How About Calderon?

[pkballr]

How about this guy? Everyone keeps speaking about how well the Beno/Evans pairing worked wonders for Evan's game. What about bringing on a stronger version of Beno? Calderon is expiring and the Raptors have been looking to trade him since the beginning of the season. With Lowry back, Calderon has seen his minutes reduced to just under 20. Obviously his trade value is at his highest, what with strong double digit assist numbers in his stretch as a starter. Someone that can come on and really be a strong distributor with a (winning) veteran mentality. It will also stabilize our backcourt and give us either a playmaker off the bench or a strong shooter to start with. I would love to have this guy on our team.

Raptors out:
J. Calderon

Kings out:
F. Garcia
J. Fredette

Raptors new lineup:
Lowry/Lucas/Fredette
DeRozan/Ross/Garcia
Kleiza/Pietrus/Acy
Bargnani/Davis
Valanciunas/Johnson

Kings new lineup:
Calderon/Brooks/Thomas
Evans/Thornton
Salmons/Johnson/Outlaw
Thompson/Robinson
Cousins/Hayes

Why the Raptors do this?
Finally ends the tenor of Calderon and starts the new era of Lowry at point. Also, takes on a potential deep ball threat that is young, moving the rebuild of the Raptors right along. Jimmer gets a fresh start with a new coach and may get the opportunity to excel in a system that pretty much asks for shooting. Toronto, in the last 5 games has been one of the worse three point shooting teams in the league. Last 10 games, still bottom third. With a player like Jimmer to come in, it will only help to space the floor for Lowry/DeRozan/Ross to attack the lane. Garcia is just throw in to help with the contracts, and also is an expiring. But, if they want to use Garcia, he can definitely help. The SF position (just like ours) has been their biggest question mark. Maybe they can take the Kings route and just have whomever outplays the other gets to start. Maybe.

Why the Kings do this?
No more questions with the backcourt besides who is going to start between Calderon and Brooks. Thomas (unfortunately) gets relegated to our third PG and his role will be determined. Role will be determined. Calderon will bring the veteran presence as mentioned earlier, and can also help space the floor if needed. Caledron is shooting 46% from the 3PT with A:TO ratio of 3.5:1. Playmaker with 3pt skills? What, what? Also, he's a large expiring that can come off the books this year if he doesn't pan out.

I think a lot of people might feel like we would be giving up on Jimmer too soon with a player who won't even be guaranteed to stay. To me though, it just seems like both players need a fresh start. Also, it'll give us a nice, large expiring contract and cut salary. Even the Maloofs might approve. I'm not sure if the Raptors are all that willing to cut ties with Calderon in order to get an un-proven player, but the longer he stays on the bench, the lower his value will go. Thoughts?

[Capt. Factorial]

I'm on board with Calderon. Since he'd pretty much take over the point, I'd prefer to see IT or Brooks go instead of Jimmer - that would leave Jimmer to take some spot SG minutes (and hopefully develop). I don't know how our roster works with Calderon/IT/Brooks all as pretty much PG-only players.

Plus, if you think the minutes crunch is bad now, imagine shipping off two guys who hardly play (Garcia, Jimmer) for a starter. That won't help.

[panda]

I have no faith that Calderon would even be a starter with Smart as coach. Calderon is a free agent after the season too, with a $10 million contract, who may not want to sign on for next year. He would be a great teacher for Jimmer in an altered trade idea. How about Salmons, Thomas, Brooks and any PF for Calderon & Bargnani.

I wouldn't mind starting Cousins, Bargs, Tyreke, Jimmer, Calderon.

[Mass]

I have no faith that Calderon would even be a starter with Smart as coach. Calderon is a free agent after the season too, with a $10 million contract, who may not want to sign on for next year. He would be a great teacher for Jimmer in an altered trade idea. How about Salmons, Thomas, Brooks and any PF for Calderon & Bargnani.

