What do we trade AK for this offseason?

[carrottop12]

I know it may be a bit premature, but the fact is AK is going to be on the move sooner or later, and the Jazz are the kind of team that likes to go into training camp with more answers then questions. So posted are a few options of what to do with AK, what do you think the Jazz will do?

[Pappyman]

personally, i would try to move him for cap space relief and a higher draft pick. the thing that the jazz really need is more interior defense and athleticism. if we could get an athletic, shot-blocking center in this year's draft and cap space to re-sign deron williams and paul millsap, i would be very happy.

[Sroek]

The Jazz would lose their edge with the absence of Kirilenko.

Good luck finding a replacement for him.

[carrottop12]

The Jazz would lose their edge with the absence of Kirilenko.

Good luck finding a replacement for him.

What edge is that? The one that takes up 12 mil per, and gives off a slightly above average out put for an SF?

Is that the edge you're talking about?

[troy]

I don't think Kirilenko is t he main problem here.
In my opinion our main weakness is inside defense. Okur is the guy that needs to go.

I think he has a player option at the end of next year , furthermore :
- He is shooting horrible in these playoffs ...again !
- He can't make a basket in the paint , one of the worst players in the league in inside percentage (check 82games.com)
- Doesn't grab any offensive rebounds
- No weak side shotblocking at all
- Is soft
- Has no back to the basket game


What we need is a tough defensive minded player , that can score with his back to the basket. A guy like Kaman or even Bogut.
Trade whoever you want to get one of these two (except Deron). Good inside defense wins championship.

[yougottoloveitbaby]

In my opinion Boozer should be the one to go.
Okur can play much better defense than him, his natural position is
PF and has proven he can pickup some of the scoring slack with Boozer out. Also have Milsap that can contribute better than anyone waiting at center or SF.
AK while overpaid at times has a skillset that is harder to replace than Boozers and is outplaying him in this series and the last couple months of the season.
I may be wrong or out of line, but it seems like Boozers play has been lacking since his family moved to Utah. Other things on his mind maybe?

I would love to see a deal sending Boozer for Kaman But they have Brand so a third team with someone L.A. wants would be needed.
But I can DREAM.

Williams/Price
Brewer/Korver
AK/Harpring
Kaman/Okur/Milsap 3 man rotation at PF/Center

[moonsover]

I'd trade Andrei and Brewer for Richard Jefferson and a signed and traded DeSagana Diop. I love Ronnie, and would hate to see him go, but I think we ought to clear some room at our wing positions, and I don't think the Nets would bite on a resigned C.J. or even Korver. There's only a slim possibility they do this trade as it is. Though a starting five of Harris, Carter, Brewer, Kirilenko, and Sean Williams is a pretty quick and athletic one.

[The Sheik]

I'd trade Andrei and Brewer for Richard Jefferson and a signed and traded DeSagana Diop. I love Ronnie, and would hate to see him go, but I think we ought to clear some room at our wing positions, and I don't think the Nets would bite on a resigned C.J. or even Korver. There's only a slim possibility they do this trade as it is. Though a starting five of Harris, Carter, Brewer, Kirilenko, and Sean Williams is a pretty quick and athletic one.

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Yeah lets make Brewer a throw in. The problem is AKs salary, RJ doesnt help that.

[The Sheik]

personally, i would try to move him for cap space relief and a higher draft pick. the thing that the jazz really need is more interior defense and athleticism. if we could get an athletic, shot-blocking center in this year's draft and cap space to re-sign deron williams and paul millsap, i would be very happy.

Dead on. People cant be delusional about AKs value. This would be the best case scenario IMO. Thats why Im hopin NY has some interest in AK, because I would be more then happy to move AK for Marbury and their pick or swap of picks. Marbury is in the last yr of his deal and we just have him sit at home or buy him out.

[The Sheik]

I don't think Kirilenko is t he main problem here.
In my opinion our main weakness is inside defense. Okur is the guy that needs to go.

I think he has a player option at the end of next year , furthermore :
- He is shooting horrible in these playoffs ...again !
- He can't make a basket in the paint , one of the worst players in the league in inside percentage (check 82games.com)
- Doesn't grab any offensive rebounds
- No weak side shotblocking at all
- Is soft
- Has no back to the basket game


What we need is a tough defensive minded player , that can score with his back to the basket. A guy like Kaman or even Bogut.
Trade whoever you want to get one of these two (except Deron). Good inside defense wins championship.

I agree the interior D is the problem, but the problem with AK is he doesnt try. He doesnt get the help D blocks, he doesnt get into the paint and battle for defensive boards, so whats the point of him getting paid 13 mil? I think we have one of the dumbest defensive teams in the league, because the philosophy is to foul when your beat. None of our bigs understand how to intimidate shots. Hell if we had mutombo at C we would have swept this series.

