OT: Al Jeff trade!

[HailBlazers]

Defensive Role Players are Always needed, especially in the high powered west

 

[RoyToy]

Why would the team "blame" KP for moves they make after they fired him? And while the Matthews signing seems like overpaying, we have no idea if he's going to be a bad pickup or not until he actually gets on the court. Surprise, surprise.

I'm not the one that brought the idea up so maybe you should ask the person who did? OK.

Matthews is overpaid and it looks the Jazz were never even considering matching it. Blazers look like fools here, if they didn't already. Go non-existing GM.

 

[Pinwheel1]

How many isolation plays were run for Mathews in Utah?
How well can he create his own shot?
If he can't do that, then he can't replace Roy in any way, shape or form.

ISO plays???????.................do you people really not watch the whole game?

 

[Reep]

ISO plays???????.................do you people really not watch the whole game?

Agreed. Matthews went for 13 pt/game without being the No. 1 option and with solid defense in the playoffs. Assuming we still have Miller or some other real point guard, I would take that kind of player.

The only concern for me would be if we trade Miller and still don't get back another playmaker, then the absence of Roy's playmaking ability might be hard to duplicate.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

we're paying him what 1M less than what NJ offered Travis for 5 years. I haven't paid attention much of this Matthews guy but I heard he's the Batum SG version, who can play some SF. Sloan assigns him to take on Kobe/Melo & such defensively in the playoffs

Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"

 

[Nikolokolus]

Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"

I'm not sure if I'm ready to anoint AJ a stopper after seeing him play 27 minutes of summer league ball, but that unit would be interesting (in theory).

 

[RR7]

Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"

You can play a quarter of a game with that lineup, and I imagine neither team would score.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I'm not sure if I'm ready to anoint AJ a stopper after seeing him play 27 minutes of summer league ball, but that unit would be interesting (in theory).

I was trying to come up with a PG that could play a lick of defense. Miller probably would still fit the bill. I imagine this lineup being ushered in at the end of games.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

You can play a quarter of a game with that lineup, and I imagine neither team would score.

LOL!

 

[Nikolokolus]

I don't see why folks are upset over Mathews. 34 million over 5 years is only about 6.5 million a year, that isn't a lot of money for a good player. Secondly, I believe it would be a very hard argument to win to show that Mathews is not an upgrade over every backup SG we have. He is efficent, physcial, and can defend. Whereas Rudy can do none of those things and Bayless struggles from the outside (he could pull it together though and add that into his game). Lastly, we take a good piece away from an in division opponent.

Secondly, I see people bitching about not picking up a big, who exactly do you expect management to somehow pick up? Who is going to want to come and play here when we already have Oden Camby and Aldrige. There isn't much playing time there to be had.

I think if we had a player like Mathews instead of Rudy last year, maybe Phoenix would have been out after the first round, not the other way around.

My comment about Matthews vs. Al Jefferson was completely from Utah's POV, to them adding Jefferson after they jut lost Boozer and Okur is still recovering from an achilles injury is a no-brainer if it means choosing between he and a "3 and D" wing player. I wouldn't want Jefferson on the Blazers and even given the money, Matthews fits in and fills a greater need.

 

[Draco]

Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"

I would take out Dante, move Marcus to PF and put Oden in at center.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I would take out Dante, move Marcus to PF and put Oden in at center.

Nic and Dante make a great pair defensively, though... maybe Matthews / Batum / Cunningham / Camby / Oden?

Again, purely for single-play defensive stops... that lineup doesn't do a ton of scoring.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

SpearsNBAYahoo
Wolves to trade Jefferson to Jazz for future 1st rd pick, 1st rd pick from Mem in Brewer trade and a trade exception, Y! Sports has learned.
3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

 

[BrianFromWA]

Bingo. I'm sold on this.

He played the Martell Webster Role (when Roy was injured). He shoots a few % higher than Webster, has almost double the turnovers/TO rate and same defensive efficiency, at the same age.

I don't like seeing Webster go, but if we got Matthews I think he'd do a decent job approximating what we'd get from Webster. Although, since a lot of his shooting was predicated on coming off of picks, and we don't do picks that well, I'm a bit concerned that there'd be a lot of regression in shooting %, with no appreciable drop in TO rate. but it's a small risk, if it gives the team the warm fuzzy to go after a stellar PG.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"

They can pass all they want...I'd imagine it would be "None Shall Score!"

 

[THE HCP]

SpearsNBAYahoo
Wolves to trade Jefferson to Jazz for future 1st rd pick, 1st rd pick from Mem in Brewer trade and a trade exception, Y! Sports has learned.
3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

These trade exceptions are amazing!

