2014 Off-season Thread - Part II

[Nivek]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there...

[montestewart]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there…

Not sure I like signing a veteran like that as if this is their year. I don't think it is their year, and Barbosa has both age and injuries contributing to the downside of his career. I'd like to see them looking for younger backcourt help that might stick for a while, like maybe the length of a rookie contract.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there…

Not sure I like signing a veteran like that as if this is their year. I don't think it is their year, and Barbosa has both age and injuries contributing to the downside of his career. I'd like to see them looking for younger backcourt help that might stick for a while, like maybe the length of a rookie contract.

Well, really we have young backcourt players in Rice and Satoransky, as far as long term, as well as Wall and Beal who are also young. A guy like Barbosa would admittedly be a stop gap while Webster recovers and Rice matures, similar to Andre Miller. Satoransky is on a 2 yr deal and can join in for the Durant roster reboot in 2016.

[montestewart]

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there…

Not sure I like signing a veteran like that as if this is their year. I don't think it is their year, and Barbosa has both age and injuries contributing to the downside of his career. I'd like to see them looking for younger backcourt help that might stick for a while, like maybe the length of a rookie contract.

Well, really we have young backcourt players in Rice and Satoransky, as far as long term, as well as Wall and Beal who are also young. A guy like Barbosa would admittedly be a stop gap while Webster recovers and Rice matures, similar to Andre Miller. Satoransky is on a 2 yr deal and can join in for the Durant roster reboot in 2016.

Not a big fan of acquiring what's left of Barbosa, but a veteran wouldn't necessarily be a horrible move (might turn out good, like Miller was last year). I'd just like to see more sifting through the haystacks for useful additions on the cheap. Other than Booker, it seems like it's been a while since the Wizards picked up a useful young player as a late first, second, undrafted FA, or prospect from another team. Jury's still out on Rice and Satoransky, and they might change all that, but the team should keep looking until they're sure about those guys.

[gambitx777]

I would have liked to see thomas, just because there might maybe be something there.
But I really think Jordan Crawford would be a great idea. He has grown a lot as a passer and I think if he has a future in this league it will be as a back up PG. I really think he can come in and play good quality PG minutes with out taking any 2 guard minutes away from rice.

[Nivek]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there...

Well, I don't have a full list of unsigned free agents, and I don't have a ton of scouting resources. If I did, I'm certain I could find better options for a 5th guard than Barbosa. Just like I'm certain I could find better options for a 4th guard than Garrett Temple, and a better option for 3rd center than Seraphin. Or that I could have found a better option for backup PG than Eric Maynor last season.

Barbosa has been a subpar player for several years now. In my stuff, he rated below replacement level last season. The last time he rated near the league average was the 2008-09 season. Last season was worse than he'd been since 08-09, but not by a lot.

[Nivek]

I would have liked to see thomas, just because there might maybe be something there.
But I really think Jordan Crawford would be a great idea. He has grown a lot as a passer and I think if he has a future in this league it will be as a back up PG. I really think he can come in and play good quality PG minutes with out taking any 2 guard minutes away from rice.

There's something about Crawford that seems to inspire his teams to get rid of him. Atlanta was happy to trade him during his rookie season. Washington had him for one full season and parts of two other seasons, only to bench him and then give him to Boston for effectively nothing. In Boston, he seemed to be playing well, but the Celtics swapped him out for Somebody Else. In Golden State, he was awful...and they haven't made any kind of offer to bring him back. Neither has Boston. Or Atlanta. I think fans like him a whole lot better than coaches and execs do. Which means they may well know stuff that we don't. My feeling: find someone else.

[gambitx777]

I would have liked to see thomas, just because there might maybe be something there.
But I really think Jordan Crawford would be a great idea. He has grown a lot as a passer and I think if he has a future in this league it will be as a back up PG. I really think he can come in and play good quality PG minutes with out taking any 2 guard minutes away from rice.

There's something about Crawford that seems to inspire his teams to get rid of him. Atlanta was happy to trade him during his rookie season. Washington had him for one full season and parts of two other seasons, only to bench him and then give him to Boston for effectively nothing. In Boston, he seemed to be playing well, but the Celtics swapped him out for Somebody Else. In Golden State, he was awful...and they haven't made any kind of offer to bring him back. Neither has Boston. Or Atlanta. I think fans like him a whole lot better than coaches and execs do. Which means they may well know stuff that we don't. My feeling: find someone else.

