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I thought it was interesting that many of Paul's prime destinations are drying up.

Memphis acquired Randolph.
Toronto is offering big to Marion.
Detroit used their space on Gordon and CV.
Portland used their space on Hedo.


Right now the biggest suitor still out there is OKC. And they are expected (at least by fans) to be putting together an offer for Millsap. But if they target Lee instead things get tricky for the Utah Jazz backup PF who has an uncle for an agent.

Who else out there can make an over MLE offer to Millsap that also could use his services?

I guess we could also list teams that can only offer MLE but can offer a starting PF role.

it would be nice if the thunder snagged lee. Which would allow us to get millsap at a reasonable contract(hopefully)

Looks to me like Millsap is going to come cheaper then expected. I'd be really surprised to see him get over 9 a year on average now. Probably closer to 7-8.

It would be great if OKC would take Lee. Then MLE is here for sure.

@ndrew wrote:It would be great if OKC would take Lee. Then MLE is here for sure.

Utah wouldn't do him like that, i bet we would offer 8

Maybe he'll end up taking the 1 year deal and become an unrestricted free agent next year......

More teams with cap space next year anyways.......

New Jazzy Nets wrote:

@ndrew wrote:It would be great if OKC would take Lee. Then MLE is here for sure.

Utah wouldn't do him like that, i bet we would offer 8

It would be generous, but what the point? Where is the team other then OKC to offer him that? Memphis? They got their PF's. Toronto? Only in the case of trading Bosh. Let him test the market, but it seems to me, that this year FA market sucks from the point of economy. Players are taking MLE and run - look at Gortat, Ariza and Artest. Yeah, Turk got his money from Portland, Gordon and CV (higly overpayed IMO) from Detroit, but in the end there a lot of players left and there are couple of teams left with the cap space. 8 mil would be great to get in this market.

New Jazzy Nets wrote:Utah wouldn't do him like that, i bet we would offer 8

Why would they overpay him when they don't have to? This makes no sense...

In the other news - it seems now like Toronto is also out of Paul' race. Portland doesn't need another PF (at least I hope so).
WOW, I wish we can use the MLE...

Bradford wrote:

New Jazzy Nets wrote:Utah wouldn't do him like that, i bet we would offer 8

Why would they overpay him when they don't have to? This makes no sense...

It would be a respect thing, can you think of a few teams who would give him the MLE that have a better chance? Orlando? Boston? If utah offered the MLE it would only be for 1 year if he even accepted that. Im saying we could probably lock up millsap for 4 or 5 years at 8 per, if lee goes to OKC.

Again, he is restricted agent. Say they offer MLE and we wil match it. That's it.

@ndrew wrote:Again, he is restricted agent. Say they offer MLE and we wil match it. That's it.

While true, he would just be a disgruntled player on our team and how does that help us? If paul takes MLE money its for one year.

New Jazzy Nets wrote:

Bradford wrote:

New Jazzy Nets wrote:Utah wouldn't do him like that, i bet we would offer 8

Why would they overpay him when they don't have to? This makes no sense...

It would be a respect thing, can you think of a few teams who would give him the MLE that have a better chance? Orlando? Boston? If utah offered the MLE it would only be for 1 year if he even accepted that. Im saying we could probably lock up millsap for 4 or 5 years at 8 per, if lee goes to OKC.

It's a business. I know you don't want to offend anyone who is going to be on your team for quite a few years, but the fact is other teams set the market. If you don't have a market to get 8 million dollars, you aren't worth that much.

I also doubt he wants to play another season at under $1,000,000. Give him 6-7 at most if there isn't a market for him.

I too think he wants something long-term. It seems like his uncle lose some time to negotiate with other teams. Good for us. Note: Do not trust your uncle to be your representative! Unless you uncle is Andy Miller/David Lee/other big-time agent.

Bat wrote:It's a business. I know you don't want to offend anyone who is going to be on your team for quite a few years, but the fact is other teams set the market. If you don't have a market to get 8 million dollars, you aren't worth that much.

Not always true.

There's a thing called low-balling someone, and yes, it tends to piss players off.

Just because there isn't another team in a position to pay more than the MLE, doesn't mean Utah will pay the very least they can get away with. I don't know about 8 mill, but if Sap doesn't get an offer above MLE, you can bet Utah will offer Sap more than the MLE based on the numbers he produced last year.

- Turkoglu and Portland backed off.... so the Blazers have money again....
- Jazz IMHO will offer Paul more than MLE even without an offer sheet to match...

outerspacefella wrote:- Turkoglu and Portland backed off.... so the Blazers have money again....
- Jazz IMHO will offer Paul more than MLE even without an offer sheet to match...

Can't see Portland going for Sap when they already have their PF and have to improve both at the PG and SF spots. They most likely won't pay more than the MLE for a backup PF. Sactown, I believe can make him an offer starting at about 7 or 8 million, which the Jazz most likely would match. The only team that really has a chance right now to pry him away is OKC. And since Lee is still on the market, they might go for him, since the Knicks wanna have cap space to offer 2 max contracts in 2010 and haven't been as vocal about keeping Lee as the Jazz have about keeping Sap.

I wouldn't be surprised if Millsap ends up on a MLE type 1 year deal. It makes sense for him if his options dry up a bit to fully test the free agency market again next year and it makes sense for the Jazz since they will be able to more freely offer him big money next year. The bonus is that we get to see if he can continue to improve and if he really deserves a starting PF role in the league. It also gives the Jazz more options this year to hold onto Boozer a while to see how he will perform with the added pressure of Millsap on his heels and his next contract on the line. If they are both free agents next year let them battle it out resulting hopefully in more wins.

Boozer will be playing for a new contract regardless. Millsap and the Jazz should both go for a long contract.
If Boozer doesn't re-sign, Paul is under contract and you look for a backup. Not great, but not terrible either.
Some kind of back-loaded deal for when stickman comes off the books.

Paul hasn't had that kind of money yet for him and his family to be 'set.' I would think he goes for a long term deal where an injury doesn't leave him selling cars for Greg.