Meet
Match
Posted by: farkusfarko on July 10th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Open letter to the Jazz Organization,
Wesley Matthews has signed an offer sheet from the Portland Trailblazers for just under 7 million a year.
( http://www.sltrib.com/jazz )
The Jazz must match this offer. Matthews is the most promising young talent the team has seen since Deron was drafted. Wes Matthews has shown that he has the makings of a solid NBA player, who will work beautifully in the Jazz system.
I know I speak for more people than just myself when I say that I’m tired of this franchise not really doing anything with regard to free agency. The Jazz have had glaring holes (length, defensive minded players, etc.) for several years and have apparently, as yet, done nothing to address these problems. This is an ongoing frustration both for me, and many other fans I talk to.
What we’re faced with now is even worse. The possibility that the Jazz will not only not do anything to get better, but that we’ll passively sit back while we’re made worse.
I think it likely that Portland made this rather large offer to Matthews (much as they did with Millsap last year), assuming that the Jazz would match and they’d thus hurt the Jazz financially. Whether or not this is Portland’s motive is irrelevant, however; as the Jazz become worse, and probably lottery bound. With Matthews departure heaped on top of the losses of Boozer and Korver (and Memo, likely for a longer period of time than the organization has estimated) the Jazz will be lucky to make the playoffs.
I, as a fan, have had enough. It is time to get aggressive. The Jazz must not only match Matthews’ contract offer from Portland, but start making plans to acquire a tall Center/Power Forward in the very near future. If we have to weight until AK’s oversized contract expires next year, so be it, but this franchise needs to make a commitment to its fans that the organization is “in it to win it,” so to speak.
The Jazz franchise, intentionally or not, puts out an impression to the public that they aren’t doing very much. I’m sure–scratch that–I’m hopeful that this isn’t actually the case, and that we’re constantly trying to get better, and closer to a title; but whether we are or not, there’s still a problem. That problem is results. Kevin O’Connor can say all he wants that they’re working hard behind the scenes to make the team better, but actions and results speak far louder than those words. The Jazz have not made a significant move since adding Kyle Korver (and Giricek practically forced them to do this, anyway). In the meantime we have traded away talent (Brewer and Maynor), drafted players we don’t need and will likely never see (Sutton), and now we’ve lost two stars to free agency (Boozer and Korver–and we didn’t even make Korver an offer). The Jazz were fortunate to stumble on a talent with as much upside as Wesley Matthews without even having to draft him, and now with Boozer and Korver gone, he’s arguably the third or fourth best player on the team, and has the potential to be even better. To let him walk away, at this point, after seeing so little progress in the other areas subject to a GM’s authority would be nearly unforgivable.
I have no idea whether anyone who can influence anything will see this, but I don’t know where else to express my feelings on this matter. So, in a nutshell, Kevin O’Connor: MATCH THIS CONTRACT OFFER.
I’m losing confidence in this organization. Please do what you can to restore it.
Sincerely,
Farkusfarko
Replies: 49
Views: 820
49 Responses
If KOC does not match or get Brewer back I am not going to be a Jazz fan. I’ve seen stupid things happen I’ve seen 20 win seasons. But to not even offer a contract to the best 3 point shooter in the league and not even offer a contract to the best Power Forward in the league? Really? 3 million people live in Utah and 2 million are getting more and more frustrated cause the Jazz are all that Utah has. But on your big boy panties Kevin O Connor and start making a team, not money.
P.S. Where does all that money he gets go anyway? Cuz he isnt signing players.
I disagree 100%. Everyone complains about Ak’s contract because the jazz pay players too often for one year of production. This would end up being the case If we match this offer. Wes matthews is not worth 9 mil next week. That is what we have to pay him up front before he even plays a game this next season. I am sorry but deron williams is the only person on the jazz who I would be willing to do that for. Although I like wes. He went undrafted for a reason. I think we can find someone cheaper to replace him or two people for the same price as him.
Getting Brewer back would be nice, but it’s not enough. Having a shooting guard–TWO shooting guards who can’t shoot (Jeffers) is not a good thing. We need Matthews and we need him badly. Matching this contract is a no-brainer, but alas, I’m not confident that we’ll do so.
