Deron's Wrong & And How the Jazz Saved Him

[blackham9258]

Okay, so Deron is mad that he is losing a friend. We have seen this before. CJ was offered a contract 2M more per year than he was worth, and Deron insisted we match, so we incorrectly did and now we suffer because of it. Millsap gets an offer, and we correctly match it. Brewer was asking for starting SG money which means he was asking for $6-$8M per year starting pay. The Jazz saw the writing on the wall and understood correctly that they made that mistake once with Miles and couldn't make it a second time with Brewer.

Deron is right to be loyal to his friends but sometimes you are loyal to a fault. There is a reason why Deron is not the GM.

Imagine the Jazz as Deron would have them:

SG- Brewer, a shooting guard who can't and will never be able to shoot.
SF- Miles, Mr. inconsistent
PF- Millsap, stud 6th man but a non championship starting power forward.

I base all my interpretations on how these three players compare to the PF, SF, and SG's of other teams in the league.

Millsap, is the only player worth what he is getting paid. But even he is no max or near max level starting power forward (Duncan, Stoudamire, Bosh, Boozer etc.)

If the Jazz paid Brewer say $7M per, Millsap $8 per, and CJ his $3.7 that alone would tie up so much money that we wouldn't be able to sign a real All*Star player like Boozer, or any other player that might be out there.

As a small market team you just can't afford to overpay mediocre players, and as much as we like Brewer or CJ both are mediocre players. One bad contract to a mediocre player kills you for years. Just like one bad max contract has tied the Jazz's hands for years with AK (despite his recent surge in play) Ak was never a max player ($10M was always the right amount for AK.)

The Jazz made the right decision by getting an asset now rather than tick off Deron in the off season. Honestly, what is worse, getting nothing for Brewer in the off season or getting a pick now? Is it better to be called cheap from Brewers camp during contract negotiations in the off season only to have Deron come to the Jazz and say, "Sign my friend!" and then see us make the wrong decision and waste money on a mediocre SG. The Jazz went through negotiations with Brewer once and they didn't want to face negotiations with him in the face of letting Boozer go.

Think about it, if what happens to Boozer is what we all expect and he leaves for somewhere else... then we are left with Brewer asking for $7M or more and Deron coming and saying to us hey, you already let Booz walk, don't do this to me twice in the off season." "Don't make me lose two starter in one off season." The Jazz couldn't allow that situation to play out. Last summer we had very little control of our contract decisions and cap situation. The Jazz decided to take an asset, and control of their negotiations.

[Racer X]

Longest . . . post . . . ever. Did anyone read this? I fell asleep in the 15th paragraph.

[edfmx86]

i was hoping the first reply would be a quick summary

[Bradford]

What I don't get is why it was posted DURING the game? Weren't you watching that game? I hope so...

[blackham9258]

Jr. High kids watch this board? Interesting. Go to bed children.

[HammerDunk]

Jr. High kids watch this board? Interesting. Go to bed children.

Seriously?

Nothing that you said here hasn't already been said. What an astute observation that Deron shouldn't be the GM. Any more gems?

[Reckless]

where were you a couple days ago.

[erudite23]

More of the same...but one EPIC FAIL. AK was absolutely a max-worthy player in each of the two seasons before he got his extension. He remains today among the 5 best defensive players I've ever seen. If he had been playing like that on a championship caliber team, you would have never stopped hearing about him. Hell, even a relative douche like Bill Simmons knew this and actually put him in the top 10 in his trade value chart one year. AK was worth it, don't make any mistake about it.

[@ndrew]

If only he could play like that every year...

[mavs4life123]

Milsap is a great player, hes no fanchise player but in the right team he can be a starting power foward for a championship team.

[blackham9258]

I'll give you that, if you give the team a Pau Gasol or T. Duncan at center, and a legit 2 guard that can shoot like B Roy. But as the team is constructed with Memo, and no real stud SG to speak of, we are not at all title contenders.