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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Time for the Jazz to Make a Move

What was destined to be the hottest selling jersey on www.myutahjazz.blogspot.com may never be sold at all.

So, I wake up this morning and due to week three of the permanent dead leg I received playing basketball, take 25 minutes to drag my leg out of bed and walk to the living room. The walk to the living room wears me out so I immediately sit back down on the couch and turn on the T.V. The first thing I hear is"Ron Artest traded to Houston and Chicago has a verbal agreement with Deng." Are you kidding me! Everyone is making moves and so far our best move involves a guy named Brevin Knight. Well, that's not true we did lock D-Will up for a few more years, which is the most important move.
This got me thinking though, what moves are left? Who can we get that is going to put us over the top. It's not CJ Miles and it's not Brevin Knight. Speaking with David Locke on Monday I thought Luol Deng may be it, but it looks like that idea has been shut down. Who is left? Is there a deal out there that makes us the team to beat? Artest brings a lot of Drama but he is good. You are lying if that signing doesn't concern you as a Jazz fan.
I want to hear from you, our readers, what you really think needs to happen. So, to get the conversation going, Hammy, Pick-N-Roll, Whistle, CB and myself compiled our list of realistic....err, not a chance in hell trades, we need to make happen. I'll start with mine:

Booner:
AK for Deng (Yes, our chances are all but lost, but I am holding on to a little hope.)
AK for Chris Kaman (Don't judge me for this. You know you would love having a legitimate big man that can score. Plus he doesn't look near as ugly next to Korver.)
CJ for anyone of the Barry boys. (I don't care if it's the Dad, it just seems if you have a Barry on your team you are making, at the very least, the conference finals.)

Hammy chimes in with a few ideas that look so simple:
Carlos Boozer for Dwight Howard
Carlos Boozer for Chris Bosh
AK for Paul Pierce
AK for Lebron
CJ for Joe Johnson

Pick-n-Roll continues his mission to get the "Cookie Monster" in a Jazz uniform:
1-Shane Battier & Dikembe Mutombo for AK & Ron Ron
2- Boozer & exp contract for Amare Stoudmemire
3- Crazy trade with Sac-town to get Ron Artest.....too late

Whistle, the Manny Ramirez of Jazz blogs, just being the whistle:
Memo, Boozer and AK for Dwight Howard
Boozer for Anyone
Korver & Brewer for Ben Wallace

C.B. Jack provides what may be the most realistic move the Jazz can make:
The Bear
I would like to see the Jazz trade for a younger, smaller, and more agile mascot. I feel like The Bear has done a great job during his tenure with the Jazz, but the team needs to move in a different direction. Back in the Bear's prime, he was doing dazzling stunts at an amazing rate. There were games where he would do the "scoreboard repel" and the "stairway sled" in the same game. He was reckless. He made us hold our breath. He made people who don't swear say "That is one crazy mother #^@*$*!".

He dazzled the crowd during the 1992 All-Star Jam Session and solidified himself as one of the league's elite mascots. Fast forward 16 years. Three knee surgeries, two burst tendons, a hip replacement, and 5 costume changes and all we have is some 50 year old in a 75 year old body who wants to capture our attention with such pranks as "Pull the foam finger and I'll hit you on the head" or "kids shoe toss". While entertaining, I no longer hold my breath. I don't even get the "oh shiz he's coming towards me" butterflies that I used to get when he would come to my section. I'm sure he is getting big bucks and lots of free Papa Murphy's pizza, but it's time to trade The Bears inflated contract for a young, daring, never-had-death-flash-before-his-eyes, mascot.

Thanks for the memories Bear. You won't be forgotten, but if you keep your current act up, you won't be remembered either.

"How many people have to get hurt before we pull the plug on The Bear?"

So My Utah Jazz readers, please leave us a comment and tell us your dream trade...

11 comments:

M. D. said...

Could we package CJ and The Bear and AK to Houston for Crazy Pills Ron and then do a sign and trade with John Milsap and move him and Crazy Pills Ron to Toronto for Araujo's former NBA contract plus Jermaine O'Neal, then package those two together in a three team deal with Orlando and Olypikos in Greece.

Outgoing Jazz: CJ "NBA Star as per Dave" Miles, John "Have you met my brother Paul" Milsap, The "Geriatric" Bear

Incoming Jazz: Dwight Howard, Josh Childress, New Mascot from 2004 Athens Olypmics

http://www.olympic.org/upload/games/2004S_mascot_b.jpg

I ran the numbers and salaries match up really well. Just a thought.

Brock Kassing said...

Do you take on two contracts with the Athens Olympic Mascot(s) or is it a combined deal?
If it is a package deal, I cannot stop thinking about the crowd coverage you will get from both these guys.
Are they attached permanently though? If so, we may want to rethink this deal.

Soren said...

You will all eat your words about CJ soon enough...

M. D. said...

What the hell? Where did all the CJ lovers come from? I knew people in Texas has big families, FLDS for example, but CJ must be sending his cousins to come and support him here.

I can't wait for CJ to make me eat my words. Because then he will be a legitimate 20 minutes a night, 8.7 pts per game, 3.1 rebounds, 0.4 blocks, 0.7 steals per game player.

That should get him some "Star" treatment.

This is CJ-Freaking-Miles we are talking about people. This is not Deron Williams. This is not even Monte Ellis for heavens sake. What has the NBA world turned in to?

M. D. said...

Scrapper. I checked out your blog. Consider yourself officially invited to come to Salt Lake and bring some Lobster with you...