We should not match the offer.
In the first year of his contract, he will be making 9.2mil.
That is one of the highest salaries ever for an undraftee!
Only 2 players will have made more than him
(Brad Miller-$12,250,000 and Ben Wallace-$16,000,000).
We could sign other players of equal talent for about a third of the price!
I don’t agree that we’re lottery bound next year. We’ll make the playoffs, but we have to sign Mathews. He is the 3rd or 4th best player on our team. He’s very consistent and plays like he’s been in the league for several years.
I can only suspect that Deron is getting frustrated: Losing Boozer and Korver and possibly Mathews would crush this team. Deron could already be thinking he’s out of here once he hits free agency. But signing Mathews will deter that thought and signing a PF and a Center will help greatly. You have to show deron that there’s better talent out their than what we had in Korver and Boozer.
I only hope we make some moves to make us better.
@Scotty Taysom:
Everyone complains about AK’s contract because he doesn’t earn it. And there’s a huge difference between offering AK a MAX deal and matching Matthews at an average of less than 7 million a year. Matthews will only be a second-year player and has shown enormous potential. If it was worth matching Millsap’s contract, it’s definitely worth matching Matthews’. For a starting two guard of Matthews’ talent level, maturity, and intelligence, 35 million over five years is a bargain.
P.S. For comparison, AK will make nearly half of that 35 million in this coming season alone.
AK showed that Potential for one year and then dropped off that is exactly my point. If we jump the gun and pay matthews that money when we have only seen one year of play then we are doing the same thing.
@J.C.
It’s the average that’s important, and the average salary would be less than seven million per year.
And Matthews is well worth it. I’m surprised that you disagree. Did you also not want the Jazz to match Millsap’s deal? Because Matthews has more potential than Millsap (and I’m a fan of Millsap).
@Andrew
Glad to hear you want to retain Matthews, but without him and without Korver and Booze (and Memo for a lot of the season), how are we going to make the playoffs, exactly?
@Scotty Taysom,
But it’s WAY LESS money; and Matthews hardly seems like the headcase that Kirilenko was/is.
I agree with that comment ^^^. Plus Derons not going anywhere. And we still have 2 years to worry about him. Derons home is here. When I saw Matthews first thing I thought is “He goes for love not for money” Now we wouldnt be having this problem if KOC would of just said “Hey wes play with us for 6 years and earn 30 million sign here. The end.
You could have said the same thing about AK when he was playing like an all star and signed the big contract. All I am saying is that we need to watch how easily we fall in love with players. There is a whole mess of free agents who we can sign whos games are similar to wes that have been doing it consistently for years.
@Kelton,
Totally agree. Wouldn’t it have been nice if O’Connor had offered Matthews (and Millsap for that matter) contracts before Portland forced our hand?
@Scotty Tayson,
Like who?
@Scotty Tayson,
Also, this is not “the big contract.” It’s not even close. Kirilenko will make half of Matthew’s FIVE year deal in this ONE upcoming year. The contracts are not comparable.
Shannon Brown, Raja Bell, Anthony Morrow,Roger Mason, Ronnie Brewer, Dorrell Wright
I never said the size of contract mattered. Overpaying someone is the problem.
@Scotty Tayson
I agree,
There are other players that we could sign for half, or maybe even a third, or Matthews’ salary.
Like you said, “Shannon Brown, Raja Bell, Anthony Morrow,Roger Mason, Ronnie Brewer, Dorrell Wright”
There’s also Quentin Richardson, Josh Howard, and Matt Barnes.
Mike miller is going for less to the heat then matthews. I would rather have him then matthews.
Mike Miller was actually going to get about 9 mil a year from a different team, but decided to play the the Heat.
Fair enough. I stand corrected.
