What are your thoughts on Calderon? I admit to not having seen much of him but what I did see didn't really impress me.
I followed him closely when he and TJ Ford split PG duties in Toronto. Coming from the Univ of Texas I am a huge TJ Ford fan. I haven't seen him as much recently and I'm sure he has aged and his game isn't the same as before, so that is a qualifier. His game wasn't built on athleticism though so a dropoff shouldn't be substantial.
Calderon is a very savvy PG. His Ast/To ratio was always great but it wasn't because he only played within the flow of the offense. He would pile up assists at a good rate even with reduced playing time. His FT shooting is off the charts good, which combined with his Ast/To ratio makes him very good to have around in crunch time. Think of Rondo only all of Rondo's weaknesses are Calderon's strengths and vice versa. Both are incomplete. What they are good at they are really good at, what they are bad at, they are really bad at.
Calderon's defense is suspect (Euro guy), and he doesn't get to the rim well to draw in defenders or finish strong. He is still heady enough to make plays and create opportunities for teammates.
It is currently a strong league for PGs and Calderon is on the downward slope of his career output. His ceiling is known and it isn't too high. At the end of the day I'd still say he is a top 15 PG in the league. If I were running any random team right now, I'd say half of them could land Calderon and upgrade at the point.
Knowing Carlisle, an excellent tactitioner, he will likely find a good balance between running good clean offense with Calderon and attacking second teamers with Ellis and good spacing with shooters.