Built Ford Tough

Would be a real dirtbag move if he did, since part of the agreement of the trade was that he would pick up his contract option for the 2012/13 season. Besides, you are trying to start something that isn't there. If you posted more of the article, people will see the context and not take the tiny quote and blow it out of proportion. I doubt he leaves the Clippers. Why would he? He has a point guards dream playing next to athletic bigs like Jordan and Griffin. He has a great role player in Butler. He is making the Clippers one of th emost talked about franchises in the league. He is playing in a huge market. He is in line for a huge payday. Another other place he would have to make sacrifices to join. He doesn't have to make any of those in LA. He pretty much has the ideal team around him once the Clipps fire Del Negro and get a real shooting guard. I mean I won't completely count it out, but I don't see why he would leave.

Chandler has averaged over 15 ppg in less than 50% of the months since he entered the league. If he is unable to consistently score over 15 ppg from month to month, in a Mike D'Antoni or George Karl fast paced offense, what exactly makes you believe that he could easily average that throughout the course of a season on a Raptor team who plays at a much slower tempo than either of those two systems that he has played in since coming into the league? Even in college he was never a big time scorer. As for there being no reason why the Raptors wouldn't want him, sure there are. You are delusional if you think otherwise. Off of the top of my head, here are a few reasons why it doesn't make sense for the Raptors to get him: 1. He will either have to be drastically overpaid in free agency ($10M+) or the Raptors will have to trade a valuable asset in order to acquire him. 2. He has proven throughout his entire career that he is an average player and nothing more. The league average for PER is 15 and he hasn't had a sinle season in his career where he was above, or even at that mark. His career PER is 13.5. 3. He is 24, yeah, but he has shown little development since his sophomore season. In fact, his per 36 numbers have basically stayed constant. He put up nearly identical numbers in his first season as he did last year. 4. As the roster stands, he is pretty redundent. You aren't going to win much when you have a 1-2-3 lineup that features Calderon, DeRozan and Chandler. None of them can effectively create off the bounce. None of them get to the free throw line on a consistent basis. Calderon is the only reliable shooter from distance and also the only one that has any playmaking ability at all. Chandler does things well. He gives you very good rebounding from the small forward spot, he gives you a versatile defender who can match up with with 2's, 3's and some 4's. He moves well without the ball and has his moments where he gets hot and can drop 25-30 points. Those things are great for a team with an established core who are looking to add that final piece to their playoff puzzle. He would be a fantastic fit with the Lakers, Clippers, Bulls, hell even the Knicks who just traded him. He is that glue guy that teams look to tie everything together. The Raptors are better off just continuing to develop James Johnson and hope that he becomes their version of Wilson Chandler. They have similar skill sets (Chandler's is more refined, obviously) and are similar players. No sense is overpaying for Chandler when you have a player who, ideally, will give you much of the same things as he would (Chandler more scoring, Johnson more shot blocking). And that is the plan after this season when the Raptors add another top 7 (ideally a top 3-5, but that may not be possible) pick to the lineup. They bring that pick, Valanciunas and look to make a splash this summer with their cap space, whether it is through free agency or a trade. All things go according to plan and they go into the season next year with a lineup of: C: Valanciunas PF: Bargnani SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist/Harrison Barnes SG: DeRozan PG: Big offseason acquisition It isn't likely to happen, but that is what Colangelo is hoping for. He isn't going to continue with the "tanking" (and if you watch Raptor games, they aren't tanking) mindset past this season because he is only on a two year deal with a team option for the 3rd. This is the first year of that deal so knows that if the team doesn't show improvement next season, he is likely out of a job. His plan has been to create flexibility and look to make a splash in 2012 since Bosh left.

On Firday he had: 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes (game was a blowout for Rytas) Some posters over at Real GM who watched the game said that he had 2 more blocks that he wasn't given credit for, so if they are correct, he actually had 4 blocks and not 2. 4 blocks in 21 minutes is pretty impressive.

Was it already broken before the Raptors game last night or did he do it during the game? Because I remember watching it thinking that something about him was off. I just attributed it to him being a rookie and having one of those "rookie games" where he just wasn't in it physically or mentally due to still getting used to the grind that is an NBA season.

His true position is as a scoring 6th man like a Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa or Mo Williams. Unless he dramatically improves his floor game, I don't see him ever being much of a point guard.

And is that worth a $10M+ contract that it would likely take to get him? It isn't just getting him away from the Nuggets, but making sure that you beat out any other bids from other teams who have cap space. Much like in 2010, teams who miss out on the big free agents are going to overpay for average players. With RFA's like Westbrook, Love and Gallinari already locked up, the free agency pool is shallower than many teams had originally hoped. A guy like Chandler is sitting pretty waiting for a team to throw huge money at him in the summer. Don't get me wrong, if the Raptors could get him for $6-8M, I'd be all for it. I just don't see any scenario where he signs for that.

