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New Gm spells end to Big Al
Posted by: Mason Nichols on August 11th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Our new GM came from San Antonio. The Spurs whole game plan was to expose Al’s defense with pick and rolls and his offense by not letting him get close to the basket and never sending him to the line. I do not see our new GM coming in and letting a player with such an obvious weakness start for the Jazz. I think the end is coming for Big Al. I will be sad to see him go. He would be a killer off the bench, dominating second tier big men. I would love to see him get paid 7 million and be our 6th man.
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If he would take 7 million and be our 6th man that would be great. The problem is that he won’t.
Logan, you didn’t need to wake me from my wonderful dream.
Al is good enough to start from a lot of teams, Asik is getting 8 mill @ the Rockets. Lots of people think Al should be traded, me being one of them but Al has done a lot for the team,
Al is not a bad guy, its just that he is absolutely expendable. Favors and Kanter can both play center, and combined they make about 9M, whereas Al gets 15M on the last year of contract. If jazz cannot trade him by camp, they need to move on anyway and play him max 20 minutes and come off the bench so he can go against 2nd unit bigs. Hell plays badly against good bigs and shoots inefficiently, so against 2nd unit bigs hell play better and shoot better, he could get 10 points on 7 shots.
Ellis was about 6 spots higher on the leading scorer list, yet because he was expendable and didnt make GSW a better team, and he was making 11M, while Rush and Thompson both play the SG position making 5M combined, and they used a high pick on Thompson, it was a no brainer (for GSW) to trade Ellis, and they filled a position they were weak at in the process by getting Bogut. Whereas, the Jazz are not developing and playing a higher pick than Klay (Kanter), are 3 deep at the center position, and did not turn a position they were stacked at to fill other weak positions, and will probably get nothing in return.
“Klay”???
Jazzaholic
Al and Millsap where taking most of the shots last year, we were so predictable. If we spread the ball around and let more people take shots, Al will be more effective.
The reason Al did a lot is because we gave him the majority of the possessions. When did we play the best? The last ten games of the season when Al had a diminished role. We played more as a team and that led to success. I said before the playoffs if we went away from that we would be swept. We went away from it and we got swept. Obviously all the blame is not on Al cause the coach has got to make adjustments but at the same time Al could make it easier on his teammates which he rarely does. Did he get better yes. But the Spurs still knew he would try to do it on his own and would fail
@Dallan
that is the absolutely the most laughable and unintelligent post I have ever read on this site. His role was no different at all. Look at the box scores from his last ten games (excluding Portland game after we clinched). His numbers are completely consistent with the rest of the season. He had 7 double doubles and averaged 39 minutes a game. You are just making stupid things like this up because you wouldnt want anybody to think that Al had a major role in our playoff push. Am I the only person noticing this?? Sometimes I feel like the only sane person on this site. Maybe I am the insane one for arguing with the lunacy of yours and Omar’s meaningless rantings. I am just about done with this site.
You sir are a liar.
The aforementioned Klay Thompson, picked 11, Kanter was picked 3rd. GSW dumped Ellis (the 11 best scorer 11M, Al 15th best scorer 15M) so that Klay Thompson could start at SG, and they would still have Rush as backup. Klay Thompson was playing great after Ellis left.
Hahaha. @JRN meaningless. Got read the stats I put up about Al, I didny imagine that go actually look at those games without Al. No other team in league is burying their high draft picks like the Jazz. People that want to mortgage the future on Al, when we drafted Kanter with the 3rd pick, the 3rd pick!!!, is insane. Th Twolves, as dump as they are as a franchise, they even knew Al is not a franchise player.
I am lying am I??
Last 13 games he had 4 games over 20 points. So ya that to me would mean a diminished role. Those 13 games started on the 2nd of April. Hayward and Harris numbers in April were great. The reason why? We started playing as a team more. Did I say that he did not rebound anymore?? This was exactly what I said.
“The last ten games of the season when Al had a diminished role. We played more as a team and that led to success.”
What is not true about that?
We won 9-4 by the way during that period of time.
The 13 games before that he had 7 games that he scored above 20 and we went 6-7.
So ya I would say because we played as a team better and he had a diminished role on offense we won more. But of course maybe those numbers lie right Kevin?
This site needs a moderator. Several people who used to post hardly ever do now. Let’s get above the fourth grade level..
