RealGM

Jazz fans,

Just trying to gauge your interest here ... Minnesota has a log jam at the 4/5 (Jefferson, Love, Darko, Hollins, Cousins/Favors). We also have Nikola Pekovic (6'11" / 270 lb) ready to come over from Europe.

Hollinger had Pekovic down as his #3 prospect in the draft two years ago and the Wolves were able to grab his rights at the top of the 2nd round (due to the fact that it wouldn't have made financial sense for him to come to the NBA if he were bound by the rookie scale). Anyway, by all accounts, he's a brutish beast with legitimate size ... low post scoring, great work ethic, good pick and roll skills ... not great rebounding skills or defense but he isn't a liability in either respect.

Utah will have plenty of young bigs to choose from at #9, but I also think Pekovic is more capable of stepping in and helping you guys win now than anyone you'll get at that spot.

Without further ado then ...

Trade #1: Rights to Pekovic + #23 for #9

Trade #2: Pekovic (Sign & Trade or just his rights) + Gomes for #9 + (bad contract X)

The first trade helps now with a guy who's big and ready to play , you also get your pick back at #23 where you could add more of a project big for the future (seraphin, sanders, alabi, whiteside).

The second trade is obviously more of a cap relief thing but I'm too lazy to see what you guys have for bad contracts to match salaries.

Fair? Sucks?

Sucks. We're not trading a #9 for a second rounder big man with questionable skill / defensive credentials. I'm sure we'll draft our own in the 2nd round.

We also don't have any salary to dump, except Okur, who: (1) was just resigned...so the front office would probably just give the wolves the finger and (2) isn't a bad enough contract to justify losing the #9.

I'd move down 6 or 7 spots for him, that's about it. Part of his hype when he was drafted was potential. He is a more know commodity now, and his role will be as a solid contributor and not a star.

Why would we trade the 9th pick for an unproven Euro? No thanks. Maybe if you give us Love we would consider it.

Pekovic isn't a star. He's going to be, at best, a Luis Scola caliber player, which is nice but not something you trade a top 10 pick for unless its a perfect fit for a team that is potentially missing that last piece. If Pekovic was a shotblocker/help defender/rebounder, who was going to be someone in the mold of a prime Tyson Chandler, I would do it. But I don't think he addresses our weaknesses as a team, and with the big guys available in the draft this year, we'd be crazy to trade a chance at getting a star for a known commodity who only exacerbates the issues we already have.

I think there is a mixture of fair, and unfair responses in this thread. Its not unexpected, because most of us don't follow the Euro's closely, especially when their rights are owned by another team.

First, I think the idea here was to send Pekovic to Utah precisely because he was not unproven. In europe, he's played against against huge adult, professional big men for several years. When you're talking about Pekovic vs some kid that's played one year of NCAA ball, and you hope he fills out .. that's unproven.

Second, I agree with the upside argument, that a pick may bring. I'm guessing Blue wolf came to you because that argument would resonate the least with a play-off contender like the Jazz.

Third, I'm not a fan of the "we can just get a euro-second rounder" argument. Now, I'm not willing to accept Hollinger that if Pekovic was coming over that season, he'd be the #3 pick in the draft (in front of Mayo, Love, Brook Lopez?). However, almost everyone said that he'd have been a lottery pick in that draft, and he's improved in Europe and won accolades.

Fourth, without knowing what Boozer's doing, and maybe the injury history of Okur, I think its a risky play for the Jazz. Pek is a tremendously strong low post scorer, but not a good rebounder, and I agree with erudite that may exacerbate problems.

In the Jazz's shoes, I'd probably decline, but not because of value - because of fit.

We have Tomic sitting over there, we don't need another euro.

shrink wrote:In the Jazz's shoes, I'd probably decline, but not because of value - because of fit.

Agreed, this is all that needs to be said about it.

Pekovic isn't a star. He's going to be, at best, a Luis Scola caliber player, which is nice but not something you trade a top 10 pick for

Luis Scola isn't worth a top 10 pick?

no

It would be quite the draft that features 10 players averaging roughly 16/8/2 or better.

Not at his age. He came to the NBA at a prime. That's a short window. With the 9th pick you hope to get a player that good, but the chance at hitting the jackpot is still pretty high.

But age will not be a factor for Pekovic, who is 24.

If we are trading the 9 pick it is. You have the chance the 9 becomes a top star and the chance that Pekovic bombs or personally chooses to stay in Europe. He's worth a player like Ronnie Brewer, a known contributor who's expendable, maybe with a late 1st rounder to even out the chance factor.

You have the chance the 9 becomes a top star and the chance that Pekovic bombs

You also have the chance that Pekovic becomes a top star and the #9 pick bombs. Pekovic is no less of a known commodity than any NCAA player; in fact, if anything, he's more known. We know for a fact that in the Euroleague, the second highest form of basketball competition in the world, he was really really really really good.

Nikola Pekovic's trade value can't be accurately gaged on message boards. As Wolves fan I still don't know what his trade value should be.

I should add one more factor for the Jazz to consider .. you'd need to pay Pekovic.

I'm not saying that you'd have to overpay him, because he's said he's anxious to come over. However, the Jazz could be struggling to keep a handle on payroll, especially with Boozer up in the air right now. I'm guessing you'd need to pay Pek $3-4 mil, and that may be difficult.

sham's right though .. this guy has a pedigree that's way past Tomic. My biggest question is fit.