First things first... some links to get you through the day:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/2013-nba-free-agents/

http://www.storytellerscontracts.info/resources/12-13salaries.htm

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm

Using the 2nd link you can clearly see we'll have approx $37 million on the books after this season.

But that doesn't include our first round draft choice...

a top 5 choice ranges from 4.5 mil to 3 mil
5-10 range would cost between 2.7 mil and 2 mil

I'll assume we pick somewhere in the 5-10 range

so $37 mil + $2.5 mil (for the exercise) means we'll have $39.5 mil on the books... let's just call it $40 mil and be done with it :)

On the books =

Stuckey - can be bought out for $4 million (unlikely)
Nova - we can amnesty his ass (I hope so)
Prince
Jerebko
Monroe
Knight
Drummond
Kravtsov
Singler
Middleton
English
First Round Pick

12 players....

The cap for this season was set at $58.044 million!

Assume the cap remains the same as it is now (likely to increase but let's assume it doesn't)

Even if we don't amnesty Nova we'll have $18 mil in cap space! And the only rotation guy not on the books would be Maxiell!

The minimum we are allowed to spend on a team is $49.337 (assuming it doesn't increase to 90% of the cap next season)

Worst case scenario = we keep Nova and give Maxiell a 1 year contract for $10 mil, sign our 1st and 2nd round picks and we're done!

Drummond, Monroe, Prince, Singler, Knight with Stuckey, English, Jerebko, Maxiell, Slava, Middleton, Nova, first round rookie, 2nd round rookie = 14 players on the books... and we'd still have $8 million left in cap space

Here's hoping that doesn't happen

FWIW my #1 target would be Paul Millsap. I think he's exactly the type of guy we need and he'd compliment Monroe and Drummond up front

If memory serves he's 28 years old so he's in his prime. He's not worth the Max but I'd be willing to pay him HUGE dollars to come here

Another guy I'd look at would be Dorell Wright. Had that great season for the Warriors not so long ago but is back on the bench in Philly. I'd offer him a "home", a starting SG role (assuming Stuckey is happy with leading the bench). I'd have to watch some more film before I'll put my neck out for him though

you really want to spend most of the cap money for a backup bigman? i mean i like Millsap too, but i think we should focus on SF,SG, even a decent backup PG...this team needs some serious talent upgrade in the backcourt, we should be set with Monroe & Drummond up front, lets worry about their backups later ( isnt Maxiell a poor mans Millsap, undersized - good jumper, decent rebounder, not so good defensivly?)

Josh Smith, Igoudala will be UFA, we could also go for guys like Maynor, Redick, Mayo, Aminu, Calderon - they might not be that expensive + help the team immediately - we need to replace bynum, stuckey, prince, maggette imo

i am a little bit worried, Dumars job clearly is in jeopardy, he has to spend the cap money next summer, another Charlie/Bengo disaster could be on the way. This mess cant be fixed through free agency entirely, we need some trades, Prince/Stuckey gotta go - we have enough expiring contracts, Dumars needs to act now and not wait for free agency to overpay someone ( and thats gonna happen, i will guarantee it right here, right now)

We might want to focus on underachieving teams with high salary.... they could go in "dump mode"... don't mind overpaying for some talent when you're taking a current player off the books.

J.A.'s right. We've got one of the worst backcourts in the league. Brandon Knight's one of the worst 5 starting PGs in the league, and he has no viable backup. Stuckey's struggled so bad we're starting Kyle Singler out of position.

I think Calderon or Maynor make more sense than Millsap, especially considering we may be getting another young frontcourt player in the draft. It's too early to tell who may be looking to dump salary via trade, but Rudy Gay could be available if Memphis falls in the first round.

Millsapp would be Carlos boozer art II. I'd love to have him but not at $13 million a year or whatever he'd want.

I'm not closing the door on knight yet, either. his problem is he is thinking way too much. Frank has him trying to be Jason Kidd when he should be trying to be Brandon knight.

I'm not closing the door on knight yet, either. his problem is he is thinking way too much. Frank has him trying to be Jason Kidd when he should be trying to be Brandon knight.

I think the fact that Brandon Knight is one of the bottom 5 starting PGs in the NBA speaks more to the strength of the PG position than it does to the weakness of Knight's game.