Matthews makes an impact but NOT big enough to be worth almost 35 million over the next 5 years. 20-25 million maybe but not almost 35! Not to mention paying him 9.2 million a year next year, that is WAY too much. We have many other options out there and in the last few days the jazz have talked to Shannon Brown, Roger Mason, Al Harrington, Udonis Haslem, and Ronnie Brewer. Also Mike Miller is signing with the Heat for 25 million over the next 5 years.
Even so, I know what you mean,
there are other players out there.
And you never know, the Jazz are the best at finding “diamonds in the rough”,
we could do it again.
We MADE Millsap, we MADE Matthews,
they would be bench-warmers if it weren’t for the Jazz and Jerry Sloan.
We can do it again, Jeffers could be one of the Most-Improved next year. You never know.
agreed exactly why we don’t pay mattews that much money.
@Scotty Tayson
Other than Shannon Brown and Roger Mason, I don’t really like any of those options.
I don’t know much about Morrow, but his stats aren’t that great and I REALLY dislike the system he’s been playing in and the coach he’s been playing under.
Dorell Wright isn’t particularly impressive to me either.
Ronnie Brewer would be nice to have back, but he can’t be our starting 2 guard. He can’t shoot, and he has been a huge liability each time we’ve played LA in the playoffs.
As for Brown and Mason, I predict they’ll both resign with their teams.
ok but if the jazz get one of them to sign then matthews should be left to portland.
If we sign Matthews it will affect our depth. Where will the money come from for an additional SG and PF/C? Let the Blazers pay 9 mil in the first year to their backup SG.
I agree with Neelrock,
let the Blazers pay 9mil.
They are only doing this to !@#$% us off,
so let them pay 24mil for Roy, Matthews, Fernandez.
We didn’t MAKE Matthews. He impressed when we had injured players and earned himself the starting spot (we even traded Brewer away to make room for him) as a rookie, which for a Jerry Sloan led team is remarkable.
I’m really surprised that you guys don’t see the potential in this kid. A few years from now a shade under 7 million per will look like a bargain.
@Scotty Tayson, that’s fine, but we’ve only got 7 days to sign one of them, then.
@Neelrock
We have a thirteen million dollar trade exception from the Boozer sign and trade deal that we can put toward a PF/C.
big bummer. i loved matthews. =/. and shannon brown will most likely stay with the lakers for less money since farmar is gone, so he’s out.
I understand where you’re coming from. Last year we may have overpayed for Millsap but this year it’s a good deal. I guess it comes down to how much you think Matthews is worth. I don’t think he’s worth 9 mil, maybe 6. So, do we take the hit this year, or is it too much?
I love Matthews and what he did for the organization, but Utah would be stupid to match this offer. If they do match, Jazz wont be able to do much to improve the team and like D-Will said, other teams seem to be getting better and we stay the same. You cannot win championships staying the same and thats what this league is all about. It would be stupid for them to match, but again, Utah has seemed to settle for mediocrity and hope it works out.
@neelrock
A point I’ve been trying to make is that the 9 mil is a misleading figure. It’s only 9 the first year of a five year deal. It averages out to be less than seven per year, which isn’t much higher than the six you said.
@Michael
Part of getting better is not getting worse. Matching Matthews’ offer sheet is the bare MINIMUM that I expect out of the Jazz office. We also need to add a good PF/C. Don’t forget that we’ve got a 13mil trade exception this year, and that AK’s enormous contract will finally be coming off the books next year, so we’ll have some money to work with.
From what i have heard, i honestly do not think the jazz are matching this. I know some people who i wont mention but from what i heard, no matching. Im not saying its a guarantee im just saying i dont think the chances are high that we match.
But hey that is just the opinion i have formed after hearing from the 2.
I think we all can agree that this next year isn’t going to be the Jazz’s greatest year… so why not pay the upfront costs to keep a great player like matthews for 5 years, and settle with picking up a great big PF/C next year when AK’s contract expires?