Totally agree LK! I used to routinely post when we could have civilized and intelligent debates. Now I find myself visiting this site, much less posting on it, less and less. I’m sick of watching anyone with a differing opinion than the majority get berated and attacked for it. This site is being overrun by people who get their jollies from picking fights online and arrogantly assuming their voice is the only one of reason. If people can’t act like adults on their own then a babysitter/moderator is definitely needed.
if all signed for 7 mil, it would have to be considered top 5 robberies of all time! Yes he does have weaknesses, but his strengths give way more value than 7 mil.
Here’s a question… If you could sign either big man Millsap or AL for 7 mil, which one would you keep and which one you try to trade or just let go?
I love how I get called a liar and I am the bad guy…
First of all Dallan. You tacked on an extra three games and counted a game where he only played 10 minutes(portland) to weaken the stats you showed. In the last 10 full games he played he averaged 19.3 points. That is .1 better than his season average. And dont try to pin Harris and Haywards early season troubles on Al. They each struggled for a lot of the year.
@Omar. Its a common known fact that big men take much longer to develop than guards do. Thompson was ready for the starting lineup. He got plenty of ROY talk because he was a great player last year. Much better than Kanter or Burks and probably as good or better than Hayward(nearly identical stat line). Also there were rumors of Ellis getting shipped out of there before Klay came along because he is the same type player as Steph Curry. How can you say that Ellis and Al have the same effect on teams when Al just took a projected bottom feeder to the playoffs and Curry not only stranded GS in the lottery for the last few years but ruined the Bucks playoff chances when he got there. The Jazz arent burying Kanter by any means. If you watch post draft interviews with KOC he says he plans on Kanter being a 3-4 year project. Thats what Andrew Bynum turned out to be. He was drafted the same year as D-Will(7 years ago) and is only now reaching his potential. Also, we will get the same playing time result if Millsap is traded. Why is it Al’s fault that Kanter cant develop?
Why do you keep inferring that I think Al is a franchise player? I have never said that and I never will. He had a great year last year but Kanter owns the C position of the future. You just twist my words for the sake of your argument. Its pretty lame. I just think we should keep for 2-3 more years if possible to keep us steady until the young guys take over. No compromising a championship there!
Dallan you wont get called a liar if you dont spout off random accusations with no support. If you lie about something I will call you out. Its that simple. I usually try to keep personal attacks out of my posts but I am getting pretty annoyed with your whole shtick. If you absolutely have to bash on Al like you do for 90% of your posts on here at least do it right.
Ellis not curry(2nd paragraph)
I really like big Al as a person. Now I live in Dallas so I don’t get to see all the games live but I watch espn game cast most games and see the bubble and shots of the players. The one place I never see Al’s shots from on the game cast is the free throw line. IMO if we are to beat the Lakers, Spurs or OKC we need our center to get their center into foul trouble so we can open up the middle for all our players.
With Duncan, Howard and Ibaka down low and Al playing to avoid contact I don’t think that we can take the next step and challenge those teams. Against San Antonio I think Al averaged maybe 1 free throw a game while favors had 12 the last game. Just a personal preference but I like physical centers that wear down the opposing teams center and cleans up the offensive glass. With Howard on the Lakers one of the only ways we can beat them is if Howard gets in foul trouble which I trust Favors and Kantar battling him down low more than Al.
If I am mistaken like I said I watch probably sixty games a year on ESPN game cast and don’t see the actual battles, and again Al is a great finesse player but my preference is a physical center who gets to the line and gets the opposing center in foul trouble.
I feel the same way as Ryan. Jefferson is a great scorer he just does not score like most Jazz fans are used to. He rarly gets to the free throw line. If he did he would have better numbers and would probably have less shots and more points than he averaged last year.
If I where to choose between Millsap and Jefferson I would choose Millsap mostly because he can run the fast break better he can be anywhere on the court to be affective and he does so many other things to help the team. Jefferson is in my opinion a 1 dimentional. He stands in the left box every time. Which is really easy to guard and it makes it harder to space the floor and makes your offense somewhat pridictable.
I like Jefferson, he is a good guy and everything but I think that he is just going to be a rebuilding center for all the bad teams. The reason I think think he is always going to be that good player on the bad team. He can dominate any lower level team, but agenst the better teams he does not play as well and is a liability on the court on defense so when his offense is not going there is no reason to play him.
First off, as much as I disagree with @JRN on Al, I totally appreciate the fact that he talks basketball. Thats what I thought this site is about. I respect JRN because of that. Some ppl just post one-liners or snarky veiled insult that have zero basketball content.
