) Well here is my off season plan as of right now:

1. Amnesty Mo Williams (This saves 8.5 million)
2. Use the "Spread" clause on Gomes (This spreads his contact over a 3 year period) It would pay him 1.3 million per year over the next three years instead of 4 million next season.
3. Renounce Foye, Billups and KMart.
4. These moves would create aproximatly 8-10 million in cap space. The Clippers should offer KG a 3 year deal for 8-10 million per year. KG might do this because he knows he would have a great shot for some more rings before he retires, plus he lives in Malibu.
5. Sign Billups and Evans for the vet minimum.
6. Sign a free agent small forward like Pietrus, Miles or GHill with the vet minimum.
7. Sign Foye or Young with the 2.5 million "room exception" (2years/5million).

PF-Griffin/Evans/Thompkins
SF-Butler/Pietrus
C-Garnett/Jordan
PG-Paul/Bledsoe
SG-Billups/Foye/Leslie

Sounds nice, but i wonder if KG would be down to be the BU instead?

Our starting 5 would basically be the same, but this will def help keep KG fresh all year, and have an even better bench. Evans does his usual dirty work, our defensive 2nd team will still be up, KG would be another choice for scoring on top of foye. I think even keep kmart for SF, he can hit the midrange well i think. Still a good defender especially at times where we need a better spread 4 defender. BG/Jordan can't do that.

[scoobs07]

^ IDK if he would be down to be the back up. I think you have to make him the starting center out of respect. DJ is still very young and by the time KG's contract would be up, im sure DJ's game would be much improved and could be a 12/10/3 guy by then. KG could actually mentor both Blake and DJ. There could be a bidding war between teams like Boston, New Jersey and the Clipps. Clipps would probably promise KG the starting center position anyways.

[mkwest]

First off, I want to say that most would totally be in favor of signing Garnett if he were to choose to walk in free-agency. It's been talked about here occasionally. He would add a level of defensive intensity and leadership that could put us over the top. We'd be a contender and a team that would be worth his while if Boston decided to rebuild.

To my knowledge, the Stretch Provision only applies only to new contracts that have been signed after the new CBA was put into effect. Gomes wouldn't be eligible due to signing under the old CBA.

The best case scenario for freeing up cap space in the summer is for Mo to opt out and for Gomes to be amnestied. This combination of moves would help free up $12M or so. We would then be able to divvy that up on a free-agent or 2 (and that may include Chauncey). We'd also then then have the room extension that you have mentioned to sign a player for $2.5M. The problem is that Mo is probably not going to want to leave $8.5M on the table when he will inevitably make less next season as a free-agent.

If Mo doesn't opt out, then Neil should look into packaging the expiring contracts of Mo and Gomes to acquire another key piece. They wouldn't get us Garnett, but a player on a team that is looking to free up cap space. The 2013 free-agents will include:

Guards:
John Wall (RFA), Stephen Curry (RFA), Brandon Jennings (RFA) (RFA), Ty Lawson (RFA), Jrue Holiday (RFA), Monta Ellis (ETO), Tyreke Evans (RFA), Kevin Martin, James Harden (RFA), Demar Derozan (RFA), Manu Ginobili

Forwards:
Josh Smith, Taj Gibson (RFA), David West, Serge Ibaka (RFA), Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson

Centers:
Dwight Howard, Nikola Pekovic, Sam Dalembert, Tiaggo Splitter, Zaza Pachulia

CP3 will also be a free-agent. Blake will be a restricted free-agent if we don't extend him this summer.

There's a few players that will be unrestricted and unlikely to re-sign with their current rosters that teams may be interested in. 2014 is the free-agent class that many GM's are looking forward to, but it's possible that a team could be looking to make a few moves next summer and would have interest in a package consisting of Mo and Gomes + filler/incentives.

[scoobs07]

^ Bummer. Well thanks for the info. I'm 90% sure Mo will not opt out of that contract and I feel that maybe there is a chance we could trade Mo to a team like Portland, New Jersey or Orlando, but we most likely wouldn't be able to get a KG caliber big man in return. Even if Mo is just amnestied, we would still open up about 6-8 million in cap space. Maybe that would be enough for KG? Maybe give him a 4 year deal worth 28 million? Even if he gives us 10ppg/7rpg/1bpg off the bench in the 4th year of his contract, that is still pretty good production for the money.

