Raja Bell signs with Utah Jazz?

[H00PDREAMS]

Utah org got a case of the itchy trigger finger, when it was announced that Raja going to meet up with Kobe. Kobe probably had no idea Utah was really in play. Utah probably flinched with Raja and his agent shut down talks. Props to Raja's agent for making that meeting public.

The media did the rest of the work for Raja's agent. Utah got nervous and knew they had to offer him something he couldn't refuse and something they knew that would over ride what ever ISH Kobe was telling him. Thus Utah drops a wad and lands Raja.

[PurpleGold]

what is the love fest with Barnes? 1st off, he turned down MORE money from Orl already and 2ndly his D is overrated, try watching that orl/bos series again, Pierce did whatever the hell he liked against Barnes and Pietreus.

Yes, because you have all the inside information.

Did it ever occur to you that Otis Smith is on record TWICE saying Matt Barnes has not been offered a new contract?

What exactly do you want for $2m? Last I checked, we're not a team that's make or break for them to live up to some reputation. We still have Kobe, Artest, and Odom where they fall short. And Barnes is still better than Sasha, Walton, and Farmar. Overrated.

how bout he OPTED out of MORE money then we're offering with Orl? If that doesn't give you any indication he wants money then I dont know what else would. Overrated in the sense that all you Barnes homers are making it sound like h some sort of defensive stopper which he isn't and like I said Pierce made Barnes his biatch in that series, Walton has done a better job then that when healthy.

I agree. Most fans don't see Walton's defensive value. Coming off the bench, he shut down Pierce. I think he had a +12 EFF.

[Gek]

He opted out because of the impending CBA cluster **** next summer, smart guy. Just like Shannon Brown. Just like Pierce. Just like Dirk. Just like John Salmons.

They could have taken the risk of working out a new deal for (likely) less money next summer, or they could have done the smart thing and opted out this summer. It's really not that complicated.

Please stop talking if you don't know what you're talking about.

You forgot about Richard Jefferson*

[JustAwesome]

I'd be willing to bet that this is not a cases of Bell using the Lakers or being deceptive towards Bryant.

If all the contract offers were the same, I'm sure he would have chosen the Lakers.

However, when the Jazz offered $3 million a year, he knew the Lakers would not match that. He had to sign on the dotted line. At least, he was honest enough to inform Bryant that a meeting wasn't necessary after that.

[dockingsched]

raja bell:

"Kobe was very cool about it. ... We talked about it for a minute. He thought it was a no-brainer for me also."

“I know Jazz fans might not want to hear it, but Kobe and I are actually on pretty good terms ..."

[DEEP3CL]

I love what Kobe is doing.........MJ did this at the same exact stage of his career. No not this recruiting BS, the "softening" of his opponents. These dudes are absolutely prime to be destroyed if Kobe is 100% healthy. Their mental frame work is all erased, those cats were able to challenge and combat Kobe because they had an inner fire to not look bad.

Kobe has slowly deprogrammed these cats.

[gameface]

I'm pretty happy Utah picked up Raja. Don't know that Utah improves vs the Lakers much, but I'm more excited about this season than the last for the Jazz.

Good luck to the Lakers, as if they need it.

Here's a funny video I made that references Raja and the Kobe meeting.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHvyYajjKck[/youtube]

[The59Sound]

I'd be willing to bet that this is not a cases of Bell using the Lakers or being deceptive towards Bryant.

If all the contract offers were the same, I'm sure he would have chosen the Lakers.

However, when the Jazz offered $3 million a year, he knew the Lakers would not match that. He had to sign on the dotted line. At least, he was honest enough to inform Bryant that a meeting wasn't necessary after that.

I come in peace as a Jazz fan, but want to point out that you're wrong on this point. Raja wanted to play a big role on a team, not be a hanger-on or an "insurance policy." If the offers were equal, I think he'd have chosen the Jazz, since we'll give him a bigger role and he has vey positive history with the organization and with Sloan in particular.

Not much of a blow to you guys either way.