But look at the list of starting PGs on every team. He IS one of the bottom 5. I'm not sold on him, but I'm not ready to give up on him either. But he needs to be backed up by someone better than Wil Bynum.

I think Millsap is the perfect guy to compliment Monroe and Drummond. Everything I've seen, heard and read suggests he's a smart dude that puts the team above his own ego. Dude wants to get paid and play lots of minutes sure, but I don't think he's concerned with who starts or who finishes the game as long as the team wins :)

96 minutes available at PF + C...

Monroe 34
Drummond 28
Millsap 34

With Slava and Jerebko capable of playing some minutes we'd be strong up front...

And assuming we gave Millsap $10 mil as a starting salary we'd still have $16 million in cap space (after using the amnesty on Nova) to fix the backcourt

Just throwing this out there: Sign Calderon @ $8 mil per.... sign a SG (Wright, Redick or someone else) @ $8 mil per

Monroe + Drummond (Slava)
Millsap + Jerebko
Prince + Singler (Middleton)
FA + English
Knight + Calderon (Stuckey)

IF Joe signed Millsap, Calderon and a SG would people complain about him once again blowing the cap?

Does signing Millsap and Calderon scream "win now"?

IMO signing Millsap and Calderon is merely a bridge to the future. They should help us make the playoffs in 2013-14 and they should be able to play at a high level for another few seasons... and that's all we'd need because in 2 or 3 years Monroe, Drummond and Knight could be absolutely killing it (depending on how they develop)

And if Drummond and Knight aren't killing it in 2 or 3 years time? That's why we signed Millsap and Calderon in the first place! They'd still be in their primes, still capable of holding it down and if Knight hasn't improved or if Drummond is only good enough to be a quality bench big then BOOM! we out-smarted everyone.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best!

And Joey: Yes I want to spend big on Millsap.

There are numerous options on the wing or in the backcourt. I read posts all the time where people name names and it's a long list!

But consider that Stuckey, Prince, Middleton, Singler, English and Knight are all on the books for next season. Worst case scenario is we don't sign a quality perimeter free agent and are stuck with that collection... Stuckey will expire after next season - surely that helps his trade value?

Now consider that beyond Monroe and Drummond the only big any of us would want to see get more than 1 minute of playing time is Slava! We all want Nova gone... Maxiell would be let go to maximise cap space... do we want Jerebko playing significant minutes at PF?

If you would prefer to see Jerebko play the bulk of his minutes at SF then I think you'd have to want a acquire a big man in free agency or trade. And if you want Jerebko playing the bulk of his minutes at SF then you've got to add him to the list of perimeter players we have under contract.

Prince, Jerebko, Singler, Stuckey, English... surely 2 of them are capable of starting on the wings?

PG is the tricky spot... because if Knight doesn't develop as much as we like then we're screwed for options... which is where Calderon comes in :)

For better or worse I would be happy if Joe signed Millsap and Calderon.

Nice thread, enjoying the discussion.

Think about how different it would be if we had done the Rondo/Stuckey deal.

You've got to be kidding me.

Both Calderon and Millsapp can't defend for sit. If they're starting for you, you are going nowhere.

I think the premise of this is that you don't plan on them starting.

that's GD for you - gotta derail a current topic

You're as bad as internet wrestling fans that think the Attitude/NWO Era is the greatest thing that ever happened on the planet... except for you 2009 is the thing!

WTF was so great about 2009 that you gotta keep bringing it up?

Anyway back to the topic:

Seems there are plenty of backcourt players available that might not cost the Earth. Does that spell the end for Stuckey in Detroit? Does he see the writing on the wall? Is that why he offered to come off the bench?

I'm not planning on them starting... I'd be planning on Drummond and Knight developing

BUT if those guys didn't develop you have 2 veterans in Millsap and Calderon here.

Those are just 2 guys I mentioned. I've mentioned Redick and Wright too. It's not all about me. Who do you guys want us to sign? How much would you pay for your guys? What's your long term plan - if you have one. You don't have to have one. Joe probably doesn't :)

I was actually being serious for a change, lol.

Oh well, carry on.

I think the premise of this is that you don't plan on them starting.