@JRN, you never have stated that Al is a franchise player, but its implied by you suggesting Jazz keep him over the next 4 years. Al can play in only one system and be effective, an iso based system. If Al extends hell get a 7% raise, so Al at least will be getting paid 16M base, as a FA who knows considering all the horrible contacts just given out for bigs. So lets just stay at the low end 16M. If Al stays and is getting paid 16M, hell get 30+ minutes. So if we extend or resign Al, like you suggest, Al will be the highest paid player on the team, he was the 8th highest FG attempts in the league, so its a good bet hell take the most shots on the team, and cuz Al can only play in one system and hes getting paid 16M, he will get 30+ minutes. And cuz hes getting 30+ minutes as the highest paid player and can only play in one system, Jazz are going to revolve their system around Al, resulting in Al taking the most shots, thereby making him the franchise player over the next 3 to 4 years.
The Jazz do bury their youth. Im not saying Kanter should have gotten 30+ minutes, but 13 minutes, come on. The Nets didnt consistently give Favors minutes and he was slow to develop, and they didnt know what they had, traded him, and look how Favors turned out. But my statement was not just about Kanter: the ONLY reason Burks did not have a season of DNPs, was because CJ, Howard, and Bell getting hurt. Burks couldnt get off DNPs untill 3 injuries. Monroe is developing well because look at the amount if minutes he plays. And maybe Bynum is only just hitting his prime, but I remember in the NBA finals, hes body, his physical body was enough to make a huge impact. Bang a strong playet all game, all series is going to kill. Again Kanter will not be Hakim, but he can be a rodman for us.
7% is a maximum increase not a mandatory increase. I think we should keep Al if financially possible. Has anybody checked to see if Al will take a small pay cut? Or are we just assuming again? When he extended in Minnesota he opted to take less than max in an effort to help the team. He has a history of being a team guy and he said he wants to stay in Utah and play with Favors for the rest of his career. Why dont we ask before we jump to conclusions.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3089221
@JRN You are just changing everything I say! Did I say what did he average?? No I did not I said how many 20 point games in that period did he have. I am sorry I was not specific and stated the last 13 games I did not know you were going to take everything so literal.
You can not compare Bynum to Kanter either. He has been injured his whole career. So to just say he is barely coming into his own is false. He was showing this many years ago but he kept getting injured. He has missed 20-30 games the last three years, before last year. That does not count the games he had to come back from injury and get back into shape which lowered his numbers. Injury is not the same as the team not playing him.
You are right he did not play in the Portland game. Hayward,Paul and Harris did not play either and guess what?? We still won and we scored 96 points without all of those players even playing a lot of minutes. So once again without Al playing big minutes we scored points. How did that happen?? I know what you are going to say it was the last game and Portland was tanking. Well I watched that game and they almost won that game and were pissed on the last play when they thought they got fouled and lost. The players were trying to win that game. This was not a GS type tanking job.
In fact lets compare the last two Portland games. This was against the same competition every one played against. Portland was being accused of trying to tank this whole time so nothing changes in the games or in the personnel. For the sake of this we are going to compare him to all the big men he will be taking minutes away from Favors,Kanter, Evans. Just to make sure everyone understands this with all the bigs we have all three of these players will not get the minutes they deserve. Am I saying that is 30 mins a game for all of them?? No I am not but they deserve more then 10 minutes and a bunch of DNP’s
Game 1: Al 6-17 13 points 1 FTA 10 rebounds 39 mins
Favors 5-7 11 points 2 FTA 11 rebounds 35 mins
Kanter 2-2 5 points 1 FTA 1 rebound 10 mins
Evans DNP
So Al did not play very well against those players did he? It was a must win game for us at that point and MILLSAP and HAYWARD and FAVORS stepped up and won us the game. Al got 39 mins even though he was not giving us anything.
Game 2: Al 2-5 5 points 2 FTA 4 rebounds 10 mins
Favors 5-10 15 points 5-5 FTA 5 rebounds 24 mins
Kanter 4-8 12 points 4-7 FTA 10 rebounds 33 mins
Evans 5-9 13 points 3-4 FTA 10 rebounds 28 mins
So what does that show us? Well in the 1st game Kanter got the same mins as Al did in the 2nd game and got just as many points. Favors got mins in both games but in Game 2 he was more of a focal point and played 11 less minutes and scored more points. He showed he can be the focal point. Kanter got mins and got 12-10. This is as good as numbers as Al in Game 1 but he took 9 less shots!!! What did I say in an earlier post? That this is what he would give us if given time and that is what we need from him. Evans gave us good minutes and had some incredible blocks this game. So with minutes he produced as well.
