Built Ford Tough

Jays signed Encarnacion to a 3 year, $27M extension. The deal also has a $10M option for a 4th year. Assuming he continues his production from the 2nd half of last year and the 1st half of this year, this contract is a steal. Even if he regresses a bit, I still like it.

Prior to yesterday I wouldn't have been surprised to see something along the lines of Marion for Calderon. Mavs dump Marion's salary which should give them enough cap space to offer two max deals next summer in hopes of getting Paul and Howard. Calderon would be competent enough as a starter for a year. However, now that they traded for Collison I don't see that happening unless they really think that they have a chance of landing both Howard and Paul. Otherwise, I don't see why they downgrade. In addition to that, Marion didn't exactly enjoy his time in Toronto the first time around and I can't see him being too pleased to come back. I got the impression he just did not enjoy the half year he was with the Raptors at all. Outside of that, I honestly can't think of any scenario that makes sense. Philly doesn't because if he wants out because of Lowry and not starting, well, the same thing would happen in Philly with Holiday. Indiana just signed DJ Augustin and, personally, I think that Augustin is better than Calderon. Maybe Sacramento? Calderon would be a solid veteran and would theoretically work well with Robinson and possibly Cousins. He would be an awful fit with Evans, though. I just don't see any team really being that interested in him. Most of his suitors would be contenders looking for a backup point guard (LA and SA come to mind) but they don't have anyway of getting a deal done. I don't think Calderon is a Raptor come training camp with the way Colangelo was talking yesterday, but I also don't see any real logical landing spot for him either.

I don't know why, but I've always liked Augustin. Maybe it is my strange love affair with Longhorn point guards (TJ Ford, Cory Joseph, Augustin, Myck Kabongo) but for some strange reason I've always liked him. I actually think he will be solid for the Pacers next year. I know he never lit the world on fire in Charlotte, but given the circumstances I think he had a pretty decent career with them. I could see him averaging something like 12/7 with a PER of around 16-17 next year. Nothing special, but solid.

I know it will never happen, but... Harden + Ibaka + 1st for Howard Everybody involved is signed to new, long-term contracts so there is no risk of anybody leaving after next season. Who wins this trade?

Scratch that. Turns out Turner is actually going to puruse a pro career either in Europe or the D-League for a year or two and then enter the draft.

I don't think they match either, but for what it is worth, both Isola (from what I gather, he is the Knicks version of Doug Smith, though) and Woj both mentioned that there is a chance the Knicks match the offer. The only reason I see them even considering matching is because their hands are pretty much tied when it comes to future moves beyond adding minimum contracts. They are already going to be a luxury tax team regardless of whether they match Fields or not and they may figure they have a 3 year window with their Melo, Amare and Chandler core. I may be wrong, but I believe Melo, Amare, Chandler, Lin, Kidd and Camby are all signed for 3 more seasons. They could think that they might as well take the hit, match Fields and go deeper into the luxury tax simply because he would represent a way to improve their team whether it is Fields himself playing, a trade down the road where his larger salary would come in handy, etc... Of course, with the harsher luxury tax penalties in the new CBA, and if my estimate is fairly accurate, the Knicks would be paying around $140M-$150M in taxes by the 3rd year (Fields would add about $40M to that total if they matched him). They will be deep in luxury tax regardless of Fields, but if they do match that just adds to an already insanely high total and for a player of Fields calibre, is it really worth it? Probably not, even for a team like the Knicks.

He is actually a pretty lousy defender. His post defense is passable, I guess, but he gets absolutely abused in pick and rolls. He just doesn't have the quickness to be able to guard them and whenever he was on the floor, teams really went after him in PnR scenarios. In my opinion, any positives he brings to the table with his post defense is nulified and then some by just how poorly he is as a PnR defender.

For those questioning why Indiana made this trade, they are supposedly going after DJ Augustin. Even if they get Augustin, who I like more than Collison, I still have to wonder if this was the best package the Pacers could've gotten for Collison. I know his value wasn't what it was coming off of his rookie season, but still, Mahinmi? I would've thought the Pacers could've gotten more for Collison than that.

