Grade the Free Agent Signings

[mercury]

Doc, I'm listening... a respectful counterpoint is always appreciated... SVG is certainly the X factor this year.
As P (Pharaoh) said, it may be premature to make final assessments.

[DBC10]

If we move Smith, it's an A+ either way.

The easiest off-season grade ever given.

I certainly spent enough time last year thinking about Smith in this way. I may be naive or too optimistic, but I'm thinking SVG is smart enough to use Smith in a better way. He is also the GM, so Smith will have to listen. And let's face it, Smith can be a beast, especially in the open court. I'd like SVG to have one year with Smith and see if he can be salvaged. Same thoughts on Jennings. Maybe neither has had good enough/strong enough coaching to play smarter. I don't know if this is true, but I'm looking forward to see what our new coach can do.

Oh he can be, especially in transitions and a face up game (drives). Every thing else that's required for a bigman (post ups, occasional J, hooks, etc) is an absolute nightmare which can't be fixed. I gave up hope on Smith since he's been in the league for 10 years, and I'm of the opinion that you really can't teach an old dog new tricks. At most SVG may reduce his usage with limiting certain jumpshots but since he's ingrained that silly jumpshot to his repertoire, it may be too late for a reinvention.

At this point, Smith is only relevant for his sheer athleticism which gives him a boost on defense and highlight chasing dunks.

[GSR121]

I gave it a "B". It seems to me that all of the signings allow us to be respectable this year but not hurt our flexibility. I think SVG has an eye on the future and is setting the team up to be players in free agency next year and the year after. At the end of this season Jennings is an expiring deal and will be easy(er) to trade. I think he will be moved before the trade deadline. Smith is a whole different problem. His contract still has three years on it and a trade is going to be tough. As for the Players we signed, DJ is a good pick up he can shoot and will be useful as a sixth man. Butler is a very good 3pt shooter (not great) and fills a need. Meeks was impressive last year and if he preforms at the same level is worth the contract. Martin is a low risk depth signing and Gray is just there for a practice guy and an insurance fill in if needed. Both are negligible salary cap wise. Only Meeks looks to be signed for more than this year with the rest having team options for next season.

The Pistons have a couple of years before they will be truly competitive, maybe sooner if Smith is moved. But for the first time in a LONG time it looks like we have a strategy for the future. That alone would garner a "B" in my book.

[The Penguin]

D

I thought the Meeks signing was fine, especially the way the market exploded for shooting after it was done. I'm ok with picking up Augustin to push Jennings, Gray as an emergency big and Butler as a locker room guy. I understand the Deng-Ariza-Parsons-Hayward tier was out of our wheelhouse.


I just think SVG played it safe and patched some holes when we really need new dry wall instead. It seems like our goal is to treadmill in the 7-10 spots in the East and pray for Drummond to bring us up with him. I know Stan "doesn't rebuild" but isn't that pretty much the exact mantra of Joe from the last few years?


Where I would have done it differently:

1) Replace Boston in the Jack cap dump. The Celtics picked up Zeller & a 1st for taking on Thorton's contract. Zeller could have replaced Gray and given us a much younger backup 5 with actual upside, Thorton is no where near as good as Meeks, but he could provide some of the same things and allowed KCP to start at the 2 without committing future cap room.

2) Replace LA and take Lin & the Rockets 1st. This accomplishes much the same thing as the Augustin pickup, giving us a smart pg who can push Jennings, only on a 1 year deal (granted much more expensive) and adds a 1st.

We'd have to stretch Bynum to make both of these work, but he'd only be a $1 mil cap hit over the next two seasons with the cap expected to rise drastically.

We would be:

Jennings / Lin / Siva / Dinwiddie
KCP / Thorton
Singler / Datome / Martin
Smith / Jerebko / Mitchell
Drummond / Monroe / Zeller


We'd pick up 2 future 1sts (granted they will likely be lower) and be worse this year, but that's kind of the point as SVG would have a year to experiment, see who really belongs and hit next summer with gobs of cap space depending on what we do with Smith & Jennings.

[Billl]

D

I thought the Meeks signing was fine, especially the way the market exploded for shooting after it was done. I'm ok with picking up Augustin to push Jennings, Gray as an emergency big and Butler as a locker room guy. I understand the Deng-Ariza-Parsons-Hayward tier was out of our wheelhouse.


