Obviously, a lot of conversation is rightfully devoted to our coaching and the incomplete game of one of our stars. Without big improvements in both of these areas, this conversation on role players may be irrelevant. Nevertheless, if our superstars get their ducks in a row, we need the right role players to win a championship. I don’t think we currently have those. Like a lot of you, I recognize the value of the 3 & D player. I’m not even going to spell it out, because that would belittle your knowledge of the game. I am NOT talking about Millsap, Love, Carmelo, Rondo, etc. I think it would be dumb not to give it a shot for a third star, but I still maintain that Howard and Harden should be enough star power to get it done. I mean - do we need a freakin’ All Star team to get out of the first round?!?!?!? Anyway, I bring it up just because I would prefer that that conversation be saved for the numerous other threads. Let’s say we strike out on third stars - what role players can we realistically bring in here to get us a championship (assuming our coach and All Stars step up)? OK, so I tried to identify some 3 & D players that might be attainable, but I’m sure the list isn’t comprehensive. Identifying good 3 point shooters was easy. Good defenders - that’s not easy for me. My eye test on defense is not good, and I don’t watch enough other teams to use this as a basis. So…...I resorted to using the admittedly flawed defensive advanced stats of DRPM (http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/9) and also Defensive Rating in comparison to the rest of their team (www.nba.com). I welcome the input of the more knowledgeable members on this of course. BACKUP WING Vince Carter 3 Point Cred 40.6% & 39.4% on threes the last 2 years Defense Cred 2.47 DRPM - 7th among shooting guards & small forwards. There were only 11 above 2.00 and only 27 above 1.00. His Defensive Rating appeared favorable compared to his teammates the last two years. Attainability Unrestricted Free Agent Should be happy with role - his minutes here shouldn’t be much different than he’s had recently with Dallas Made $3.18M last year. Should be within our budget. Despite their performance in the playoffs, Dallas does not have the ingredients to win a championship. Vince Carter has never had the opportunity to mentor a star shooting guard. Other Positives Though he’s not a champion, he’s had undoubtedly a hugely successful career - from being the go-to guy/face of the league to clutch, two-way role player. Why couldn’t he be a great influence on James Harden? Concerns He was 37 last year. His performance must take a hit at some point due to age - will next year be the year? PJ Tucker 3 Point Cred 38.7% on threes last year. No prior record of hitting them threes. Defense Cred Only 59th among small forwards and shooting guards in DRPM (0.05). Has a great reputation as a defensive stopper, so I think he qualifies. Attainability Unrestricted free agent Other Positives Went to the best university. Concerns Is he a one year wonder on the three pointers?? Other Notables Trevor Ariza - Did not include him, because I don’t trust him on a contract year. Thabo Sefalosha - Last year, he was the ultimate 3 & D player, but his shot totally left him this year - 31.6% 3PT%. Also, he would not be starting and probably would be getting fewer minutes here than OKC. POWER FORWARD I did not include rebounding as a criterion, because the list would probably be empty if I did. I just kept with the 3 & D idea, but I of course agree that rebounding has to be a consideration. Patrick Patterson 3 Point Cred 36.4% and 38.6% on >100 attempts this and last season. Defense Cred I don’t know - eye tests from Clutch members are all over the board, but I think the consensus is he’s definitely better than Terrence Jones. 1.11 DRPM - ranks 33rd among power forwards. By comparison, Terrence Jones ranks 82nd out of 90 power forwards with -1.91 DRPM. Not the tallest PF, but he has good strength. Attainability Restricted Free Agent - Toronto will have a say in whether we can get him. Other Positives Good teammate - friends with lots of Rockets Concerns His rebounding increased to 8 rebounds per 36 minutes last year, but you never know if that’s a one year wonder. He only pulled down 6.8 rebounds per 36 minutes the season before. Anthony Tolliver 3 Point Cred 41.3% on 247 attempts last year. His 3 PT%’s have varied wildly over his career. Defense Cred 2.21 DRPM - ranks 18th among power forwards. He’s only 6’8. I can’t really speak to the flaws of the DRPM, as I don’t know much about how it’s calculated. This high DRPM could certainly be a fluke, but it’s as good as I have to go on. Attainability Unrestricted Free Agent He’s getting about 20 minutes a game, so he wouldn’t have a problem sliding in and taking Caspi’s minutes. He’s cheap - only making $1M this year. Concerns REBOUNDING - This guy has to be the worst rebounding power forward in the league. He only pulled down 4.7 rebounds per 36 minutes last season. He’s done better in previous seasons, but that’s pretty bad….. Other Notables Channing Frye - fits the mold as well or better as these two (great shooter, decent defender, poor rebounder), but he has a player option for >$6M. I expect he will take that with Phoenix. Spencer Hawes - this option actually rebounds, and he has great range on his shot. Problem is he’s 7’1 and not known for defense as a center - so can he really guard power forwards? POINT GUARD If we can please get rid of Jeremy Lin somehow, then I agree with WestEndMassive in his thread that Patty Mills would be an excellent role player pickup. He has a reputation as a good defender and consistently shoots over 40%.
Tucker or maybe we get lucky and can bring in Corey brewer as part of a Kevin Love trade lol. Out of that list I would go with Tucker for sure.
Nice thread. I'm still researching these names, but as of right now I want PJ Tucker as well. [youtube]BOr9nZQPEcw[/youtube]
All these guys can't defend any elite players although they r all good role play, Morey will never spent money on them
You're exactly right. None of those guys (with the exception of possibly Tolliver but probably not even him) are minimum salary guys. Other teams are going to offer them more money for more years. So the ONLY way for us to sign those guys is to bite into 2015 cap space. Or to make a trade for our 3rd superstar and then use the MLE and BAE to sign them to multi-year deals. We should be concentrating on guys that we can possibly acquire with minimum salary deals that will not bite into 2015 cap space.
Fair enough. Please throw out some names - attainable names if you can. I definitely prefer a guy with a jump shot, but maybe we'll have to sacrifice that to get the defense we need.
Man, I don't want to waste another year of Howard's prime with a crappy surrounding cast. Who do you suggest with a minimum salary who will get the job done? Besides, we're not talking about breaking the bank here. Vince Carter's only making $3M. How much is another team going to give a 38 year old? Tolliver? How much is that guy really going to demand. It's time to win now IMO, and I don't believe we necessarily have to pin our hopes on Lebron James in 2015 to gift us a championship. Us fans are addicted to addicted to adding superstars, it seems.
PJ Tucker is a restricted, not unrestricted, FA. The Rockets will not be able to sign him away from the Suns.
Thabo and Vince, and I thought Marion was a FA as well this year. you would want Tolliver to play backup minutes sparingly looool, he cant handle more than 5-8 minutes a game.
