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Millsap for Bledsoe: Yay or Nay?
Posted by: Adam on February 18th, 2013
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.I’m sure you’ve all heard about the trade rumor of Paul Millsap for Eric Bledsoe. I hate the idea of giving up Paul Millsap before Al Jefferson but Eric Bledsoe has been terrific and he’s the young point guard we’ve been dreaming of. By all indications, this is a trade that is not only likely but could possibly be in the works. Here are Eric Bledsoe’s 2012-2013 statistics:
PPG: 9.3
APG: 3.3
RPG: 3.10
MPG: 21.8
EFF: +11.59
These are solid numbers. They don’t scream out dominance or superstar caliber but they are similar to Favors and Kanter in that they are numbers made while being held back and having an inconsistent role. I think he, along with Favors and Kanter, have high ceilings and could be very good players in this league given consistent minutes and opportunity.
So here’s the trade, Millsap for Bledsoe. There’s one problem though. Millsap is making $8,603,633 this year as opposed to Bledsoe making $1,707,720. There’s no way L.A.C. can make this trade with the cap space they have (or I guess, do not have, haha!). So there needs to be a guy who will balance out the money in this situation. Here’s what I was thinking: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine/?tradeId=bxvwzvx
It’s essentially Millsap for Eric Bledsoe and Lamar Odom. I hate Odom, I think he is a loser off the court and an idiot on the court. He had skills a couple years ago but he’s recently screwed over the few teams that have taken a chance on him of late. So you may ask why we would want him. Here’s why: Odom is in the final year of his contract and is making $8,200,000. So we get Bledsoe and are able to dump Odom after this year. This is very realistic as they haven’t needed Odom in the past and definitely won’t need him after adding Millsap. I don’t care if he plays or doesn’t….I honestly would prefer he doesn’t. It works with the money and it is plausible with both teams. KOC has been so stressed about keeping flexibility. Well, this goes just that while getting us that point guard we wanted.
So what do you all think? Yay or Nay? There are obviously some flaws but I think we’re going to have to take on some flaws when we make a trade…not everything will work out how we want it, unfortunately.
I honestly don’t know if I would make this trade. Sure we need a PG but Burks has been doing pretty well. There’s lots of options we could pursue so what do you guys think of this particular option?
Replies: 23
Views: 740
23 Responses
I think that it’s not a bad idea, if we could get rid of Odom. I still would draft Trey Burke.
Yeah! please hurry and do it!
According u utah jazz nation on Facebook it’s not likely now because clips are not 100% on Paul staying
If Millsap wouldn’t resign with the Clips then it wouldn’t make any sense for them. I’m curious, if we draft Trey Burke, then WHO would be the other picks. I also hope that we get Big Al’s salary off the books.
Why does Odom need to be included?
Paul Millsap and Raja Bell for Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler works moneywise.
In my mind though, the long term prospects of this potential deal really boil down to Millsap and Bledsoe (no matter what other pieces might be included). I’ve been tossing this one back and forth in my mind since I heard about it yesterday. There are so many different angles to consider with this particular trade possibility.
But, my final verdict, after a great deal of deliberation, would be…Yay.
Yay, however so long as Al stays Bledsoe will be forced to bring the ball slowly up court, toss entry passes, and become a stand around spot up shooter, negating his speed and athleticism….like Marvin.
At least in 3 days I can set my expectations for the Jazz future. First round sweep or West finals.
The more I think about it, the more I like the trade. I doubt the Clippers will go through with it though.
If I were the Clippers, I would make this deal. The Clippers are a veteran heavy team, built to win now. A player like Millsap could push them over the top. Granted, Chris Paul and Billups are both very fragile, but if they can stay healthy for the rest of the season, this is a gamble that could really pay off for them come playoff time.
This trade is dead. The clippers cant guarantee paul will resign so they dont want to lose a potential young PG. oh well on to the next trade rumor.
It’s doubtful the Jazz will find a better young point guard prospect in free agency (most top notch players are interested in playing in Salt Lake City)or the draft (our two first round picks figure to be between 17-22). Bledsoe is probably as good a prospect as we are likely to find, given our present situation.
My biggest fear, is losing Paul Millsap in free agency, and getting nothing back in return. The fact that Paul didn’t resign this past summer, when the Jazz offered him a pretty decent deal, does not bode well for further negotiations in the future, in my opinion.
*aren’t interested…typo*
Ryan Russilo was on espn700 and he broke it down beautifully, and he is one that thinks the clips need to do it. He talked about the clips proving to cp3 that they are serious about a championship, while also gaining cap flexibility, with Sap coming off the books. He brought up the fact the Clips have already maxed out Griffin, and have 10 mil for Jordan, so the fact Sap comes off the books helps increases their ability to resign paul at a Max rate without going too far over the cap. They will have about 40 mil committed to 3 players, they will need all the cap room they can get.