Was going to mention him, but when I saw Nitro had the last post in this thread I knew he would already have brought him up. Holiday is a very underrated defender since Iguodala gets most of the attention when it comes to defense on this team (and rightfully so as he is elite). Holiday is more than capable of locking point guards up, though. He struggles a bit with bigger guards who can post him up, like an Andre Miller or Deron Williams, but other than that, he can hold his own defensively with any point guard in the league. Other than him, probably Rondo since he plays passing lanes so well and has such a significant length advantage over most point guards. His gambling can really hurt him, though, and that is why I think Holiday is right up there with him. Paul's hands are excellent, but his knee injuries have hurt his laterall quicks and that can be taken advantage of at times so I can't put him on that level. I'd probably put the top 5 at something like: Rondo Holiday Lowry Paul Hinrich

Curry's ankles scare me and even though I think Curry has a higher ceiling, I don't think he ever reaches it because of his ankle problems. He already looks like a different player since he injured it. How much would another injury mess with him not only physically or mentally? So with Lowry already being better and me having severe doubts about Curry's chances of reaching his long term potential, give me Lowry. It really isn't a difficult decision. With that team you proposed, give me Curry, though. He is more reliable as a spot up shooter and with a team that has LeBron and Howard on it, his defensive issues won't be nearly as much of a concern. Those two are good enough defensively to nulify any issues Curry may have.

There really isn't any way that the Knicks can get a deal done and that is why I find it highly unlikely he gets traded. The two teams that make the most sense are the Lakers and the Knicks. The Lakers aren't going to go deeper into the luxury tax just to add a guy like Calderon. The Knicks simply don't have the contracts to match Calderon's salary. With those two teams likely out of contention, who else is going to go out there and look to make a move for Calderon? The list would be very small.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-who-is-available-in-trade No thanks. Chandler is a nice role player, but he would not be worth the money it would take to pry him away from the Nuggets as an RFA. He tends to get overrated due to his play in D'Antoni's system. He wasn't nearly as good after the trade to Denver, and besides, he wasn't that great with New York either (good but nothing to get excited over). It really would suck if Colangelo went out and broke the bank for Chandler level players. These are the guys you overpay when you are exiting a rebuild and looking to add the complimentary glue guy role players. They aren't the guys you overpay when you are still in the talent adding stage of a rebuild, like the Raptors are. This offseason scares me, though, and it is because of things like this. I get the feeling that Colangelo is going to go crazy this offseason in an attempt to get back into the playoffs next year. All of the flexibility he created since Bosh left would go to waste if he goes out and overpays for very average players and putting the team back into the treadmill territory.

This really shouldn't be news to anybody. I mean, Calderon was already pretty much traded last summer to the Bobcats for Tyson Chandler until Jordan stepped in at the last possible second and vetoed the trade. It also doesn't take a genius to figure out that he doesn't exactly fit in with the rebuilding/youth movement of Toronto considering he is 30 years old. The only thing I don't see is why Stein thinks that the Raptors would need a point guard in return for him. Dealing him for an expiring contract (or a smaller contract than what he has) and a late 1st/middling prospect (like what Colangelo did to get Bayless from the Hornets and Johnson from the Bulls last year) would make perfect sense. You then hand the reigns over to Bayless and get an extended look at him as a starting point guard in the league, which would help you make a decision on his future. Do you give him a long term deal this summer and pencil him in as the point of the future? Do you give him a small contract and give him another audition? Do you sign him as an offensive sixth man and he takes over Barbosa's role? Do you let him go all together? That would make more sense to me than them wanting another vet point guard who basically replaces Calderon. The problem with Calderon is that he is useless without the ball in his hands despite his solid shooting ability. When he doesn't have the rock, he stops moving. He kind of just stands there. He won't cut, he won't set a screen, he won't do anything. He just parks himself at the top of the circle and does nothing until he gets the ball again. That can fly on a team like Toronto where he always has the ball in his hands, but if he is dealt to a team like New York or the Lakers who have ball dominant wing players, it won't work. There is a reason why he and Hedo were such a terrible fit together and Hedo is less ball dominant than a guy like Kobe or Melo. He would need to make a huge adjustment. The other problem is that he can't do anything without a screen. He has absolutely no breakdown ability, can't take his man one-on-one and sucks at getting out of pressure. If you watched Calderon throughout the years you would see that when paired next to an All-Star calibre big man (Bosh and Bargs this season) he looks great. He PnR's teams to death and they can't cheat because of the offensive ability of these two bigs. However, when you watch him without a star big (last season and without Bargs this year) he struggles. The PnR with Amir Johnson and Ed Davis is nowhere near as effective as when he has an offensive big man to work with so teams will jump the pick and, because Calderon has no breakdown ability, completely takes him out of the game. He becomes useless offensively because his entire scoring game is dependent on getting a good pick to free him up for an 18 foot jumper and his playmaking becomes nulified without having a high scoring big wo work with. Assuming he could work out those off ball issues, the second won't be a problem because if he is dealt it would likely be to a team with a strong offensive big (LA with Gasol, NYK with Amar'e, ORL with Dwight, etc...) and he has proven to be great when paired with these offensive bigs. For those teams it may be worth a shot. One thing to keep in mind is his contract. He is making around $10M this year and $11M next. How many teams are going to be willing to add that type of cap hit to their books for a buy who is not likely to put you over the top? In the Lakers case, would they really be willing to go deeper into the tax for Jose Calderon? Doubtful. As much as I would want to see the Raptors trade Calderon, I doubt anything happens. The more likely scenario is that they amnesty him in the offseason. The most likely scenario is he plays out the final year and a half of his contract and signs on with some contender as a backup. PS: Lmao at Art. Trading away the Wolves pick for Calderon would be bad enough. Trading away the Hornets pick, a likely top 5 pick, potential top 3 pick, for Calderon? Would go down as one of the worst trades ever.

