OT: NBA Free Agency Open Thread
I really hope the Pistons don't give up Greg Monroe. I would much rather see a Josh Smith trade instead. Monroe and Drummond are much closer in age and will hit their prime at the same time. That's a much better long term situation for the team.
I think I would be okay with the Pistons getting rid of Monroe so long as they made the team that took Monroe take Smith (and his contract) as well.
defeat the point of moving one of them? Who starts and plays the majority of the minutes at PF this year? Not like they can go out and sign Bosh or Pau or trade for Kevin Love.
Smith and Monroe can't play together. That was the issue with the Pistons this year, so I don't know why a team would take both players. I really think it is going to have to be one or the other and I would much rather Smith be the one traded.
Smith can't play SF*
Smith at the 4 and either Monroe or Drummond at the 5 would work just fine. Either Smith or Monroe as a suber sub off the bench would be marvelous. Playing all three simultaneously with the horrible coaches we had, who all gave Smith a green light to chuck from deep, was a recipe for disaster.
sounds like the Pistons aren't interested in paying Monroe a max salary either, according to Ken Berger of CBS. LINK
Other Pistons news, sounds like they've offered Isaiah Thomas a 3y, $24M deal, according to Aaron Bruski of NBC Sports.
We already have Jennings,Bynum, with Siva and Dinwiddie drafted the last 2 years. Well I guess Dinwiddie has the size to play the 2 if he works on his J.
Dinwiddieis likely out for a chunk of the season, so going for a PG is not entirely surprising. I'd rather they wait and see how Siva looks in the summer league, but alas.
But his injury history makes me nervous.
Monroe is a good player and all, but I'm not a huge fan of them paying him a lot either. If they could do a sign and trade deal with somebody, I'd be pretty happy. That being said, I don't dive too deep into any analysis of the NBA so I wouldn't even know what a good deal for them would be if they got one.
Monroe was always underutilized. I think he can be a 20/10 guy if given the shot. It's best for both sides to move on.
what?
As a Pacers fan, my dream scenario is the Pacers work out a sign and trade with Utah, sending Lance Stephenson and George Hill to Utah for Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke. No chance of happening but a guy can dream. Oh, and then we get to go back in time and draft Tim Hardaway Jr. instead of Solomon Hill.
Definitely disagree with that. I will give you Hill > Burke at this point in their respective careers, but I like Hayward much more than Stephenson. I think Burke will be a better player than Hill in the long run, possibly starting next year.
Here's the NBA's official free agency tracker, if you are interested in close to real-time updates for everyone available - (LINK)
Some of the more interesting tidbits so far - Ray Allen is reportedly mulling retirement, Shane Battier reportedly is retiring, Billups' contract is not being renewed and Tim Duncan did exercis his option.
The Pistons have arranged a meeting with sharpshooter Anthony Morrow, according to Vincent Goodwill. Would be an excellent, cost-effective addition. Also, Marc Stein reports that the Cavs will be making a run at Greg Monroe.
That's the thing: picking up a top 3pt shooter at a bargian price is often possible. But 20-10 centers like Monroe don't grow on trees. Keep Monroe and get whatever you can for Smith.
Monroe is not a 20-10 guy. And his defense is not very good. Smith scores about the same as Moose, rebounds a little less but gives you a bigger lift on defense if he's allowed to play the four, not the three. I am fine with keeping either Monroe or Smith. But one needs to go and Monroe is obviously the easier one to move.
If the Tigers can trade Prince Fielder than the Pistons can trade Josh Smith. Believe in yourself Stan!
Smith has value out there, and maybe could work as a PF on a team with Monroe as well. Texas must have REALLY disliked Kinsler to have taken on Prince's declining skills and bloated salary.
Will you get so angry that you drink yourself?
I like Monroe as an above-average offensive bigman, but he is such a black hole defensively that unless SVG really thinks he can be salvaged, I'm fine with letting him walk. I also read somewhere Sacramento might want Smith, so that would be the only reason why you'd overpay for Monroe and just hope Drummond improves defensively enough.
I get to enjoy two more years with JaVale McGee, JJ Hickson, and Randy Foye eating way more than their fair share of cap space before I can get excited about free agency.
Actually, in two years every Nugget except Ty Lawson, Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris is a free agent (though I imagine Faried and Joffrey Lauvergne will be in Denver too). If the Knicks 2016 pick is as juicy as I hope, it could actually be an interesting FA destination then.
Gary Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times reporting that the Pistons and Pelicans are discussing a sign-and-trade of Greg Monroe for Ryan Anderson. Would be an odd move for the Pelicans, who just gave up a first round pick for C Omer Asik last week. Just furthers my theory that NO is the worst run franchise in the league from a personnel standpoint.
Maybe they were discussing this before getting Asik?
The Pistons have signed Jodie Meeks to a 3 year $19 million deal, and have signed Cartier Martin to 1 year deal that hasn't been disclosed yet.
Sounds like they are also close to signing the NBA's top 3 point shooter last year, Anthony Morrow.
Pistons fans wanted 3 point shooting. They got 3 point shooting. All of those guys shoot around 40% from deep.
Edit: Sounds like it's 1 year and a player option for an additional year for Martin.
of those moves, assuming Martin didn't get more than $1-1.5M per year. Have seen a lot of complaining about the money they're giving Meeks, and I really disagree with it. Meeks shot 40% from three, 51% on twos and is a great FT shooter. When you factor in the raise in the salary cap and the fact that guys aren't clamoring to come spend 3/4 of their year in Detroit, I think it's fair value.
Yeah. People have been asking "Who would be someone reasonable the Pistons could get that would be a good fit and help them with their issues? and one of the top guys I thought they should target was Jodie Meeks. Not only is he a good shooter, and efficient offensively, but he's very solid defensively and is one of those guys that always plays hard.
Martin is a guy who is OK at everything with one definable NBA skill, and that's shooting the basketball. The same with Morrow, who I hope they can pick up. He's one of the best 3 point shooters, not just in the NBA, but in NBA history. His career 42.8% shooting from deep is 8th all time. That's what he does, bomb 3s. Over 40% of his shot attempts are 3s.
If they land Morrow, the Pistons can pretty much call it a day with signing free agents.
They'll just have to figure out what to do about the whole Greg Monroe/Josh Smith dynamic. They're going to match whatever offers Monroe gets, but are they going to pull a sign and trade if the offer is right? Are they going to do that rumored Josh Smith to the Kings for Isaiah Thomas and bad contracts deal?
I would be surprised if Greg or Josh didn't get moved and soon.
would be great. Any time you can get a 24 year old PG who scored 20 PPG on 57.4 TS% for 3y, $24M, you do it. Don't care if he's 5'9 and not a great defender. A two deep of IT/Dinwiddie; Meeks/KCP; Singler/Martin; Monroe/Der. Williams; Drummond/J. Thompson would be a nice start for SVG, and that's assuming no return for Jennings.