Free Agency 2012

[mcHAPPY]

First of all, I am not a Doug Smith fan - far from it actually. However, one thing I do give him credit for is his discretion when talking about 'things he has heard' around the ACC and from Raptor people. Basically, his credibility is almost as good as Woj at Yahoo! if only because he never takes a chance on gossip or someone slipping him something who has a different agenda or alterior motive or not having approval from Raptors brass to run the story. So with that back handed compliment in Googling 'Wilson Chandler Raptors' I came across this from 2 weekends ago.

Q: Hi Doug, I know you are loathe to speculate on potential acquisitions, but I wonder if you have an opinion on Wilson Chandler. The Nuggets will have the first crack to sign him once the Chinese season is over, but after dishing out big money to Afflalo and Nene, I wonder if they have the cash to sign him. I also read the the Nugs are in talks with Gallinari to extend him as well, further reducing the chances that Chandler will be back in Denver.

The Raps could certainly use help at the 3 and Chandler is a solid 2 way player and still relatively young. If you were Mr. Colangelo would you make him an offer?

Also, was there a uniform rule change since the lockout? What's with all the players wearing tights under their unis? I watched a Knicks game the other day, it looked like Melo had a unitard on under his jersey. I thought this was more tightly regulated in the past?

Thanks

Xander C, Toronto

A: Chandler’s name was one I heard kicked around briefly before the season started – there was some thought about making him an offer and seeing what Denver would do even if they couldn’t get him until March – and I would suspect he’s a guy who’d be on a list of possibilities when the summer rolls around.

I agree it’s going to be financially difficult for Denver to keep him and I wonder if he and Gallinari aren’t too much the same guy for both of them to play there.

And there has been no change in the uniform rule, teams still have to get an okay from the league for such things as leggings but that permission is quite readily granted, it seems.

Source: thestar.com


I hope there is truth to this.

Maybe do a sign and trade, Chandler for Alabi?

[Balls of Steel]

Wasn't there some talk about Batum being offended by Toronto's actions? Something to do with Raptors brass assuming Batum had a heart condition (going back to pre-draft workouts)? If this is true, my guess is that Batum wouldn't care to play for the Raptors.

I think 9 mil per year will help ease his anger. Let's make this happen!!!

[Balls of Steel]

Just wanted to chime in here since I'm surprised nobody's really done a Chandler vs Batum comparison. Gonna draw on ESPNs Hollinger profiles and stats from basketball-reference.com and a few other places. Personally I'd prefer Batum, and here's why:

First up, offence. To me Batum is a better fit as a guy who's mostly a catch and shoot player, can hit the 3 and finishes well when given the lane/on the break. Chandler is somewhat the opposite: he creates shots for himself but doesn't hit them. Chandler's career highs in TS% and 3pt% are essentially at or lower than Batum's career lows in those categories. Their per36 offensive rebounding and assist numbers are pretty similar, and Batum turns the ball over just a bit less. Chandler however has a much higher useage rate, which is a bit of an issue on a team with high useage players in Calderon and Bargs. Batum is a bit better free throw shooter but half a free throw less per 36 minutes, and in general has a higher FG%. So really it comes down to a contrast in styles.

We can't know what the draft will bring, but given a starting lineup that features Bargs, one of Val/Gray/Amir, DeRozan and Calderon, a wing that can stretch the D would complement the team a lot more and open things up for DeRozan. Chandler and DeRozan on the wings would be a bad pairing in my opinion.

Now defence. Hollinger mentions that Batum's defensive numbers from Synergy were awful, but that on the other hand the Blazers used him to guard whoever Andre Miller couldn't. It's also worth considering that on a team that featured Camby, Aldridge and Wes Matthews, attacking Batum kind of makes sense. A quick look at defensive win shares and defensive rating has Batum killing Chandler, but then again Chandler was playing on the Knicks and Nuggets, so you have to take those with a grain of salt. Chandler is a bit better defensive rebounder, but Batum played with superior rebounders around him so was unlikely to haul many in. Both get the standard roughly 1 block and 1 steal per game And in terms of their physical abilities, Batum is the longer quicker type while Chandler has a bit more bulk. But both have good size and would likely be defensive assets in Casey's system.