The thing is that the best deal between what Orlando is offering and letting Howard walk is the latter. You can talk about how no free agent is going to sign in Orlando and stuff like that, but having cap room and the ability to make moves like Cleveland where you absorb salary to acquire additional draft picks that can later be used to move up in a draft or something like that is more valuable to a rebuilding team than committing a whole bunch of salary to average/above average players like what Orlando would be doing in this rumoured deal. People crucify the Cavs for getting nothing in return for LeBron, but at the end of the day, they didn't get nothing for him, and I'm not even talking about the draft picks. By not taking overpaying and committing cap space to average/above average talent, they were able to have the cap flexibility to make the Baron Davis and 1st for Mo Williams trade. That led to them getting Kyrie Irving as well as also having another top 4 pick in that draft. Then they were able to do it again at the deadline by abosrbing Luke Walton's deal to pick up the Lakers draft pick. With that pick, they were able to move up and get the guy that they wanted in Tyler Zeller. Out of all the teams who lost a star these past few years (Denver, Toronto, Cleveland, Utah and New Orleans) I'd argue that the team with the brightest future is the Cavs (it is between them and the Hornets). Honestly, if they drafted smarter, (Valanciunas and Robinson instead of Thompson and Waiters) I don't think this is even a debate, but that is for another topic. Sometimes just simply losing the player is better than desperately overpaying a lesser talent in hopes of replacing him. When you do that, you end up stuck with a treadmill team.

Honestly, the part I found the most interesting was the bit about Dragic. By the way Stein described it, it was almost like Duffy delievered him to the Suns in order to get Sarver to sign off on a Nash trade. It seemed like Duffy was all "Hey, I know you like Goran and he is a client of mind, so here, I'll deliver you to him at a reasonable price, but only if you agree to trade Steve to LA".

It's not that I want him to start or anything like that. Even though I would rather see Valanciunas coming off the bench, if I am given a choice on who I'd want to see start between Aaron Gray or Jonas Valanciunas, I'm choosing Valanciunas without hesitation. Problem is I don't think Casey will see it that way. We saw how he handled Ed Davis this past year when Bargnani was hurt. Despite being one of the more promising young players on the roster, he still didn't end up with his minutes increased when Bargnani went down early in the year. instead, Casey said he needed to improve certain areas of his game before he deserved to see an increase in minutes. Instead, those minutes went to guys like Gray. I see Valanciunas being handled in a very similar way next season. I think Valanciunas probably gets around 20 minutes a night, Gray gets 20 and then Johnson or Davis will get the other 8 depending on matchups.

What did he make last year, $100K? $100K to $4M? Not bad. EDIT 3 years, not 4. My bad.

I'd say the best lineup would be: Paul Kobe Durant Melo LeBron They would just run and pressure everybody to death. Obviously for certain matchups you would bring Chandler in but I think that would be the best lineup for the Americans. Nobody would be able to handle the pace, athleticism, speed and pressure that they would be able to put on. Melo may not fit in that mold, but we've all seen how dominant he can be in FIBA play, so I just don't think you can put him on the bench, assuming he plays like we've seen him in the past.

He wasn't bad at the areas you are talking about. He did set good screens (when he actually get set since he has a tendency to move a lot when screening) and he did a nice job of boxing out. The problem is that he is so bad at other areas of the game that the few good things he does, like you mentioned and I added to, get nulified. This is backed up by just how much better both offensively and defensively the Raptors were when he was off the floor. As for your second point, I actually think you have it backwards. I think Gray will be the starting center and Valanciunas the backup. In fact, I'd be very surprised if Gray didn't start next season, at least for the first for the first couple of months.

Woj mentioned the Lakers and Heat as two teams that are expected to pursue Bell when he is officially a free agent.

What I find hilarious about the whole thing is that Colangelo has been raving about the cap flexibility that he would have this offseason for almost 2 years now and how it is such a huge asset to have at your disposal. What did he do with it? Signed Landry Fields to a $6.7M cap hit. Signed Aaraon Gray to a $2.5M cap hit. Traded for Kyle Lowry with a $6M cap hit. So, other than Lowry, this cap space that he had been so vocal about was used on a backup calibre SG/SF and a scrub big man. That isn't to say that they are in cap hell or anything, because they certainly aren't. In fact, even with the horrible Fields contract, they are still in a very good position cap wise. It still is funny how that precious cap space was used this summer, though.