[scoobs07]

^Lets say the Clipps end up with 7 million in cap space. They could offer KG a 4 year deal worth 32.5 million (7 million in year one, 7.8 in year two, 8.4 in year three and 9.1 million in year four. If worse comes to worse and they feel they don't want KG any more in year four, they could then use the stretch provision on him. The 9.1 million would be paid off to him in 3 years at 3 million per year.

[scoobs07]

I just did the math, and if the salary cap is 58 milllion like it was this year, then the Clipps would only have about 5.25 million if Mo is amnestied. Hopefully the salary cap would go up to about 60 million, then we would have some money to work with. Having the 5.25 is basically the same as the MLE. I think we might have to offer Mo and 3 million cash to a team like Portland, or take back a contract like Petro (3.5 million) from New Jersey. Gomes could then be amnestied. 9.25 million in cap space would be nice.

[ejftw]

I wonder if Atlanta would do Gomes/2nd for Pachulia? I mean, Pachulia isn't great but will definitely improve our big men off the bench. Deal Mo Gotti for Ariza, if Hornets want to dump Ariza for a shorter deal and get a PG, while retaining nearly everyone else.

PG: Paul - Billups - Bleds
SG: Butler - Foye - Leslie
SF: Ariza - Sushi
PF: Blake - Martin - Thompkins
CE: Jordan - Pachulia - Evans?

I think that's similar to what will happen, unless Olshey makes a huge splash

[og15]

Mentioned this earlier, a big rotation of Blake/DJ/KG would be amazing, but KG wanting to be a Clipper, I'm not sure about

[azncorruptedo17]

Mentioned this earlier, a big rotation of Blake/DJ/KG would be amazing, but KG wanting to be a Clipper, I'm not sure about

i think we'd have the best place for him to win rings imo.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Mentioned this earlier, a big rotation of Blake/DJ/KG would be amazing, but KG wanting to be a Clipper, I'm not sure about

i think we'd have the best place for him to win rings imo.

It would be great to get KG, but I think the best place for him to go if he wants the best chance to win a title would be to Miami as their starting center. In fact, KG, Nash, and Ray Allen should all join the Heat next season.

[azncorruptedo17]

Mentioned this earlier, a big rotation of Blake/DJ/KG would be amazing, but KG wanting to be a Clipper, I'm not sure about

i think we'd have the best place for him to win rings imo.

It would be great to get KG, but I think the best place for him to go if he wants the best chance to win a title would be to Miami as their starting center. In fact, KG, Nash, and Ray Allen should all join the Heat next season.

not with cap room and if they expect to have a bench

[scoobs07]

We could out bid Miami for KG's services. If we open up that cap room, we could offer him a 4 year/ 33 million dollar contract. Im pretty sure Miami would only have the MLE, which is 3years/15million. So, we could offer him a combination of money, rings and location.

[scoobs07]

It could go down like this:

1. Clipps renounce Foye and KMart.

2. Clipps trade Mo and 3 million cash to Portland for a future 2nd round pick.

3. Clipps amnesty Gomes.

4. Clipps sign KG for 4years/33million.

5. Clipps sign Nick Young for 4years/12million.

6. Clipps sign Randy Foye for 2years/5million.

7. Clipps sign Billups for vet minimum.

8. Clipps sign Evans for vet minimum.

PF-Griffin/Evans/Thompkins
SF-Butler/Young
C-Garnett/Jordan
PG-Paul/Bledsoe
SG-Billups/Foye/Leslie

[og15]

The best case scenario would be for Mo Williams to opt out of his contract, and then one could amnesty Gomes. I believe that in that scenario, there's cap space to sign KG right away to a decent sized contract. If Mo doesn't opt out though, I wouldn't want to trade him for peanuts. He's a starting caliber PG, and he's an expiring contract, one should be able to salvage something for him.

...but yea, KG would be the best case scenario for the Clippers. He immediately makes the team top 10 defensively, he can mentor both DJ and Blake on defense, and he provides the role of a stretch big. If I was the GM, I would personally go all out for KG, but I have no clue what his monetary desires are.

KG's raw numbers are 15.8 PPG / 8.2 RPG / 2.9 APG, but per 36, the guy is putting up:
18.3 PPG | 9.5 RPG | 3.4 APG | 1.1 SPG | 1.2 BPG | .503 FG% | .550 TS% | 20.3 PER

...and he's one of the best defenders in the league. The 96 minutes at PF/C can be slip it up as Blake (36), DJ (30), KG (30) with a 4th big for foul trouble and possible injury situations.