Finally, Batum beats Chandler in PER and kills him in win shares/48. In fact Batum's current .182 ws/48 is better than anyone on the Raptors this year, and even if he falls back to the .126 he posted last year, would still place him 3rd. Chandler on the other hand has never topped .100 (while Batum has never been under it), though his ws/48 has improved every year in the league, as has his PER.

In short, I don't think you can really go wrong with either player. I'd much prefer Batum given that he would fit better with the existing team on the offensive end. Is he worth 9-10/mil per year for 4 years? I say yes, but only because it would fit well with the club's salary structure. That deal would expire the same year you would have to give Val and this year's pick extensions. This is especially true if Barnes and MKG are both off the board when the Raps pick, but even if they aren't, Batum, DeRozan and one of those two would make a phenomenal wing trio for the next 4 years. The deal also wouldn't be so large that the Raps couldn't pursue an expensive point guard once Jose's deal expires. So to me, if Batum keeps up this year's production and stays healthy, then he'd be worth overspending on.

Thank you for this. It makes soooo much sense it's not even funny.

[Miekenstien]

Just wanted to chime in here since I'm surprised nobody's really done a Chandler vs Batum comparison. Gonna draw on ESPNs Hollinger profiles and stats from basketball-reference.com and a few other places. Personally I'd prefer Batum, and here's why:

First up, offence. To me Batum is a better fit as a guy who's mostly a catch and shoot player, can hit the 3 and finishes well when given the lane/on the break. Chandler is somewhat the opposite: he creates shots for himself but doesn't hit them. Chandler's career highs in TS% and 3pt% are essentially at or lower than Batum's career lows in those categories. Their per36 offensive rebounding and assist numbers are pretty similar, and Batum turns the ball over just a bit less. Chandler however has a much higher useage rate, which is a bit of an issue on a team with high useage players in Calderon and Bargs. Batum is a bit better free throw shooter but half a free throw less per 36 minutes, and in general has a higher FG%. So really it comes down to a contrast in styles.

We can't know what the draft will bring, but given a starting lineup that features Bargs, one of Val/Gray/Amir, DeRozan and Calderon, a wing that can stretch the D would complement the team a lot more and open things up for DeRozan. Chandler and DeRozan on the wings would be a bad pairing in my opinion.

Now defence. Hollinger mentions that Batum's defensive numbers from Synergy were awful, but that on the other hand the Blazers used him to guard whoever Andre Miller couldn't. It's also worth considering that on a team that featured Camby, Aldridge and Wes Matthews, attacking Batum kind of makes sense. A quick look at defensive win shares and defensive rating has Batum killing Chandler, but then again Chandler was playing on the Knicks and Nuggets, so you have to take those with a grain of salt. Chandler is a bit better defensive rebounder, but Batum played with superior rebounders around him so was unlikely to haul many in. Both get the standard roughly 1 block and 1 steal per game And in terms of their physical abilities, Batum is the longer quicker type while Chandler has a bit more bulk. But both have good size and would likely be defensive assets in Casey's system.

Finally, Batum beats Chandler in PER and kills him in win shares/48. In fact Batum's current .182 ws/48 is better than anyone on the Raptors this year, and even if he falls back to the .126 he posted last year, would still place him 3rd. Chandler on the other hand has never topped .100 (while Batum has never been under it), though his ws/48 has improved every year in the league, as has his PER.

In short, I don't think you can really go wrong with either player. I'd much prefer Batum given that he would fit better with the existing team on the offensive end. Is he worth 9-10/mil per year for 4 years? I say yes, but only because it would fit well with the club's salary structure. That deal would expire the same year you would have to give Val and this year's pick extensions. This is especially true if Barnes and MKG are both off the board when the Raps pick, but even if they aren't, Batum, DeRozan and one of those two would make a phenomenal wing trio for the next 4 years. The deal also wouldn't be so large that the Raps couldn't pursue an expensive point guard once Jose's deal expires. So to me, if Batum keeps up this year's production and stays healthy, then he'd be worth overspending on.

thanks for the hard work. i would still like to have chandler on the team. i think he might be a bit cheaper and i dont really understand hollingers numbers. do they take into account how strong the portland team is as a whole? (looking for reasons now)

[ceez]

Ok so it's settled, Gordon and Chandler as the wings next year. Good work boys.