Once again this is against the same players and the same conditions. The only difference is on our side where we did not play our players as much.
I would like Al Jefferson to play on the Jazz for his whole life because I like him as a person and he is a good player but for me he just isnt a good fit. Isnt that why Harris got traded because he did not fit into the system, that is what I think is going to happen to Jefferson. The things that pushed me over the edge is Al’s defense which I think needs to be better for a team like the Jazz to ever have a chance at being good.
If it helps JNR I think that your right that Al would stay and play and he would be great for our team but I think that Millsap has a lot more to offer because he is a better overall player and can run the court and do a lot of defferent things to help his team on the court.
Even if Al took a 5M paycut he would still be the highest paid player. The system will still revolve around Al, hell still take the most shots, and still get 30+ minutes.
Absolute Fact: between PF and C there are 96 minutes.
Al = 30
Favors = 30
Thats 60 minutes. So only 36 minutes left.
If we keep Millsap, hell get about 10M and 30 minutes. So that leaves 6 minutes to develop Kanter. You eant to talk about burying!!!
If the Jazz get rid of Millsap, then Kanter and Evans get to split 36 minutes, so you get what you DON’T want: Kanter and Evans splitting 36 minutes. You said we would be very intimidated with Kanter and Evans, yet if we lose Millsap, those 2 players would split 36 minutes.
So, you say Kanter and Evans arent ready, but if we lose Millsap, Kanter and Evans will play 36 minutes anyway. So if you are worried about playing Kanter who isnt ready….hes still going to play minutes. The only way Kanter doesnt get those minutes is if we keep Millsap and Al. But if we keep both, we wont be able to afford the core four. And we would basically be playing the team that got swept by the Spurs.
So if you want to keep Al to spare Kanter who you say is not real, Kanter is going to play anyway, the difference being that Millsap is cheaper, and the team is better defensively with Millsap than with Al. AND Favors and Kanter can both play center and power forward.
Basically, if we keep Al and lose Millsap, Kanter will get some of 36 minutes, so ready or not hes gonna play, so that cant be your excuse for keep Al. If Jazz keep Al and Millsap, Kanter at most will get 6 minutes at most, and Evans DNPs. So the question is: Millsap OR Al???
One has to be a franchise player, the other can just be a complementary piece to the core four.
Stop putting words in my mouth Omar its really annoying. I would love Kanter to play between 15 to 20 minutes a night. I dont like evans as a rotation player barring tremendous improvement from last year. If Millsap is traded I think we should sign a PF that can play what Kanter doesnt use of the leftovers. I want Kanter to get time. But starting regularly is out of the question in my opinion. I feel like you arent comprehending anything I say at all. What exactly isnt clear and I will fill you in. Al is a transition piece, not a franchise player.
@Dallan
Why do you and Omar insist on basing a move that is pivotal to our franchises success in the next decade over small samples that dont make up even a 15th of a season. This is a big picture decision and big picture is that Al got us to the Playoffs this year and can do it again next year. You say that we will be stuck in the first round of the playoffs with Al but that is better than being a lottery team for the next three years. Talk about boring to watch… do you remember the 2004 season? That year sucked.
@JRN what did you see from Evans that was bad? Cause every time he got on the floor he produced. Did he play in garbage time? Ya he did but he produced. What did you want him to show you with no minutes? Did he not cheer enough on the bench for you? You want to say those games of Al are to small a picture right? Well then judge Evans by the same thing. What we have seen is he produces. He proved he was an NBA player during summer league.
Big picture is Al did not get us to the playoffs. We were headed for the lottery with Al. Once again the reason we made the playoffs is because Bell,Miles,Howard,Watson all got hurt. That forced them to not play minutes. Do not believe me? Ask John Hollinger he said the same thing
Whether it is a couple games or the whole season no matter what me and Omar show you you do not like it if it shows Al is just average. You can never come up with other numbers even though we ask for them and come with numbers at you almost every time.
How do you want Kanter to get any minutes with Al,Millsap,Favors getting their minutes. Let’s see your lineup and how you figure that out
Favors can also play Center it’s not like Kanter is going to be starting. Favors could easily get more minutes than 30 same with millsap. What if millsap and Favors both got 35 minutes and then Kanter gets 18 and Evans gets 8.
