I look for Farmar's play to improve if he signs here. He is going to be super hungry coming from the Lakers where he won back to back titles and joining the Pistons where he'll have a hard time getting on the court because of all the guards they've stockpiled.
Salmons got 40 mil over 5 years. Drew Gooden got 32 mil over 5 years. Not a good climate now. Teams have been sheeding payroll for years in a series of head scratching moves and now they have to fill rosters. Figure with the shrinking cap and all we probably are not far away from a few years ago when you could get someone like Dyess back then for 30 mil over 5 years. Or an Elden Campbell type for 3 mil/yr. 5- 7 mil/yr has seemed to be the standard for a grade B type front court guy. Not 10mil/per with what Haywood's asking for. I know he puts up numbers but I have seen him play. Solid guy but he is not going to turn your front court around and for 10 mil per I would expect a fairly noticeable impact. Its more of an Agents market really since they are the ones negotiating things. Players at least care if their team has enough money left over for a decent bench and whatnot - agents don't. Maybe give it a few weeks and see who drops their price. Another thing - it's been a lot of hack teams so far right? Who really wants to play in Minn or Tor unless they are overpaid.
Farmar < Bynum Seriously, Bynum when healthy is a dynamic offensive player. And - my hope is that White displaces Bynum in time, because White has the potential to be a great defensive guard in combination with Stuckey, and Bynum will always be abused at that end because he's short. BTW, Bynum's combine numbers are some of the best of all time - he rates as just about the fastest guard ever tested there along with Nate Robinson, and is a super leaper as well.
I'm actually hoping Bengo replaces Rip and White replaces Bengo as the backup SG. Stuckey/Gordon, Bynum/White...not bad IF White can deliver the goods (a big if) and IF Stuckey and Bynum can develop a consistent J from long range, yet another big IF.
The thing we absolutely know is that Gordon is one of the great long range bombers in the game. You can throw out last year - he was crippled by injuries. To me, it's pretty obvious that the optimal guard configuration would be, assuming they reach their full potential, Stuckey and White with Bengo off the bench. Two super athletes, both very strong and fast and explosive who can defend both positions starting with a Vinny Johnson clone off the bench. The way I see it, Gordon and Daye could be an incredible duo for years for us in terms of stretching the court - and I see Daye as our 4th guard at times, especially given the point ability of Monroe. I'd love to sign Bynum and then have him as an asset to trade in a year or so IF White develops quickly.
Farmar? Don't see how last year was an anomaly for him. He averaged 7.2/1.5 on 43% in 18 minutes of play. His career averages are 7/2 on 43% in just over 18 minutes of play. Seems to me that he played up to how he's been the rest of his career. Dude is a pretty mediocre basketball player. We have enough of those as it is. I wouldn't even offer him the MLE to come off my bench, let alone start of a superior player in Stuckey.
If Farmar can't beat out a statue of Derek Fisher for the starting point guard spot (Lakers point guard duties: inbound the ball and pass it to Kobe or Gasol), I don't want him anywhere near this roster. Come on, Ernie. 2009/10 averages: WAS: 9.8PTS/10.3REB/2.1BLK/56.1FG% DAL: 8.1PTS/7.4REB/2.0BLK/56.4FG% Those stats (not per-minute stats) are very respectable. And on Dallas he was playing backup minutes. Gasol was a perennial loser until he started playing next to Kobe Bryant. Now he's all of a sudden a winner? Regarding Haywood, I don't expect non-superstars to win games on their own. Now I don't want us to give him $10mil to play here. But don't give me that tired "He's not a winner" excuse. Hardly anyone is a "winner" in the NBA.
That is the easiest part. JD would have to part ways in acknowledging that someone other than Tay has an IQ to help this club. I mean %%%%... when is he going to stop beating up on the coaches?
Why was he playing back up minutes if he is the rarest of the rare double double (dare I say machine?) averaging 7' center? It doesn't make sense. The stats I look at are the ones that say he has averaged 24.6 mpg for his career capped off by his career high of almost 33 mpg (his high by 3+ minutes) for the Wiz this year. Players play. NBA.com : Brendan Haywood Career Stats Page
This is not like discussing Amir Johnson or Austin Daye. This guy actually has measurable contributions and not some intangible "potential to be a stud". You might plausibly disagree that he wouldn't be worth it or that you don't want him here, but you can't discount a near double-double average out of hand.
Jordan Farmar compares more to a Will Bynum than a starting PG. Thankfully this is a non-issue as Farmar isn't a target of the Pistons at the moment.
Looking at the free agent list, there aren't really a lot of options available for the Pistons. We're so log jammed at SF and SG, doesn't really make much sense to go out and get another. The team still has faith in 50 Stuck and wants to re-sign Bynum, making another PG unlikely. So we're really looking at getting some up-front help and the class is weak. The names I see that stick out: Brad Miller Tyrus Thomas Theo Ratliff Brendan Haywood Craig Smith Udonis Haslem Jamaal Magloire Jermaine O'Neal's Corpse Oleksiy Pecherov Joosh Boone Tony Battie Ike Diogu Al Harrington Louis Amundson Juwan Howard's perfectly lined up goatee Rasho Kyrylo Fesenko Fabricio Oberto That list makes me frown. Doesn't look like we'll be getting anthing significant this FA period. We should try to trade for the rights to Tiago Splitter and pay the man the full MLE. He's the MVP of one of the better leagues overseas and the Spurs own his rights. That usually means he's good.
ROTFLMAO, can't stop laughing, because its sooo true, I'm amazed that he ALWAYS has a perfect cut and line- even on road trips, dude must have his barber travel with him.
I guess I need to be corrected. I thought everyone considered Will a PG. Which, in the essence of things, means we have no Point Guards. Seems to be a bunch of combo's running around emulating the mirage of a Chinese fire-drill. The current group might be the only ones who have sunburned eyelids (fluoresce lights, no less) from the heavy concentration on their shoelaces. Oh yes, I do agree. JD is not targeting anything outside of the combo world. He really needs to show his stuff...give Kwame a 5 year, 60 million contract. That would show-em and with a no trade provision. Take that Cuban!