KG improves the offense with his ability to stretch the floor, be a pick and pop big, and also passing ability. He vastly improves the defense, and this team becomes a team that's capable of top 5 both offensively and defensively (which equals automatic contender and 60 win level team). The thing is that he's 35 years old. I'd be super weary of giving him a 4 year deal. I would be willing to do a three year deal with a player option in year 3, but a contract until he's 39 years old is a lot as Blake and Paul both need to be re-signed next season. Also, he might not want to get locked down in case the situation doesn't work, so maybe he'd be interested in a 2 year deal. Giving him more money, but over 2 years might be a better choice if one can still retain guys like Foye or Young (wouldn't be possible to have both), etc.

This would also be a lot easier if DJ got a contract in the $7-8 million range as opposed to Golden State going crazy and offering him so much. I was scared of this, but Caron is looking a lot like dead weight, well disappointing at this moment. I mentioned when he was signed that I'm not a huge fan because he's too injury prone and not that good of a defender, but I at least expected more offensively. Hopefully as he get's healthier, some explosiveness is evident. He's only a 3 year contract though, so it isn't horrible. He's an expiring during the summer that Paul and Blake will be re-signing.

[scoobs07]

KG improves the offense with his ability to stretch the floor, be a pick and pop big, and also passing ability. He vastly improves the defense, and this team becomes a team that's capable of top 5 both offensively and defensively (which equals automatic contender and 60 win level team). The thing is that he's 35 years old. I'd be super weary of giving him a 4 year deal. I would be willing to do a three year deal with a player option in year 3, but a contract until he's 39 years old is a lot as Blake and Paul both need to be re-signed next season. Also, he might not want to get locked down in case the situation doesn't work, so maybe he'd be interested in a 2 year deal. Giving him more money, but over 2 years might be a better choice if one can still retain guys like Foye or Young (wouldn't be possible to have both), etc.

I agree that we should give him as short a deal as possible, but if there if push comes to shove, I would be willing to go 4 years, knowing that we could use the "spread" provision towards the end of his contract of it dont work out. I think Boston could offer him a lot of money, but they most likey dont want to sign him for more then 2 years, since they are in rebuilding mode. New Jesey is also trying to "build" a team on the fly, so Im not sure how much they want to invest in a 36 year old. We already pretty much have our team and are looking to add more pieces that fit. Getting KG would be somewhat similar to the Lakers getting Bob McAdoo (a former superstar) to be their sixth man.

[mkwest]

We could out bid Miami for KG's services. If we open up that cap room, we could offer him a 4 year/ 33 million dollar contract. Im pretty sure Miami would only have the MLE, which is 3years/15million. So, we could offer him a combination of money, rings and location.

Miami is over the luxury tax threshold, so their MLE (Mini-MLE) is more like 3 years/$10M.

[mj_shoefanatic]

I like the idea of acquiring Ariza but everything else outside of bringing back Foye/Young/Evans/Billups seems far-fetched to say the least. KG is a shadow of his former self. We're better off gunning for a legit SF this offseason. This dynamic duo of CP/BG is great and all but a top-tier 3rd scoring threat would do this team wonders next season and 'ol ass KG is not the solution for that.

[mkwest]

I just wanted to mention that Chauncey and Garnett are pretty good friends. Garnett happens to be the godfather of one of Chauncey's children. If Garnett is contemplating leaving Boston (and if we have the means to sign him), you better believe that Chauncey will be in his ear.

I like the idea of acquiring Ariza but everything else outside of bringing back Foye/Young/Evans/Billups seems far-fetched to say the least. KG is a shadow of his former self. We better be gunning for a legit SF this offseason. This dynamic duo of CP/BG is great and all but a 3rd scoring threat would do this team wonders next season and 'ol ass KG is not the problem solver.

He has looked like Garnett of old this season as opposed to an old Garnett. Moving to center certainly helped. KG knows what it takes to be a defensive anchor and Boston was the number ranked defense this season. DJ dreams of being that, KG can teach him for the future while he's helping anchor ours now. His presence would also open up the floor for Blake to operate down low. He's also a quality passer. KG solves a lot of problems for this team. A 3rd scorer that can be relied on every night would be nice, but it's not as necessary when you're playing at a high level on the defensive end.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Shaq looked good that year he was in PHX but that don't mean he was back so to speak. I just don't think this team needs anymore oldies. If anything DJ and Blake need to get together with Hakeem this summer. No excuses.