Yahoo: Jefferson to Jazz done for 2 1sts and Trade Exception

[mavsaddict]

Congratulations on picking up Al Jefferson. I've always been a fan of his especially in recent years and think way too many people are selling him short after one "bad" season that was more watered down then anything, after coming off an injury. The Jazz won't miss a beat as Jefferson will fill the role Boozer did and give you some things Boozer didn't have. A lot of people knock his defense which isn't as bad as his reputation and there are plenty of PFs who are 20/10 guys who aren't the best defenders...Boozer, Dirk, Bosh, Z-Bo, etc.

[spoonhoops]

I am still on the fence about the Al trade, but the Jazz had to do something and that something was probably the best option out there currently. I hope Al can come in and actually play D and grow as a player since he is only 25 years old.

[DelaneyRudd]

I think the Jazz system will suit him well.

[HolyToledo]

Does anyone have the text for Hollinger's article on the trade?

OK, let's start right from the top: Would you trade Carlos Boozer for Al Jefferson?

You'd at least have to think about it. Jefferson is three years younger and had better numbers over the past three seasons. He can play center -- Boozer cannot -- which allows the Jazz to paper over Mehmet Okur's expected absence and move Andrei Kirilenko up to power forward in stretches, where he's more effective anyway.

Jefferson's not a great defender, but neither was Boozer. Yes, he's probably worse than Boozer in this respect, but last season's particularly lead-footed performance was partially a result of his still recovering from knee surgery.

And the price is less. Jefferson has only three guaranteed years left on his deal; keeping Boozer would have cost at least five. Would you rather pay Jefferson until he's 28 or Boozer until he's 33?

Apparently Utah thought the same thing, because they effectively completed a Boozer-for-Jefferson swap Tuesday, using the trade exception from Boozer's sign-and-trade to Chicago to acquire Jefferson from Minnesota. The Timberwolves, in return, get two first-round draft choices.

As you can probably tell, I consider this a pretty solid endgame for Utah. Jefferson can coexist with both Paul Millsap and Kirilenko offensively, and while the former pairing might have some rough nights on D, they'll be a hellacious combo offensively. Jefferson will have to get used to more pick-and-rolls and fewer post-up isolations, but he can handle it.

The deal leaves the Jazz over the luxury tax, but not intractably so -- $1.7 million, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah is close enough to the line that they can probably engineer a deal at the trade deadline, if not sooner.

There's also a good chance they could trade Okur for a wing player, especially if Kirilenko shows he can thrive at the 4. With Jefferson at the 5, Millsap at the 4 and Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko in reserve, it would seem to be the next logical move. His injury status, however, could prove an impediment to such a swap until the trade deadline.

What it does likely mean, however, is that Wes Matthews is headed to Portland. I can't imagine Utah matching the Blazers' offer sheet and swallowing the luxury tax hit. They may also choose to pull Fesenko's qualifying offer, since that extra $500,000 could really matter when it comes to tax avoidance.

The picks Utah gave away are of modest value. While the "Memphis pick" sounds alluring, it will never be in the top nine, and if unused by 2015, it reverts to cash. The protections are top 14 in 2011, top 12 in 2012, top 10 in 2013 and top nine in 2014 and 2015.

The Jazz's own pick, obviously, is likely to come late in the draft … especially now that they have Jefferson. But the Wolves now have a decent stable of first-round picks -- the one from Memphis, the one from Utah and their own. This should make Minnesota fans feel slightly better when I remind them that the long-ticking time bomb called the Marko Jaric trade may cause them to owe the Clippers a completely unprotected pick in the 2012 draft.

For Minnesota, I can't argue with the idea of trading Jefferson. There was no way he could coexist in the same frontcourt as Kevin Love, and I'm a huge Love fan. Additionally, wiping away Jefferson's $13 million opens the door to substantial cap space -- they'll have it right away but may not choose to use it until next summer. Alternatively, they can adopt the Oklahoma City model and rent out their cap space in return for more assets. And two first-rounders never hurt.

Regardless, a frontcourt with Love, Michael Beasley, Nikola Pekovic and Darko Milicic will be a considerable improvement on last season's unit at both ends of the floor. The Wolves likely will spend another year in the basement, but one can at least see the kernels of a foundation taking shape.

The Jazz, however, are the big story here. They've kept the window open on the possibility of the Deron Williams era producing a conference championship. They've managed to come away from Boozer's free agency none the worse for wear.

[dosborn_11]

thanks.0

[neverrelaxed]

[Ming Kong!]

Can he play center?