I wouldn't mind starting Cousins, Bargs, Tyreke, Jimmer, Calderon.

The other teams would score 150 point every single night against this starting 5.

[SacKings7]

Calderon is a good option, but he's a free agent at the end of the season so it's a risk. Also, the "new era" of Lowry at point has already begun, Calderon comes off the bench now. I still think we should have tried harder to get Lowry

[Spike]

I like Calderon. If we can add a big somehow and subtract another guard not named Evans or Thornton, I'd go for it. Make it happen.

[sidney]

Calderon is a good option, but he's a free agent at the end of the season so it's a risk. Also, the "new era" of Lowry at point has already begun, Calderon comes off the bench now. I still think we should have tried harder to get Lowry

Yep. Considering what Houston got (Forbes + high first) I'm sure we could have gotten Lowry for Garcia (expiring) + our Robinson pick. Probably could have swapped Chuck for Dalembert too in the deal had we acted in time. No doubt we would be in a much better situation now had we moved on that.

[pkballr]

Just watching Calderon flourish under the guise of Lowry being injured really shows how valuable he is. He's an assist machine and is more than generous with giving up the rock. Since taking over as starter, the Raptors have went 4-1 with him averaging 11 assists a game. Going off his average starting stats for the season, he's ringing in 11.5 assists per game with a +/- of +14. I think the only thing is his expiring contract and the way we use our minutes here. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him get tossed around like all of our other players. But, there's no doubt ball distribution would be more fluid and the offense more efficient.

[bajaden]

I've always liked Calderon. He has his defensive liabilities, but so do many of the PG's in the league. Nash is hardly a defensive stopper. Calderon is a pass first PG, but one that can shoot the ball. He shoots almost 50% overall and is over 40% from the three. So you have to guard him. He's a smart player with great court vision. The fact that he becomes a freeagent at the end of the year is the problem.

I agree that I would rather throw in IT instead of Jimmer. I think Jimmer has better court vision than IT, who tends to have tunnel vision at times. Jimmer will take the open shot, but if he see's someone with a better shot, he'll pass it to him. The point is, he tends to see them, and IT doesn't at times. Besides, my gut tells me to hang on to Jimmer, and my gut isn't wrong often. The last time it was, was with Kevin Durant, and I don't want to talk about that. Thats an inside joke between myself and my son!

[KevinSalvadori]

Just watching Calderon flourish under the guise of Lowry being injured really shows how valuable he is. He's an assist machine and is more than generous with giving up the rock. Since taking over as starter, the Raptors have went 4-1 with him averaging 11 assists a game. Going off his average starting stats for the season, he's ringing in 11.5 assists per game with a +/- of +14. I think the only thing is his expiring contract and the way we use our minutes here. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him get tossed around like all of our other players. But, there's no doubt ball distribution would be more fluid and the offense more efficient.

I would trade for Calderon just to see any of our PGs get more than 4 assists a game on a consistent basis. That said, while i like the idea of adding a younger PG more (Rondo) considering the price might be significantly lower for Calderon, I could live with this. My deal would be JT, IT, Garcia and Salmons for Bargs and Jose. I don't love it, but would be interesting to watch DMC/Bargs/???/Jose/Evans every night.

[KevinSalvadori]

Yep. Considering what Houston got (Forbes + high first) I'm sure we could have gotten Lowry for Garcia (expiring) + our Robinson pick. Probably could have swapped Chuck for Dalembert too in the deal had we acted in time. No doubt we would be in a much better situation now had we moved on that.

Thinking of this deal, and how much better we would be, made me want to cry.

[CruzDude]

Calderon I like. But he has a $10M expiring price tag at the moment. And Raptors want to unload Bargnani big time. It's now 12/31/2012 and IT is here to stay. But Tyreke has become a mystery (bajaden's words to me today) with the "2nd opinion" delay popping up. Celtics want Tyreke, don't know if Raptors do as well. A 3 team trade might work but would Kings better off dealing with Celtics for Sullinger/Green for Tyreke/Outlaw or some such scenario??