That is a serious possibility, he might have locker rooms issues. But, like you said only the front office and team staff know that. Maybe he deserves another chance? maybe not? We shall see.

[Dat2U]

If anything, I'd like to see us make a move for Jae Crowder from Dallas. I think he might be available after Dallas signed both Chandler Parsons & Al-Farouq Aminu and play the same position.

IMO, Crowder gives us quality depth at the 3 b/w him & Porter, gives us a veteran defender on the perimeter and allows Pierce to slide up to PF at times where I think he's more effective at this stage.

[hands11]

Barbosa has been pretty bad the past few years in the NBA, including last season in that "remarkable comeback" from his ACL injury. There are better options for that last roster spot.

Such as?


I like Barbosa as a what he is, a scoring combo guard who can hit the 3. A vet with playoff experience who can be signed on a low 1 or 2 year deal. Not sure what else you'd want for a final roster spot.

Dahntay Jones
Doron Lamb
Seth Curry
Wizard retreads Rip Hamilton, Jordan Crawford or AJ Price?

Not a whole lot still out there...

Well, I don't have a full list of unsigned free agents, and I don't have a ton of scouting resources. If I did, I'm certain I could find better options for a 5th guard than Barbosa. Just like I'm certain I could find better options for a 4th guard than Garrett Temple, and a better option for 3rd center than Seraphin. Or that I could have found a better option for backup PG than Eric Maynor last season.

Barbosa has been a subpar player for several years now. In my stuff, he rated below replacement level last season. The last time he rated near the league average was the 2008-09 season. Last season was worse than he'd been since 08-09, but not by a lot.

http://hoopshype.com/free_agency_2014.htm

A largely unchanging list. But I suspect we will get another round of moves in 3-4 days after Love goes to CLE.

I would guess at this point everyone is waiting it out for more then the vet min but most will only get that.

Ramon Sessions would seems like a good fit. Adding someone like him would give me more comfort but I suspect they want to give Glen a clear shot at it and I bet Sessions doesn't want to be buried on the bench behind 4 players knowing Miller is the back up PG.

But over time, there will be less and less options so players will take what they can get. Guess its not that time yet.

My last big question is .. what are their plans for KS. $3,898,691 is a lot for Blair knee injury insurance. Its hard to see the scenario where he is here next year resigning for 2M to be a deep bench reserve which seems all he is suited for until he shows some vast improvement mentally.

6' 10", 278 lbs age 24 and pretty athletic. Just a shame he didn't focus more on being a defensive beast. But if he was ever to have his light bulb go on, I would think playing with Nene, Gortat, Hump, Blair and Gooden would do it. Thats a great group of mentors. KS still has a lot of growing up to do to be a professional basketball player.

[hands11]

I would have liked to see thomas, just because there might maybe be something there.
But I really think Jordan Crawford would be a great idea. He has grown a lot as a passer and I think if he has a future in this league it will be as a back up PG. I really think he can come in and play good quality PG minutes with out taking any 2 guard minutes away from rice.

There's something about Crawford that seems to inspire his teams to get rid of him. Atlanta was happy to trade him during his rookie season. Washington had him for one full season and parts of two other seasons, only to bench him and then give him to Boston for effectively nothing. In Boston, he seemed to be playing well, but the Celtics swapped him out for Somebody Else. In Golden State, he was awful...and they haven't made any kind of offer to bring him back. Neither has Boston. Or Atlanta. I think fans like him a whole lot better than coaches and execs do. Which means they may well know stuff that we don't. My feeling: find someone else.

That is a serious possibility, he might have locker rooms issues. But, like you said only the front office and team staff know that. Maybe he deserves another chance? maybe not? We shall see.

I think part of it is a matter of him lining up his expectations to what he is slotted to do in the NBA. He really wanted to be a starter. And he was stuck in between positions for a while. I think his best position is a back up hybrid 1/2 where he plays mostly as a PG. But he played his first years as a microwave SG off the bench. That put him behind the curve.

At this point, I think he now realizes he is not getting picked up to start on a team. He now has been given more opportunity to play PG. I expect that would be what he focuses on this off season. He must also realize he has to be more like a Gooden and mature into a valued locker room piece.

I expect he has learned a lot since leaving the Wizards. He is now 25 going on 26. That has a way of focusing the mind. He has 6-8 years remaining so he has to establish himself as a reliable back up. Then through injury he might get a legit chance again but more likely then not, if he survives, he needs to understand its as a back up.

