Jefferson's Mythical January

[TrentTuckerForever]

I'm starting to wonder if this is all a front, a way to get Jefferson's attention. I don't know if you guys remember, but the year before the 76ers went to the Finals, Allen Iverson was heavily shopped, to the point that they had a deal in place for him (going to Detroit.) His Wikipedia page details the series of events succinctly:

In the 2000 off-season, the 76ers actively tried to trade Iverson, and had agreed to terms with the Detroit Pistons before Matt Geiger, who was included in the deal, refused to forfeit his $5 million trade kicker... During the 2000–01 season, Iverson led his team to wins in the first ten games of the season, and was named starter at the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, where he won the game MVP. The Sixers also posted a 56–26 record, the best in the Eastern Conference that season. He also averaged a then-career high 31.1 points, winning his second NBA scoring title in the process. Iverson won the NBA steals title at 2.5 a game. Iverson was named NBA Most Valuable Player, and named to the All NBA First team for his accomplishments... Iverson enjoyed his most successful season as an individual and as a member of the Sixers during the 2000–01 NBA season.

Jefferson is nowhere near the high-maintenance headcase that AI was, but he is an established NBA veteran who's gotten paid without ever playing on a winning team. He's been anointed this franchise's savior since he was traded for KG, but thus far has not been able to deliver.

There are plenty of excuses of course, and many of them (injury, poor teammates, multiple coaching staffs) have been out of Jefferson's control. But can any of us say with certainty that Jefferson has done all he can? As a Wolves fan I've wanted more from him, especially in the defense department. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you can't get done... maybe this summer will be Al's wake-up call to start playing on both ends and become a real NBA star.

[mandurugo]

I would like to keep him. I think he could be a very good #2 option. He also seems like the type that ages well considering he does not use athletic ability like Amare, but rather his skills/moves.

This is definitely the prevailing opinion, but I think he relies on his athleticism as much for his game as Amare does for his. In Al's case, it is his agility and balance that are his dominate traits, but they are just as much athleticism as end to end speed and explosiveness. One of Al's most annoying traits, his inability to get to the foul line, is directly a result of his athleticism I think. His numbers this last year where still ok, but his game was definitely not the same. It might suggest that he'll still be able to get it done as he ages, but most of his current moves he won't be able to do as he gets older and loses his athleticism.

[urinesane]

Also one point similar to TTF's, is that maybe the reason Kahn has publicly said that Jefferson is available, is just to see what kind of value we can get for him.

Usually this would be dumb, because it would drive down his value. However, this summer it's easy to see that there are way more teams with cap space than talent available. There will definitely be highly motivated teams with cap space that strike out on the big talent.

If the league knows Al is available, it's much easier to make a quick knee jerk offer to try and salvage free agency, rather than call around to several teams and check on availability of different players.

Kahn is pretty much saying "Hey teams with cap space, once you strike out and your fanbase starts lighting their torches, I have a guy who is a legitimate 20/10 player who will keep the villagers at bay. It's gonna cost you though!". In the meantime he tries to have some of the 2nd tier FAs visit to make it look like he isn't totally sandbagging.

If we don't get the level of value that we think will significantly improve the franchise, we keep Al, and Kahn just tells him "This was a unique situation where we needed to advertise your possible availability in order to have a chance at a deal that would greatly improve our franchise. I told you last year when there were rumors out there, that we would only trade you if that were the case and I stand by that. We are not looking to dump you somewhere, we just wanted to explore your perceived value in a high demand/low supply market."

Al stays with us and plays, takes it as nothing personal, just business. We could test out different rotations of (4)Al/(5)Darko, (4)Love/(5)Darko, (4)Al/(5)Pek, (4)Love/(5)Pek, (4)Pek/(5)Darko and (4)Pek/(5)Al. With those rotations of solid big men along with improved wing play, we would be able to fully assess the defensive capabilities of our big men, as well as see how Al returns after fully recovering from his knee injury, and with more talent around him.

