Meet
Houston has what Utah needs
Posted by: KelJewkes on February 3rd, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.*I know there has been about 60 “trade” posts on here since the loosing slide, so sorry… I really just wanted someone smarter than me to pick it apart. So reader beware!
I would do this in a minute!
The long-shot here is Memphis… but they REALLY want to get rid of Thabeet, and might be willing to let O.J. go to lose the Thabeet contract, and O.J. has multiple questions in his past.
The good news is they get a Center who,when healthy, spreads the floor that can also allow the more mobile Gasol to be an extremely long PF at times (especially if they loose Z. Randolph).
I think Houston does this as well. They get two 7 footers, one mobile veteran, and one young project who still has an up side… especially in a half court offense like Adleman can run.
And as for O.J. Rick again has proven he can take some rough guys (take a look at the Sac-town teams he took deep in the playoffs back in the day… some rough dudes on those teams) and get them to preform at a high level.
If Utah didn’t do this, I would be really surprised. I love Memo, but getting an athletic & aggressive rebounder big in Hill (think a poor man’s Javale McGee) AND a cheap, under used SG that can defend and shoot the three (think a younger Raja Bell!).
What do you think?
ESPN’s Holliger says this about these two…
+ Solid wing defender who can check most 2s despite middling athleticism.
+ Good outside shooter, but better from midrange than long distance.
+ Good finisher at basket but lacks the burst or ball skills to get there often.
Lee made 44.4 percent of his long 2s but slumped to 33.8 percent on 3s; he can be a much more valuable player if he establishes himself as a 40 percent 3-point shooter — something he accomplished as a rookie in Orlando.
Otherwise, we pretty much know the story with Lee after just two seasons. He’s a good defender but not a dominating one. He’ll hit open shots but won’t create that many. In short, he’s a near-perfect role-playing wing, but he has very little chance of moving up in the world. Regardless, he’ll last a decade and make tens of millions of dollars if he keeps sticking Js.
+ Classic energy payer who crashes offensive boards and blocks shots.
+ Offensive game mostly limited to jab-step for 15-footers; needs post game.
+ Lack of strength resulted in high foul rate; must add strength.
Viewed as a bust in New York, Hill wasn’t bad at all for a rookie power forward based on his overall numbers. He was fourth at his position in offensive rebound rate, 16th in blocks, and his scoring numbers (15.6 per 40 minutes) were very respectable.
Hill fouled entirely too often — more than once every seven minutes — and his lack of strength makes him a suspect post defender, but that can be addressed by pumping iron. He’s not a star by any means, but he’ll be a useful rotation player. New York just gave up on him too quickly.
Having Jordan be the first big off the bench would give a long, athletic big that has a huge upside with a nose for rebounding and a defender in the post. I really think this kid is going to be special.
As for Lee… he is hand cuffed right now in Houston, playing behind a bevy of proven wing players. Before Houston brought him over from N.J., he was dumping in over 12 points a game in just his second year in the league.
Final thought:
I think these two are perhaps some of the best, realistic pick-ups Utah could get. If brought over, both could be playing pretty big roles on Utah’s roster by the end of April.
I really feel like this trade could put the Jazz on the level with L.A., Dallas, and O.K.C…. and if the cards fall right, San Antonio.
Replies: 18
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18 Responses
P.S. I know Hollinger is not the final say in a player’s breakdown, but he does do it for a living so… I’ll take it as it is; a start in evaluating guys I don’t get to watch every night.
just throwing that out before someone else does.
I don’t think the Jazz would trade two centers. If they did take Fess instead. Mayo would have new life playing next to D-Will.
I’m not sure that would help this season maybe next
Starters
PG Watson
SG Deron
SF CJ
PF Big Al
C Fes
Bring Watson out after 7 or so minutes move Deron back to PG bring Bell in take Fes out after foul trouble or 7 minute mark and bring Millsap in. Then at the end of qtr and start of 2nd Watson Bell AK Millsap Elson I think Fes starting stops easy baskets at the start of the game Al would be a beast Deron could look to score knowing Watson can run the show Deron running around as a SG would cuase the oppositions D to double or get confused and create easy dish off to AL or Fes can’t leave CJ open on the 3 point line and Fes would just be a bruiser that will stop easy opening game baskets and set good screans for Deron and CJ if he gets in foul trouble early it doesn’t matter we still have bigs the defense would be awesome at the end of the quarter Millsap and AK would dominate inside on 2nd string players I would rather have a 2nd unit playing inside ball rather then outside ball and are starters could jump on teams early the team would need to set aside pride and buy into this for it to work what do you guys think this would also need to happen soon so players could fit and know there role
LK- Mayo would have new life playing next to D-Will? This trade has him going to the Rockets.
So looking at this trade, Lee and Hill would significantly help our bench. We could use another PF and SG on our bench, but we are giving away 2 centers? Okur and Elson for a better bench? No thanks. We’d have AJ and Fes left to play center. That right there is a recipe for disaster because we’d get totally creamed down low and if we made it to the playoffs, we’d be a for sure first round exit
joshua- could you translate that into english?
I thought about the 2 centers going, Not the greatest pieces to go i agree, but doesn’t having a MUCH more youthful and athletic big in Hill more than cover what F. Elson can do (this coming from an Elson fan) as well as allowing Fes to play a more consistent rotation? I guess that can fall on the negative or positive depending on your stance on Fes (I’m a Fes guy).
The “bigs” (PF & C) minute break down:
2 positions at 48min. a game = 96 “big” man minutes per game
Al- 32min.
Paul- 34min.
Hill- 18min.
Fes- 12min.