61% of the Knicks points came from three in this game. What is even more shocking than that is the fact that they hit 18 3's, yet couldn't even crack 90 points. Their offense is pathetic. That stretch where they took, and missed, 7 straight threes was hilarious. This team is a huge mess.

Great tank management by Casey. Bayless goes for 18 points on 7-10 shooting Barbosa goes for 19 points on 7-13 shooting The Raptors go on a run and cut the lead to just 6, so what does Casey do? Brings in: DeMar DeRozan and his 3-15 shooting Jose Calderon and his 3-10 shooting Excellent job of Casey ensuring the loss, even though it was inevitable anyways. PS: Al Harrington is a psycho. He snapped over absolutely nothing and then launches his own teammate (Fernandez) into Kleiza. If anything did happen, Kleiza would've wrecked him. That is one dude I wouldn't want to mess with and Harrington is all talk. Linas just laughing and smiling at him, which only infuriated Harrington more, was awesome. On the other hand, Nene probably would've ripped Davis' head off if anything actually happened between them. I don't mean that figuratively. I seriously think Nene would've ripped Davis' head off.

With no Augustin and a banged up Henderson, this Bobcats team is painful to watch. I think the Raptors without Bargnani are even easier to watch than the Bobcats right now, and that is saying something considering they averaged about 80 points a game on 38% shooting without Bargs.

Sorry for not responding earlier. I just noticed your question. There wasn't any particular reason why they were there. They were probably doing some scouting or something and popped in to watch him play. They have both went over to Lithuania to watch him before and I'm sure will be there to watch him again at least a few more times before the season is over.

On my lunch break and have to go back to work soon, but here is a quick update: And from Matt Devlin: So sounds like it wasn't as bad as initially thought, but still enough to keep him out for at least a few weeks. I'll stand by the whole missing most, if not all, of Feburary, but that is just me guessing.

Mayo with yet another terrible shot. He has been brutal tonight. The Grizzlies also let Griffin get rid of the ball before fouling and that, combined with Mayo's brutal shot, pretty much wraps this one up. Nice win for the Clippers.

If you don't call a foul on Butler there, how do you call one on Gay/Gasol (not sure who got called)?

Nasty cross on Allen from Paul.

I actually think he would fit better with the WWE. Khali and Haddadi as a tag team. (Khali is still around, right?)

Fantastic move from Griffin, blowing right by Gay. He has shown some great moves in this game, whether it is with his back to the basket or facing his man up form 15 feet. Good use of fakes in the post and really taking advantage of his explosiveness when facing up.

CP360 shows up. Another classic Paul flop to add to the list. Don't get me wrong, Gay did set a moving screen, but the exaggeration and flailing from Paul was pathetic.

Beautiful outlet pass from Gasol to find Mayo for the layup. That thing had some heat on it and was perfectly placed.

Best defensive quarter for the Clippers so far this season? It was definitely the best defense I've seen them play so far. Good rotations all around, nice help, solid individual defense and contesting pretty much everything. They still gave up 4 offensive rebounds, but I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that they just aren't going to be a good defensive rebounding team. Nice half court shot from Gay to close out the quarter. The Grizzlies should honestly feel lucky that they are only 12 points back considering how much they were outplayed in that quarter. They shot just 33% compared to the 63% from the Clippers, had 7 turnovers and only scored 4 times in the paint.

Griffin soared for the offensive board. Also made a nice pass to Butler for the open corner 3 after the Grizzlies cut off the baseline. Butler off to a hot start, just like last night where he hit his first 4 shots and had 11 points after only 3 or 4 minutes.