If the jazz are serious about this trade, which i hope they are, they include one of our 1st round picks and possibly a future 1st. The Clips then are in a win-win situation. Not only do they improve their “win now” situation, but with gain some cap flexibility and also add a few 1st rd picks, which is very important for teams with a couple Max Contract players as they wont have cap flexibilty.
Bledsoe would bring D…. His stats while he he was starter for the clippers were as follows.
15 Points
5.8 Assists
1.8 Steals
1.6 Blocks
4.7 Rebounds
50% 3 point range
47% field goal
all while he got starter minutes
your starting line up would be
PG: Bledsoe
SG: Burks
SF: Hayward
PF: Favors
C: Kanter
This is a Really sick defensive unit and has your back court where all 3 players can come and bring the ball up…. this honestly would be a good deal for both teams.. the clippers would be able to get millsap to resign for a chance to play for a championship.
I think if your the jazz you don’t pull the trigger on this deal. The reason why is I don’t think that having Bledsoe would push this team over the edge to make a deep playoff run. I would much rather wait and see what we could possibly get in free agency or the draft and get a pg that is taylormade for our system. Losing millsap and keeping al does nothing for this team because Corbin is going to make this team force it down to al. I would rather do the expirement of having burks play pg. if we brought on Bledsoe and hayward gets healthy all of the sudden burks will get very little minutes. I would rather see burks get the experience even if it means he plays out of position. If we can I would rather see us trade al.
Uottakno, Its not even about a deep playoff run. That hasn’t the been the goal at all this year. Its been about winning as much as possible this year and preparing for next year and beyond. So let me ask… Would you rather leave it to chance and draft a player like trey burke or try to sign a free agent? Or would you rather add a player through trade that has already proven he can be a solid player in the league?
I’ll take the guy that has already proven he can play, and thats only making about 2-3 million.
@steve, good point! It’s just a tough pill to swallow to know that we would have to give up a proven player like millsap. Believe me I think favors has a lot of upside but I think it would be good to have a guy like sap around in case he doesn’t develop. I’m just not that impressed with Bledsoe enough to make that deal. Maybe I’m wrong but yes trading for Bledsoe would make us better at that position but it doesn’t necessarily make us a better team. That’s just my opinion. @ Steve you do have a valid point and its not a bad trade. I just don’t wanna give up millsap.
I definitely agree with you about Sap, i would much rather keep him with Fav and Enes, and way more than Al. But reading everything around the league, he’s going to want/get a deal close 10mil a yr and we can’t afford that, especially with Hayward and Favors up for extensions next year.
And your definitely right, its tough one to down, but its one we may need to.
Very true Steve! It’s crazy how many factors go into deals like this. I guess it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a young pg go with are core 4.
Yay—but the Clips won’t pull the trigger.
I would do it , but i dont think clips pull a trigger moving Bledsoe either. and with our big man situation. I have to be honest about Al. Ive been anti Al for 2 seasons and it is mostly due to his lack of agility and effort to move. He is playing some pretty !@#$% good ball lately compared to earlier this season and last. other teams have to focus on him. If we had a real point gaurd and had a 3 man rotation of Al, Favors, Kanter right now. I would take the odds of getting 2nd round in the playoffs this year.
Eric bledsoe beeing adfed to this team would make him the best player in utah. Hes not a combo guard hes a point guard that can ball. He sits behind chris paul, n when he comes in hes asked to score. That doest make him a combo guard. I would give up milsap quickly for bledsoe. keep jeff n let him walk this offseason n spend that money to help bledsoe get some shoooting beside him. we need shooting and defense. Jeff doesnt help either of that. Hes a big man that nerds to be on a half court team. The way it looks we are tryna become a running team. send jeff back to boston n get a shooter n or a defender. Favors n kanter can ball but being behind jefferson they are lost. Hell trade them if your gonna kerp up with this iso jeff crap.. Im sure a real HC would know how to let his talent develope on the court not on the bench. Get bledsoe n we start in the right direction
I really don’t see them trading Bledsoe until CP3 re-signs with them, just in case CP3 DOESN’T re-sign with them.
Article I was just reading: CP3 has the power to veto any trade,Coach stays or goes, the say on draft picks and what have you. He says he is going to resign with Clipps this summer. BUT in case he wants to use the Boozer clause they will wait until the ink dries on CP3 signature for the extention.. Can’t blame Clipps FO…