RealGM

1) Let Matthews walk;
2) sign Ronnie Brewer;
3) Re-sign Fes
4) Sign Augustin
5) Let Jeffers go (saves cap space)
6) Let Gaines go (saves cap space)
7) Sign a d league or rookie free agent pg which is cheaper than Gaines

and the Jazz roster and lineup will look lke this..

PG Williams Price (rookie pg)
SG Miles Brewer Hayward
C Jefferson Memo Fess
PF Millsap Jefferson Ak-47 Augustin
SF AK-47 Brewer Hayward Evans

Who is Augustin? The only Augustin I know is a PG for the Bobcats...but you have him at 4th string PF, so it must be someone else.

Also, isn't Gaines making the minimum? I don't think it's possible to get someone cheaper than him.

loserX wrote:Who is Augustin? The only Augustin I know is a PG for the Bobcats...but you have him at 4th string PF, so it must be someone else.

Also, isn't Gaines making the minimum? I don't think it's possible to get someone cheaper than him.

Augustine played for the Jazz in the summer league. The only thing about Augustine is he has a higher minimum salary due to the fact that he's already played 2 years in the league. We could sign Rod Benson for half of that, probably get the same kind of guy who will live in the D-League for most of the season, and save about a million dollars with the added salary and lux tax.

Bat wrote:

loserX wrote:Who is Augustin? The only Augustin I know is a PG for the Bobcats...but you have him at 4th string PF, so it must be someone else.

Also, isn't Gaines making the minimum? I don't think it's possible to get someone cheaper than him.

Augustine played for the Jazz in the summer league. The only thing about Augustine is he has a higher minimum salary due to the fact that he's already played 2 years in the league. We could sign Rod Benson for half of that, probably get the same kind of guy who will live in the D-League for most of the season, and save about a million dollars with the added salary and lux tax.

I agree, Utah will probably look at a D-League guy somewhere. Another guy I wouldn't mind seeing is try to nab Artsiom Parakhouski from the Boston summer league team. Through out the draft process, I kept an eye on him and was surprised he wasn't drafted. But even though he's a bit raw, the guy's rebounding is there for a 7-footer. He fits into the European culture Utah has on their team too. Too bad we typically don't see Utah bring in guys from other summer league teams.

I cringe at the thought of a potential lineup at any time of

Jefferson
Millsap
AK
Brewer
Dwill

Please Utah sign a roger mason or shannon brown or at least rasual butler.

Cutting Gaines or Jeffers doesn't save money at this point since the Jazz have too few players and would have to replace them with other minimum contract players.

DelaneyRudd wrote:Cutting Gaines or Jeffers doesn't save money at this point since the Jazz have too few players and would have to replace them with other minimum contract players.

They actually make 300,000 above the min.

Jeffers and Gaines are both minimum level players in their second year. A first year player would generate the aformentioned 300k savings each.

Don't forget that the miminum counts against the CAP for mimimum vets with more than 3 years because the league picks up the rest of the tab.

1. Sign someone that can shoot. We have no outside shooting with our current roster.

I'd rather pay .6mil more to gaines to keep him rather than get a rookie PG who doesn't know the system. We're going to be above the line anyway, and rookie PGs have a steep learning curve for the NBA, made even worse by Utah's very structured offense which the PG has to run.

We also won't get a body like Fes for the price of his qualifying offer, so we're at least committed there, but no need to overpay him if he has no real suitors.

Jeffers and Augustine I can see replacing w/ rookie D-Leaguers... but then we'll have 3 undrafted rookie D-Leaguers on the team. I guess not so different from last season.

I hope we hold on to both Sunny-D and Jeffers.

The best player available for us is Shannon Brown, hands down. He's a good three point shooter, not bad defender and is one of the most explosive people in the league. I can't even remember how many times he's infuriated me when we played the Lakers...

Though it seems inevitable Matthews is on the way out, I would think long and hard about retaining him if I'm the Jazz. He is the closest thing to a defensive stopper at SG the Jazz have had since the departure of Raja- whose contract with the Suns also seemed ridiculous at the time. It just goes to demonstrate how highly teams value hard nosed, determined and effective defense in a player who can also spread the floor a bit with their shooting. Most championship teams have at least one wing who fits this description. If Matthews expands his game a bit and retains the starters position, he will earn his contract.

Should the Jazz decline to match, which would seem reasonable if they don't foresee Matthews as the regular starter at SG, they would do well to sign Brewer. He is a playmaker on both ends of the floor; he truly has the ability to impact a game and change the momentum in an instant. His bb smarts are also not given enough credit, plus he can handle the ball. Shooting? Well, not so much... But his contract will be reasonable enough for a rotation player who may not be called on to play starters minutes should we ever find a permanent solution at SG.

Secondly, they must address back-up PG. The Jazz obviously need a steady presence behind Williams, and could use solid shooting and instant offense in certain situations at SG. Not aware of any combo guards available to fill this need, as many teams are looking for the same thing. Price would be okay if he were just- good.

One more low salaried big and the roster is set to begin the season. Longer term, however, my plan would include solidifying the interior defense with a real, live defensive center. The Jazz remarkably still have some assets; they should consolidate the roster by moving redundant pieces to secure the pieces they are lacking in order to create a team who can compete with the league's elite. Build the best, most well rounded eight man rotation possible and fill out the roster with scrappy role players.

Just so you know, Brown is only an average 3 point shooter, and a poor shooter overall. He did make a lot against us, but everyone did. 33% from 3 is not that good, and 43% overall is below good. I think he is a bit of a byproduct of ESPN highlights. I wouldn't mind if we signed him, just don't expect him to come in draining 3s. Miles actually shot better than him in every way other than FTs.

I like Mason better than Brown, at least for just 3 point shooting. He also plays better defense.

I'm to the point of just letting a summer camp person try out.. there's not much out there in free agents worth the price. Might get lucky like we did with Matthews + more minutes to Gordon Hayward

If they let Gains go which they shouldnt, the Jazz should bring in Waters over Rice. I liked the pace of his game.

- Jazz definitely need more wing players. Right now they have just Miles, Kirilenko and Hayward.

- The real questions Jazz brass has to answer into the next very few days is: Is it better Matthews than Brewer/Mason, or Brewer/Brown, or Brewer/Barnes or Brewer/whomever-available?

I don't know if it will be Brewer anything... I wouldn't mind it as his athleticism was fun to watch and he knows the system.

C - AJ, Okur, Fes (resigned hopefully)
PF - Sap, Evans (signed hopefully)
SF - AK, CJ, Hay
SG - Bell
PG - DWill, Price, Gaines (resigned prob)

That's 12 players I see us taking 14 probably. Jeffers, Augustine, Brewer, J Davidson I see as possible roster filler. I put the three I expect them to sign in Fes, Evans, and Gaines.

I would love to see another quality SG signed but think we play it by committee with CJ, Dwill, and Price each playing some minutes there.

They are keeping Jeffers. Seriously, he will impress when he's really integrated.