T.J Ford buyout hopefully doesn't send him to Miami..

[Eddie20]

Don't think that Ford is at the stage of his career that he's willing to give up money for wins. I doubt he goes there and instead likely goes to someone that's willing to pay and also needs pg help.

[Who]

Don't think that Ford is at the stage of his career that he's willing to give up money for wins. I doubt he goes there and instead likely goes to someone that's willing to pay and also needs pg help.

Does anyone pay TJ Ford more than the minimum? If so, who?

[moiso]

I just read a quote a TJ Ford quote on Hoopshype saying he's not going to take a buyout.  I don't really care what team he plays on.  He's not that good.  He falls out of favor everywhere he plays.

[Celtics4ever]

I still think Miller duplicates to a lesser degree LeBron's skillset of point forward.

[Chris]

Miami needs to continue to concentrate on filling out their roster with role players who do not need touches to effect a game (J.Anthony, Y.Haslem, M.Miller, J.Jones, Z.Ilgauskas and even their point guards relatively speaking). They've done this well so far and that is one of the main reasons why LeBron + Wade should have the ball in their hands so much next season.

Boston has gone the opposite route filling their supporting cast with high usage role players like Jermaine O'Neal, Shaquille O'Neal, Von Wafer and Nate Robinson.

The only role players who don't need the ball in their hands a large amount of the time are Glen Davis (sometimes a high usage role player) and Marquis Daniels.

As a result lot more of Boston's possessions are going to be used by their role players.

Absolutely.  Although many of them (particularly the Oneals) are also good ball movers.  And the C's offense, particularly when Rondo is not in there, is a ball movement offense.  Rondo is the only starter who pounds the ball a lot (Pierce used to, but last year he stepped away a bit, and became more of a catch and shoot guy).  The Heat on the other hand have guys who LOVE to pound the ball, and I am not sure how they will react to having to share it.

[MBunge]

Over the last two seasons Mike Miller has become far more passive offensively. He has only been taking 8.5 shot attempts per 36 minutes which is in line with what Kendrick Perkins takes for the Celtics and lower than every other rotation player on the Celtics roster.

Ergo, Miller only requires a small amount of touches and shot attempts. A low usage player.

And over the last two seasons Miller has averaged 10 and 11 pts in over 30 minutes a game.  Miller's become a good rebounder and passer but as an offensive comparison, in Von Wafer's last year in the league in Houston he averaged nearly 10 points in only 19 minutes a game.  Miller might not have demanded a lot of touches the last two years, but he was still a player that needed quite a few minutes to be productive.

Mike

[Eddie20]

Don't think that Ford is at the stage of his career that he's willing to give up money for wins. I doubt he goes there and instead likely goes to someone that's willing to pay and also needs pg help.

Does anyone pay TJ Ford more than the minimum? If so, who?

Ask Duhon's agent. 

[the_Bird]

Over the last two seasons Mike Miller has become far more passive offensively. He has only been taking 8.5 shot attempts per 36 minutes which is in line with what Kendrick Perkins takes for the Celtics and lower than every other rotation player on the Celtics roster.

Ergo, Miller only requires a small amount of touches and shot attempts. A low usage player.

And over the last two seasons Miller has averaged 10 and 11 pts in over 30 minutes a game.  Miller's become a good rebounder and passer but as an offensive comparison, in Von Wafer's last year in the league in Houston he averaged nearly 10 points in only 19 minutes a game.  Miller might not have demanded a lot of touches the last two years, but he was still a player that needed quite a few minutes to be productive.

Mike

Are you arguing that a player's "productivity" should be measured by comparing his points with his minutes played?

REALLY?

Mike Miller became a passive player, he didn't take a lot of shots because he was trying to be more of a facilitator.  Whether that's what his coaches asked him to do or if that's just what he though he needed to do, I don't know.  In Miami, his role will be clear; catch the ball when it's kicked out to him and shoot it.  He worries me a lot.  He doesn't miss too often; when he shoots, he's about as good a shooter as there is.

[MBunge]

Over the last two seasons Mike Miller has become far more passive offensively. He has only been taking 8.5 shot attempts per 36 minutes which is in line with what Kendrick Perkins takes for the Celtics and lower than every other rotation player on the Celtics roster.

Ergo, Miller only requires a small amount of touches and shot attempts. A low usage player.

And over the last two seasons Miller has averaged 10 and 11 pts in over 30 minutes a game.  Miller's become a good rebounder and passer but as an offensive comparison, in Von Wafer's last year in the league in Houston he averaged nearly 10 points in only 19 minutes a game.  Miller might not have demanded a lot of touches the last two years, but he was still a player that needed quite a few minutes to be productive.

Mike

Are you arguing that a player's "productivity" should be measured by comparing his points with his minutes played?

REALLY?

Mike Miller became a passive player, he didn't take a lot of shots because he was trying to be more of a facilitator.  Whether that's what his coaches asked him to do or if that's just what he though he needed to do, I don't know.  In Miami, his role will be clear; catch the ball when it's kicked out to him and shoot it.  He worries me a lot.  He doesn't miss too often; when he shoots, he's about as good a shooter as there is.

When the best thing about a player's game is his ability to score, I'd have to say that points per minute played are a good measure of his productivity.  As I mentioned, Miller has become a good rebounder and passer...but that's for a guy who plays 30+ minutes a game.  He's not good enough at either to have an impact in those areas coming off the bench.  Mike Miller is a player whose best skill is shooting that, for reasons NO ONE has explained, decided to stop shooting the ball for the previous two seasons.  If Miller has that same attitude in Miami, he's going to be next to useless.