I just think SVG played it safe and patched some holes when we really need new dry wall instead. It seems like our goal is to treadmill in the 7-10 spots in the East and pray for Drummond to bring us up with him. I know Stan "doesn't rebuild" but isn't that pretty much the exact mantra of Joe from the last few years?


Where I would have done it differently:

1) Replace Boston in the Jack cap dump. The Celtics picked up Zeller & a 1st for taking on Thorton's contract. Zeller could have replaced Gray and given us a much younger backup 5 with actual upside, Thorton is no where near as good as Meeks, but he could provide some of the same things and allowed KCP to start at the 2 without committing future cap room.

2) Replace LA and take Lin & the Rockets 1st. This accomplishes much the same thing as the Augustin pickup, giving us a smart pg who can push Jennings, only on a 1 year deal (granted much more expensive) and adds a 1st.

We'd have to stretch Bynum to make both of these work, but he'd only be a $1 mil cap hit over the next two seasons with the cap expected to rise drastically.

We would be:

Jennings / Lin / Siva / Dinwiddie
KCP / Thorton
Singler / Datome / Martin
Smith / Jerebko / Mitchell
Drummond / Monroe / Zeller


We'd pick up 2 future 1sts (granted they will likely be lower) and be worse this year, but that's kind of the point as SVG would have a year to experiment, see who really belongs and hit next summer with gobs of cap space depending on what we do with Smith & Jennings.

The part I think you are missing is that we brought in SVG guys to start changing the culture. He's signed all system guys who he thinks will execute his plan and be content with their roles. Lin? Zeller? Probably not so much.

[dVs33]

So far I like the moves a lot.

I wanted Meeks for a while, so i don't mind that we overpaid a little bit to get him. i really like the fit.
Augustine was a guy i didn't really think about because i liked Mills and Vasquez, but he's a steal IMO.
I watched a lot of him last year and I like him a lot. He's going to push Jennings for the starting spot and i that's a very good thing.
Martin seems ok. i don't know enough to give him a proper grade, but from what i've seen he's a decent pick up for a minimum.
Gray isn't my favorite signing, but he's not getting much money and if we manage to keep Monroe, he won't see the floor anyway.
Butler is kind of an unknown for me now. i didn't watch him last year, so i don't know what he has left in the tank. i'll wait and see.

Overall i'm pretty happy with the signings. I would like some trades tho *cough cough* Smith *cough cough*

[The Penguin]

D

I thought the Meeks signing was fine, especially the way the market exploded for shooting after it was done. I'm ok with picking up Augustin to push Jennings, Gray as an emergency big and Butler as a locker room guy. I understand the Deng-Ariza-Parsons-Hayward tier was out of our wheelhouse.


I just think SVG played it safe and patched some holes when we really need new dry wall instead. It seems like our goal is to treadmill in the 7-10 spots in the East and pray for Drummond to bring us up with him. I know Stan "doesn't rebuild" but isn't that pretty much the exact mantra of Joe from the last few years?


Where I would have done it differently:

1) Replace Boston in the Jack cap dump. The Celtics picked up Zeller & a 1st for taking on Thorton's contract. Zeller could have replaced Gray and given us a much younger backup 5 with actual upside, Thorton is no where near as good as Meeks, but he could provide some of the same things and allowed KCP to start at the 2 without committing future cap room.

2) Replace LA and take Lin & the Rockets 1st. This accomplishes much the same thing as the Augustin pickup, giving us a smart pg who can push Jennings, only on a 1 year deal (granted much more expensive) and adds a 1st.

We'd have to stretch Bynum to make both of these work, but he'd only be a $1 mil cap hit over the next two seasons with the cap expected to rise drastically.

We would be:

Jennings / Lin / Siva / Dinwiddie
KCP / Thorton
Singler / Datome / Martin
Smith / Jerebko / Mitchell
Drummond / Monroe / Zeller


We'd pick up 2 future 1sts (granted they will likely be lower) and be worse this year, but that's kind of the point as SVG would have a year to experiment, see who really belongs and hit next summer with gobs of cap space depending on what we do with Smith & Jennings.