@JRN, I’m not putting words in your mouth, its just that you cannot have it both ways. It’s like filling a 1 gallon container with 2 gallons of water, it just doesnt fit. The reason Kanter got 13 minutes per game is because Favors was getting 21. I think the whole Jazznation can agree Favors should at least get 30 minutes. So those 9 minutes need to be deducted from Al or Millsap. So either Millsap or Al has to go from 30 minutes to 21 minutes. AND that is with Kanter NOT getting an increase in minutes. Or Kanter goes from 13 minutes to 4 minutes per game.
So again Al or Millsap have to be moved for the betterment of the franchise. That shouldnt even be a debate really. The really debate is which one of the two needs to be moved???
If we keep Al, we are going to have to shape our defense and offense to accommodate Al. And pay him 16M base. Or we can keep Millsap which is not centered around Millsap, and only pay him 9-10M. And defensively wed be a better team.
Thats about what I was thinking @Logan.
Agreed Logan. Everyone assumes Al leaves Kanter starts. Uh no Al leaves Favors Millsap start.
I think my biggest frustration with Jazz fans, is not when people don’t like Big Al or think that he can’t produce. MY issue is that Jazz fans are acting like we need to dump him because we have Kanter, Millsap and Favors. So what do we do in two years when two of those three start to put up better numbers? Do we just throw the third wheel under the bus? Why can’t fans support the players anymore? Big Al has a good heart and he wants to play hard and win. He makes mistakes and he definitely isn’t perfect, but he is still a top 5-8 Center in the league.
I don’t know if people have forgotten, but the Jazz have always struggled to find a talented Center for our roster. Big Al looks a heck of a lot better than Ostertag, Handlogten, Borchardt, Collins, etc…. He isn’t as good on defense as Eaton was, but he is by far the best offensive center that we’ve ever had.
I don’t think anyone would argue that Al is not a good offensive player. From an individual viewpoint he is the best offensive player on the team. However from a team perspective, his offense adversely affects the attacking effectiveness of others on the team.
Al is a professional he knows his game and he gives you what he has, but he is a good offensive player not a great player.
The point that people are trying to make is that the Jazz cannot keep Al, Paul and all the potentially good young players that the Jazz have. At least one has to leave. Especially if we ever want to upgrade at the PG position. I would not give Al up for some fries and a bag of chips like some of the trades that we have seen on here. If that is all that is offered and the Jazz don’t see a future with Al in the team I would rather Al start against bad defensive teams and play against second units of good defensive teams until his contract runs out. That way we can develop our young players and get the most out of AL in the process.
However if Al isn’t seen as the team’s long term answer at center I would much rather that the Jazz aggressively look for a trade that allows us to get some pieces now in exchange for that expiring $15m contract, rather than look to test free agent players next summer, and risk having the player that we want choose another market that is more attractive. Next season we have a lot of expiring contracts, that’s going to be nice for the new GM when he has some maneuverability, however the real good free agents tend to come at the price of being overpaid and you don’t always get your first choice signing papers.
Now that Howard has moved to the Lakers a few teams who missed out might look more favourably at Al and allow us to get a good player now. Are Favors and Kanter ready to put up Al like offensive numbers? Looking at past games, no? Favors is at least ready to do a better job defensively so he doesn’t need to quite put up those numbers, a slight improvement from him and a less predictable offense and more time for the rest of the players might negate Al’s loss. Kanter needs to earn his minutes and can’t expect to get 30 minutes anywhere soon, but he needs the opportunity to show that he is ready for minutes.
More importantly what could we get for Al and his $15m contract. A $10 million player and a draft pick might just give us some maneuverability to re-sign the youth and improve another area of the team.
I agree with you, Steven. I would be all for a trade involving AL as long as it is a decent move. Some people on this site have two major schools of thought.
1) Any GM on any team can just pick up the phone and trade anyone for anyone whenever they want (like the suggestion that we trade Al for Dwight)
2) We have to get rid of Al no matter what we get in return.
I think it’s foolish to think Al is such a bad player that we just need to dump him ASAP cause we cannot win with him. When you have a big man putting up the numbers he puts up, you keep him until a great deal comes along. The Jazz are in such good shape financially right now with expiring contracts and things, that there is no ridiculous rush to dump him.
@Kevin, I appreciate the passion, but there are only a total of 96 game minutes between the C and PF. So realistically you can only play 3 players around 30 minutes. The reason the Jazz were able to play 4 last year is because Favors and Kanter split the 3rd bigs minutes (21 + 13minutes = 34 minutes). So if everyone agrees Favors needs 30 minutes at least, Kanter at most will get 4 minutes. You cant develop a player with 4 minutes. Plus Kanter is on rookie contract and has more years at less money than Al.