[schneiderjazz]

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Dead on. People cant be delusional about AKs value. This would be the best case scenario IMO. Thats why Im hopin NY has some interest in AK, because I would be more then happy to move AK for Marbury and their pick or swap of picks. Marbury is in the last yr of his deal and we just have him sit at home or buy him out.

I wonder if the Mavs would do a Howard/AK swap. I think both players could use a fresh start. Howard isn't as bad as he was in the playoffs and we all know AK can be better than what he is right now. Jazz would be more athletic and add a good defender on the perimeter. Then again, with all the marijuana crap, I don't think the Jazz would trade for Howard.
If AK goes, it would be nice to add a good defensive presence in the paint or on the perimeter. If we could add something like Battier+Przybilla, I would trade AK in a second. I just don't think an offer like that will come by.

[carrottop12]

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Dead on. People cant be delusional about AKs value. This would be the best case scenario IMO. Thats why Im hopin NY has some interest in AK, because I would be more then happy to move AK for Marbury and their pick or swap of picks. Marbury is in the last yr of his deal and we just have him sit at home or buy him out.

That's exactly what I thought about today while I was at work. Move AK to New York, take on Crapbury for a season, he will be fine as a back up and if he speaks up just bench his ass, really not a big deal. Then at the end of the season he is gone, the Jazz have all that money they owed to AK back, and they got a good pick that could possibly get them another very good player.

[JDubJazz]

I think AK is the most likely to be moved, and I'd be ok with it, but the guy I'd really like to see moved is Boozer. The guy is a stat padder and not much else. Memo is a natural PF, and it would give us a chance to put someone in at Center who might actually block a shot from time to time.

I'd like to see the Jazz use Boozer and AK to get a real prime time scorer. Someone who can create his own shot and put real fear into our opponents. That gives you Deron/Memo/??? as the core and lets you fill in around them with solid versatile guys like Brewer and CJ and KK.

Just an idea to be thrown around, but I wonder if we could move Booz for a combined sign an trade of Monta Ellis and a Andris Biedrins.

[BiggMann]

You guys aren't getting it. Especially TROY! What is he talking about, trading Memo? Are you nutz? Do you understand what he brings to our team, he spreads the floor for Boozer and plays solid D against the other teams big man. We are getting Memo at a STEAL compared to what we are paying AK. The whole reason for trading AK is to free up cap space to resign our future (Deron, Paul, Brewer, CJ). Trading for Jefferson or Howard completely negates that, we cannot add another large salary to this team PERIOD.

AK is the odd man out, because of the depth we have behind him. CJ is more that capable of stepping in and giving us quality minutes. Sure he's not the defensive minded SF like AK, but we are going to have to sacrifice something. I think Diop would be the PERFECT addition to this team, it would give our second team the inside presence it's lacking. Having Boozer and Milsap on the court at the same time isn't cutting it, we need size and we need defense.

Deron-Price-Rookie
Brewer-Korver-Almond
CJ-Harpring
Boozer-Milsap
Okur-Diop-Fesenko

That is how I see our future SL. If we can somehow stockpile a few draft picks I think we'll be sitting pretty come 2010 draft. That is our window with this team. If we dont get it done by 2010, we dismantle this team and start from scratch. Get rid of all old baggage, except Deron of course, and start new with our top 5 pick + Deron.

[The Sheik]

Yeah but Memo isnt a natural fit at PF for the Jazz. He doesnt run the pick n roll at all, nowadays he just runs the pick and pop and all those jumpers are killing us in this series. This isnt a jump shooting team. Yours and many other peoples theories of "spreading out the floor" is moot, because how do players like Duncan, Amare, Garnett, D12 and Bosh get it done without having a C who shoots 3's? Im not saying trade Memo, but really honestly out of our starting 5 I have no problem trading anyone in our frontcourt, I would rate them as follows(in matter of importance)

1. Boozer
2. Memo
3. AK

Memo and Boozers pts will never make up for the pts in the paint and FTs they give up. Boozer is just a stupid defender and Memo can only guard towers like Yao and Duncan. Put him on Amare or Howard and he gets eaten up. Big men also dont grow on trees so the best the Jazz can hope for is drafting and developing or hoping someone like Kaman becomes available.

[carrottop12]

I would love to get Diop this offseason for the MLE, and I would give him the full thing because he can help the Jazz that much.

But most importantly AK needs to go, there is too much clutter on the Jazz and AK is the main reason. Move him, get a good pick, resign Deron, and then build off of that.

[troy]

You guys aren't getting it. Especially TROY! What is he talking about, trading Memo? Are you nutz? Do you understand what he brings to our team, he spreads the floor for Boozer and plays solid D against the other teams big man.

I can't believe there is still people that buy on this "spreading the floor" crap.
Did you see Boozer have a lot of space in the paint because of Okur's presence yesterday or in any of those games in this series ? No you didn't .

