Meet
Next order of business
Posted by: Michael King on July 14th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.After our acquisition of Al Jefferson, the biggest question is whether or not we match Portland’s offer and keep Matthews. There are some, like myself, who think the Jazz must keep Matthews. While others just aren’t sure if he’s worth the money. Yes, the 9.2 million that we’d have to pay upfront sound’s like a daunting number given our current financial state, not to mention for a guy whose only entering into his second year in the pros. However, the Jazz were expecting the full mid-level exception to be offered and would’ve gladly matched if it didn’t include the signing bonus Portland seems to love to add for our players. The question is, is Wesley worth the extra $3.4 million bonus? There’s no question as to whether or not he’s worth the full MLE, but is he worth such a hefty offer? This is where opinions begin to differ. I like so many others, including Jerry Sloan am an absolute fan of Wes, and would say that though he may not be worth that much at this present moment, he definitely will be within the next year or two. Heck, he’ll probably be a bargain by the time we reach the third or fourth year on his contract. The next order of business has got to be resigning Matthews. If we choose to take Brewer, Brown, or Mason and let Wes go, we’ll only be taking a step backwards. Those three guys are only good options as backup guards, not starters. If we keep Wes, then we’ll be set with a good looking roster for next year, and come next summer, it could get even better with AK’s contract off the books. Our best option is to keep Matthews, see what you can get for the remainder of the TE’s we have from Maynor and Harpring(doubtful we’d get anything), resign AK next year for a reasonable contract, and use the remainder of our money to bring in either a 2 or 3, and a big. Draft next year should go for an extra big to help out, or assuming Tomic comes next year and is as good as they say he is, get someone who can play good D at either the 2 or the 3. CJ while he’s good, simply isn’t starter quality. Let Hayward and Evans develop and bulk up. I wouldn’t be against a trade involving CJ, Jeffers, and Gaines to bring in a better SF.
Replies: 7
Views: 324
7 Responses
I agree with your take on Mathews. Right now, not worth the money, but for the full term of the contract, He’ll probably be a bargain. One of the better Perimeter SG’s in the league, and a decent shooter, he plays great in our system and is always trying to improve his game.
He’ll be worth it for the whole contract, and people need to realize that.
Wow andrew you are commenting either really early or really late. I am totally on the Mathews bandwagon and believe our team is much better with Mathews than with Brewer and Brown. On the lines of CJ, I actually DO believe he is starter quality and believe he will continue to play as he did in the playoffs. Just watch, Deron, AL and Paul will get their points and CJ will get his, at least 15 a game.
Good post, well put.
Right now, he’s not worth it, but the argument lies with just how much do you pay for potential?
I dont know why everyones worring about the luxury tax and the cap. It puts us in debt yes BUT who are we going to get in the next year?
Michael you are wrong. The jazz DID NOT want to give wesley the full MLE. Here is a link from Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/jazz/49907340-87/jazz-matthews-offer-williams.html.csp
It says: “From the start of free agency, Matthews’ camp was believed to have told the Jazz it would take a full midlevel deal to re-sign him. With that as the ONLY option they were presented, the Jazz suggested Matthews find an offer elsewhere.”
The Jazz love Wes but dont feel he is worth the full MLE. I agree. If the Jazz wanted to offer him the full MLE they would have done it the first moment of free agency. Wes would have taken it because that is the max he can be offered. Now of course, he came out better with a signing bonus. The jazz DO NOT THINK WESLEY IS WORTH THE FULL MLE OR ELSE HE WOULD BE ON THE ROSTER ALREADY.
So the only way I see the jazz matching is if they believe that there is absolutely no one that they could sign that could give them even close to what wesley does.
You can debate all you want but wesley can be replaced. he is not an all star. yeah it still might take 2 players to replace him, so be it; it will be done for half the price.
I don’t know why we are arguing about if he is or isn’t going to come back, we should all want him to come back because he is the best deal we can snag and we should focus our effort on getting him back. D-Will is frustrated because the jazz aren’t making moves to make us legitimately better, well this is our chance to make us better and not take a step backwards. Lets get Mathews back to Utah.
spencer you cant pull the dwill is unhappy card anymore. Not sure if you knew but the Jazz brought in Al Jefferson yesterday.
I want wes just as much as anyone else, im just saying the jazz are looking for a better option and if they think they have found one wes is gone. I dont think he is worth the money. Im just glad that none of us have to make the decision because really we have no idea if he WILL be worth the money or not.
Jazz FO will make the right decision.