I honestly think Al got a raw deal last year. He was coming back from a major injury and with a young team that did not have great defensive ability or talent around him (not exactly the best time to be judged by Kahn). Much like we objectively look at Darko's situation of not being in shape last year as well as how he has been treated in the past by other teams. I think it would be a good idea to let Al prove himself this year with a better supporting cast around him. If he doesn't improve his defense greatly, he may still return to his 20/10 ways on offense and still net high value.

Dominant low scoring big men are tough to find in the league, so I don't think you put your eggs in the Love basket before you know if he can produce like Jefferson.

P.S. this post was way too long.

[hammel123]

..

Kahn just tells him "This was a unique situation where we needed to advertise your possible availability in order to have a chance at a deal that would greatly improve our franchise. I told you last year when there were rumors out there, that we would only trade you if that were the case and I stand by that. We are not looking to dump you somewhere, we just wanted to explore your perceived value in a high demand/low supply market."

..

wow, I don't think even Kahn would say something like that to your star player

[urinesane]

Well, when the Granger rumors broke out last year Kahn pretty much told him flat out that he would not be traded unless it greatly improved the franchise. Jefferson understood that it was just business and appreciated Kahn being straight forward with him.

This is from January:

"I understand it's a business,'' Jefferson said. "I know that, if a sweet deal comes up that the Timberwolves got to take, I've got to understand that. But me and David Kahn have a great relationship. He's never lied to me. I've never lied to him. I think that's the big key to any kind of relationship is to be straight and honest. And I think he has been honest with me so far. Right now, I think if something were going on and they were trying to trade me, he would come to me and talk to me like a man like (Celtics general manager) Danny Ainge did when I got traded from Boston (in the summer of 2007). ... I understand it's a business but I trust David Kahn.''

[revprodeji]

The thing with the "mythical january" was two contributing factos.

1.) Easier schedule..this needs to be taken into consideration.

2.) Foye went off. This worries me because does this mean Al has empty stats, or that Al can do some damage if he has wing support. Flynn/Webster/Johnson is a better group then Bassy/Foye/Gomes.

[Krapinsky]

It's not mythical. He had some huge games during that stretch.

39 and 9
34 and 13
38 and 16
32 and 10
34 and 11 + 4 blocks
36 and 22 + 4 steals and 2 blocks

If you want to play averages, from 12/20 to 2/1 (21 games) he averaged 24.86 points/game

[Esohny]

The Unicorn January?

[JMillott]

The thing with the "mythical january" was two contributing factos.
2.) Foye went off. This worries me because does this mean Al has empty stats, or that Al can do some damage if he has wing support. Flynn/Webster/Johnson is a better group then Bassy/Foye/Gomes.

It doesn't matter who you are, if you're the only player on a team capable of consistently producing then it doesn't matter who you are because those stats will come in a losing effort and ultimately be viewed as hollow.

What should concern everyone here is that in the very limited times that Al Jefferson's had any reasonable support his teams have done well. Trading such a player when they're coming off an injury marred campain surrounded by a serious lack of talent and being asked to play out of position is just not a good idea unless it has to be done for some known reason.

One of the other things that really concerns me is that Kevin Love is being judged on his admittedly good advance stats. The problem is that those stats were mostly a product of him playing next to the best center on the Wolves last year and that center was Al Jefferson not Darko Millic.

In fact looking at the five man roster splits it doesn't seam that Love benefitted from playing with Darko he actually sufered because it meant less time next to Jefferson which hurt his performance as he became the defensive focus in the frontcourt for other teams.

When he played with Al Jefferson he was the benefactor, bringing in Darko made Al Jefferson more effective because for the first time he was able to play his natural position of PF with a guy that wasn't a complete stiff and who could opperate out of his way from the elbow.

Having a center who opperates from the elbow doesn't do much good for Kevin Love.