[Gilles]

Calderon likes to dribble too much and is too indesisive. He's actually have the same traits Evans is often accused of without any plus effects like finishing inside or defense.

[Entity]

just say no to another pg

[upinsmoke]

just say no to another pg

My thoughts exactly unless it's a no brainer deal of course. A rim protector and SF of the future are much higher priorities at this point.

[bajaden]

Calderon likes to dribble too much and is too indesisive. He's actually have the same traits Evans is often accused of without any plus effects like finishing inside or defense.

I hate to tell you this, but Nash tends to dribble a lot too, but its with a purpose. Calderon is averaging 11 assists a game of late, if he can do that, I don't give a damm how much he dribbles the ball.

[Gilles]

Except despite his 11 assists Toronto is better on offense with the other guy and we are talking about fellow bottom dweller. A lot of teams coveted 74-year old Nash. Nobody wants Calderon. I'm sure all of the League execs are complete and utter incompetence.

[Chupacabra]

Im sounding crazier and crazier but i prefer Jimmer lol

[twslam07]

Trade 1

Kings Get:
Jose Calderon
Ed Davis

Raptors Get:
Marcus Thornton
Chuck Hayes

Kings Lineup:
PG - Calderon/Thomas/Brooks
SG - Evans/Fredette/Garcia
SF - Salmons/Johnson/Outlaw/Honeycutt
PF - Thompson/Robinson
C - Cousins/Davis

Raptors Lineup:
PG - Lowry/Lucas
SG - Thornton/Anderson/Ross
SF - Derozan/Pietrus/Fields/Kleiza
PF - Bargnani/Johnson/Hayes
C - Valanciunas/Gray


Trade 2

Kings Get:
Jose Calderon
Ed Davis

Raptors Get:
Marcus Thornton
Aaron Brooks
Travis Outlaw

Kings Lineup:
PG - Calderon/Thomas
SG - Evans/Fredette/Garcia
SF - Salmons/Johnson/Honeycutt
PF - Thompson/Robinson/Hayes
C - Cousins/Davis

Raptors Lineup:
PG - Lowry/Brooks/Lucas
SG - Thornton/Anderson/Ross
SF - Derozan/Pietrus/Fields/Kleiza/Outlaw
PF - Bargnani/Johnson
C - Valanciunas/Gray


I think trade 1 is better for us with contracts long term considering we get Hayes contract of our books. However, I think trade 2 reduces log jams and makes us a more balanced team right now. If I had to choose one, I would go with trade 2 just because it would help rotations immediately and allow us to flourish now.

Calderon would be a nice addition. He is a great playmaker who has good vision at PG. I think he could find a "Beno" role next to Evans. Calderon is an excellent 3pt shooter who will help spread the floor for both Evans and Cousins. If we like what he does with us, we can resign him although it depends on the asking price. If we don't want to resign him, then this trade would free up around 11 mil in cap space that we can use to resign Evans and go after other free agents.

Davis would help solidify our frontcourt. He is a young big man with good size, length, and athleticism. He is a good defender, rebounder, and sotblocker as well. I think we could do some real damage with a frontcourt of Cousins, Thompson, Davis, and Robinson.

Overall, we free up room for our players to get consistent minutes in the positions they should be playing and add a promising big and either a solid PG or cap flexibility.

PG - Calderon (28 min)/Thomas (20 min)
SG - Evans (37 min)/Fredette (11 min)/Garcia (0 min)
SF - Salmons (30 min)/Johnson (18 min)/Honeycutt (0 min)
PF - Thompson (15 min)/Davis (20 min)/Robinson (13 min)
C - Cousins (35 min)/Thompson (13 min)

[The_Jamal]

Calderon is one of my favorite players in the NBA and would be a tremendous asset to our roster. Imagine the amount of easy looks JT and Cousins could get with a top 5 passer getting them the ball.