The part I think you are missing is that we brought in SVG guys to start changing the culture. He's signed all system guys who he thinks will execute his plan and be content with their roles. Lin? Zeller? Probably not so much.

I know why he did what he did and I get it. I just worry we are a step ahead of ourselves. I buy in 100% on him attempting to change the culture and building a team that works together over accumulating assets, I'm just concerned about our top end potential of our current foundation. You can do a house flip that leaves you with a very pretty looking house, but if the foundation is bad and you've blown your budget on cosmetic changes you are still going to end up with a pile of rubble.

I don't see the harm in punting a season, attempting to showcase Jennings / Smith / Monroe for trade value, instilling the right attitude in Drummond & KCP over the year, renting cap space on expiring deals that come with assets, landing a high draft pick and then trying to organically grow into a playoff team when you've obtained a good young core. If we played in a different market, I'd be fine with moving forward with just Drummond and attempting to do the Houston thing of attracting stars with cap room every summer around Drummond. We aren't in that situation, the only way we are landing all-stars is through the draft or taking risks on questionable character guys. Stan is pretty adamant about avoiding character guys and I think we have made ourselves good enough to miss out on the draft while staying bad enough to never actually win anything, which is NBA no mans land.

[thesack12]

Meeks: D-

I've already went in depth on that signing

Martin: D+

Can't express praise for signing a minimum caliber player to a minimum contract. Where this signing falls below a passing grade is 1) Its a multiyear conract where the team isn't in control after the first year and 2) It was signed so early on in the process. Which means he was reserved a roster spot which limited flexibility in ability to make other moves:

Gray: F

Bad player, that adds nothing but a body. Also, same two negatives I mentioned about Martin apply to Gray as well

Augustin: C

Solid backup caliber PG on a reasonable contract. That said, I can't grade this high because I am higher on Bynum than the majority of the board, and I don't personally see DJ as too big of an upgrade

Butler: C+

Solid vet at a position of need. May have been slightly overpaid, but the team has control over the second year. But how much does he have left? His biggest value might come from being flipped at the deadline to a contender for a small asset.

SVG the coach: A+

A truly fantastic get. EASILY the best coach in town since LB. This guy is going to work wonders on both sides of the ball

SVG the POBO: INC

Early returns are less than solid, IMO. I've seen a couple sacrifice bunts, but am still waiting on the first single that he mentioned. But have to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point, since he has never been involved with a front office before.

[DETermination]

The thing I love about these signings is not only did we sign 4 guys who can shoot the 3 but also 4 guys who can shoot free throws! I swear it felt like our entire team shot below 50 percent from the free throw line last season lol.

[princeofpalace]

Im happy with the FA signings. I have wanted Joe D to go after guys who fit, but weren't "named" FA for quite some time. Im thrilled that SVG took that approach. I am more confident because its SVG that is going to coach these guys and he has a history of coaching up guys who have been thought to be mediocre talents.

I'm thrilled with the Meeks signing. Meeks is a great shooter and can play solid D and get to the rim. He is exactly the type of guy that we have needed and after seeing what SVG did with Redick, I am even more excited about him. I envision Meeks and KCP splitting time at the SG spot. Meeks/KCP is a huge upgrade over Singler/Stuckey both offensively and defensively so I give this signing an A.

Augustin is another A signing. He saved that Bulls team with his play last season. Granted, he's been a career journeyman but we've seen what he can do with a great coach in Thibs. Here we have another great coach who will certainly get the best out of him. Augustin likely challenges Jennings, which means we have upgraded at PG. Additionally, Augustin being such a knock down shooter is great for our bigs. This signing also gets an A.

I am less thrilled about Butler. We did need a veteran at SF, especially one that can shoot but considering that SF is our biggest weakness, I wanted someone more talented. Butler can hit the 3, he's tough as nails and gives us veteran leadership. I'm thrilled that the signing is essentially for one year, but 4.5 for Caron is an overpay. I give this signing a C for the money it cost.

I like the Martin signing for the vets min. Martin is another knock down shooter who will make it easier for our bigs since its such a small move it gets a B in my book.

Harrleson for Gray, I consider to be a downgrade so I give this move a D.

