Sources: Raptors Open To Trading Calderon

[The Regime]

The Raptors are not shopping Jose Calderon, but would be open to trading him in the right deal, sources say.

 

In a recent interview with Marca, Calderon didn't deny that he'd "like to have the opportunity to compete for something."

 

That doesn't mean he's poised to ask for a trade -- "I don't think so, that's not me, that's not my personality," Calderon said -- but the 30-year-old left the undeniable sense that he wouldn't oppose a move away from the rebuilding Raptors if the opportunity materializes.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-120127-29/weekend-dime-views-professional-watchers

[andreusito]

On the Spanish newspapers it says Toronto is shopping him because of his contract, which is too big for their rebuilding plan (along with his age). It is also said the Lakers are interested.

 

If this scenario happened, it would definetily make Pau happy, who has been complaining a lot about not enjoying games lately because he's not getting touches or he's not getting them where he wants to, only being able to pass the ball in the system. I don't even know if this was known in LA, but yeah, he's been saying that kind of things a lot lately.

 

If Calderon fits the Lakers? I think Calderon is a great point guard, great patience, intelligent player. His defense is pretty bad (he's way too slow) but I think that's something common at the PG position for the Lakers. I don't see how he can hurt the team.

[NomarFachix]

I'd love him.

[Check my Stats]

Problem with Jose is that he wants the ball in his hands all the time, and while his stats are nice, the way he plays the game is pretty counter-productive at times. He tends to hold the ball for way too long, and has tunnel vision for the same player over and over - used to be Bosh, now it is Bargnani. And his inability to break guys down off the dribble or penetrate is something that holds him back for sure. But his strengths are very strong - terrific on the PnR, great shooter, terrible defender obviously but you could hide that on a team like LA.

 

His need for the ball is why Hedo didn't work out. It really is a shame too, because he should be a terrific off the ball player because he is such a great shooter.

 

I think he could be an amazing fit in LA, as long as Kobe, Mike Brown etc could ensure he wouldn't just stand around senselessly when he doesn't have the ball. Knicks fans, believe me he's not the answer; you think Jose freaking Calderon is going to manage a team with egos like that? Fat chance.

[*Swish*]

If we trade him, I'd like to trade for a better defensive point guard!!!!!! Honestly, Jose Calderon has brought a lot of goods to the Raptors franchise. He makes NOT A LOT of mistakes and turnovers and is actually a pretty underrated scorer and play maker... he sucks on defense though and his feet are way too slow. So if we trade him, I want a better defensive PG.

[DunkinDerozan]

Problem with Jose is that he wants the ball in his hands all the time, and while his stats are nice, the way he plays the game is pretty counter-productive at times. He tends to hold the ball for way too long, and has tunnel vision for the same player over and over - used to be Bosh, now it is Bargnani. And his inability to break guys down off the dribble or penetrate is something that holds him back for sure. But his strengths are very strong - terrific on the PnR, great shooter, terrible defender obviously but you could hide that on a team like LA.

 

His need for the ball is why Hedo didn't work out. It really is a shame too, because he should be a terrific off the ball player because he is such a great shooter.

 

I think he could be an amazing fit in LA, as long as Kobe, Mike Brown etc could ensure he wouldn't just stand around senselessly when he doesn't have the ball. Knicks fans, believe me he's not the answer; you think Jose freaking Calderon is going to manage a team with egos like that? Fat chance.

 

He would be the type of guard the Knicks should be gunning for if they want to make the playoffs IMO. There aren't exactly a lot of top 5 assist leaders on the market. He's a great passer and I guarantee he would help out Amare and Carmelo's production this year. Plus he's a decent veteran for Iman to back up and gain some wisdom. If I were the Knicks i'd be going for him.

[Art]

Trade playboy to NOH for their pick or Minnys and Jarret, Kaman, or Ariza.

[NomarFachix]

So if we trade him, I want a better defensive PG.

Toney Douglas is 100% available

[DunkinDerozan]

Trade playboy to NOH for their pick or Minnys and Jarret, Kaman, or Ariza.

 

You would trade your first round pick this year for Calderon? Or is playboy someone else?

[DunkinDerozan]

Toney Douglas is 100% available

 

You can keep him.

[Art]

You would trade your first round pick this year for Calderon? Or is playboy someone else?

 

I would rather trade the Minny's pick but if they had too I would trade the Hornets because Jose's career average is better assist wise than Jack even though they play similar games. With Calderon alongside Gordon, Landry, and Emeka N.O.H's future would look promising. .