Yeah but if you give both of them big contracts, you dont have a choice.

Define "big" contracts.

How much would we be paying Calderon? Ideally we'd be signing him to be the 3rd guard... Millsap would be the #2 or #3 big depending on how much Drummond develops between now and the start of next season.

But I don't want this thread to focus on Millsap and Calderon or Redick or Wright... so for something completely different:

We trade Stuckey to New Orleans for Eric Gordon... assuming they'd want to do that it would cost us approx $5.8 mil of our cap space.

Assuming we have let everyone walk and sent Nova on his way we'd still have $20 mil to spend and the floowing players:

Drummond, Monroe, Prince, EG, Knight, Slava, Jerebko, Singler, English, Middleton and our 2 draftees = 13 players

$20 mil remains... who do you sign or trade for?

And GD - if we did that trade way back when would we have Monroe and/or Drummond? Who else would we have to build around? Would we have cap space this off-season? Would we have spent big on BG and Nova?

It's your scenario though so have at it: who would be on that team, who did you sign or trade for and how much money do you have to spend this off-season?

I would look hard at josh smith, assuming we didn't draft a wing.

Smith is the obvious "name" target - capable of playing PF and SF, he's an athlete and doesn't mind shooting the 3... also is in his prime.

What's not to like?

The only drama IMO would be how his Max contract would effect us long term, especially with Monroe looking at the Max.

I know we can fit 2 Max contracts... can we fit 3 if Drummond becomes an absolute stud? Or do we not even worry about that now and just go all out regardless?

We can afford one. That's all. We need to save some room for the next season when we have to re sign Monroe.

With the rest of the cash we should try to sign a MLE type guy that will expire when drummonds deal is up.

This is Smith's 9th season... so isn't tha maximum for him close to $20 million per season?

In 2010-11 the max for players with 7-9 years experience was $17,413,200..

Is he worth $17.5 mil of our cap space?

If you sign him and are looking to save money for Monroe the next off-season instead of spending $5 mil or so on another player trade Stuckey for Eric Gordon :)

Drummond, Monroe, Smith, Gordon, Knight with Slava, Jerebko, Prince, Singler, English, Middleton and our 2 draftees

I'm willing to consider any nba player, but he must have had at least one healthy season since high school, so no Gordon.

I'm not gonna pimp Eric Gordon - just throwing it out there for discussion.

Smith is a popular candidate it seems, like Rudy Gay or Wilson Chandler.

I'll have to make a list of Unsual Suspects I guess

I'm not gonna pimp Eric Gordon - just throwing it out there for discussion.

Smith is a popular candidate it seems, like Rudy Gay or Wilson Chandler.

I'll have to make a list of Unsual Suspects I guess

Ummm changed my mind - not gonna make a list cause it will be huge... so many possible role players that will be on the market

there is no need to overpay role players next summer, yes there a re a lot of teams with capspace, but like you said a lot of players will be on the market, if we miss out on the big guys like Smith, Igoudala...dont overpay for role players!

Pistons are basically a team of role players already.

Beyond Monroe and Drummond our bigs are useless. Slava hasn't played enough for anyone to judge, Jerebko should not play too many minutes at PF and Maxiell is expiring.

Beyond Prince we have Singler, Jerebko and Middleton under contract for next season - thise guys don't worry our opponents

Beyond Knight we have Stuckey and English at guard - again, we need serious help.

It's going to be a huge off-season for us. We could really turn the ship around with a couple of quality signings.

If Joe deals Tay for an exp we're set for awhile.

I don't think we have to trade Tayshaun. It would be nice to clear him off the books but I'm not in favour of dumping him for expirings alone.

We'd need to get back some picks and/or a young talent to make it worthwhile.

It's all well and good to have $30 mil in cap space - you still need to find players worth spending it on, players who will agree to come here. Having the space might allow you to complete trades that help you but it takes 2 to tango there as well.

The space alone isn't everything - it seems everyone thinks the more space we have the better off we are... yet as fans we can't even spend the space we're likely to have!

Just sitting here daydreaming about cap space.

Reading a lot of response to an SI article out today that speculates that the Heat will have to break up the big three due to them possibly facing a tax bill down the road close to $50 million.