Overall, I think we have had a B offseason. I would still love to see us upgrade at SF and get a better PG than Jennings. But, I think SVG has positioned us well thus far in free agency and I am curious to see what he does via trades.

[ripchard32]

Agree with OP I also say D. Cartier Martin was just a horrible pick up, Meeks is overpaid, DJ Augustin is probably the best signing we have so far, Butler would have been better maybe 2 seasons ago, right now he's way beyond his peek and just another 3 and D guy, if that even. And Aaron Gray? I don't think I need to say anything. We picked up Toronto's garbage. Hey at least he's tall so we get to see a him in a lot of posters this season.

[detroitKG]

A D grading as far as this topic goes to me would mean these signings made us worse, which is entirely untrue. There's no way to really prove it either way until everyone sees the floor, but I find it hard to believe that adding this much depth an shooting to go along with out bigs would actually make us worse. Never mind that we also brought in a very good coach. A D from a sexy pick perspective sure, but solid pick ups either way by my estimation.


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[jakebernat]

Agree with OP I also say D. Cartier Martin was just a horrible pick up, Meeks is overpaid, DJ Augustin is probably the best signing we have so far, Butler would have been better maybe 2 seasons ago, right now he's way beyond his peek and just another 3 and D guy, if that even. And Aaron Gray? I don't think I need to say anything. We picked up Toronto's garbage. Hey at least he's tall so we get to see a him in a lot of posters this season.

you're right. why didn't we sign Kyle Lowry and Melo?? we should S&T moose for Anthony Davis while we're at it since NO is interested in him.

seriously, what did you expect us to do? we went out and got one of the most complete shooters on the market in meeks. we got a PG that fits SVG's vision of the team and will push Jennings for his spot in Augustin. Butler will also push Singler for his spot as well as help establish a winning culture and mindset in the lockerroom. Gray, another consummate professional and highly regarded teammate, simply provides us with depth in the frontcourt and will be a huge practice body to push Drummond every day.

Oh yeah, there's the Dinwiddie pick which could very well turn out to be a huge steal in time. SVG was able to turn losing our pick, a borderline complete negative, into a possible diamond in the rough. that's good stuff.

so, in case you're still not up to speed, this offseason was about establishing a foundation to build a winning culture and a winning team. SVG knows better than anyone that those aspirations start with Drummond, so the addition of shooters and high-character players make a ton of sense. also, there's still a heaping amount of talent here to begin with. KCP and moose are definitely held in high regard by SVG, and for good reason. he will do everything he in his power to put them in positions to succeed. Smennings will (probably) also get their shot to prove themselves to SVG, and it's not out of the question that he can get them to play up to their talent level either.

bottom line, this offseason was not for the casual fan looking for a home-run to be excited about. SVG told us it was all about the singles and doubles from the beginning. the way i see it, i'm all about small ball (in baseball) as long as your team can manufacture the runs properly. i definitely think we put a few runs on the board.

[ripchard32]

Agree with OP I also say D. Cartier Martin was just a horrible pick up, Meeks is overpaid, DJ Augustin is probably the best signing we have so far, Butler would have been better maybe 2 seasons ago, right now he's way beyond his peek and just another 3 and D guy, if that even. And Aaron Gray? I don't think I need to say anything. We picked up Toronto's garbage. Hey at least he's tall so we get to see a him in a lot of posters this season.

you're right. why didn't we sign Kyle Lowry and Melo?? we should S&T moose for Anthony Davis while we're at it since NO is interested in him.

seriously, what did you expect us to do? we went out and got one of the most complete shooters on the market in meeks. we got a PG that fits SVG's vision of the team and will push Jennings for his spot in Augustin. Butler will also push Singler for his spot as well as help establish a winning culture and mindset in the lockerroom. Gray, another consummate professional and highly regarded teammate, simply provides us with depth in the frontcourt and will be a huge practice body to push Drummond every day.