http://o.canada.com/2012/07/08/raptors-keep-gray-for-two-more-years/ Really not a fan of this signing at all. I know I've mentioned that I'd like to see the Raptors sign a big to start to allow Valanciunas to come off the bench next year, but not if that big is a complete scrub like Gray is. I realize they didn't have much to offer and that there aren't a lot of options, but still, Gray sucks and the numbers with him on and off the floor last year should've been enough to make them realize he simply isn't even an average player. The Raptors scored 2 more points per 100 possessions with him off the floor than on it and they gave up 4 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than off it. The only thing he can do is rebound and set some decent screens. I guess for $2.5M you can't ask for much more than that. I'm just not a fan of Gray to be honest. Even though I don't like the idea of Valanciunas startng next year, I'd rather have him start than Gray.

http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-07/sports/32579358_1_green-deal-agent-kendrick-perkins The deal is rumoured to be for 4 years and $36M, although those numbers haven't been reported as 100% correct (at least as far as I know). Almost all of the speculation is that is what the deal will be, though.

Interesting note from the Hornets standpoint is that if the reports are true and he is getting a 4 year, $36M deal, it likely spells the end of Kaman, Landry and Belinelli in New Orleans. They'll probably renounce the rights to all three of those players, according to Hollinger: Landry becomes a pretty intriguing free agent target for a lot of teams.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/07/08/report-bucks-to-keep-ilyasova/ If Ilyasova can duplicate or build on the season he had last year I don't mind this signing for Milwaukee. It isn't a steal or anything like that, but I wouldn't call it much of an overpayment either, assuming he can build on his very good year last year. I thought he was easily the Most Improved Player last year and was absolutely robbed of the award. However, the fact that he had his breakout during a contract year would be a bit worrisome to me since I've seen numerous times where players play out of their mind and then come back down to earth after getting the long term deal. Will Ilyasova be another one of those?

Sounds like Anderson's price tag was getting too high for the Magic so they decided to ship him out instead of overpay for him. With Dwight likely gone, that is a very good decision on their part because I think a lot of Anderson's production was because of Howard. He is a solid player, but I'd be concerned with him duplicating his numbers in a different system and without Howard commanding space. As for New Orleans, I wonder if thye plan on playing him at the 4 and using Davis at the 5 (a bad move if you ask me) or if they are going to use him as a 6th man. I think that a 6th man long range bomber role may be the best role for him but that is more because I don't think Davis should ever be playing the 5 spot; at least for his first few seasons. As for the contract that he will sign (since this is a sign and trade, of course):

After playing like crap and barely even being able to stay on the floor due to foul trouble for the first 3 games of the qualifying tournament, Valanciunas had a very good game tonight in an absolute domination of the Dominican Republic (Lithuania won 109-83). Finished up with 17 points and 7 rebounds on 6/9 shooting and 5/6 from the line in 25 minutes. He did manage to pick up 5 fouls, though, so that continues to be an issue for him. More impressive was his defense on Al Horford. Horford finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds on 4/13 shooting. It wasn't all Valanciunas, and I'm not trying to say it was, but when I saw him on Horford, he was playing excellent defense. With the win Lithuania qualified for the Olympics.

Anybody else watching this tonight? I figured with Silva being very popular and Sonnen being a guy that you either love or hate, some people may be checking this out so a thread would be warranted. The co-main event is Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin III, which is also Ortiz's final fight as he is retiring after the bout. Rest of the main card is: Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote Dong Hyun Kim vs. Damian Maia (Maia's welterweight debut) Chad Mendes vs. Cody Mckenzie Ivan Menjivar vs. Mike Easton

I know it would never, ever happen, but I'd love to see Toronto sign him for a 1 year deal to enable them to develop Valanciunas. I just don't like the idea of Valanciunas starting on a team who's goal is making the playoffs, which is the case for Toronto now. Having a vet big like Camby to shore up the starting center spot for a year, give him time to adjust to the NBA and provide a mentorship role would be awesome. Camby would never sign in Toronto, though, so this would be a pipe dream.

Yes, they still can, assuming they have cap space. Rescinding his QO basically does two things: 1. Makes him a UFA and no longer an RFA so Toronto can't match an offer he receives (I'm sure you knew that already, though) and 2. Eliminates his cap hold. In Bayless' case, his cap hold is $7.6M so rescinding the QO frees up that $7.6M cap hold. Toronto could use that money for other purposes (trade, free agency). Toronto can re-sign him still, they just don't own his rights anymore, so they can't exceed the cap to sign him and they also can't use an exception to sign him, either.