Could we absorb Bosh into our cap space for a low salary player or two and a future pick?

Also reading that Greg Oden is going to make another run at it next year, maybe we throw $6m at him on a 1 year deal?

Monroe/Bosh/Drummond or Monroe/Drummond/Oden sounds intriguing.

Fuck Oden - I wouldn't offer him more than the minimum.

Bosh? Well, now we're talking. I don't think they'd dump him for nothing though. Wouldn't they want Monroe or Drummond or picks of some sort?

I wouldn't be surprised if the Heat break up their big 3... or maybe they all sacrifice some more salary to help the organisation avoid a huge tax bill?

For all we know Lebron could agree to play for the minimum and live off his other interests :)

I'm not saying Bosh for nothing, I'm saying maybe a low salary player or two and a pick.

Giving them Monroe doesn't help them because they'll need to extend him and they'll still be in the same cap hell.

They'd want Drummond. Now some here will say no way, and I can understand that, but if you were asked the night the lottery balls came out and we ended up where we did if we could parlay that pick into Chris Bosh, what would you think?

That said, a dominant defensive big is what we're going to need, and a Bosh/Monroe pairing would be soft city, so if there was any way to get Bosh without giving up Drummond, that would rock.

What are our best (low cost) assets besides Drummond?

Knight and picks is about it.

We have to assess what we have in Drummond and Monroe before we even think about trading either one of them.

I don't think Bosh is the answer.

He was in 2003 but not anymore.

I still think our best option is to look at players between 25 and 30, veterans that for one reason or another are being pushed out of their current teams but can do their jobs extremely well.

I mentioned Millsap and Redick before... but those 2 are the examples of what I'm looking at.

Assuming we could get both this would be my rotation:

Drummond 30/Monroe 18
Monroe 16/Millsap 32
Singler 24/Prince 24
Redick 28/English 10/Stuckey 10
Knight 32/Stuckey 16

9-man rotation... with Slava, Jerebko, Middleton and our 2013 picks as "depth"

Millsap and Redick are apparently extremely professional, have good work ethics, good team first attitudes and have some playoff experience.

David West is another big that we might be able to get. The Pacers have serious money tied up in Hibbert, Granger and Hill - and Paul George needs to get paid very soon.

I'm just throwing out names but the roles don't change IMO. We need a quality big man and a lights out shooter

I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on Oden. A lot more low-risk, I can't imagine he'll garner any big offers.

Also reading that Greg Oden is going to make another run at it next year, maybe we throw $6m at him on a 1 year deal?
The Six Million Dollar Man was rebuilt with government science.
I wouldn't pay Oden that unless he got bionic knees (and maybe a bionic arm).

J.J Redick.... expensive spot up shooter or under-rated starter?

I'm kind of keeping tabs on the guy because of my earlier posts.... and so far this season he is doing everything right. I still don't think Orlando will offer him big money... so the questions are: how high are they willing to go and would we go higher? And the most important question: would he even want to sign here?

Under-rated starter? He doesn't even start for Orlando.

I like Redick as a bench sniper, but we already have so many 3-point specialists on our bench, we can't even use them all.

I'd sooner roll the dice on Kim English for 750K than Redick for $5-6 million. Redick is the best of the crop of shooting specialists, but it's a big crop to pick from.

We need to spend money on guys that can (A) start for us and (B) do more than one thing really well. That's what got us into trouble with Gordon and Villanueva. Both great shooters that did nothing else on even an average level.

Shit, I think Villanueva carries more value than Redick, and I want no part of him either at the $8.5 million he's due next season.

So I take it you believe he's nothing more than a 3 point shooter.

As for English - dude is completely unproven

Nova? Fuck Nova! The last few games have been nice, might have bumped his trade value a bit but at the end of the day I want him off this team. He does have some value as a stretch 4 but we're the only team that can amnesty him so IF anyone wanted to take him on they'd be stuck with him for next season.

Redick just went for:

9 of 13 FG, hit 5 3's, 23 points, 1 board, 5 assists v Miami...

Obviously I didn't watch the game but surely the Heat knew he was an offensive threat... the Magic are fucking useless and injury depleted...yet Redick did his job!

That's the key for me... signing players that can excel in their role regardless, deliver consistent results....