Note: My argument doesn't rely on us getting any value for Boozer, though if we could, that would be nice too.
The Cons:
- Carlos is a top five power foward in the league. Reliable 20/10 is hard to come by (and expensive too).
- Losing Carlos may hurt team chemistry (meaning Deron).
- Carlos is a proven commodity and the Jazz already know who they are with him in the lineup. Losing him would bring a lot of uncertainty and could drop the Jazz from the elite in the West. Again, this could hurt our chances of keeping Deron.
- I don't want him dropping 32 and 18 on us any time soon.
The Pros:
- Carlos, among others, is likely to opt out and demand a significant raise (which he does deserve based on his production). Keeping him would likely push us well into the luxury tax and could mean we lose some of our good prospects in the future (Millsap, Brewer). Without him, I think we stay under. Also, on a more minor note, the Jazz even with the payroll as it is still don't even make money every year. I know Larry has a lot, but there are only so many millions anyone can lose. I don't think we'd be in danger of losing our team any time soon, but you never know.
- This next one is really the crux of my argument and is something I had been thinking for a while. A recent thread here solidified my feelings. I think AK's game is more suited to power-forward and I think his game would blossom again if he were to play more of a central role. From the other thread: AK's points per possession were higher than Boozer's as a PF, a lot of this was from more free-throw attempts per game which compensated for his lower FG%. AK's blocks per game were significantly higher as a result of him being closer to the basket (a lot of teams are keeping their 3 in the corner to take AK away from the basket). We also know now that AK has an ego. Give him more responsibility and I think we'll see more effort a.k.a his all-star year.
- Moving AK to PF clears up some logjam. Separate pros and cons for this lineup will follow.
The tenative Jazz lineup 09/10 without Boozer:
PG: Deron, Price/Knight
SG: Brewer, Almond, Price
SF: CJ, Korver, AK if need be on occassion due to CJ's inexperience (I have Harpring retiring)
PF: AK, Millsap
C: Memo, Collins/Koufos, Fez
Cons:
- As noted above, this lineup is unproven. A lot of my idea hinges upon the development of CJ (his per 48's improved almost more than anyone on the team last year though).
- I haven't decided whether this lineup can be as productive offensively. Boozer is the leading scorer now.
Pros:
- We clear out the logjam we have and give our young guys the time they need to develop (who knows if they will though)
- I think this lineup is better defensively. AK is inside again on defense. We keep our athleticism at the wings and AK is more agile (Odom defense) than Boozer.
- We have more 3 point threats on the court at any one time (Deron, CJ, AK, Memo are all threats; bench has Korver, Almond, and Price who can hit them on occassion).
- Possibly free up a few more minutes for Millsap while fully recognizing he is not a Boozer replacement.
Hopefully my first post doesn't get me torn to shreds, I've likely not thought through all angles. So, what do you think?