If I was him, I would be working really had on my 3 ball. Thats something that always gets you in the game if you can hit that and handle the ball. .313 isn't good enough. He need to get to .380

[Ruzious]

If anything, I'd like to see us make a move for Jae Crowder from Dallas. I think he might be available after Dallas signed both Chandler Parsons & Al-Farouq Aminu and play the same position.

IMO, Crowder gives us quality depth at the 3 b/w him & Porter, gives us a veteran defender on the perimeter and allows Pierce to slide up to PF at times where I think he's more effective at this stage.

I think Dallas is looking for Crowder to play the 2. He doesn't look like a 2, but I think he's versatile enough to play there in the 3 and D role. And Dallas looks very shakey in the backcourt.

[gambitx777]

There's something about Crawford that seems to inspire his teams to get rid of him. Atlanta was happy to trade him during his rookie season. Washington had him for one full season and parts of two other seasons, only to bench him and then give him to Boston for effectively nothing. In Boston, he seemed to be playing well, but the Celtics swapped him out for Somebody Else. In Golden State, he was awful...and they haven't made any kind of offer to bring him back. Neither has Boston. Or Atlanta. I think fans like him a whole lot better than coaches and execs do. Which means they may well know stuff that we don't. My feeling: find someone else.

That is a serious possibility, he might have locker rooms issues. But, like you said only the front office and team staff know that. Maybe he deserves another chance? maybe not? We shall see.

I think part of it is a matter of him lining up his expectations to what he is slotted to do in the NBA. He really wanted to be a starter. And he was stuck in between positions for a while. I think his best position is a back up hybrid 1/2 where he plays mostly as a PG. But he played his first years as a microwave SG off the bench. That put him behind the curve.

At this point, I think he now realizes he is not getting picked up to start on a team. He now has been given more opportunity to play PG. I expect that would be what he focuses on this off season. He must also realize he has to be more like a Gooden and mature into a valued locker room piece.

I expect he has learned a lot since leaving the Wizards. He is now 25 going on 26. That has a way of focusing the mind. He has 6-8 years remaining so he has to establish himself as a reliable back up. Then through injury he might get a legit chance again but more likely then not, if he survives, he needs to understand its as a back up.

If I was him, I would be working really had on my 3 ball. Thats something that always gets you in the game if you can hit that and handle the ball. .313 isn't good enough. He need to get to .380

Great post, and I have to agree, he is built to be a good back up PG, he is athletic enough, he can defend when he is motivated to, and he can pass. I think he has enough scoring talent that his 3 point shot will improve if he is not trying to jack up shots all the time. He averaged .391 in his JR year of college. I think if he changes his mind set like you said, I think he will be around for 6+ more years.

[hands11]

That is a serious possibility, he might have locker rooms issues. But, like you said only the front office and team staff know that. Maybe he deserves another chance? maybe not? We shall see.

I think part of it is a matter of him lining up his expectations to what he is slotted to do in the NBA. He really wanted to be a starter. And he was stuck in between positions for a while. I think his best position is a back up hybrid 1/2 where he plays mostly as a PG. But he played his first years as a microwave SG off the bench. That put him behind the curve.

At this point, I think he now realizes he is not getting picked up to start on a team. He now has been given more opportunity to play PG. I expect that would be what he focuses on this off season. He must also realize he has to be more like a Gooden and mature into a valued locker room piece.

I expect he has learned a lot since leaving the Wizards. He is now 25 going on 26. That has a way of focusing the mind. He has 6-8 years remaining so he has to establish himself as a reliable back up. Then through injury he might get a legit chance again but more likely then not, if he survives, he needs to understand its as a back up.

If I was him, I would be working really had on my 3 ball. Thats something that always gets you in the game if you can hit that and handle the ball. .313 isn't good enough. He need to get to .380

Great post, and I have to agree, he is built to be a good back up PG, he is athletic enough, he can defend when he is motivated to, and he can pass. I think he has enough scoring talent that his 3 point shot will improve if he is not trying to jack up shots all the time. He averaged .391 in his JR year of college. I think if he changes his mind set like you said, I think he will be around for 6+ more years.