—————-
96min.
*I know it doesn’t always fall so evenly, and that AK & Evans plays some PF, but just to get a visual… plus it tightens up the rotation, and I think getting used to the speed certain groups play at is one of the problems right now because we have such a random rotation this year.
And as far as Lee, he is undervalued(go look at what he did last year in N.J…. yea I know, bad team), has fresh legs, can play D, and can spread the floor.
*Thoughts on Jazz picking up Thabeet?*
Adam,
Sorry I posted that from my phone.
But you have to agree that there is no good trade out there for the Jazz. We wont get Granger or Iggy or any top 20 player that could push us over the edge Hill and Lee please.
Watson can play the PG Deron would be a nightmare to cover at SG inside or outside CJ can score Al could dominate PF and not have a taller defender to shoot over and come off the pick and roll if the D switches off the P&R ADAM just so you know what I’m talking about the D would move the center up to defend Al off the pick and roll he could bounce pass the ball to Fes for an easy dunk or kick it out to CJ and Fes would just be enforcement set screens alter shoots and get easy dunks to start the game Then having Watson, Bell, AK, Millsap and Elson to finish is a veteran defensive closing unit that would destroy other 2nd units I’m talking about the last few minutes of the first quarter and start of the 2nd not the final minutes of the game this could work you could rotate Watson and Deron to have Watson start and finish the 1st QTR while Deron got some rest you would also have Price of the bench if you needed to spark energy Gordon and the pogo stick as well that first unit would be awesome if the players bought into it the currant starting unit is slow with some punch but not enough if we had a second or third year player putting up numbers like Bell they would be at the end of the bench and never touch the ball but if Bell was on the second unit he would give good D hit open shoots and come in half way of the 1st and slow down the other teams SG Deron is a good defender he does defend SG as it is now on zone coverage starting him at the 2 would not hurt us defensively and improve the slow starting offense you cant play behind all the time it takes a toll on a team climbing up hill all the time I know starting Fes at center isn’t what fans want to hear but being able to have Millsap off the bench is a recipe for success and Fes would stop easy lay ups to start the game like I said if he gets in foul trouble who cares we still have Millsap, Elson and Okur when healthy and who cares if the other team fouls him to start the game it would just put us in the bonus early and to end the first QTR come on this would be awesome
Not bad, I’d still like to see the jazz make a push for Prince and Hamilton. Or even just okur for Hamilton. I wouldn’t mind the jazz resigning AK for >5 mil a year but new jersey will probably offer him more. So, maybe an AK/okur for prince/Hamilton/Wallace???
@Joshua
I see what your saying, the only thing is all the “line-ups” you recommended have all been used at one time or another. Maybe not in the exact order you’ve presented, but they have been done. Changing the rotation could swing the win/loss total maybe 2-3 games, but can it really do anything more than that? Bottom line is a rotation/amount of minutes is and should be dictated by 1- making sure the best players get the most minutes, and 2- who on the squad is “on” right now, and who is “off”?
I like Fes, and would like to see him get earlier, more consistent minutes as well.
Lets look at the starting line up now who can run with Deron maybe Millsap we have no Wes or Brewer for Deron to run with we have Bell and AK they are slow in NBA standards Al isn’t going to run with Deron but Watson, Deron and CJ running the floor would be fast are starting front court is small and gets out rebounded Al and Fes would be huge and AK and Millsap of the bench with Bell and Elson easy scoring over 2nd units
Agree about the slowness of Bell and AK, and in fact think that if that’s not my starting line-up, It would be in by the 4th min for sure.
But again, what about the match-ups like Westbrook v. Watson! Scary. Watson would get lit-up.
I still would like to see what the “running” line-up could do.
A small line-up that would run all day with the trade:
Pg-Williams
SG-Lee
SF-CJ
PF-Paul
C-Hill
Did I mention this trade saves us about 6mil in contracts… thats 12 mil saved in Lux-tax.
Now, does that show the value a little bit more?
If we do a trade it needs to be huge another Korver wont help us we would need to give true assets maybe Al or CJ or something that other teams are willing to take a chance on and give there assets up for would it help us who knows could we get a great player with a future I dont think so RIP and Prince they could do better with a PG like Deron and a true inside player like Millsap or Al but are cap would be destroyed for two years unless we could ditch Okur how long can RIP produce would Deron stay to play with RIP other teams are going to pull out all the stops to get Deron if we do a trade it needs to be huge the best trade K.O. has ever made Deron will leave and the Jazz wont do anything Utah did show Deron the upmost respect by taking him over Pual and that was a great move for us but it wont matter if we cant win Deron just wants to win maybe we should blow it up for future players the Jazz wont do much with the lockout coming and future unknown AK will not be traded for any other player that has multi years
Westbrook would kill Watson Deron and Lee would be awesome
@Adam: Yes I know . What I meant was that Mayo would be better off in a Jazz uniform. But I think Lee would be fine also. Hill would just be a duplicate.
LK- gotcha. In that sense I would agree with you. I wouldn’t mind bringing in OJ Mayo to play along side D-Will.
Joshua- It is legal to use periods. Not trying to be a grammar freak, but if you have a huge paragraph it makes it kinda confusing when its all one long run-on sentence.
Great win last night! Don’t change anything! Ha Ha!
Al was amazing, Williams; Lead by example, but the best performance was Raja!
That was the 28 year old Raja out there! Loved it! I don’t expect it from him, but I loved it!
I think he could play at or close to that level if he could keep his minutes at or under 18… Yea he played 41, but that team last night was running on pure energy!
That was a great piece of information., I enjoyed reading it..,
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