[Maleko]

Ok so it's settled, Gordon and Chandler as the wings next year. Good work boys.

If it were only that easy eh?

[planetmars]

Ok so it's settled, Gordon and Chandler as the wings next year. Good work boys.

Nilanka had previously brought up his proneness to injury. So I looked it up.

He had a hamstring injury the summer before his sophomore year, a groin injury in his sophomore year, a sprained wrist (with a bone chip fracture) a year later.. and now he has a knee injury.

It could be quite risky to go after him, knowing that he may only be good for about 60 games a year.

The positive is that each injury was different, so once healed he may be fine. He's a very talented player though. I'd love to have him on the team if his physical goes well. Would he sign an extension with Toronto though? And where would you send Demar? I don't think Gordon and Demar can co-exist on the same team, not at this point in their careers anyways. Both will want a tone of minutes.

[ceez]

"Listen DeMar we need to talk. We really appreciate everything you've done the past few years. You love Toronto and Toronto loves you. But with that said we're bringing someone in that can actually shoot and defend. And you know, dribble. So we're going to move you to sixth man mmkay? There's an award for that! Go get 'em tiger."

[Hello]

"Listen DeMar we need to talk. We really appreciate everything you've done the past few years. You love Toronto and Toronto loves you. But with that said we're bringing someone in that can actually shoot and defend. And you know, dribble. So we're going to move you to sixth man mmkay? There's an award for that! Go get 'em tiger."

Bahahahahaha

[Maleko]

"Listen DeMar we need to talk. We really appreciate everything you've done the past few years. You love Toronto and Toronto loves you. But with that said we're bringing someone in that can actually shoot and defend. And you know, dribble. So we're going to move you to sixth man mmkay? There's an award for that! Go get 'em tiger."

lol

[Hugmenot]

Gordon just declined the extension (sources say) presented to him by the Hornets.

Should BC throw max money at him? Is he worth it?

No, and definitely not.

I believe Eric Gordon's perceived value has benefited greatly from playing with Blake Griffin last year and being the key piece in the the Chris Paul trade. In my opinion, Danilo Gallinari is at least as good if not better than Eric Gordon and yet, he just accepted a 4 year, $42 million extension earlier this week.

[mcHAPPY]

https://twitter.com/#!/TheRocketGuy/...34265094451201

Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo tells HOOPSWORLD that re-signing Barbosa is a priority, but likely not until next summer.

Barbosa appears to be a free agent target in July.

[Miekenstien]

https://twitter.com/#!/TheRocketGuy/...34265094451201




Barbosa appears to be a free agent target in July.

i know the restricted free agent extension just ended but can unrestricted like barbosa sign anytime? what if we traded him for whatever to a contender with the hope to sign him in the summer could he then sign an extension with them and ruin bcs plan. and this really sounds like bayless is the odd man out. if we pick up a kobango with a later pick seems bc likes barbosa for sixth man for the next 4-5 years.

would be pretty savvy of bc to get something for him for the rest of this year and resign him as well.

[Apollo]

Batum explodes

Batum got the start last night at SG over Wesley Matthews last night. What did he do? Only 33 points, 50% from the field, 6 of 6 from the line, 3 treys, four boards, a steal and a block.


Earlier in the day before the game I had been offered Bargnani straight up for Batum in the RR Fantasy League. I turned it down.

[Fanchie]

Batum got the start last night at SG over Wesley Matthews last night. What did he do? Only 33 points, 50% from the field, 6 of 6 from the line, 3 treys, four boards, a steal and a block.


Earlier in the day before the game I had been offered Bargnani straight up for Batum in the RR Fantasy League. I turned it down.

Yay to that !!

Batum=the real deal=the man without weaknesses