 

 

So lets say hypothetically they do trade the Hornets pick for Calderon or another serviceable pg that fits this teams playing style. That leaves the Hornets three other ways of improvement to outset any losses they potentially lost with that draft pick in Minny's pick, Kaman and or an Ariza trade.

[DunkinDerozan]

I would rather trade the Minny's pick but if they had too I would trade the Hornets because Jose's career average is better assist wise than Jack even though they play similar games. With Calderon alongside Gordon, Landry, and Emeka N.O.H's future would look promising. .

 

 

So lets say hypothetically they do trade the Hornets pick for Calderon or another serviceable pg that fits this teams playing style. That leaves the Hornets three other ways of improvement to outset any losses they potentially lost with that draft pick in Minny's pick, Kaman and or an Ariza trade.

 

Hey, sounds good to me. I would take the Hornets first rounder for Jose in a heartbeat. But i'd prefer to do it right at the deadline. The more losses you guys can rack up, better chance of a good pick for us

 

If we could get 2 top 5 picks in this years draft, i'd have to believe the future is looking pretty bright.

[Art]

Hey, sounds good to me. I would take the Hornets first rounder for Jose in a heartbeat. But i'd prefer to do it right at the deadline. The more losses you guys can rack up, better chance of a good pick for us

 

If we could get 2 top 5 picks in this years draft, i'd have to believe the future is looking pretty bright.

 

Yeah I do like the Raptors, with their KG/Dirk player in Bargs anything they do to compliment him is promising.

 

 

 

[*Swish*]

Toney Douglas is 100% available

No thank you

[Pound the Rock]

I've been a fan of Calderon's play-making ability since day one. There aren't too many point guards today who I can consider 'true point guards', Jose is one of them. I'm not just saying this because I'm a Raptor fan but I believe Jose has been one of the most underrated PG's in the league. Although not as creative and a couple notches less talented, I could easily compare him to a Steve Nash or a Jason Kidd.

 

The knock on Jose throughout his career has been on his defense, not a surprise. A major reason for this reputation is that Calderon's been on bad teams, a team of Andrea, and Hedo along with a thin Bosh and a rookie Derozan isn't exactly going to give Jose a chance is it? Point is, his defense is not a problem if at least 3 of his teammates can actually play defense. Actually if you look at the Raptors team right now, their defense has dramatically improved under new head coach Dwayne Casey, even with Bargnani and Jose playing the bulk of the minutes, and no, Jose hasn't magically become uber athletic or become a defensive stopper, he's just in a good defensive system now. So to summarize on my Jose defense, defense, he isn't a horrible defender, he is just less athletic than a majority of the PG's in this league. Is he a horrible defender? No he is a below average, but is perceived as horrible because of a collective team of below average defenders. Is he a liability on defense? In the right system and/or with the right players, no.

 

Anyways, if Jose was around 4 years younger I no way in hell would trade him with the current roster we have. Unfortunately it's inevitable that he won't be around to see our young core through, and it would be smart to trade Jose for something especially since he is playing some of his best ball. Calderon is as vocal as a point guard needs to be to run a team and shows his emotions when required.

 

I'd love to see Jose on a contending team as he deserves it. As talked about a lot already, it would be ideal for him to go to the Lakers or Knicks and I think either or would be perfect for Jose and the respective team. I'd give the Knicks an edge over the Lakers simply because LA is lacking footspeed with an aging Kobe. The Knicks have been having issues on who gets the ball when basically because no one knows when to feed the big men. I've heard that Amare looks like a lost puppy at times, but as I recall he thrived when he was with Felton, I think he (and Chandler) would thrive again with Calderon. Now you can ask the question: what about NY's defense? Well I believe the simple solution is the defensive system. Case and point with Toronto, their defense (without any changes in core roster) have completely made a 360 turn and are now a defense first team after being noted as the worse defensive team in the NBA. So, in my opinion all I think NY needs to be a good team is a defense first coach who can set up a perfect defensive system (they have two of the most explosive big men in Amare and Tyson, so finding a fitting system shouldn't be too difficult.)

[Built Ford Tough]

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.

[fish7718]

I'd like him but, how do we go about trading for a 10 mil contract?

 

We'd have to match 7,335,744.75 (75%) to my knowledge...since we used our trade exception on Chandler...

 

Assuming we are keeping Chandler, Amar'e, Melo, Shumpert we'd have to trade

 

Renaldo Balkman and

5 of these 7 players

Mike Bibby

Jared Jeffries

Toney Douglas

Steve Novak

Baron Davis

Billy Walker

Jeremy Lin

or

Jerome Jordan in the right combo

 

combined - 7,600,000 - 7,752,937

Edited January 31, 2012 by flsh7718

[Built Ford Tough]

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.