2009-10
PF: 16.3ppg 8.5rpg 1.6apg 1.6bpg (36 games/31mpg)
C: 17.8ppg 9.9rpg 2apg 1bpg (40 games/33mpg)

2008-09
PF: 20.9ppg 10rpg 1.6apg 1.7bpg (9 games/35mpg)
C: 23.6ppg 11.2rpg 1.6apg 1.7bpg (41 games/37mpg)

I'd say so, his best year, 08-09 he played center most of year, and last year he split time between both positions.

Al Jefferson's PER36 numbers last year at center: 19.2ppg 10.7rpg 2.2apg 1.1bpg

That's pretty impressive considering he had to be the first option, now defenses wont because able to focus on his so much, and he'll get the ball in much better position with Williams. The pressure of doing everything will be gone, and hopefully he'll be capable of playing like he did in 2008-09 with the 6 months of rest of the off season.

I just would love to see if he can get the blocks back up to 1.7bpg, anything better would be icing on the cake. He's more than capable of getting Boozer's rebounding numbers next to Okur, but next to Millsap he'll probably get around 10.

Regardless, this is the kind of center we've been looking for years. Offensively active, a great rebounder, and big body for defense. While he might not be a great defender, he certainly has the tools to improove in that area with his 7' 2.5" wing span.

[The59Sound]

Holy Toledo gets all kinds of grief from all of us, so I feel compelled to praise the sound and articulately described argument of that post.

And thanks for the statistical breakdown, Ming.

[DByrne86]

Jefferson's style of play isn't conducive to ball movement (he tends to take 8+ seconds off the shot clock to set up his post movest)

You ever hear of one Karl Malone?

[The Sheik]

Holy Toledo gets all kinds of grief from all of us, so I feel compelled to praise the sound and articulately described argument of that post.

You want to thank John Hollinger for the argument and HT for posting it.

[horaceworthy]

Good move for you guys (Wolves fan here).

I understand the rationale behind Kahn trading him, but I'm a big Jefferson fan. Might have the best low post footwork in the league, few are better at creating something out of nothing on the block (although this ability sometimes leads to bad, forced shots). He's not a #1, but he should be a solid #2.

Coming off a poor season, but he was recovering from injury and playing in a system that was a bad match for his skills. He hasn't had much talent around him, playing with Deron should help that. He's only had a decent perimeter player next to him for short parts of two seasons. Once was 35-40 games when Pierce was healthy the year before the KG trade, and Jefferson put up about 18 and 11 and a couple blocks with a 58.5 TS% as a 22 year old. The other time was a span of time when Foye got hot, and Jefferson put up something like 25 and 13, and a couple blocks on a 55.6 TS% while leading the Wolves to a .500 record over that span.

He isn't a good passer, and his game sometimes requires him to be a ball stopper (he prefers to see how the defense reacts to him getting the ball before he goes about making his move), but he showed he was willing to try to buy into a system last year. He'll have to work on that and his jumper to fit in with Sloan, but I don't think he's the lost cause in this area some make him out to be.

Utah is the perfect situation for him, as it will provide structure on both ends of the floor, a legit perimeter stud to play off of, and having a chance to win most nights may keep him focused on defense throughout the entire game.

Aside from his DUI last year, he's largely been a solid citizen, he's done a lot of stuff around his hometown, and left money on the table when negotiating an extension because he didn't feel he was worthy of max money yet, so he just told his agent to get a fair deal done. He's also got a cool rolling thunder type voice, but that's just a fringe benefit.

More than just about any player I've seen, Jefferson looked to have been beaten down by all the losing he's had to endure (and I saw the post WCF KG years). All indications are he has a lot of pride, and getting traded to a competitive, stable team like the Jazz is the absolute best thing for him in terms of giving him a chance to reach his ceiling.

You guys have gained a ton of casual fans with this move, as fans in both Boston and Minnesota respect Al's game and (for the most part) the manner in which he's conducted himself. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play on a decent team for the first time, and I'm even somewhat glad he'll get to try and rub Kahn's nose in it a few times a year.


EDIT: Oh, and just an added tidbit about what Jefferson's supposedly been up to this summer. By all accounts he's determined to bounce back, and has been working out with his old trainer from Boston to get in the best shape he's been in, and during the season it was said that he'd spend time this summer working out with Olajuwon and Idan Ravin ('Melo's trainer).

[emo]

Two of my favorite players on one team (Deron/Al Jeff)

When my Knicks aren't on, I'll be tuned in for sure.

[8305]

I'm not a fan of either team and really haven't watched Jefferson much. When I've read about the problems Jefferson had in Minnesota it sounds like it centers around his inability to function in the triangle offense. My understanding is the triangle is built around ball movement and Jefferson doesn't pass effectively. I would think that would be a problem in Utah too. It always looked like Boozer was a pretty good passer.

