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Al Jefferson – Top 5 Center?
Posted by: Jared Jardine on July 11th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Here is how I compare Jefferson to other NBA centers:
Al Jefferson > Atlanta Hawks – Al Horford (high energy low quality)
Al Jefferson > Boston Celtics – Kevin Garnett (at this point in their careers)
Al Jefferson > New Jersey Nets – Brook Lopez (the no rebounding 7 footer)
Al Jefferson >>> Any player on the Bobcats
Al Jefferson > Chicago Bulls – Johakim Noah (Noah is a good rebounder/garbage points player but don’t ever rely on his scoring)
Al Jefferson >>> Cleveland Cavaliers – A. Verejao or any other Cav big man (no comment necessary)
Al Jefferson >>> Dallas Mavericks – Brendan Haywood (not even close)
Al Jefferson > Detroit Pistons – Greg Monroe (although Monroe is a promising young player)
Al Jefferson > Golden State Warriors – Andrew Bogut (Bogut is a great center, but with his injury history I give Jefferson the edge)
Al Jefferson >>> Any Rocket’s big man (no comparison)
Al Jefferson > Indiana Pacers – Roy Hibbert (Hibbert is a very good center, and definitely a better defender, but a scoring center like Jefferson is worth more, and is harder to find than a defender)
Al Jefferson >>> L.A. Clippers – DeAndre Jordan (no comparison)
Al Jefferson = L.A. Lakers – Andrew Bynum (I think that Bynum has better skills, but loses his head too often. If Bynum had Jefferson’s awesome attitude, he is better)
Al Jefferson < L.A. Lakers – Pau Gasol (As much as I dislike Gasol, he is a great player)
Al Jefferson > Memphis Grizzlies – Marc Gasol (Gasol is good, and they are close in my mind, but I would rather have Jefferson)
Al Jefferson >> Miami’s centers
Al Jefferson >>> Milwaukie Bucks – Kwame Brown
Al Jefferson >>> T’Wolves Centers (although Kevin Love is tremendous)
Al Jefferson > New Orleans Hornets – Chris Kaman
Al Jefferson > New York Nicks – Tyson Chandler (another great defender with limited offense)
Al Jefferson > Oklahoma City Thunder – Serge Ibaka (again a great defender with limited offense)
Al Jefferson < Orlando Magic – Dwight Howard (although he is a better scorer than Howard, Howard is just dominant at the position)
Al Jefferson >> Philadelphia 76ers – Spencer Hawes (although I like Hawes)
Al Jefferson > Phoenix Suns – Marcin Gortat (although Gortat showed very well last year)
Al Jefferson >> than Portlant Trailblazers centers
Al Jefferson < Sacramento Kings – Demarcus Cousins (Although a head case, Cousins is an animal at the center position)
Al Jefferson >> San Antonio Spurs – Diago Splitter (but < Tim Duncan)
Al Jefferson >> Any Toronto Raptors big man
Al Jefferson >> Any Washington Wizards big man
In my view you don’t dump someone that is top 5 at their position. I think that a lot of the criticism that Jefferson gets comes because we were spoiled with Karl Malone for all those years. Al Jefferson isn’t Karl Malone. Further, Al Jefferson isn’t a Power Forward. He is a Center. I know that a lot of Jazz fans prefer a defensive center, but I think that when you look through the league, the defenders are relatively common compared to the go-to post scorers, and we have Derrick Favors who is already coming on strong in the defensive stopper category. I for one am glad that Jefferson is on the Utah Jazz and I hope to see him for many years to come.
Replies: 18
Views: 585
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18 Responses
I would take Horford over Big Al.
Wow, you’re really high on Jefferson. Equal to Bynum, better than Chandler, Hibbert, Monroe, Garnett, and Horford? I’m sure I’ve never met anyone else who thinks that. At a minimum, Bynum, Chandler and Garnett are all æons more valuable right now this year, even considering Garnett’s age.
Jefferson is probably top 5 or close. Top 5 OFFENSIVE Center for sure. BUT, Center is like the weakest position in the NBA right now. The game is getting faster, more athletic, and defensive rule changes and the three point shot becoming more prolific are making perimeter players more important and impactful.
I’d trade Jefferson for Greg Monroe in a heartbeat, as I think that would be way better long-term.
Jefferson is definitely the best Center we’ve probably ever had. Eaton was a great shot blocker. Ostertag blew. Okur could shoot the three. Anyone before that wasn’t in my time, maybe LK or Larry N know of some.
Here’s my take on Al. I love the guy and his attitude. He has some major advantages. He can get a shot off. If we have shooters to spread the floor, it will be that much easier for him. I think he’s the guy I’d most like to ‘go-to’ at the end of games. I think he’d be hugely valuable to a playoff team. BUT, he is too much of the offense right now. And Corbin needs to adjust defensive schemes (especially against pick-and-roll heavy teams) to mask Al’s defensive liabilities (like play Jefferson whenever guys named Duncan and Parker AREN’T on the floor, or a zone!).
Now, salary considerations. You listed Al as better than Hibbert and Brook Lopez. You know both of those guys just got MAX offers, right? (With Portland, Bobcats and Houston all needing a big man badly). Ok. You also know we have a #3 draft pick center named Enes Kanter that needs playing time to develop and would be much cheaper for the next 5 years, right? So would you rather pay Jefferson a max contract ($15-$20M per year) for the next five years or pay Kanter a few million per year and give him development time and spend that extra money on other positions? (Yes, Kanter is a downgrade at this point…but in 2-3 years is he?) That’s basically the decision coming up as Jefferson becomes a free agent and we have until the trade deadline next February to make any trade of him or pay him his max contract that someone will offer him.