Portland front loading the offer sheet to Matthews with a sign-on bonus is what is going to kill the Jazz. Way to go Portland!! Failed with Millsap lets try it again. I think they like messing with Utah. Matching the offer is not going to put Utah in the luxury tax bracket, its all going to come down to is do the Jazz feel Matthews is worth it. $9.2M for the first year then $5.8M for the remainder of the contract. hmmmmm
D-Will and brewer are buds…………. D Will was super pissed when we traded him. GO GET BREWER BACK! lets let portland lose at their silly little game
Bringing back Brewer would make D-Will a little happy as he was very upset when the Jazz traded him. Bring him back and I agree lets screw Portland financially by letting them win their silly game
Everyone is saying that Matthews is the 4th best on our team… I would not pay 9.2 mill for a 4th best. Not now, not ever. Just my opinion.
DON’T MATCH THE CONTRACT ! ! !
I think wes is a great player but not worth that kind of money. If we match that then we are behind where we need to be next year when ak’s contract expires. Next year we are more able to make big moves. Hopefully this year we can use the TPE sensibly to bring in a big but we have to let wes go. It just wouldn’t make sense to keep him and pay him that much.
KOC should be fired and i’m tired of portland always trying to take our players from us can’t they find there own talent.
I agree we should pass.
@ John
“I think we all can agree that this next year isn’t going to be the Jazz’s greatest year… so why not pay the upfront costs to keep a great player like matthews for 5 years, and settle with picking up a great big PF/C next year when AK’s contract expires?”
You are the most well-founded and brilliant man on these forums.
For all of you who want Brewer back because you say D-Will was angry.
Yes D-Will was angry when he 1st heard the news but did you forget that he said? He was totally fine with it when the play-offs came around and he even said so.
Did anyone watch Wes last season? He is clearly worth the money (undrafted or not) and the team will be shot in the foot if they lose him. Is anyone else getting tired of Portland pulling this move on the Jazz and then the Blazers don’t even get deep into the playoffs or win the division… They need to stop bullying the Jazz and worry about their own problems, they don’t even need Wes… Just trying to make the Jazz lose another key player.
Mathews will make more than Odom, Durant, and a host of other players. How on Earth does Wes make more then Kevin Durant? That just blows my mind. I’m torn. He is obviously a good player (notice good), but i believe will flourish into a great player. Not Allstar great, but a force to reckon with in the league. The problem is our divisional rival sees this and puts forth ridiculas offers. They did it with Milsap, we paid. IF they do it and we pay for Wes, why should they stop doing it? Its hurting our chances at a good team and improves their chances at being in the playoffs. WIth how tight it was this last year, thats something that they might not want to risk. On the other hand, we call their bluff and let him go. We lost a huge talant in the future when we actually do have the pieces in line to make a run at the ring. Portland has a ridiculasly high paid backup, since i do not see Roy going anywhere. They will probably move Rudy F. I imagine if they do get Wes. We all complained about AK’s deal, Half of us complained about Milsaps deal, and now we have Wes’s deal.
Its virtually a lose lose situation in my opinion. Ak’s contract is gone soon and we will see what happens with Okur and his injury. I havnt heard much about him and that is potentially a career ending injury, particularly for a big man.
If Tomic is half the player some say he is, we may just need to squeeze out one more year and hit it decently with a big man, Dwill, possibly an AK paid less? In that case Mathews needs to stay.
I just don’t know what to think about this situation.
Here’s the deal. Matthews is not worth that money…Not yet. Paying on potential is a risk. Paying about 7 million a year for a player who averaged less than 10 points a game is not good business sense.
He could end up being well worth it. However, Portland is very obviously over-paying. They weren’t even going to have a chance at stealing him away from us if they offered less money. I think they know they are majorly over-paying, but Paul Allen (the owner) is not strapped for cash. Matthews is probably worth this money in 3 years, but he isn’t right now.
That being said, get a grip people! Those who are “mad” at the front office for not offering Boozer or Wes a contract are being ignorant. Of course they were offering contracts, but only the ones that are signed get reported. Wes wasn’t going to sign for 3 million a year when he knew Portland would offer more.
Matt hit it on the nose. Wes is going to be very over-paid.
That’s the only way Portland can get him.
We need Mattews with his work ethic he will become a star. He is one of the NBA’s great stories of a hard worker achieving his goal. All I’m sayin is we need him for real.