Am I right in understanding that as a team one of Utah's biggest problems is its lack of length and athleticism defending the basket? If all that is true its hard for me to see how this move makes Utah better.

[Ming Kong!]

I'm glad to hear about him working out with Olajuwon and Ravin. Dumping Koufos is GREAT, he was horrendous, and now we could retain Fesenko for a little cheaper too. How ever you look at it though, we have to dig into the luxury tax to complete the roster.

[3960HOOD]

Does anyone have the text for Hollinger's article on the trade?

OK, let's start right from the top: Would you trade Carlos Boozer for Al Jefferson?

You'd at least have to think about it. Jefferson is three years younger and had better numbers over the past three seasons. He can play center -- Boozer cannot -- which allows the Jazz to paper over Mehmet Okur's expected absence and move Andrei Kirilenko up to power forward in stretches, where he's more effective anyway.

Jefferson's not a great defender, but neither was Boozer. Yes, he's probably worse than Boozer in this respect, but last season's particularly lead-footed performance was partially a result of his still recovering from knee surgery.

And the price is less. Jefferson has only three guaranteed years left on his deal; keeping Boozer would have cost at least five. Would you rather pay Jefferson until he's 28 or Boozer until he's 33?

Apparently Utah thought the same thing, because they effectively completed a Boozer-for-Jefferson swap Tuesday, using the trade exception from Boozer's sign-and-trade to Chicago to acquire Jefferson from Minnesota. The Timberwolves, in return, get two first-round draft choices.

As you can probably tell, I consider this a pretty solid endgame for Utah. Jefferson can coexist with both Paul Millsap and Kirilenko offensively, and while the former pairing might have some rough nights on D, they'll be a hellacious combo offensively. Jefferson will have to get used to more pick-and-rolls and fewer post-up isolations, but he can handle it.

The deal leaves the Jazz over the luxury tax, but not intractably so -- $1.7 million, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah is close enough to the line that they can probably engineer a deal at the trade deadline, if not sooner.

There's also a good chance they could trade Okur for a wing player, especially if Kirilenko shows he can thrive at the 4. With Jefferson at the 5, Millsap at the 4 and Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko in reserve, it would seem to be the next logical move. His injury status, however, could prove an impediment to such a swap until the trade deadline.

What it does likely mean, however, is that Wes Matthews is headed to Portland. I can't imagine Utah matching the Blazers' offer sheet and swallowing the luxury tax hit. They may also choose to pull Fesenko's qualifying offer, since that extra $500,000 could really matter when it comes to tax avoidance.

The picks Utah gave away are of modest value. While the "Memphis pick" sounds alluring, it will never be in the top nine, and if unused by 2015, it reverts to cash. The protections are top 14 in 2011, top 12 in 2012, top 10 in 2013 and top nine in 2014 and 2015.

The Jazz's own pick, obviously, is likely to come late in the draft … especially now that they have Jefferson. But the Wolves now have a decent stable of first-round picks -- the one from Memphis, the one from Utah and their own. This should make Minnesota fans feel slightly better when I remind them that the long-ticking time bomb called the Marko Jaric trade may cause them to owe the Clippers a completely unprotected pick in the 2012 draft.

For Minnesota, I can't argue with the idea of trading Jefferson. There was no way he could coexist in the same frontcourt as Kevin Love, and I'm a huge Love fan. Additionally, wiping away Jefferson's $13 million opens the door to substantial cap space -- they'll have it right away but may not choose to use it until next summer. Alternatively, they can adopt the Oklahoma City model and rent out their cap space in return for more assets. And two first-rounders never hurt.

Regardless, a frontcourt with Love, Michael Beasley, Nikola Pekovic and Darko Milicic wilbe a considerable improvement on last season's unit at both ends of the floor. The Wolves likely will spend another year in the basement, but one can at least see the kernels of a foundation taking shape.

The Jazz, however, are the big story here. They've kept the window open on the possibility of the Deron Williams era producing a conference championship. They've managed to come away from Boozer's free agency none the worse for wear.

Trading Okur for a wing would be great imo.

[OMagic1989]

Magic fan in peace:

Congrats on a GREAT trade! IMO he brings alot more to the table than Boozer did for you. Sloan will coach him up and this will make you much tougher to beat.

I wish we could have got him.

Have a great season!

[HolyToledo]

no word or reaction from Jefferson worries me...unhappy??...he did ask to be traded...team a nice fit but some players never want to play in utah so im a little worried about this!!

[DelaneyRudd]

He is in Mississippi I think.

[Worm Guts]

I don't think so. He was on local TV on Sunday, and Kahn mentioned how he had breakfast with him on Monday. I don't think he really requested a trade, but I think he'll fine with Utah.

[DelaneyRudd]

Oh, so he was in Vegas because Kahn was there yesterday.