Minnesota Sports Forum

Yeah, I have not heard all the recent Flip talk, although I know he really likes Martin.

I do think Calderon makes a ton of sense for this team. He would be the backup PG, is a decent starter should Rubio miss some games, and can even play along side Rubio at times. As with Flip, I like Martin, but this would open the door for LaVine at SG. And while I would love to get Calderon for something other than Martin, I suspect Martin is what it would take to convince the Knicks to pull the trigger.

Based on Martin's modest contract, age, and injury history, I think the door is already open for LaVine. It's just a matter of whether he is good enough to earn the starting spot, as I don't see Kevin Martin suddenly turning into a problem child if he has to come off the bench.

Calderon actually seems like a less effective version of Martin to me, but at PG instead of SG.....Poor defense with offensive skills that are diminishing quickly. At least Martin can still get you 20 points without breaking much of a sweat.

I think it's a risky move by the Clippers that could pay off. If Stevenson is a problem then he won't be back next year. They get out of Hawes contract, so that helps them too.

I wouldn't trade Martin for Calderon straight up. If we trade Martin I want a younger asset in return. If I'm a contending team Martin would be a good target due to his skillset and salary. Flip should explore trading him, but don't give him away.

Q12543 wrote:Based on Martin's modest contract, age, and injury history, I think the door is already open for LaVine. It's just a matter of whether he is good enough to earn the starting spot, as I don't see Kevin Martin suddenly turning into a problem child if he has to come off the bench.

Calderon actually seems like a less effective version of Martin to me, but at PG instead of SG.....Poor defense with offensive skills that are diminishing quickly. At least Martin can still get you 20 points without breaking much of a sweat.

I've always liked Calderon, and I've always compared Rubio to him favorably. Rubio's a better defender, Calderon a better shooter, but otherwise they are both solid distributing types. If we don't draft Wright (who I'd be happy to get), then Calderon would also fit well.

I wouldn't be too happy about trading Martin for him though. Martin's better than Bud, so if we could get Calderon for Bud, I'd prefer that.

Let me emphasize a point that a lot of people seem to have overlooked last year.

Martin's still a very good offensive player and a reasonable contract who brings outside shooting, which we sorely lack.

Drew, I just don't like the idea of getting yet another abject liability on defense. I mean, we really have very few guys that can defend and Flip has not demonstrated that he knows how to develop/motivate defense. Calderon makes the problem even worse.

Q12543 wrote:Drew, I just don't like the idea of getting yet another abject liability on defense. I mean, we really have very few guys that can defend and Flip has not demonstrated that he knows how to develop/motivate defense. Calderon makes the problem even worse.

Calderon also makes even Terrell Brandon blush with his too-safe approach at the point.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Drew, I just don't like the idea of getting yet another abject liability on defense. I mean, we really have very few guys that can defend and Flip has not demonstrated that he knows how to develop/motivate defense. Calderon makes the problem even worse.

Calderon also makes even Terrell Brandon blush with his too-safe approach at the point.

I don't mind a play-it-safe backup when you have wildcards like LaVine and Shabazz running around out there. Just get them the ball and get out of the way, for better or for worse.

Calderon has two things I'd look for in a backup to Rubio: He's a distributor/get-out-of-the way type AND he is deadly from 3. But he is so horrible on defense. Him, LaVine, and Shabazz are three of the worst perimeter defenders in the NBA.

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Drew, I just don't like the idea of getting yet another abject liability on defense. I mean, we really have very few guys that can defend and Flip has not demonstrated that he knows how to develop/motivate defense. Calderon makes the problem even worse.

Calderon also makes even Terrell Brandon blush with his too-safe approach at the point.

I don't mind a play-it-safe backup when you have wildcards like LaVine and Shabazz running around out there. Just get them the ball and get out of the way, for better or for worse.

Calderon has two things I'd look for in a backup to Rubio: He's a distributor/get-out-of-the way type AND he is deadly from 3. But he is so horrible on defense. Him, LaVine, and Shabazz are three of the worst perimeter defenders in the NBA.

Yeah, for a backup, that approach is probably ok. I just get the night sweats with visions of Brandon stopping to pop from 15 feet and Hudson refusing to pass at all.

The Clippers acquiring Lance Stephenson is a gamble that won't pay off.

