The Point Guard of the Future and Free Agency

[Blacklash2k4]

i would preferably trade him this year and hope to sign nash at a discount if any way possible for a couple years. i was in the felton camp but i have watched a bunch of portland games to see batum, which i thought was baitem but is ba toom. and felton looks horrible. i wouldnt want him for anything other than bench fodder right now. keeping him one more year barring no nash would be a good move for consistencys sake and it will make it easier for BigV to have a great pick and roll point guard.

in dream land i want chris paul. hate williams.

I OBJECT! lol just kidding. I don't want Nash to come to TO. Dude deserves to have a run until he retires. We're no where near that point yet, so no I don't want Nash. Though I would love to see Nash retire as a Raptor.

[Nilanka]

The jury is still out on whether he's got PG skills or as how many saw him an undersized SG.

I might be mistaken, but I beleive that quote about how Kemba took on a scorers role out of necessity for UCONN originated from his coach. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but who would have more to gain from a player going as high as possible from their school other than the school itself. All these big schools have everything riding on sending their athletes to the pro level and getting paid. That attracts the blue chippers and talented prospects which yeilds winning programs and it turn the school gets paid. If I was UCONN's coach I would say they same thing when everyone is concerned about Kemba's ability to play PG. Damn it! Off topic again...by bad.

It could just be that Calhoun didn't want to throw Kemba under the bus because he genuinely likes him.

But the theory has some merit. Kemba was more of a facilitator during his sophomore season. By his junior year, Kemba was the only legitimate scoring option left on the UCONN roster, since Jeremy Lamb didn't really establish himself until the tourney.

[Mediumcore]

I was one of the few who thought Kemba has good PG skills, but took on the scorer's role out of necessity for UCONN.

The jury is still out on whether he's got PG skills or as how many saw him an undersized SG.

I might be mistaken, but I beleive that quote about how Kemba took on a scorers role out of necessity for UCONN originated from his coach. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but who would have more to gain from a player going as high as possible from their school other than the school itself. All these big schools have everything riding on sending their athletes to the pro level and getting paid. That attracts the blue chippers and talented prospects which yeilds winning programs and it turn the school gets paid. If I was UCONN's coach I would say they same thing when everyone is concerned about Kemba's ability to play PG. Damn it! Off topic again...by bad.

[Nilanka]

Not to be cheeky, but I seem to recall you were really high on a certain undersized shooting guard in last years draft as well. So I gotta ask in the best Gary Coleman voice I can muster "what you talking about Nilanka"?

I was one of the few who thought Kemba has good PG skills, but took on the scorer's role out of necessity for UCONN.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I agree with this sentiment as well. But in order to find a guard that is 19-23 I really think the best option is the draft. This is not a draft thread, so I'm not going to go into it much.. but I think the Raps should get a backup guy for Calderon from FA (like Dragic or Miller) and use that pairing until we can find that PG in the draft. Hopefully that ends up being this year, so we don't need to splurge on a PG in FA.

If you look at my first post, my conclusion and response to the thread's question, was to keep Calderon and not sign any free agent in 2012 or 2013 to be the "PG of the future".

The thread also wasn't about finding a backup in free agency, which is why I didn't mention Dragic more until I replied to 'hateslosing'. Reading between the lines, I was implying that the draft should be the way to go to find that true young, pass-first PG of the future, by voting just to keep Calderon as the starter for next season and hopefully even a few seasons beyond (at a much more feasible contract).

[planetmars]

I didn't say you couldn't. In fact, I'd be happy with that pairing. I much prefer Dragic to Bayless.

My only point was that if the Raptors bring in Dragic next year, he'll be 26. If Calderon continues to be the starter for another one-three seasons, suddenly Dragic won't be the starter until is 27-29 years old. To me, that's not the definition of "point guard of the future". To me, that player needs to be either a guy who's 24-26 now that will come in and start immediately, or a guy who's 19-23 that Calderon can mentor for a couple seasons. Dragic is neither, unless the Raps hand an unproven guy the starting job on a silver platter, in the hopes that he will become a star.

I agree with this sentiment as well. But in order to find a guard that is 19-23 I really think the best option is the draft. This is not a draft thread, so I'm not going to go into it much.. but I think the Raps should get a backup guy for Calderon from FA (like Dragic or Miller) and use that pairing until we can find that PG in the draft. Hopefully that ends up being this year, so we don't need to splurge on a PG in FA.

[ceez]

You're right Brooks is a chucker. Any reason though for favouring Beubois? Seems to bring a lot of the same things to the table.

