Amir Johnson
Good call. He would be a nice pickup for the 4th big man spot. He has been an overall disappointment, but if you put him in this system, and get him working with Clifford Ray and KG, and he could turn out to be a player.
I forget, was he a guy that Danny really liked in the draft, or was that Mark Blount Jr. down in Washington?
Yeah, it was Amir Johnson that Danny liked. He was on the board at the end of the second round. I think Blatche went early in the second.
Amir Johnson will cost around $4 million to bring over. I'd be bringing him in here to replace Sheed as the first big off the bench and to give Amir 25 minutes a night backing up KG + Perk. Same with Tyrus if Boston went after him.
I am not sure Johnson will cost that much. I have a feeling that after the elite players are gone, a lot of teams are going to be closing their wallets, and squeezing the 3rd and 4th tier players. Johnson, while still having a ton of potential, has been a big disappointment. He has not been able to do much more in Toronto than he did in Detroit, where he was salary dumped from. Perhaps a team might throw that kind of money at him, but I think more likely, he is going to be looking at a $2-3.5 million per year deal.
I think $3 million per annum is the floor for Amir Johnson.
But I reckon it'll take at least $4 million for the Raptors not to make an equal or superior offer. I think Colangelo beats any offer below that price in order to hang onto Amir. BC has talked about re-signing Amir this season several times throughout the season. I do not think Colangelo will let Amir leave on a low valued contract.
It's going to be tough to snag Amir if Bosh leaves, unless Toronto finds a more offensively gifted big to throw their dough at. It would be great if we could land him in a sign and trade for Big Baby.
Still, I don't think the C's brass will spend much money on the 4/5 position. I think they will try to trade Baby, Perk or Wallace at some point to try and get an upgrade, but I don't think they will invest any more money into the position in free agency.
I believe their free agency focus will be on solidifying the wings and the back-up guard spots. The first priority is obviously resigning Ray, which I believe is inevitable. We don't have the resources to replace him and since when have sign and trades yielded equal value?
Replacing Nate/TA/Daniels is likely to be use of the MLE funds, as Doc hasn't found a comfort zone with any of them outside of narrow roles. I think Doc will lobby extra hard for a playmaker or a wing with playmaking abilities to allow us to get away with an Eddie House type at the 1. I think most signs point towards Mike Miller. A Doc guy with shooting ability who can make an impact on the boards and move the ball.
