Now that the evil witch of the west has been disposed of and there has been sufficient time to let the anger and sadness from the Jazz's second round loss simmer down I can rationally take a look at what I would do if I were Kevin O'Connor. And lets face it, we all think that we could do a better job so I hope that the Jazz brass are reading this and take it to heart.
Step One
This part of the off season should just be called, "Open the vault for Deron and give him what ever he wants". If I were Larry Miller I would give him Karl and John's car dealerships and change the name of the stores to D-Will Automotive Group. This is the guy who can lead the Jazz to the promised land and I am pretty sure that the Jazz will take care of him accordingly. They might have to stray into luxury tax land for a year or two until they can get rid of the Kirilenko contract, but Deron is worth it.
Step Two
Trade the draft pick. Ask yourselves, is there anything at all that the Jazz can get with the 23rd pick that will help them get over the hump? We are already one of the 5 best teams in the NBA right now, lets see if we can get a team that is in rebuilding mode to give something up that we might be able to use later. We already have 13 guaranteed contracts for next season and I am pretty sure that they will try and resign CJ Miles again taking it to 14. NBA rules limit teams to 15 and the Jazz like to keep one spot open for flexibility (which I think is a great idea) so why lock yourself into another guaranteed contract. If you were going to take a flyer on a Euro and stash them overseas for a few years that would be OK, but if the Jazz use the pick on another shooting guard or 7 foot project with bad feet I am going to throw my remote across the room.
Step Three
Ask Coach K to teach Boozer how to play defense this summer. Actually, if could just try and get Boozer to give a damn about defense that would be sufficient. Lets face it, this version of the Jazz is never going to be able to lock teams down, but they have to be able to slow them down. I think the D-will and Ronnie Brewer back court is capable so we really need the front court to do their part. Hopefully they can learn to play better team defense the longer they are together, but Boozer and Memo have to show more desire on that side of the floor. I guarantee you that if the Jazz put in an incentive clause for Boozers next contract that gives him some sort of bonus for making the any of the 3 all NBA defensive teams the effort would be there.
Step Four
Start shopping, specifically AK. The Jazz do have a couple of tradeable assets, but we are going to have to swallow pretty hard if we really want to get rid of AK. He has three years left on his cap killer deal there is going to be some garbage in return, but maybe it will only be on year of garbage instead of three. If you package AK with Morris Almond and our first round pick that we are getting from the Knicks in 2010, we might be able to do something that does not completely suck. Miami for example has Mark Blount and Udonis Haslem or you could talk to Milwaukee about Bobby Simmons and some spare parts. The point is, there is a team out there that would like to take a flyer on AK if we sweetened the pot a bit with some other stuff. This trade will be a lot easier to make after the Olympics because you know that AK is going to average something like 20 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals.
After the draft is done we will have a better understanding of what the Jazz and other teams have I will put together a post draft plan with more specifics.
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20 comments:
I'd trade Memo 1000 times before I traded AK. AK at least gives us defense. All Memo is good for these days is the threeball- that used to be enough reason to keep him around, but now we have a stable of shooters. All he is now is a big shooter who can't dribble and doesn't play defense.
The biggest reason I would trade AK over Memo is the extra 6.5 million dollars we are paying him this year and it is 7.5 million more next year. I also don't think that AK's defense is that great, it is waaayyy better than Memo's, but still just average overall. Having said that, I would be open to a trade of Memo as well if Fesenko was ready to step in and be a force defensively or if we could get a good veteran who can play low post D in the trade.
Great Steps to the promised land.
I couldn't agree more with the idea of putting a gun ban on the Utah Jazz. All you AK fans are just worried that you will have to buy your kids a new jersey once #47 is obsolete. The guys is NOT that great defensively, after all in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
I would like to see Udonis Haslem in Jazz blue. He seems to put in a good defensive effort for the most part and also plays like he has a chip on his shoulder. A true Jerry Sloan type of guy.
Please don't resign CJ. Please. I just don't understand how any Jazz fan can continue to think he has a future on this team. At what point do we say "CJ, we've given you a lot of time and wasted a lot of coaching hours on you. We've concluded that you're just average,and we're going to let you go". Good night. I know UtesFan89 will jump all over me, but someone needs to derail the CJ bandwagon and I want to be the terrorist to do it.
He's like a dog who just won't hunt, yet you continue to take him with you every year thinking you've done the proper training with him. You feed him daily. You work him out in the yard weekly.
But the minute you need him to hunt, he fouls Kobe with 0.3 seconds left in the half. What?
I agree we don't need our pick this year. We have too many young role players, and not enough playing time. Milsap, Brewer, Almond all need time on the floor.
Like most people, I think we need to address the defensive side of the ball. Although most thought we were weak at SG defensively, Brewer is young and only getting better. I'd like to see him and Korver on the floor at the same time.
When I think of our defensive needs, a Center would be best...but I think Jerry Sloan needs to address our "team defense" philosophy. too many times it seemed that defensive spacing was poor...2 open guys at once...out of position defenders....2 defenders near a guy who didn't have the ball.
So, while a defensive C would be great, perhaps the team can learn to work better within the system.
Is Austin Ainge still available?
Great points Hammy. I am all for bailing out on the first round pick. That would not hurt my feelings at all. I don't see any major changes happening this off-season, which isn't really a bad thing. Although, I love then drama of trades-rumors of trades, etc. I like our team and really think if we sharpen things a little bit we can be on top of the Western Conference.
P.S. Did anyone see Chad Ford has us taking Plaisted in the second round? What are your thoughts there?
Awesome, Thanks for asking!
The always informative C.B. Jack delivers again.
trade it...
we won't draft anyone who can help us at #23, and we shouldn't be spending money on a guaranteed contract when we have 2 guys in the D-League.
On a lighter note, I've been back in SLC for about a month and I had a chance to see Mecca, my Graceland, my home...the arena formerly known as "the Delta Center." I feel like a spy in enemy territory when I go to the United Center.
Thanks for letting us know Scrum. We could have gone to lunch. I just don't know who you are anymore...
I know, I know...
That request was all-too-common. Being gone for 5 months at a time means that my lunch appts fill up fast. Plus I went to Bear Lake.
in "I should have planned that better" news, I fly back tomorrow and won't get back to my apt. until about halfway through the first round of the Draft.
That's cool Scrum, none of us could have fit you in either. I rarely have an opening in my lunch schedule.
That said, I have an opening tomorrow C.B. if you can go. If that doesn't work I am pretty open the next day...err...month. Anyhow, sorry we missed you Scrum.
Booner. Call my assistant and I'm sure she can schedule something. even though it might just be coffee in the morning...like really early...probably around 5:20am. There's just not enough hours in the day....
I have found that if you get laid off from your job, you have more time for the important stuff in life like golfing and lunch appointments. Hey Scrum, i am going to be in Chicago on July 8th and 9th I'll be sure to not look you up. :)
CB, you are the reason people are trying to extend the hours in a day to 48. And I think we both know who is heading that campaign.
True that Boone Dog. True that.
Damn Hillary Clinton trying to make the day have 48 hours.
wow, that one hurt...
What are you doing in Chi Hammy? Actually I am not right in Chicago, I'm about 45 miles away (which, unlike Utah, means 90 minutes.)
IN MY DEFENSE: you've only had 3 posts since I've been in town; Jazz news is slow, it hasn't been on my brain much.
We forgive you Scrum, in fact, we forgave you by the time we were done reading your comment. However, wouldn't you be dissapointed if we didn't give you a crap?
of course, I should expect it. On to the Kosta post...
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