With the emergence of Millsap should the Jazz trade Boozer

[Ancalagon]

The Jazz are not playing good basketball since Boozer got injured. Why? Because they need both Boozer and Millsap to be a contender ... especially against big frontcourts like the Lakers. We need Boozer to put up his 20 and 10 and then Millsap to put up his 12 and 8 when he comes off the bench. Without BOTH (and quit talking about cap space ...) we stand little chance of being more than a 7-8 seed in the West.

Millsap is my favorite player, and I love his development .... but you don't just throw away an All-Star like Booze.

[NetsForce]

Millsap isn't on Boozer's level. General Mills has played well, but Boozer = Beast Mode.

[UNLVNugsFan]

I would give it a little bit more time before they go off and trade Boozer. I am by no means saying Milsap's impressive performances are a fluke, but I would want more time if I was the Jazz to be positive he can continue these performances before I trade a perennial all-star.

I suppose it also matters what the market is for Boozer. He is a free agent this summer, and teams will be using that as a reason to low-ball the Jazz in any negotiations. If they can get some combo of a solid SG, a legit backup PG and some depth up front I would consider it, otherwise I think I would pass at this time.

More time? He was capable of putting similar numbers last year. Here are his PER36 for each year:

2006-07: 0.525 0.673 13.7ppg 10.3rpg 1.5apg 1.6spg 1.8bpg 2.3tov 5.8PF

2007-08: 0.504 0.677 14.0ppg 9.7rpg 1.7apg 1.5spg 1.5bpg 1.8tov 5.7PF

2008-09: 0.549 0.735 16.5ppg 10.2rpg 2.3apg 1.0spg 1.4bpg 2.4tov 4.6PF

Career: 0.521 0.686 14.3ppg 10.0rpg 1.7apg 1.5spg 1.6bpg 2.1tov 5.5PF

Yes, more time. I understand that those per36 #'s are good, but there is a difference between coming in for Boozer and going balls to the wall for 20 mins a game, and being the go-to guy in the post for 38 mpg with little depth behind you for an entire season. He is the main-guy in the front-court right now, and he has performed extremely well. However, if I am thinking about trading a 20/10 all-star, when there is little depth up-front, I either have to be blown away by an offer, or be 99% positive that Milsap can carry the load, for the majority of minutes, for the majority of the season with little depth behind him. If you are positive he can do that based on the last 12 or so games, good for you. I however am not convinced enough to suggest that the Jazz do not need more time to evaluate the situation properly.

[Ming Kong!]

The Jazz are not playing good basketball since Boozer got injured. Why? Because they need both Boozer and Millsap to be a contender ... especially against big frontcourts like the Lakers. We need Boozer to put up his 20 and 10 and then Millsap to put up his 12 and 8 when he comes off the bench. Without BOTH (and quit talking about cap space ...) we stand little chance of being more than a 7-8 seed in the West.

Millsap is my favorite player, and I love his development .... but you don't just throw away an All-Star like Booze.

Actually, more is attributed to AK, Knight, and Korver missing games in that stretch while Williams is still about 80% and he's rusty, which basically means he does nothing in the first 3qtrs, but as usual he steps his game up in the 4th. The Jazz are 7-3 in their last 10.

Boozer as starting PF - 8-4
Millsap as starting PF - 7-4
Okur as starting PF - 0-1

Not a big difference, and one of the losses where Boozer was out Millsap came off the bench, as the Jazz tried Koufos at C and moved Okur to PF.

[NetsForce]

You can throw Boozer the ball against someone like Kevin Garnett and tell him to get a bucket and I'm confident he'll end up with a decent shot, but you do that with Millsap and you better close your eyes...

Millsap's putting up numbers right now, but he's still more of a hustle player than a legitimate scoring option like Boozer.

I can understand moving Boozer because of concerns about whether or not he'll stick around with the team / his contract, but I don't think it would make the Jazz better...

[Ming Kong!]

I would give it a little bit more time before they go off and trade Boozer. I am by no means saying Milsap's impressive performances are a fluke, but I would want more time if I was the Jazz to be positive he can continue these performances before I trade a perennial all-star.

I suppose it also matters what the market is for Boozer. He is a free agent this summer, and teams will be using that as a reason to low-ball the Jazz in any negotiations. If they can get some combo of a solid SG, a legit backup PG and some depth up front I would consider it, otherwise I think I would pass at this time.

