Fried Chicken and Bonghits: The Al Jefferson Thread 2.0

[yosemiteben]

Big men get paid.

Big men that can put up 20ppg are getting PAID WITH ALL CAPS. He's opting out barring a catastrophic collapse in his production.

It was never in doubt.

[BeesWax]

Big men get paid.

Big men that can put up 20ppg are getting PAID WITH ALL CAPS. He's opting out barring a catastrophic collapse in his production.

It was never in doubt.

Good luck to him. Hope his next team has the ability to cover his pathetic defense like MKG does.

[Hornet Mania]

I'd prefer to let Al walk rather than extending him at a number close to what he's being paid now. I personally have very little confidence he will age well, I would absolutely be terrified to be on the hook for a 32/33 year-old Al at $13-15 million, even with a rising cap. If he'd like to return at a lower salary because he feels like Charlotte is home that's perfectly fine, but I think 3yr/$24m would be as high as I'd be willing to go. It roughly doubles the money he's already owed while adding two years, he could find a better offer elsewhere but would he find a better fit? I'm not so sure.

[tondi123]

I hope he opts out and we let him walk. If we end up keeing him I hope we play hardball and don't end up paying over 8-10 a year. Offensively, I think Al can continue to have some impact for a few more years but if you think a 30 year old Al is a disinterested defender just wait til you see 34 year old Al. And since he is already a net negative most games, its only going to get worse since he appears unable or unwilling to get into game shape.

[Braggins]

I hope Jefferson sees now that if he continually makes team pay for doubling him by making good passes out of the double, which he has shown the ability to do well when he wants, that they eventually have to single cover him. Last night against the Bulls he looked to pass almost every time time they double teamed and by the time the 4th quarter rolled around they were having to single cover him with Pau and he went to work. I'm really glad that Al seems to be adapting his game to the team.

If Al keeps this up and shows a willingness to stay in shape and to accept a possible 6th man role, then I wouldn't have as much of a problem resigning him at a discount for a 2-3 year deal. It would be unfair to have a healthy Jefferson playing against backup C's. I could stomach 3/27 if the final year is a team option or at least half of that years salary isn't guaranteed. That is probably the best deal I would do though, and would rather do it 3/24 if possible. Its not much less than another team will offer him and he gets to stay with a team and coach that love him.

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/576070083811913728[/tweet]

[mrknowitall215]

I think Al Jefferson's body is collectively breaking down due to age and playing overweight

[Hornet Mania]

At least it wasn't an ACL tear or something. With Al's infamously poor conditioning and the mileage on his body a catastrophic injury like that would essentially be career-ending. He might come back but he would never be the same.

[Braggins]

I think Al Jefferson's body is collectively breaking down due to age and playing overweight

I definitely think this is the case and its only going to get worse. It could be devestating to the future of our franchise if we extend/re-sign him.

[JDR720]

Hopefully his horrible play + injuries this season make the team want to dump him.

[yosemiteben]

Hopefully his horrible play + injuries this season make the team want to dump him.

It's much more likely to make Al want to opt in, but I get what you're saying if you mean long term.

ETA: Al actually has played quite well lately though. In March, he averaged 18 ppg on 51.% FG%, 9 rpg, 1.4 blocks and his steals quadrupled from earlier this season to just about 2 per game.

[Eoghan]

I wonder what actually popped? I hope this isn't a nagging injury where Cliff is too big a pussy to bench him for adequate rest again. Gimp Al is no use to anybody.

[yosemiteben]

I wonder what actually popped?

I don't know but that Bonnell piece made it sound like he thought it was going to be a major injury. Curious to see what they end up diagnosing.

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't think Jefferson has been nearly as bad as some on here think or say that he has. He was arguably more effective against Cousins last night than Biyombo was. Granted Biyombo had two phenomenal blocks.

[Hornet Mania]

I don't think Jefferson has been nearly as bad as some on here think or say that he has. He was arguably more effective against Cousins last night than Biyombo was. Granted Biyombo had two phenomenal blocks.

I can't remember if it was a travel or an offensive foul, but I distinctly remember thinking that Al seemed a little more feisty after a call went against him in the early part of the 2nd half. Started to take things personally and seemed determined to make Cousins miserable.

