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A good problem to have
Posted by: kevin on March 17th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.One of the most important and difficult things the Jazz will have to deal with over the next couple of years is there wealth of front line players. It is a good problem to have but at the same time it will be hard for them to choose who to keep and who to possibly move. Right now this team is VERY top heavy and I personally love all of them. With Al Jefferson, Derek Favors, Paul Milsap and Jeremy Evans there now, and the possibility of Okur still coming back next year and Ante Tomic coming in a couple of years, the Jazz have no shortage of bigs. This is just what we wanted but how do you choose from a group like this, players who all play hard and have so much talent, just 3 or 4 rotation players? For those who think a team can go 4 deep with all stars at one position, that does not work. You realisticly can only have 3 big time bigs on a team and even with that, someone has to be willing to come off the bench. I believe it comes down to whether Paul Milsap would be willing to come of the bench again. Jefferson is the new face of the franchise and Favors will be an all star, the kid is only 19 and look how good he is now. It is unkown what kind of role Tomic will demand but I would imagine he would be fine with a bench role at least for a couple season’s. At this point in Okur’s career he is a bench player and will probably accept that. The other factor is money. Can you pay Milsap and Okur the kind of money they are getting to come off the bench? probably not. The hardest thing about of of this though is that they are all very likable playres and fan favorites, that is why it will be, I think, one of the most difficult things the Jazz have ever dealt with.
Replies: 12
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12 Responses
Sorry for all the misspelling
Millsap’s contract was frontloaded, so his contract from here on out is actually very reasonable. Some people suggest putting him at the three, but I don’t buy that. I think he’s the best backup PF in the league, and that’s where he should be. Favors looks like he can develop into a legitimate star, so I’m in favor (so punny!) of starting him at PF with Al.
Okur’s $9M a year of course, is not very reasonable. It was a three-year deal and we’re two years in. Hopefully we didn’t waste $18M on Okur for nothing this year and nothing next year, right? With luck, he can contribute at a backup level next year, and then Tomic comes over the year after that (cross your fingers).
KC, nice thoughts. But until Favors earns his spot, I see Milsap starting.. Why bench a guy who is working as good as he is for a potential All Star who is currently the youngest player in the league. But your right Okur is aging, and we shall see what next season brings with him. His money comes off the books soon. Then Favors we have for a pretty good deal for a little while. So there really is no problem with funds.
As you know Okur is done for the season. It will be six months before next years training camp. If he is at all ready by then it will be a miracle. Tomic will not be here nxt year if ever. They should trade his rights for someone who will be here. Both Sap and AL are putting up huge numbers. Why do people want to move AL to power forward. Wo will play center Fess??I think all both AL and Sap need are a little fewer minutes. Thats where Favors comes in. With the two positions that is 96 minutes per game. Give them each 32 minutes with some minor rotation with someone else. Evans should work on being a small forward.
It’s time to put KC in the punitentiary.
Now that we’re building for the future, I think we need to trade Millsap, as much as everyone loves him, for a decent young big man and young shooting guard who can shoot. Paul can put up big numbers, but you can only go so far in the playoffs against the stacked, elite teams with an undersized PF, and we’re already stacked at PF. Okur’s probably my favorite person on the team, but let’s face it, he probably won’t be anymore useful than Fes for the rest of his career. As far as Tomic goes, I don’t dare count on anything with him. Maybe he’ll be the answer to our lack of a center, but I doubt it. Harris should last awhile longer, Hayward can be a starter, and AK should be back. We need to shore up our awful bench and fill the dire needs at SG and C(maybe just backup if we keep Al at C so we can play him and Favors together). If KOC plays his cards right, we could be a contender again (probably even more so than the last few years) within about 3-4 years.
Actually Okur will make $10.8M next season, the $9.4M is for this season. In all, that’s over $20M for these two seasons… and he may not play more than a handful of games in total. Between his contract and AK’s, hopefully KOC has learned his lesson
Okur’s career is over, he is getting older and his injuries keep coming back. As much as I hate to say it, he’s done. All I can hope for now is that we somehow can trade him for something if anything, get something out of him before he is done. He used to be my favorite Jazz man but his days are over.
Previous to the Achilles Okur was one of the most reliable players in the league. 8 straight years never playing less than 71 games.
If Memo was in the Laker series we had a good chance. Pulling their bigs as far out as he can would have done major damage to that defense, and that made him worth the money.
I get that taking pot shots at KOC is a big part of your shtick, Taco, but Okur was a core player. Nobody was going to predict a catastrophic injury to him.
On topic, the frontcourt is made up of guys that are all different and complimentary.
Paul, maybe, can play two positions. AK plays 3. Al can play two. Favors looks like he can play two.
What I’m getting at is these guys don’t have to be in each others’ way. There isn’t a compelling reason to trade somebody just to make room for someone else.
Also I’d like to get out there that Paul Millsap should absolutely not be traded. This is a guy that plays hurt and works as hard as anyone in the league to get better, every year. You can’t teach that kind of dedication.
I say trade memo… Tomic will be his replacement! Memo is old and falling apart, while tomic will be a seasoned rookie!
I also think milsap should move to the bench, and favors start as well. Him and Jefferson are gonna be a really good combo down low. Then with milsap and tomic off the bench we also have good combinations of shooting and toughness, rebounding and length.
Now we can focus on upgrading our wings, which i hope we address by the drafting of harrison barnes and jimmer freddette!!!!
i think the depth of our team is going to be ridiculously good. We don’t really have an A-list all star, but a team of eight or nine B- to B+ type players, all of which are still young or in entering there prime isn’t too shabby!
Steve, have you not been reading? Tomic will probably be some time out. He will probably need to finish his contract. I believe favors will be a force in time, but until he earns the starting role, Milsap should have the spot he has earned.. I agree with many things you said, but I think we have our All Stars. Al is playing like one now. Favors looks to be one in the future. Milsap will always be one to me. Harris was an All Star not so long ago, and I dont think they take that status away from you. AK was a previous All Star, and though not quite in All Star form, he is doing well. CJ, well if he continues to grow into his potential, we shall see. I believe the team we have is better than not too shabby, but I wont push my luck on that. *knocks on head*