Big Al's Paint: The Al Jefferson Thread

[fatlever]

i call shenanigans on the notion that there will be any teams lining up to offer al jefferson 10+ million over several years this summer if he opts out of his contract.

we overpaid for jefferson two summers ago because we had to in order to convince him to come here. now he is two years older, even slower after his foot injury and the landscape of the NBA has swung even further away from slow plodding centers who cant defend the rim.

my gut says he will only opt out if he is convinced the hornets are willing to resign him to a multi-year deal (perhaps at a slightly lower yearly salary). i do not believe he can get 13 million per year from another team.

of course, his outlook could change between now and the summer if he goes on another 4 month hot streak like he did last year while the team has a winning record, however, that is starting to look more and more unlikely with each passing game.

unfortunately, as long as the front office views him as a superstar we are stuck with him and this style of basketball.

[HornetJail]

Trade big al and hendo to new orleans for asik and Austin rivers

We already have them. Their names are Bismack Biyombo and PJ Hairston

[stinger14]

Watching games I always get the feeling Al doesn't rebound enough. Last night I made a comment about how he seems to not know how to box out. His man gets free all the time. But then I look up and he's 18th in the NBA in RPG. That's mediocre but not as terrible as it often appears during games when he just stands there and his guy goes hog wild. I looked at offensive rebounds and he's at 1.5, which is about half as many offensive boards per game as most of the starting centers. On a team without outside shooting it would be beneficial to get them more 2nd chances but some will say offensive rebounds are overrated.

So I dug a little further...

When you adjust for minutes and look at RP48, Big Al falls from 18th to 57th in the NBA.

He's not a good rebounder at all and he logs huge minutes for the Hornets.

When Biz plays the defense improves but so does the rebounding and that makes a big difference.

At any rate, the 57th best rebounder in the NBA is not someone you give big money to and years, not as his age and considering his defense is terrible.

Good job finding that info, and great post. Note my post from a week ago. This team would be better with Biz starting.

[Braggins]

Right now I dont think we could even trade him for expiring contracts unless we packaged him with another asset.

[BlackOutBuzz]

18 centers currently make at least $10m (over 20 if you count guys like Favors and Lee). Size gets paid, and contracts are only going up. It's the Kemba argument all over again: $10-13m just isn't that much anymore, what with the top players making over $20m.

I think Al could find a suitor that would pay about what he's due should be opt in, though I'm starting to hope it won't be us.

[HornetJail]

Right now I dont think we could even trade him for expiring contracts unless we packaged him with another asset.

Dude was All-NBA 3rd team last year. We'd get something substantial in a trade unless his offense fell off a cliff

[yosemiteben]

we overpaid for jefferson two summers ago because we had to in order to convince him to come here.

You are saying that now and many probably did last year in December, but no one who followed our team said that he was being overpaid after last season was over.

[Liver_Pooty]

Really think they will reach that point? They should be there now.[/quote]

Has no value. We're in same situation Utah was in trying to get rid of him. They had to ride it out.[/quote]

Are you saying that because his play angers you or do you really think his value is zero?[/quote]

Lets be honest. What team in the league needs a ball dominant center who plays defense like a damn matador? No one. Rebuilding teams don't want him for obvious reasons,. Their might be a treadmill team out there who may want him, but they aren't going to give anything of significance to get him. And their damn sure isn't a championship team ready to deal for a guy who may opt into a 13 mill plus contract next season who so far this season has been above average on offense and quite possibly the worst defensive center in the history of the league.

At best I think we get bad contracts in return.

[Radu_Hornets]

After the loss against the Magic today, I am in the "trade Al or make him play off the bench" where he suits better...

I guess, that we could, as fans, have a small impact by our good analysis of the way Al influence the game. I know we are dealing with professionals analysts. But they are maybe skewed by the fact that they have high pressure on their head saying « AL IS UNTOUCHABLE ».

I want to believe that the paper by Lamar retweeted by Steph Ready had a little impact on the fact that Biyombo had taken Maxiell spot as second Center.

That is why I think we could try to influence the Front Office that Al should not play as much, should maybe NOT be resigned, that they should try to deal him when he still have High/Medium value and why not, try him off the bench (That last part is the least possible I would say regarding the player status).

I think that their are enough evidence about the flaws of Al’s game.

- can’t guard center who can shoot (Marc Gasol, Vucevic, Tim Duncan, Byron Mullens <green font>, … ) Which already prevent us being a top team.
- Can’t guard penetration, and don’t even try basically
- if he doesn’t score more than 20 points a game, he is a strict negative asset on the floor, since he usually allows the opponent to score more than that
- When he gets doubled, we’re f*cked
- He is not in shape
…

I think that we could highlights those arguments and try to make the paper trendy even more than the Biz/Maxiell paper.


I know he is the guy who took us to the playoffs last year, and I was one of his biggest fan on the team, but I think McRoberts was covering a lot of the issues I just stated above. And right now, even if Big Al is a good guy and a «shouldhavebeen » all-star 2014, but I don’t want him on the team anymore, I am not excited to watch that core anymore…


EDIT: I paid attention, and Jefferson NEVER blocked Kemba's man on a screen during the last game against the magic, NEVER!

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/549764385800208385[/tweet]

I honestly want him to miss several games to see how the team responds

[MasterIchiro]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/549764385800208385[/tweet]

I honestly want him to miss several games to see how the team responds

Just as long as he returns before the trade deadline.

[Diop]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/549764385800208385[/tweet]

I honestly want him to miss several games to see how the team responds

same, we know what he provides and how the team operates with him.

at least now we should get a different look.

im guessing its going to be a lot of Kemba headless chook offence

[MasterIchiro]

It will test the Rudy Gay Theory of addition by subtraction.

[JDR720]

So without Al,Lance and Max (assuming he is cut)

Kemba-Rob
Gerald-Neal
MKG-PJ
Marv-Vonleh
Biz-Zeller or Zeller/Biz

[Diop]

time to sign Diop for a 10 day contract me thinks

[MasterIchiro]

Lance will be back soon so:

Kemba - Roberts
Neal - Henderson
MKG - Lance
Marv - Vonleh
Biz - Zeller

[Diop]

Lance will be back soon so:

Kemba - Roberts
Neal - Henderson
MKG - Lance
Marv - Vonleh
Biz - Zeller

I think Clifford will continue to start Hendo and Vonleh will still be spot minutes behind Zeller, Marv and Biz.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Zeller start to centre as well.

[yosemiteben]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/549764385800208385[/tweet]

I honestly want him to miss several games to see how the team responds

Agreed. I have the exact same thoughts for Al as I did for Lance - let's get him fully healthy and in the meantime see how we do without him.

[yosemiteben]

It will test the Rudy Gay Theory of addition by subtraction.

Not if it's only a couple games, as evidenced by our up and down play while Lance has been out.

[HornetJail]

It will test the Rudy Gay Theory of addition by subtraction.

Not if it's only a couple games, as evidenced by our up and down play while Lance has been out.

Lance wasn't the problem though. Without Al, our whole game plan is different and probably for the better.