And while Miller is a great shooter, I'm not scared of him.  I don't think either Wade or LeBron will play major minutes at PG next season, which means that when Miller is on the court, either Wade or LeBron will usually be on the bench.  That's a trade-off I'll take every time.

Mike

[Finkelskyhook]

The only thing Ford or any other PG will do is bring the ball up when the messiah or Wade are either not on the court or don't feel like taking the ball the length of the court.

[BballTim]

I hope TJ Ford does land in Miami. He would be a very bad fit and hurt that squad considerably.

TJ Ford needs the ball in his hands to be an effective player and if he has the ball in his hands then D-Wade and LeBron do not have the ball. Just not enough touches to go around between the three of them ... and any touches that go away from MVP caliber players to TJ Ford weakens Miami. Makes them easier to defeat.

TJ Ford is an ineffective player once the ball is taken out of his hands and he's asked to be more of a facilitator rather than a playmaker. As we've seen in Indiana. He just isn't comfortable in this role. His lack of a jump shot and diminutive size makes him a poor player off the ball offensively. 

Miami needs to continue to concentrate on filling out their roster with role players who do not need touches to effect a game (J.Anthony, Y.Haslem, M.Miller, J.Jones, Z.Ilgauskas and even their point guards relatively speaking). They've done this well so far and that is one of the main reasons why LeBron + Wade should have the ball in their hands so much next season.

  I agree with this. Every possession TJ uses is one less for Wade/James/Bosh.

[BballTim]

Miami needs to continue to concentrate on filling out their roster with role players who do not need touches to effect a game (J.Anthony, Y.Haslem, M.Miller, J.Jones, Z.Ilgauskas and even their point guards relatively speaking). They've done this well so far and that is one of the main reasons why LeBron + Wade should have the ball in their hands so much next season.

Boston has gone the opposite route filling their supporting cast with high usage role players like Jermaine O'Neal, Shaquille O'Neal, Von Wafer and Nate Robinson.

The only role players who don't need the ball in their hands a large amount of the time are Glen Davis (sometimes a high usage role player) and Marquis Daniels.

As a result lot more of Boston's possessions are going to be used by their role players.

  I don't really know that this is true. JO and Shaq are high usage players but neither of them will have the ball unless Rondo/PP/KG want them to. They were both on teams with worse offensive options than they will be next year so their teams wanted them to shoot more than we likely will, although Shaq could play a decent sized role in the half court offense.

[celticsclay]

I brought this up in another thread, but didn't get a concrete answer. It looks like Miami has either 15 or 14 players under guaranteed contracts for next year as is. While I am sure this isn't the actual rules, I don't think they should be allowed to sign additional players if they are over the salary cap and are already at 15 guaranteed. That kind of goes against the allowing minimum guys if you are over the salary cap to fill out your roster clause.....

During the summer, teams can sign as many players as they want to minimum deals, and can have as many players on their roster as they want.  (For instance, the Celtics currently have 16 players under contract).  They have to get below 15 prior to opening night.

I understand that part Roy, and thanks for chiming in. However, I was referring more to fully guaranteed contracts. If I am not mistaken the Celtics have several players under non-guaranteed deals (Gafney, Layfayette, Erden). So the celtics are not really in the same boat. I believe one of the heat players is under non guaranteed signing, but the rest are meaning they are at either 14 or 15. Isn't this a different issue? If you are going over the salary cap to sign more then 15 guaranteed people you are going against the "filling out your roster clause" and should not be allowed to do it. Although I doubt that is really the rule..

[celticsclay]

I just read a quote a TJ Ford quote on Hoopshype saying he's not going to take a buyout.  I don't really care what team he plays on.  He's not that good.  He falls out of favor everywhere he plays.

Well you can't really blame him at this point. After all the teams have filled their roster spots for starters and backups he really can't get more then the minimum. If the magic had not signed duhon, or the knicks had not signed felton etc he may have been able to land a three million dollar deal. In that case a buyout would have made sense. I get that the pacers were trying to trade him until now, but maybe they should have just cut the cord in the beginning of the offseason if they did not want him back under any circumstance.

[Who]

I brought this up in another thread, but didn't get a concrete answer. It looks like Miami has either 15 or 14 players under guaranteed contracts for next year as is. While I am sure this isn't the actual rules, I don't think they should be allowed to sign additional players if they are over the salary cap and are already at 15 guaranteed. That kind of goes against the allowing minimum guys if you are over the salary cap to fill out your roster clause.....

During the summer, teams can sign as many players as they want to minimum deals, and can have as many players on their roster as they want.  (For instance, the Celtics currently have 16 players under contract).  They have to get below 15 prior to opening night.

I understand that part Roy, and thanks for chiming in. However, I was referring more to fully guaranteed contracts. If I am not mistaken the Celtics have several players under non-guaranteed deals (Gafney, Layfayette, Erden). So the celtics are not really in the same boat. I believe one of the heat players is under non guaranteed signing, but the rest are meaning they are at either 14 or 15. Isn't this a different issue? If you are going over the salary cap to sign more then 15 guaranteed people you are going against the "filling out your roster clause" and should not be allowed to do it. Although I doubt that is really the rule..

My understanding of this is that you can have up to 20 players on your roster (all guaranteed deals is fine) prior to opening night of the season.

By opening night of the regular season ... or perhaps the end of October, one or the other ... you have to trim your roster down to 15 contracts or less.