More time? He was capable of putting similar numbers last year. Here are his PER36 for each year:

2006-07: 0.525 0.673 13.7ppg 10.3rpg 1.5apg 1.6spg 1.8bpg 2.3tov 5.8PF

2007-08: 0.504 0.677 14.0ppg 9.7rpg 1.7apg 1.5spg 1.5bpg 1.8tov 5.7PF

2008-09: 0.549 0.735 16.5ppg 10.2rpg 2.3apg 1.0spg 1.4bpg 2.4tov 4.6PF

Career: 0.521 0.686 14.3ppg 10.0rpg 1.7apg 1.5spg 1.6bpg 2.1tov 5.5PF

Yes, more time. I understand that those per36 #'s are good, but there is a difference between coming in for Boozer and going balls to the wall for 20 mins a game, and being the go-to guy in the post for 38 mpg with little depth behind you for an entire season. He is the main-guy in the front-court right now, and he has performed extremely well. However, if I am thinking about trading a 20/10 all-star, when there is little depth up-front, I either have to be blown away by an offer, or be 99% positive that Milsap can carry the load, for the majority of minutes, for the majority of the season with little depth behind him. If you are positive he can do that based on the last 12 or so games, good for you. I however am not convinced enough to suggest that the Jazz do not need more time to evaluate the situation properly.

My point is he had the energy then, that most people are discovering now. Regardless of his playing time going up, he gets better in his PER36, and he's numbers were good when he was averaging 18mpg in his rookie season, which really is good considering he was a 2nd round rookie backing up an All-Star.

[BarneyGumble]

You can throw Boozer the ball against someone like Kevin Garnett and tell him to get a bucket and I'm confident he'll end up with a decent shot, but you do that with Millsap and you better close your eyes...

Millsap's putting up numbers right now, but he's still more of a hustle player than a legitimate scoring option like Boozer.

I can understand moving Boozer because of concerns about whether or not he'll stick around with the team / his contract, but I don't think it would make the Jazz better...

If this is true, then why did Millsap fare better against the Lakers swarming, long defenders than Boozer, who had a horrible series? Easy, if you take Boozer's left away and make him shoot jumpers, he becomes an average scorer and a great rebounder.

Millsap has a faster grip on the game, higher basketball IQ or whatever. He's also more athletic and quicker. And there's no debate when you compare his defense to Booz's. Time for the Utah Jazz to prepare for life without Boozer. He's out.

[Jazzfan Bayamon]

The thing is, there is no "realistic" trade for Boozer that will make Utah better.

I prefer to keep the team as is, hope for them to heal up, and see what we're made of. At the end of the year, I'd try to keep all of them together but if Boozer gets the super contract (I'm not sure he will get it) then let him walk, use the cap space to keep Millsap and work on getting bigman depth behind Paul and Memo (besides Koufus) with DPs etc.

Right now, we don't have any "holes" on our roster IMO. We're 2-3 deep on every position with quality and youth. The only reason our depth hasn't been as showing this season is because our injuries. If we can finally get everyone healthy, we'll be pretty set IMO.

So to answer the OP, no, I don't think we should trade Boozer. We either get "there" with him, or use the cap space he'll leave us with to get "there" with someone else.

[nate33]

The hard part about trading Boozer is his impeding free agency status. Who is going to give up a major asset for Boozer if they're worried about him leaving? The only way it would work is if Boozer agreed to an extension beforehand. Problem is, he'll only agree to a near-max extension, which dramatically reduces his trade value. Nobody wants to give up a quality player for the right to pay Boozer $17M a year.

[Downtown]

So when Memphis frontloads a contract offer to Milsap starting at $10mil per year what will the Jazz do? At this point I wouldn't assume that Milsap gets re-signed by Utah.

[Ming Kong!]

The hard part about trading Boozer is his impeding free agency status. Who is going to give up a major asset for Boozer if they're worried about him leaving? The only way it would work is if Boozer agreed to an extension beforehand. Problem is, he'll only agree to a near-max extension, which dramatically reduces his trade value. Nobody wants to give up a quality player for the right to pay Boozer $17M a year.

Best scenario is for the Jazz to keep Boozer this year, and just let him ago, unless some ridiculous can't pass up on opportunity presents itself.

[Jaykoolzboy]

Problem is that even with the commitment he's still going to leave for bigger salary.

[Chuck Everett]

Boozer is simply going to leave for the most money. Utah should let him walk. They have Millsap, Kirilenko, Koufus, Fesenko, the 2009 pick and the 2010 Knicks pick to replace Boozer's if necessary. Utah has no reason to give Boozer, who milks injuries for weeks on end. For someone so big and strong, he sure is injury prone. Millsap doesn't miss any games.

If OKC gave Boozer the MAX, he would end up there. That's what he wants. Utah is not the kind of team that can have a team with a payroll of 90 million either.