Post#14 » by erudite23 » Thu Jul 8, 2010 9:13 pm
Also injury prone and a defensive liability. No, we need to find a way to use this exception to take on a player like Andris Biedrins, Kendrick Perkins, or someone of that ilk, a post defender with some length and weakside helping ability.
Paul Millsap is going to be a more than capable replacement for Boozer, and will make a run at the All Star game next year, health permitting. We simply need to add a defensive ace and, hopefully, another perimeter guy who can create his own shot. If we can/could do that, not only would we not take a step back, we would actually improve and win 55-60 games. This team still has a lot of quality pieces, and one of the best 5 or 6 building blocks in the NBA in Deron Williams. Playoffs are a lock, even if it takes 50 wins to get there.
This reminds me a bit of the Mavericks when Nash left. Everyone thought that they were going to fall down a tier, but they retooled, traded for a few lesser players who complemented each other well, and it actually catapulted them to their only finals appearance and made them a team better suited to winning during the playoffs. The Jazz' downfall has been defense. They've annually been among the very best offensive teams in the league, but when push came to shove they couldn't get stops. Millsap is one of the best 10 PFs in the league defensively. What he lacks in length and size he makes up for with heart, strength and quickness laterally and off his feet. With a big guy next to him, we would go from one of the weakest interior defensive rotations to one of the best. Combine that with AK's stellar defensive play, Matthews' emergence and D-Will's consistent excellence, and we might suddenly be looking at a defensive-oriented team that can also score at a high level. But its all going to hinge on finding a damn good defensive center. If O'Connor can do that, this will be a net positive for this team.