Thanks

And a heavy dose a reputation rehab. I focus a lot on what between the ears regarding a player. Character, personality, focus, decision making, clutch thinking, drive, communication skills, etc, etc. have a lot to do with a players success. Even top talents are changed by these things and they can play a big role between them being good > really good or really good > great.

Its a hard conversation to have because there are so many variables and so many ways a play can fit on a team.

Look at a player like Temple. Is he more talented than Crawford. In most ways no. But Temple knows his role. He knows where he fits. He has an easy personality. He fits a niche with the things he offers. He defends. He is a big guard hybrid 1/2 that has found a way to get the franchise to continue to give him a chances because of his combination of skills and personality/fit. And for that he got his first guaranteed contract last year and they were even willing to bring him back this year when they could have replaced him. Even as a marginal player, Temple actually becomes part of the stability of the team. One of his best talents is his personality and that's a big reason he still has a roster spot here.

Somehow Crawford has to establish himself as that to a franchise. Not sure what the best path for him to get there. A light bulb moment. Working with the therapist ? A mentor ? A PR firm ? All the above ?

Gooden has a bad reputation at one point but after a year out of the league he seems to have matured a ton and I know see him as a asset in the locker room because of his personality fit on the team. Somehow Crawford needs to exercise his demons and get over that hump so he can contribute his basketball skills on an NBA team.

[dckingsfan]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... on-wizards

[Severn Hoos]

If anything, I'd like to see us make a move for Jae Crowder from Dallas. I think he might be available after Dallas signed both Chandler Parsons & Al-Farouq Aminu and play the same position.

IMO, Crowder gives us quality depth at the 3 b/w him & Porter, gives us a veteran defender on the perimeter and allows Pierce to slide up to PF at times where I think he's more effective at this stage.

I think Dallas is looking for Crowder to play the 2. He doesn't look like a 2, but I think he's versatile enough to play there in the 3 and D role. And Dallas looks very shakey in the backcourt.

What is it with NBA teams trying to force guys into certain positions, especially at SG? I remember when Keith Booth came into the league, and next thing I know, his team (Bulls?) was trying to get him to play SG. Keith Booth? SG? Really? Granted, he was about 6'5. But then, so was Barkley. And not saying Booth is anything like Barkley, just that it's silly to take a guy out of what he does well (bang down low, grab rebounds) and force him into a position that minimizes his strengths.

Then came Caron Butler. I loved watching him at UConn. He was a bowling ball in college, all fight, throwing elbows, playing mean. But no, he's too short for the frontcourt, let's see if he can play the 2. He finally found his niche at SF, which is probably where he should have been all along, but the SG experiment was silly.

The Wizards, being the Wizards, turned the model on its head by trying to force Otto into the SG spot last summer (remember that? no wonder his rookie season was such a washout.) Instead of taking the short widebody and playing him at SG, they took the tall skinny kid and made him play SG. Worked out great...

I seriously think that if Barkley and Larry Johnson came into the league today, some genius would try to play them at SF, if not SG.

All of this is to say - Good. I hope the Mavs play him at SG. And I hope he struggles, making them question his long term prospects in the league. And then maybe we can snatch him up on the cheap.

[hands11]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11391 ... mberwolves

One source familiar with league rules told ESPN.com that Wiggins becomes eligible to be dealt at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, as soon as the calendar flips to Aug. 23.

We can finally get this trade behind up as soon as tomorrow.

I think MIN did really well through all this.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

How about picking up Carlos Delfino as a vet backup for Beal and add some more SG depth. Can essentially fill Webster's role while he's out, and gives us a vet option in case Rice doesn't pan out or gets off to a slow start. He was just waived by Clippers.

6-6 SG, just turned 32 yrs old, last season for Houston played 67 games 25 min/game, 10.6 ppg, 2 assts, 3.3 boards, 38% on 3's. Agent is Andy Miller.

Would balance out roster...

C - Gortat, Blair, Seraphin
PF- Nene, Humphries, Gooden
SF- Pierce, Porter, Webster
SG- Beal, Rice, Delfino
PG- Wall, Miller, Temple

[hands11]

Ray Allen, Delfino, Sessions, Richard Hamilton, Barbosa

Any of them would be nice to add.

But there is no indication they want to use the last slot.

Its the slow time of the year. At least we have the FIBA games which is at least something. Should get more entertaining when they enter tournament play.

But the season will be here before long.

http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/ ... /Preseason

Oct 6, 2014 8:00 PM ET

The last FIBA game is Sep 14