 

[Ed O]

Matthews is overpaid and it looks the Jazz were never even considering matching it. Blazers look like fools here, if they didn't already. Go non-existing GM.

We did not and do not.

Ed O.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Imaginary trade exception! Better than Super-Expiring, Insurance-Laden contracts!

 

[BrianFromWA]

ISO plays???????.................do you people really not watch the whole game?

Jesse Jackson's on the line for you...

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

Mathews will be valuable when Rudy is gone... but damn. I was hoping the Jazz were gonna take a step back with Boozer gone. No such luck.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'm not the one that brought the idea up so maybe you should ask the person who did? OK.

You seemed to imply that the Blazers would just blame KP if the Matthews signing falls flat, you said if they did that it would be ridiculous. Who else said this and where should I ask?

Matthews is overpaid and it looks the Jazz were never even considering matching it. Blazers look like fools here, if they didn't already. Go non-existing GM.

Travis Outlaw made 5 years 35 million and he can barely guard a chair. Matthews may be overpaid, but the market was pretty well set by the rest of the league with all of the money being thrown around out there. I think the Blazers may have given him too many years and probably 2 million too much per year, but if he can play as well as Jazz fans seem to think he can, and as well as Jerry Sloan seemed to think he can by making him a starter then he won't be grossly overpaid. Also saying that the Jazz never intended to match doesn't seem to hold water, if Jefferson had not been made available with a TPE I'm sure they would have thought long and hard about it.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

More confirmation:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to send power forward Al Jefferson(notes) to the Utah Jazz for two future first-round draft picks and a salary-cap trade exception, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been officially announced.


Looks like the Blazers will get Matthews. If the Jazz want to match the offer, it will cost them 9 mil for salary and an addtional 6 million in taxes . . . meaning Matthews will cost the Jazz 15 million this year.

Happy we got Matthews (speak like a small mrkt team but carry a big mrkt wallet). But I think Utah got better replacing Boozer with Jefferson (did they actually get better defensively by adding Jefferson?). Blazers need a big trade to valut them up in the west above Utah and Denver.

 

[LittleAlex]

ISO plays???????.................do you people really not watch the whole game?

Indeed I do.

What, exactly, does Roy do all game long?

Isolate at the top of the key and attack the rim or take a mid range jump shot that he creates for himself or setup other guys for outside jumpers.

Can Mathews even do a remote approximation of the same?
No, he can't.

 

[craigehlo]

But I think Utah got better replacing Boozer with Jefferson (did they actually get better defensively by adding Jefferson?).

Boozer was beast last year. He was routinely grabbing 14+ boards and scoring over 20 ppg. AL Jefferson doesn't have the jumper Boozer has either. Having Al will help them, but he's not going to give them the production of Booz.

 

[RoyToy]

You seemed to imply that the Blazers would just blame KP if the Matthews signing falls flat, you said if they did that it would be ridiculous. Who else said this and where should I ask?

I never implied anything. I was responding to Pinwheel

Everything I've been hearing out of the Oregonian's beat writers, anyway, is that the Blazers are pursuing Kevin Pritchard's free agent strategy. So, either these are KP's moves, or the Blazers are saying that, so that if they don't work out, they can blame him after the fact (which would be highly unethical, of course, but this is business...).

Clearer now?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Clearer now?

Yeah, I think it's clear that you misunderstood Pinwheel. Getting Matthews would actually mean that KP's plan would have worked. "Not working out" implies to me that they weren't able to get their targets.

 

[RoyToy]

Yeah, I think it's clear that you misunderstood Pinwheel. Getting Matthews would actually mean that KP's plan would have worked. "Not working out" implies to me that they weren't able to get their targets.

"Not working out" implies to me that the player they signed ended up not being a good fit for the team. Who cares if you can sign a player while overpaying them.

Besides, that has nothing to do with the original point. The original point was blaming KP for any of the moves made after the draft was completed would be a joke, and Public defender is the one that brought that idea up. Then you came along and said I was the only one to imply the Blazers would blame KP for any moves made when Public Defender clearly is the one who brought it up.

 

[maxiep]

So, does Jefferson replace Boozer in the starting lineup as a PF or does he replace Okur as the starting five?

 

[Natebishop3]

This only helps Utah if Jefferson is:

A) Healthy

B) Willing to listen to Sloan.

Something tells me that Sloan is going to rip his hair out trying to get Jefferson to play defense.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

This only helps Utah if Jefferson is:

A) Healthy

B) Willing to listen to Sloan.

Something tells me that Sloan is going to rip his hair out trying to get Jefferson to play defense.

As bad as Al's defense is, it's better than Boozer's, IMO.