- After his disastrous last season with the Hornets Lance has confirmed what everyone was concerned about - he is a temperamental headcase. You can make any number of excuses for him, no veterans on the squad that are bonafide leaders ala David West, Vogel as a more supportive coach compared to Cliffords hard-nose style, you could even say Lance didn't have a true alpha dog to defer to. However the fact remains that Lance put up horrific numbers, refused to adapt to his coaches system (he appeared to not even understand it), and pouted like a baby at the end of the bench.

- Now look at what the Clippers situation is like. Apparently http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/deandre-jordan-los-angeles-clippers-free-agency-chris-paul-rift-051815Paul and Deandre are not the best of friends, reason being is that Paul thinks Deandre lacks work ethic in regards to free-throws and is a bit of a stickler when it comes to details. Doc Rivers has built a solid 6 man rotation but has NO bench depth, hell who is even their third big? Big Baby!? Deandre is going to get the max and the Clippers are going to need him to resign or else this Lance move will look really bad since their only big is Blake Griffin who refuses to play big. So that's Paul, Blake, and Deandre all on max contracts, Lance will make $9 million and JJ will make $7.5 million. That puts them at about $77 million dollars in cap holds. THE 2016 SALARY CAP IS ONLY PROJECTED TO BE $66 MILLION! That is only 5 players locked in for that much money. Seems kind of ridiculous, no? Also the Clippers are a notoriously unlucky/cursed/mismanaged franchise who is bringing in the biggest headcase since Bynum to play what role exactly? So Lance is coming into a situation with a locker room rift, a team leader who might be hard to work with, a team that has no draft picks or salary cap flexibility, and a team that already has Rivers and Crawford coming off the bench. Doesn't exactly seem like he'll fit right in

- What is Lances role for the Clippers? He isn't going to replace Reddick from the SG spot so are they going to play him at SF? He is kind of small to be SF, especially in the Western Conference where he'll have to contend with KD, Kawhi, Batum, Parsons, Gay, Wiggins, etc. He is going to be the fourth option when it comes to scoring the basketball, problem here is that he feels he should be the first or second option (which would make him an ideal 6th man, another problem here is Jamal Crawford is all ready the most notorious ball hog outside of Kobe). The Clippers are losing their fairly paid, slimy lunatic, 3 and D guy in Barnes for a guy that appeared to be really good for one season and isn't afraid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz3wvCNnF98to act like this.

- Alright now let me hit some of the positive aspects of this deal. Lance is only guaranteed for this season and can be cut after next year so the cap hit isn't too bad in the long run. Hawes and Doc clearly did not mesh and the Clips were able to offload him to take a gamble for one year. That is all I can really think of that is good in this deal for the Clippers, I honestly think that this deal is going to blow up in their faces and result in a first round playoff exit instead of the championship run they so desire. Suck it Balmer!

Grade - D

Hornets [warning]Bobcats[/warning] get a nice complementary piece for their trash.

- The Hornets and Lance Stephenson were not meant to be. I thought that it was going to work out great. I bought into Lance during the 13-14 season where he was putting up triple doubles and I thought that he would be a great third option to Big Al and Kemba while providing some lockdown defense alongside MKG. You also factor in that the Hornets brought in Vonleh (I was believer despite Cam's warnings) in addition to Zeller to develop promising PF combo, along with Gary Neal and Jeff Taylor shooting threes it seemed like a promising group of guys. Boy, was I wrong. Lance turned into a nightmare to deal with and found himself buried on the bench.

- The Hornets were looking to move Lance during his first season there http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/12/14/7391555/lance-stephenson-trade-rumors-hornets-pacers-clippers-netseven going so far as to possibly include a pick to get rid of him. So the fact that they got a decent big man who can shoot is a fair return. Hawes can shoot the three and rebound (not a great rebounder but he can do it) he is probably a negative on defense but at least he is 7'1 and will have Biyombo playing next to him. His contract won't look bad at all in 2017 when the cap spikes and I think he will prove a valuable trade piece once the cap spikes as well. I read that Hawes and Doc didn't really get along so hopefully a new start will do Hawes good.

- Matt Barnes will be cut so he doesn't really factor into this deal much asides from the fact that the Hornets will erase about $2 million off of their cap by moving Lance.

- In the end the Hornets took a gamble on Lance that didn't pay off. They were able to unload him to another team and got back a nice piece for their bench and didn't have to give up a pick.

Grade - C+