Betancourt? Kobayashi? Borowski?
May 15, 2008Matt Holliday? An Indian?
May 16, 2008Fire Sale on Raptors Point Guards
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I want to point out that I am not yet ready to start talking about the Cavaliers’ offseason. We’ve still got a Championship to try to win.
Ok, now that you’ve had your morning comedic relief, lets get to the story at hand…
This is simply too big of a story to pass up. The Toronto Raptors’ excellent young point guard Jose Calderon, who is a restricted free agent, is making big waves as he has basically told the Raptors that if they don’t promise him the starting PG spot, to not even bother trying to bring him back. You see, Calderon is splitting time with the Raptors’ other excellent young point guard, T.J. Ford. Both guys put up 20+ PER seasons at the point for Toronto. They split time, and they split stats. Both guys averaged 11+ points and 6+ assists per game while shooting above 46% from the field and 88% from the FT line. Calderon’s official line was 11.2 ppg, 8.3 apg, 1.1 spg, 51.9% FG, 42.9% 3P, 90.8% FT. The guy is one of the best kept secrets in the NBA.
So what does this have to do with the Cavaliers? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. It’s no secret that the Cavs have been longing for an elite PG since the day they let Andre Miller walk out the door. They’ve tried guys like Kevin Ollie, Eric Snow, Jeff McInnis, and Larry Hughes. Even Daniel Gibson got some starts at PG this year and didn’t do too well. Which brings us to Delonte West. Delonte will be a restricted free agent this season, just like Calderon. The Cavaliers will have some decisions to make. Is West their guy? Should they try to go after Calderon? Do they have the assets to get Calderon? That will be the tricky question.
I promise to look into this more once the Cavaliers season is over, but looking at it with a quick glance, I’m not sure. Some websites are saying its the Raptors’ best move to try to trade Calderon in a sign-and-trade. Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun writes,
“Sign-and-trade scenarios are possible and teams conceivably can clear space, factors that could lead to a more lucrative offer for Calderon.
But the fact remains that one of Calderon or Ford must go.
There is no market for Ford, while teams privately covet Calderon, who would make both a playing and cultural fit in markets such as Miami and Los Angeles.”
If Calderon really does hit the trade market, I think Danny Ferry HAS to be involved and see if he can work something out. The Raptors are, predictably, saying that they will match any offer, and with the Cavaliers limited cap space available anyway, it would be impossible for them to just sign Calderon. The Cavaliers realistically probably don’t have the assets to get Calderon in a trade. Sure, the Cavs have expiring contracts, but the Raptors are a playoff team. They don’t need cap space, they need impact players. Could the Cavs trade their own restricted free agent Daniel Gibson, along with maybe Anderson Varejao, to Toronto to entice them to move Calderon? It’s possible something like that could be done, but I’m not sure where exactly either guy would fit into Toronto’s rotation.
Anyway, like I said, I haven’t looked at this thoroughly yet, because I’m still focused on this current season. But once the Cavaliers are knocked out of the playoffs, er, I mean, win the NBA Championship (I’ll give you a moment to finish laughing……………………………………………………………….ok), we’ll look closer at the Cavaliers options in this offseason. The one thing I can tell you is this: after last season’s brutally silent offseason, things are going to seem much more hectic this offseason, between actually having a first round draft pick for once, key restricted free agents in Gibson and West, and expiring contracts to consider trading. Stay tuned…
9 Comments
The only thing that worries me is would Toronto want to trade one of their point guards within their division to the Cavs. I don’t see it.
Also, there’s no way they let Calderon go. He had such a breakthrough year and is more durable than Ford.
I guess I have a little more optimism for this year yet…
I would tend to agree that its a long shot. But I do think Ferry has to at least try it. See if he can get Toronto to bite. It’s possible for Toronto to trade Ford, but his Base Year Compensation makes him a bit more tricky to trade.
If Toronto could get a solid starter at the 2 or 3, I think they would consider trading Calderon. The problem is, the Cavs don’t have that kind of player to trade. Like they said in that article….a guy like Corey Maggette is going to be much more plauisble for them to trade for.
I was pounding the table for this guy last offseason – I think we’re a year late…
Raptors fan here trying to help clarify things.
Not true that Calderon “has basically told the Raptors that if they don’t promise him the starting PG spot, to not even bother trying to bring him back.” He did say that he didn’t know how he and Ford can co-exist given that Ford balked at coming off the bench.
GM Bryan Colangelo said, “It’s a very safe assumption that Jose will be back in a Raptor uniform.” If either of the PGs is moved, it’s most likely Ford.
The one thing we have learned with Ferry is that if there is a quality player on the market that the Cavs need, he actually tries really hard to go get him. He tried to get Gasol, Garnett, Bibby, and many others, but the roster at that time didn’t really have the pieces necessary to make that kind of deal. Calderon I think is a stud though, he just doesn’t turn the ball over (a problem this team is having apparently). I agree its a long shot, but I can dream
Thanks for clarifying Jeff. The quote attributed to Calderon that I read came from that article I linked to, where it said:
[i]” “I would like to start and that’s the most important thing,” Calderon is quoted as saying in yesterday’s edition of the Spanish daily sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, a sentiment he first shared with visitors to his website.
But now comes the kicker.
Continued Calderon in the article: “I’ve been two years with him but I don’t know if I could be another year because things would have to change.” “[/i]
I guess I took that to mean that he wanted the Raptors to promise him the starting job or else let him go elsewhere. Not sure what he really meant by that, though.
Regardless, I know we’re dealing in speculation, but you know that if Calderon keeps making noise, teams are going to come to the Raptors with offers for him. Sure, its a long shot, but I bet Colangelo at least listens to what people are offering.
If I were Colangelo, I would try to get rid of Ford anyway I can. In all the games I saw Ford, he was AWFUL and really took away from what Calderon was doing. The Roptors would be making a HUGE mistake if they let Calderon go. As far as the Cavs, they need a consistent shooter (and no, I’m not talking about Wally) like Mike Miller, who can draw players away from Lebron and serve as a good scoring outlet for the Cavs.
I think the Raptors will probably bring Calderon back next year – the way restricted free agency works, it’s almost impossible for a team to take someone away. Besides, the only teams with enough cap space to make a real run at Calderon probably don’t have much interest. Philly comes to mind, but it would be a hard sell: “You’re already unhappy backing up TJ Ford, so how about you come backup Andre Miller instead?” Calderon’s best shot at getting what he wants – becoming a starting PG – is to wait for Toronto to make a trade. If I were him, I’d work on getting a great long term deal righ away. If I’m getting 6-10(?) million a year, I’m pretty stoked about being a back-up (at least for a while). Otherwise, I’d sign the qualifying offer and force the Raptors hand. Either way, it’s a pretty good guess that Calderon has at least one more year in a Raptors uniform.