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I thought that this might be interesting to a lot of you. Sorry if it has popped up before.

http://twitter.com/tribjazz

Kevin O'Connor usually chooses his words carefully but he was blunt in refuting idea that Jazz didn't try to make offer to Wesley Matthews.

O'Connor told reporters to call Matthews' agent and ask what really happened behind scenes.

Jazz felt there was little attempt to negotiate on Matthews' end.

Also on a bit of a side note,

Jazz did talk with Anthony Tolliver's agent yesterday, but they're apparently not among the three or so teams with most interest.

Whatever.

Matthews got paid more than we cared to match. He didn't do anything wrong. The reason he didn't want to negotiate is that he had a stronger offer on the table.

This would suggest that perhaps Matthews' agent wasn't entirely truthful with both sides of the negotiations.

Shocking.

I think this is important.......

I have nothing against Matthews taking the Blazers' offer...... I wish him the best...... He earned his paycheck......

BUT, it's pathetic for him to come out and say that he would have signed with the Jazz for less...... I'm sorry, but he's just lying...... If that was the case, why didn't he just go to the Jazz after receiving the offer from the Blazers, WITHOUT SIGNING IT, and say "This is what I have on the table, can you match or come close to it?"

He didn't do that...... He just signed the offer sheet...... Again, nothing against that, he was perfectly within his right to do that.......

But don't come out and lie that you would have taken less money....... Just thank the Jazz for giving you a chance and move on.......

I don't understand why some athletes have this need to make themselves out to be better people than they actually are.......

I never bought the idea that KOC didn't have a firm offer for Matthews on the table. He isn't stupid. I just think that Matthews camp countered saying they are going to get the full MLE and KOC told them to go find it and then they can talk some more.

It happened, Jazz figured he wasn't worth it, and Matthews figured it was too much to pass on.

I think both guys made the right decision.

Blazers may not have given him a chance to go back to the Jazz. Either sign now or it's off the table...

jazzfan1971 wrote:Blazers may not have given him a chance to go back to the Jazz. Either sign now or it's off the table...

While that's possible, I really doubt it...... He had time to make a phone call.......

I think it could be likely. Put yourself into the shoes of the Blazers FO. They want Matthews, they don't want to be used as a bargaining chip. The only way to ensure that they get a fair shake is to make an offer immediate like that. Otherwise, they are just being used.

It definitely could have happened. We all know how the Blazers like to swoop in and take the Jazz's playas.

Matthews is a class act. Any shadiness would would be on the part of the commission-hungry agent IMO. I think JF1971 has a point...maybe he was advised to sign and hope Utah countered. I have no doubt he would rather be starting for us and on the highlight end of DWill's passes than watching Roy from the bench. But, whatever, its over.....so best of luck to the young man.

Like I said, there's time to make a phone call......

Especially, since he was a restricted free agent, which means the Jazz had a right o match anyways...... It's not like once he signed with Portland, that was the end of the conversation.......

DWill_daShizzle wrote:Matthews is a class act. Any shadiness would would be on the part of the commission-hungry agent IMO.

Yep.

Again, the point isn't so much that he signed the deal......

It's that he's not telling the truth about how the whole thing went down....... He says the Jazz never made him an offer..... Apparently they did, he just didn't like it....... That's not a problem, he's perfectly entitled to seek out a better deal...... But don't lie about it.......

Kind of like Millsap did last year......

jazzfan1971 wrote:Blazers may not have given him a chance to go back to the Jazz. Either sign now or it's off the table...

Also who would not sign that offer.

red4hf wrote:Kind of like Millsap did last year......

Seems like there was a lot of misinformation from Millsap's agent last year about all the same stuff.

This is what I imagine went down:

KOC tells Matthews' agent, Lance Young: "This is what we're prepared to offer: $X over Y years"

Lance tells KOC: "That's not enough, we're not taking less than full MLE"

KOC tells Lance: "Then go get an offer, we'll decide whether to match or not."

Lance, to Matthews: "Jazz didn't make us an offer, they told us to go find one"

- If KOC says he made an offer, then he made an offer; KOC is a class act and I believe him.

- If Matthews says the Jazz didn't actually tend him an offer, it's just because he didn't receive one; Matthews was a class act during his time with the Jazz and I have no reason whatsoever to believe he's lying

- I'm sure it was a thing of his agent just doing what agents do: "managing" communication between parts... after all an agent is paid exactly to do - and say - whatever he thinks is better for the player to make the most money... that's his job and that's what Matthews pay him for.

Conclusion: Everyone did what they have to do, evrebody's happy about it, everybody goes on with their business.

I wish Matthews the best.

It's pretty simple: If you empower your agent to not inform you of offers, then keep your mouth shut instead of falsely accusing your team of not making you an offer.

Bruteque wrote:It's pretty simple: If you empower your agent to not inform you of offers, then keep your mouth shut instead of falsely accusing your team of not making you an offer.

+1. I am a huge Wesley Matthews fan, but he shouldn't have said anything if he didn't deal directly with the teams. You make yourself look like an idiot when you do things like that. Agents that don't care about making their clients look like idiots should really not be around for long.

Maybe the Matthews camp said, "We aren't taking an offer for anything less than the MLE."

And KOC said "We aren't making that offer."

And from there it unfolded.

Bruteque wrote:It's pretty simple: If you empower your agent to not inform you of offers, then keep your mouth shut instead of falsely accusing your team of not making you an offer.

Exactly....... It's not about him accepting the offer...... It's about his "version" of what transpired, which now has fallen apart.......

I don't have any ill will towards him, I wish him the best, but his statements about not getting an offer and taking less money are just pathetic, self-serving, and dishonest........