Better defender, actually looks to pass sometimes. Higher character.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I don't see why you can't have both Dragic and Calderon. Dragic won't cost that much, at least not compared to someone like Augustine who is already a starter. You sign him next season and have a chance to evaluate him as the back up to Jose. If you don't see him as the future, Jose is still pretty good and should be for a few more years so you can try to resign and now you have a really good back up in case he gets hurt. If he does work out, you let Jose walk, or trade him, and now you have some nice cap.

Dragic is only making 2 million right now. Even if you brought that up to 4 or 5 it wouldn't be so bad even if he doesn't work out as the starter. To put it in perspective, Bayless is set to make 4 million next year if we give him the qualifying offer and I put Dragic way above him.

I didn't say you couldn't. In fact, I'd be happy with that pairing. I much prefer Dragic to Bayless.

My only point was that if the Raptors bring in Dragic next year, he'll be 26. If Calderon continues to be the starter for another one-three seasons, suddenly Dragic won't be the starter until is 27-29 years old. To me, that's not the definition of "point guard of the future". To me, that player needs to be either a guy who's 24-26 now that will come in and start immediately, or a guy who's 19-23 that Calderon can mentor for a couple seasons. Dragic is neither, unless the Raps hand an unproven guy the starting job on a silver platter, in the hopes that he will become a star.

[Mediumcore]

Yeah, I see Brooks as a slightly more polished Bayless (another undersized shooting guard).

The same can be said about Beaubois, but he's young and inexperienced enough, that it might be possible to groom him as a distributor. Regardless, his ball-skills are undeniable.

Not to be cheeky, but I seem to recall you were really high on a certain undersized shooting guard in last years draft as well. So I gotta ask in the best Gary Coleman voice I can muster "what you talking about Nilanka"?

[hateslosing]

The only player on the list that seems a legit possibility and doesn't fall into one of these unfavourable categories, is Dragic. However, he'll be 26 next season and has not proven he can be a starter, let alone an above-average player who is a true leader on the court. For me, I'd rather look to either the 2012 or 2013 draft, than pin my hopes on Dragic. Stick with Calderon.

I don't see why you can't have both Dragic and Calderon. Dragic won't cost that much, at least not compared to someone like Augustine who is already a starter. You sign him next season and have a chance to evaluate him as the back up to Jose. If you don't see him as the future, Jose is still pretty good and should be for a few more years so you can try to resign and now you have a really good back up in case he gets hurt. If he does work out, you let Jose walk, or trade him, and now you have some nice cap.

Dragic is only making 2 million right now. Even if you brought that up to 4 or 5 it wouldn't be so bad even if he doesn't work out as the starter. To put it in perspective, Bayless is set to make 4 million next year if we give him the qualifying offer and I put Dragic way above him.

[Mediumcore]

Brooks is the one PG mentioned that I want absolutely nothing to do with. He's a checker and not a very good one at that.

If we were open to a scoring PG (and I am) i'd go for Beaubois.

You're right Brooks is a chucker. Any reason though for favouring Beubois? Seems to bring a lot of the same things to the table.

[Nilanka]

Yeah, I see Brooks as a slightly more polished Bayless (another undersized shooting guard).

The same can be said about Beaubois, but he's young and inexperienced enough, that it might be possible to groom him as a distributor. Regardless, his ball-skills are undeniable.

[ceez]

Brooks is the one PG mentioned that I want absolutely nothing to do with. He's a checker and not a very good one at that.

If we were open to a scoring PG (and I am) i'd go for Beaubois.

[ceez]

Bargs will be back in a couple weeks and I'm sure we'll play our way out of a top 10 pick. Maybe Marshall will be our PG of the future?

Edit: wait no draft talk, my bad

[Mediumcore]

I personally don't like the idea of moving Jose if we're not looking to shore up the PG void long-term. I'd rather keep Jose, than borrow Brooks for 2-3 years, and start the PG search again in 2015.

The guys on the lists who intrigue me are Augstin, Jennings, Dragic, and to a lesser extent, Beaubois.

I completely agree with you, but I was trying to stay within the confines of what the moderator asked for the question to be answered that being it had to be a free agent and not a trade or more importantly a draft pick. I truly beleive that our PG of the future is not on a free agent, but will be drafted either this summer or next. I think Jose would be a great mentor for any young PG, but if the question is about whom out of the two lists we should sign I would say Brooks. He's a great leader, lightning quick, has range from the outside and can be had on the cheap. I would think when he gets back from China where I think he is playing that he might be looking as long a contract as he can get, but hopefully we can sign him to a 2 - 3 year contract to be a back up when Jose leaves and continue mentoring the young PG of the future.

Between Augustin, Jennings and Dragic I would be interested in Jennings the most, but I don't know if he's worth the investment in the new CBA for a border line All star.