Oh yeah, there's the Dinwiddie pick which could very well turn out to be a huge steal in time. SVG was able to turn losing our pick, a borderline complete negative, into a possible diamond in the rough. that's good stuff.

so, in case you're still not up to speed, this offseason was about establishing a foundation to build a winning culture and a winning team. SVG knows better than anyone that those aspirations start with Drummond, so the addition of shooters and high-character players make a ton of sense. also, there's still a heaping amount of talent here to begin with. KCP and moose are definitely held in high regard by SVG, and for good reason. he will do everything he in his power to put them in positions to succeed. Smennings will (probably) also get their shot to prove themselves to SVG, and it's not out of the question that he can get them to play up to their talent level either.

bottom line, this offseason was not for the casual fan looking for a home-run to be excited about. SVG told us it was all about the singles and doubles from the beginning. the way i see it, i'm all about small ball (in baseball) as long as your team can manufacture the runs properly. i definitely think we put a few runs on the board.

Since when has Detroit basketball ever been about getting a couple of 3 point shooters and "practice players" and hell if what you said is true about NOLA wanting Moose for Davis we should have done it in a heartbeat. I honestly hope you are trolling with that. We need to establish that defensive presence in the paint again and Drummond is a great way to start but monroe is just a big liability on defense. I will say this though, you are right about Butler and Augustine, they will push the other players to try harder but they might as well start as they both play good defense. Idk about having butler as a starter though.

[Entourage27]

Basically we traded Chauncey, Stuckey, CV, Siva, and Harrelson for Meeks, Butler, Augustin, Gray, and Martin. Idk how anyone can grade this offseason lower than a C. Especially now that we have a real coach AND got rid of Dumars from the FO. Anyways let me give you my grades.

Meeks: B+
It could've been an A if we had him at a cheaper rate but with 3 years on his deal I'm not upset at all with the signing. Gerald Henderson had the same type of deal last year with the Bobcats so the numbers made sense to me. In a basketball standpoint replacing Stuckey with Meeks makes our team instantly better. Meeks can play off the ball, hit the 3, and even create for himself. On the fast break he is also very effective. If he was signed for 4 mill the majority of fans will say its a steal signing meeks but after last season its hard to argue that meeks didn't deserve the contract given to him.

Augustin: A
We needed a PG on our team and after missing out on IT2 we capitalized with the signing of DJ. I wanted him to come here but thought it would be unrealistic as I thought he was either going to a contender on a MLE type deal or go and get paid. This was a straight steal as I have watched many bulls game this past season. After the Rose injury Augustin turned heads with his play and really showed how smart, assertive, and great he could play. His pick and roll game will be monumental for us this season and he will really push Jennings this year for the starting PG spot.

Butler: C+
I liked the signing but I thought we could've done better here. Butler is a talented guy who can be very effective for us this season and has the capabilities of taking over the SF spot starting over Singler. But at the age of 34 I find this to be difficult as idk if butler can stay healthy. It's hard to help manage a locker room as the veteran leader when you're not on the floor playing with the guys, just ask Chauncey Billups.

Martin: D+
This would've been a C if we didn't already have Datome on the roster. I like Martin as a 3 and D guy but I don't like the fact we have him and Datome on the roster together. Get rid of Datome somehow and then this signing does something for me but in the meantime it really does seem rather pointless.

Gray: C-
He's a big body that will push Drummond in practice and is our 12th man (or are we aloud to dress 13 now? If that's the case then he's our 13th man lol). He's essentially the 3rd C in the pecking order if we keep Moose and will only see spot minutes during foul trouble and what not. The fact that he can hold his own for 5 mins a game is all we really need from that spot and for that I am happy about this signing.

SVG: A+++++ Honor Roll, summa cum laude, 4.0 GPA, Gold Sticker, etc. You get the point here lol
He replaces Dumbars in the FO and Cheeks at the HC spot. He is one of the few actual coaches in the NBA, the rest of the guys are just enjoying the ride on a nice paycheck *cough* Eric Spoelstra *cough* and I've been wanting him to come here since he got fired in Orlando but always thought the day would never happen. This whole SVG situation signifies the first step towards actual Detroit Basketball. I love that he's all about defense and changing the culture here. Ever since the Billups trade we've went downhill. This is the first time our organization has been looking up instead of down since.

As a whole this offseason has been an A for me and I really have to applaud Tom Gores for getting all this to happen after pushing his hardest on pursuing SVG. Before this I really thought we weren't seeing a ship here in the next 10-20 years but now I think it's entirely possible we can get one in 5.