countrybama24 wrote:http://nbaplaybook.com/2010/05/03/the-l ... #more-2157I posted that on another thread, but it seems relevant here.
Do the Jazz really need another scoring big who can't defend? I think we should re-sign boozer just because he's an asset, but I overwhelmingly favor a sign and trade than keeping him.
It is just factually correct that you're defense is gonna blow a little bit if Boozer is on the court, the sequence above demonstrates not only that Boozer can't contest or position correctly, but also that Millsap is a substantially better defender.
I can see where you are coming from, but I have to disagree for a couple of reasons. First, one of your biggest arguments is in regards to Pau Gasol. Boozer not being able to defend Gasol has no impact on his ability to be a game changer for this team. Gasol has consistently dominated against shorter opponents. Just look at his numbers against us (19p 17r 6a), Golden state (22p 11r 4a), Houston (30p 8r 2a), Milwaukee (26p 22r 4a), San Antonio (21p 13r 4a), Chicago (17p 15r 3a), Denver (19p 15r 4a), and all of the bottom feeders in the NBA. The problem is for most teams is that when you put your longest player on Pau (usually the center) you don't have a second player to match up with Bynum. Plus he has a great 14-18 foot jump shot and a nice baby hook. Without a Kevin Garnett orTyson Chandler type player defending him is really hard because he's fast and tall.
While it's true that without a DOMINANT post defender you can win a championship, but Millsap isn't the solution. Plus, without a scorer in the middle you can't win one either - Boozer is a part of a championship formula.
countrybama24 wrote:Don't get me wrong. Boozer is a fantastic offensive player, efficient, scores on anyone almost, just great. You simply cannot win a championship with him in the frontcourt unless you have a dominant defensive center. We've tried the "all offense, worry about defense later" strategy for 4 years.... why not just give this "get bigs who can defend" strategy a try?
What about going after a guy like Joel Pryzbilla or Samuel Dalembert? A center doesn't have to be an all-star to be a good defender, and one of those players would be on the market for much less than Boozer/Millsap. The only problem is finding matching salaries so we don't tread to close to the luxury tax. Defensive centers are a dime a dozen, it's ones that can score and play defense that are hard to find.
countrybama24 wrote:Would I trade millsap for bogut and keep boozer? Absolutely, I know bogut will shield some of boozers liability on defense.
Are we going to get a top 10 center?
Probably not... in fact... definitely not. Unless we luck out in the draft, those players just can't be traded for without substantially overpaying (which we don't have enough assets, outside of deron, to pull off).
Well a guy like Andrew Bogut may not be out there, but some of the best targets for the Jazz could be had pretty cheaply. I already mentioned a couple, but if we were to trade Millsap for one I would think that Andris Biendrins and a future pick/cash could be had for Millsap and a filler (say CJ).