An interesting link for you :

http://82games.com/0708/0708UTAP.HTM

Carlos Boozer with Okur per 40 min :
23.7pts , 54.8% , 3.1ast , 3.1 to

Carlos Boozer with Millsap per 40 min :
24.1pts, 55.8% , 3.8ast , 3.0 to

So please cut the crap with that "Okur is so important to our offense even when he doesn't score" speech.

Okur's spreading isn't that great and you just have to look at the amount of open looks he can get in a game. That just means he is not covered that much.

You also mentionned defense. Are you still talking about Okur ? The memeth Okur that is being outscored by Luis Scola so far ??

Okur spreads the floor and is a good three point shooter. Now focus on all the things that he DOESN'T DO.

1/ Doesn't bring thougness. This is my main knock with him. He is too soft. It's a nightmare to watch him AVOID offensive players defensively. Talk about a defensive player...
And then there is his horrible playoffs career stats so far. A center shooting <40% in the playoffs two years in the row ? Are you kidding me ?

2/ he is a HORRIBLE finisher inside. And when i say HORRIBLE i mean it. He is actually one of the worst in the whole league (any positions taken in account) :
82games tells us that only 17 players had a worst inside percentage than Okur in the regular season. This is flat out pathetic for what is supposed to be an all star center. Guy can't buy a bucket in the paint. Fortunately he is saved by the refs most of the time.

3/ Few offensive rebounds (dude spent his time on the perimeter) and few blocks .


4/ Can't play with his back to the basket. What this first round matchup has shown so far is that we have nobody that can play with his back to the baskets. Okur is awful inside , and Boozer faces up almost every time , taking a jump shot most of the time...
That's why it's so pathetic to see somebody write (Okur opens the paint for Boozer) when Carlos has been taking jumpshots most of the series and had almost zero easy baskets in the paint so far.


5/ Last but not the least : Sub par inside defense
I just think you've not watched the Spurs play in this postseason. Just look at their post defense , it is great , that's why they are the defending champs.
We have good defenders on the perimeter (at least Deron who is one of the best) , but our inside defenders are very weak that's why we have a subpar defense.
There is no way we can win a championship by playing this kind of defense. Rafer Alston almost looks like a bonafide scorer playing against us.
OUR DEFENSE IS NOT GOOD. IT IS NOT A CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSE

Now imagine if we had a guy like Kaman in place of Okur.
Kaman can anchor our defense , he is tough and is the 2nd/3rd best shot blocker of the regular season.
Offensively he is efficient INSIDE unlike Memo. Maybe he doesn't "spread the floor" , but when Boozer will take one of his many jumpshots there will still be somebody under the basket to get the offensive rebounds or get the pass from Boozer if he sees an oppening.

Defensively we would be WAYYY BETTER. And offensively we would also be a lot better because jumpshooting doesn't win in the playoffs , it's point in the paint that counts the most.

[The Sheik]

I would love to get Diop this offseason for the MLE, and I would give him the full thing because he can help the Jazz that much.

But most importantly AK needs to go, there is too much clutter on the Jazz and AK is the main reason. Move him, get a good pick, resign Deron, and then build off of that.

And I really dont care what others say, but the drop off between AK and CJ wont be much. Im not saying this as individual players, AK is obviously better and has a better skill set, but in our team dynamic with what AK is bringing or not bringing for that matter, I rather give PT to a hungry 21 yr old then a pouty Russian. His BPG dont matter because they are random helpside blks, that has nothing to do with how terrible our team D and interior is.

[carrottop12]

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And I really dont care what others say, but the drop off between AK and CJ wont be much. Im not saying this as individual players, AK is obviously better and has a better skill set, but in our team dynamic with what AK is bringing or not bringing for that matter, I rather give PT to a hungry 21 yr old then a pouty Russian. His BPG dont matter because they are random helpside blks, that has nothing to do with how terrible our team D and interior is.

Agreed completely, AK doesn't change the game like he used too. I remember teams would say they have to watch every shot they take for fear of AK taking it away, I have a feeling that sentiment hasn't been felt for quite a few years now.

What CJ would bring with his length, his fight and his ability to isolate would more then make up for what AK has been doing this year. Not to mention I honestly think the Jazz could move up into the top 10 in any draft by moving AK, and with a pick that high there is a very good chance the Jazz can get a contributor back.

The good thing is with the Suns, Nuggets, and Mavs going out early in the playoffs this season there is a real chance that some talented players and lots of salaries will get moved around. My guess is AK ends up in a three team deal with the Jazz getting an expiring contract, and either a high draft pick or a good player with a cheap salary.

[stevebozell]

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I wonder if the Mavs would do a Howard/AK swap.

This was my thought exactly. I think with Dallas dumping Avery, they are almost in full blow-up mode, plus their personel people there really seem to like AK. This is a deal I would do, and would even throw in a pick to get it done.