I value a rim protector more than an offensive threat at the center position. Your center is your last line of defense and should be the defenses anchor. That being said, these are the players you like more than Al that i would rather have on the Jazz.
Marc Gasol- his defense is suberb and his offense is not as good as Al but still one of the better scoring big men.
Serge Ibaka- STill young, Defensive PLayer of the Year canidate, and gets better offensively every year.
Noah- I love his motor and passion. Elite defender.
Tyson Chandler- DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Reason the mavs won the title.
I agree with your bogut and garnett reasoning whole heartedly. Love your cousins choice as well, he will be a top center next year and with robinson coming in the kings will have a better front court than us.
If he is better than these players, then why has he never been selected to an All-Star game or to the Olympic team, who is DESPERATE for big men? I know the All-Star starters are chosen by the fans, but the rest of the roster is not. Obviously the rest of the league is not as high on him as you are.
Geez, I didn’t even remember Noah. Jefferson isn’t close to having the value of Noah, Chandler, or Bynum. Being a black hole for the basketball doesn’t mean being better offensively. I like how part of your justification for Jefferson equal to Bynum (again, ludicrous) is Jefferson’s “awesome attitude”. Yeah, that was definitely on display when he publicly totally gave up against the Spurs before the series was even over.
I will take Al over any center besides Howard, Horford, and Bynum. Marc Gasol is overated(good player but not top 5 C) in my opinion. Hibbert will most likely be better but I take Al if I want to win next year.
@NA
The olympic team is run by a GM(Jerry Colangelo). Them not wanting Al can be for plenty of reasons besides not being good enough. For example, Russell Westbrook is a great player but I wouldnt want him as the PG of my team because I am not fond of his skill set for the Point guard position. I would rather have D-Will, CP3, Rondo, or Parker. That changes based on each GM but its still the point.
It makes more sense to have a defensive oriented Center when you have Durant Lebron and Kobe in your starting lineup. There wouldnt be enough basketballs to go around if Al was playing with them.
Well, if Joke Lopez can get the maximum, I guess anyone can. It’s a new world we live in, folks …
It may be my patriotism talking but aren’t you talking about better players, not their injuries. Bogut is a better player than Jefferson, as is Bynum. You are also rating a player purely on offense and totally underrating the defensive end.
I think the game is changing away from the dominate Center.Akeem was probably the last really great one. Celtics Bill Russell not really a center but with I think Eleven rings has some say.Wilt the Stilt was responsible for many game changing rules. Any one seen any player score a 100 points in a NBA game lately?? Kareem (Lew Alcindor) another one of the Great Centers.Years ago they didn’t really have a point guard. Or a Power Forward. They just had two guards, two forwards and a center.Now each position is spelled out. One of the best players of all time IMHO was the “Big O.” Oscar Robinson. Mark Eaton was so good because he was plain huge.. Guys had to shoot around him or change their shot. Ask any player of that era and they will tell you why his jersey hangs in the Jazz rafters..But offense he had trouble making any shot.
1) Whether SA fans want to admit it or not Duncan has started at C since the day Robinson left
2) I am not sure why a defensive C who gives you around 10 points is bashed on because he does not give you offense but Al is forgiven for not giving defense. Not sure I understand thata
3) @Chris Well said about the attitude with Jefferson
I would rate a few more of those centers than what you said better than Jefferson. Inefficient, no defense, and should have a better awareness of passing out of the paint/ball movement. Has a good offense for a person but that can be taken away much easier than a good offense for a team which is what he takes away from our team.
Yeah he gave up by playing better than anybody else on our team. Look at the stat line. Paul Millsap shot 23% against Al shooting 69% and giving us a 26,10,2,2,1 performance. Lets not be ridiculous. He may have misspoken but he DID NOT give up. Did you watch that game? He was too blunt and there is no defense for that but do not say he gave up. If you watched the game you know he did not.
I watched the game and watched a 37 year old beat him down the floor multiple times. Then someone had to tell him to hustle?? You would thnk in the playoffs you would hustle no matter what. You woukd think after 3 other games of him getting beat on the pick and roll time after time after time he woukd somehow figure it out. He said in interviews he knew what to do but the game came and nothing. So that again is either lack of effort/heart or he does not have enough basketball IQ to figure it out in the game.
Unless you all have a separate reason on why these things happened…
I appreciate everyone’s comments. I know that there are plenty of great Jazz fans that disagree with me on Jefferson because of his defense.
@KCJones – I would love to give Kanter enough minutes to see what he will become, but I don’t see this happening unless either Millsap or Jefferson is traded, and the coaching staff is given very strict instructions on giving him playing time. Having a player that played no college ball get less than 10 minutes on most nights of an already shortened season is a mistake in my opinion. Especially when we used the #3 overall pick on him.
I disagree with you on Jefferson because of his -offense- in addition to his defense. Yes, he’s a volume scorer, but he isn’t efficient. You know who’s efficient? Bynum. Noah. Chandler. These guys all provide more consistent and efficient offensive output (though not as many PPG because Jefferson’s usage rate is sky high) while ALSO being much better defenders. They’re significantly more valuable on both ends of the floor. It’s not like Chandler just made an absolutely insane 68% of his shots last year. He made over 2/3 of his shots while attempting 6 per game and averaging over double-digit points and ALSO being the DPOY. Chandler’s last two seasons have been two of the historically great seasons on both ends of the floor among all centers who’ve played the game.
Well said Chris
His usage rate is actually 33 in the league. Not that high. He is also the 9th most efficient starter in the league. look it up.