Brock Kassing said...

Welcome Scrapper. I agree with C.B. when he says I hope we do eat our words about C.J. I would love to see him deliver. In fact, I'll probably jump on the bandwagon if he does. (Just being honest.)
So why the love for C.J.? You a big Jazz fan.
Feel free to comment anytime! Even if we disagree on C.J.

P.S. At what point do I invite myself to go fishing with you guys?

Soren said...

c.b.jack--I'm from SLC, born and raised. What we need is to figure out how to raise Lobster in the Great Salt Lake--a person would make a killing!

About CJ. I have been a Jazz fan my entire life and despite living in Cali now still have the opportunity to see the Jazz play live 4-5 times a year and I never miss a game on TV (thanks League Pass). Last year I really became a CJ fan. Although his numbers weren't always great, when he got in there (or when he started when AK was injured or out sick) he showed me something that the Jazz haven't had in years (or maybe ever)--a two guard who could make his own shot (not to mention the fact he can shoot the three). CJ is also a long player--he can pull down rebounds, play above the rim, and is getting better at defense, especially blocking shots on the weak side or defending the break. As much as I like Kirilenko (yes, I'm one of those too), I think that CJ could adequately replace AK's minutes, as he plays much like AK, just further from the rim and with less susceptibility to put his head down and fling up a prayer. I see CJ not only as a starter someday, but somebody who could vie for an All-Star position at some point.

One more thing: People love to rip O'Connor for this move. Let's not forget that D-Will has made it clear that he wanted CJ to stick around--and unlike the DeeBrown situation, it wasn't simply because they are buddies. Not to mention Sloan, if you think Sloan had any doubts about CJ's skills do you think CJ would have been re-signed, especially after missing not one, but two, RM Revues? Not a chance. For a guy to do that much to annoy Sloan and still get his endorsement is a testament to something.

Utah fans can be as critical as they want--that is our right. However, I'll trust the professionals on this one--D-Will, O'Connor, and Sloan are happy with this move, and thus so am I.

Brock Kassing said...

I respect that Scrapper...partly because anything posted by someone named Scrapper is going to get my respect. But no, I agree with you in trusting D-Will. He can do no wrong in my book so if he thinks he is a huge part in our success I trust his decission.
I hope he goes down the path you feel he can. I would love to have a 2-Guard that can produce more offensively.
Anyhow, valid points Scrapper. Feel free to chim in anytime. For now though, I am going to start researching how to raise Lobster.

M. D. said...

Scrapper,

Thanks for the opportunity to address another grown man as Scrapper. It means a lot to me.

We can agree to disagree. I feel like CJ has a below average basketball IQ. (see 2nd quarter of Game 5 against LA Lakers...dumbest foul of the century). The reason he starts when AK is out is simply because Sloan refuses to throw off his rotation. He has a plan and is going to stick to it. Outside of CJ starting, he is a 9-12th man off the bench.

As for him creating his own shot? I disagree. He hits wide open three's and gets a few fast break dunks. His mid-range game is average for an NBA 2 guard.

His defense looks good because he is usually playing against other shorter, whiter players in a blowout.

He is not an athlete. Watch him jump next time....he cannot jump off of two feet. He HAS to be running to dunk the ball or get elevation. This is something Jazz front office have been worried about for years.

Sloan. J-Slo does not like him. I don't even think J-Slo fought to keep him on the team. The pecking order for the Jazz is as follows:

1. Deron Williams
2. Jerry Sloan
3. Kevin O'Connor

I highly highly highly doubt K'OC wanted to resign this deal. If he was a "high" priority they would have signed him to a multiyear deal last year, or they would have matched this offer immediatly after it was made. Don't look for CJ to finish this contract in a Jazz uniform. He will be moved by training camp of next year.

CJ was resigned simply because Deron wanted him. Deron and CJ grew up knowing each other in Texas. They have played together for years as kids. They have become better friends than Dee Brown and Deron ever were. If you ask me, Deron wanted him resigned because CJ owes him over 215K from bets lost on the plan playing Halo 3 and NBA Live '08. Deron is a business man and his debts must be paid.

CJ will never be an All-Star. He will never make the All-Star ballot. I couldn't disagree more with this signing. CJ even said he didn't want to be here! It shows the lack of creativity the Jazz brass have. The Jazz needed to be much more agressive this offseason to make themselves legit contenders. They are a WCF team at best.

James Posey would have been a much better contract than CJ Miles. He would have filled the AK hole better than CJ ever will.

Now...let's move on and get this Lobster farm thing figures out. I have some old fish tanks lying around my house, and I think Booner has a 5 gallon tank in his little girls room. Time to make this dream a reality.

JC said...

After I read that last comment all I could think about was AKs Lake Michigan sized contract. I don't know why.

Unknown said...

In all seriousness, we are talking about CJ freaking Miles. Name one thing tha CJ does exceptionally well. He is a career 40% shooter so you can't say that he is a great shooter. He is not a hustle guy, gets burned on D and makes dumb fouls in big spots proving his BBall IQ is not that high. He is a nice athlete not a great one - I'll take Brewer in that department any day. He can get hot and score 20 points every now again, but then again so does AK. In fact I bet even Jarron Collins has scored 20 once or twice.

I really hope that he proves me wrong, but I just don't see it. The worst part about the deal is the Jazz are paying him almost 4 mil per year to be their 10th man. Bottom line is It was a dumb contract to sign for a guy that is going to play 7 minutes per night and average 4 points per game.