Spurs went will Diaw, Duncan, and Splitter, and Blair went to the end of the bench.
Lakers do it with 2 guys getting the most minutes and Hill getting whats left.
Perkins, Ibaka, Collison.
The 4th big gets little to no minutes, and is really there should someone get into foul trouble. Put you cant pay that insurance guy 10M in the case of Millsap and 16M in the case of Al. Thats why the Bulls did match Asik, cuz their money is tied to Boozer?? And Noah, and will probably give Taj the pay raise. Jazz are lucky that our money tied up is NOT tied to young cheaper players with upside. If Asik was under contract and the Rockets offered Boozer that contact, you think the Bulls would have kept Boozer?? No way, but that is almost exactly what we would be doing by keeping Al. And I actually think Boozer offensively has more worth than Al: Boozer gets to the line and can run the P&R or P&P, and rebounds better. If Boozer was 3 or 4 inches taller, hed be a better Al.
Will ya look at that, another Al hater…. YOU SUCK!
96 Game Minutes
Favors= 30 Minutes
Millsap= 25 Minutes
Al= 25 Minutes
Kanter= 16 Minutes
30+25+25+16=96.
Kanter isn’t ready for much more than 20 minutes and I don’t think he develops all that well by putting him out there to roast. Millsap and Al have to be professional enough to see that they have a good thing going here, and could overpower most teams in the league simply because we are so well stocked at these positions. If they can’t accept a few less minutes for the sake of the team, then you quickly learn who is the team player and who is not. I think this system works perfectly well until we potentially find a GOOD trade offer for Al. If we don’t, he plays out his contract and goes elsewhere. It wouldn’t be the first time a Free Agent walked and it wont be the last.
Temper, temper, temper…..remember we have to be civilized.
And FYI, Im the same “Al hater,” and its an “o” not an “e” FYI.
AND please, please, please dont shoot-up a theater when you grow up. Thanks, much appreciated.
I am one that does not believe these guys HAVE to play one position. I think Millsap is confined to either the 3 or the 4 (preferrably 4) and Kanter at the 5. But Favors and Jefferson can play 4 or 5 and therefore that can make the minutes work.
@Kevin, if we do keep Al, he should be the one to get his minutes cut. To develop Kanter he needs at least 20 minutes, so I could live with Al 21 and Kanter 20 minutes.
Wow, a lot of speculation going on here. Well, we all know that the big contracts gets the big playing time. I do know that Kanter does need more minutes to keep his develoment progressing. But the Jazz are in a bit of a pickle becasue Sap has refused to sign a new contract. Does that mean that Sap will be gone at the end of the season if he is not traded or the Jazz pony’s up more money. I really like Sap becasue he does the dirty stuff and is productive and comes on big in the 4th quarter. Big Al has had some big games and some very poor games like all of the Jazz players through last season. Big Al has the largest contract. Just like everything money talks the most. Decisons are made becasue of money. Now becasue of that bit of a problem will Big Al be traded becasue (most players are very greedy and their agents are more greedy) of the price of the contracts. Well, Big Al still does some good things for the team but does what he gets paid is in order with what he does? That is the question. Big Al or Sap will be traded becasue of that aspect of the game. What do you think? If Big Al or Sap gets traded what are they worth on the market and what would you like to see the Jazz get back?
For the production we see based on who gets paid the most, Millsap gives us a return in my opinion of about 95 cents on the dollar. And only because of his lack of size does he not give us the full return. Al gives us about 55 cents on the dollar. In comparison to Raja who gives us .05 cents on the dollar and tries to steal more while we aren’t looking.
The biggest issue with trading Al is his contract and the money he will want. But when faced with the choice, I will take Millsap over Al. Whoever we trade, I want to see a talented PG or SF coming back.
@ Ryan You nailed the Al debate. His pppossesion arent as big of a deal as his not getting to the free throw line. Free throws win games because they foul out, or put good players in foul trouble on defense which usually weakens that team on the offensive end. In addition to weakening the other team offensively; free throws are usually 70-80% shooting with a possible 1+ point on an and-one play.
I would rather have a big that can outrebound, defend, and draw fouls with above 70% from the line, than a big that shoots 50% FG with 20+ possesions.
And Favors and Kanter are shaping to be that type of Big man; being able to win defensive and rebound battles as well as draw fouls.