I sort of agree that losing Al can be addition by subtraction at times though. Up until very recently his shooting percentage wasn't so hot. Even though we can't really rely on any other individual (Mo and Kemba excluded) to bring that sort of scoring on a nightly basis the supporting cast as a whole can achieve roughly the same percentage as funneling the ball straight to Al if he's only hitting something like 45%. Analytics nerds would tell you if that means 4-5 more three pointers you don't even have to match the percentage in order to reach the same point total, which is why so many of the teams seem to abandon post scoring altogether to jack up a million treys (not ideal for our roster, obviously). His defense speaks for itself, all the other bigs are an upgrade by comparison in spite of the good job he did against Cousins last night. When Al is giving us one of those 11/15 nights for 27 points he's a huge plus, when he's shooting 4/10 with poor defense it drags us down. I don't think he's a burden or a big boost, I think he's just filling a vacuum because someone on this team has to shoot those shots and he's the designated guy.

[BeesWax]

I don't think Jefferson has been nearly as bad as some on here think or say that he has. He was arguably more effective against Cousins last night than Biyombo was. Granted Biyombo had two phenomenal blocks.

I can't remember if it was a travel or an offensive foul, but I distinctly remember thinking that Al seemed a little more feisty after a call went against him in the early part of the 2nd half. Started to take things personally and seemed determined to make Cousins miserable.

I sort of agree that losing Al can be addition by subtraction at times though. Up until very recently his shooting percentage wasn't so hot. Even though we can't really rely on any other individual (Mo and Kemba excluded) to bring that sort of scoring on a nightly basis the supporting cast as a whole can achieve roughly the same percentage as funneling the ball straight to Al if he's only hitting something like 45%. Analytics nerds would tell you if that means 4-5 more three pointers you don't even have to match the percentage in order to reach the same point total, which is why so many of the teams seem to abandon post scoring altogether to jack up a million treys (not ideal for our roster, obviously). His defense speaks for itself, all the other bigs are an upgrade by comparison in spite of the good job he did against Cousins last night. When Al is giving us one of those 11/15 nights for 27 points he's a huge plus, when he's shooting 4/10 with poor defense it drags us down. I don't think he's a burden or a big boost, I think he's just filling a vacuum because someone on this team has to shoot those shots and he's the designated guy.

I think the problem with him is he is either a big boost or a huge burden. If he is having an off night shooting he gets pissed and stops trying on defense and just doubles down on poor play but if things are going well on offense he is more engaged and more likely to work on defense. Last season we seemed to get more of the latter where this year we are getting more of the former at least early on.

[Liver_Pooty]

I don't think Jefferson has been nearly as bad as some on here think or say that he has. He was arguably more effective against Cousins last night than Biyombo was. Granted Biyombo had two phenomenal blocks.

I can't remember if it was a travel or an offensive foul, but I distinctly remember thinking that Al seemed a little more feisty after a call went against him in the early part of the 2nd half. Started to take things personally and seemed determined to make Cousins miserable.

I sort of agree that losing Al can be addition by subtraction at times though. Up until very recently his shooting percentage wasn't so hot. Even though we can't really rely on any other individual (Mo and Kemba excluded) to bring that sort of scoring on a nightly basis the supporting cast as a whole can achieve roughly the same percentage as funneling the ball straight to Al if he's only hitting something like 45%. Analytics nerds would tell you if that means 4-5 more three pointers you don't even have to match the percentage in order to reach the same point total, which is why so many of the teams seem to abandon post scoring altogether to jack up a million treys (not ideal for our roster, obviously). His defense speaks for itself, all the other bigs are an upgrade by comparison in spite of the good job he did against Cousins last night. When Al is giving us one of those 11/15 nights for 27 points he's a huge plus, when he's shooting 4/10 with poor defense it drags us down. I don't think he's a burden or a big boost, I think he's just filling a vacuum because someone on this team has to shoot those shots and he's the designated guy.

I think the problem with him is he is either a big boost or a huge burden. If he is having an off night shooting he gets pissed and stops trying on defense and just doubles down on poor play but if things are going well on offense he is more engaged and more likely to work on defense. Last season we seemed to get more of the latter where this year we are getting more of the former at least early on.

Last night he was actually the opposite though which was strange. A bad call went against him and he got pissed. Came back down on the other end and hoisted up a 20 footer out of anger which was stupid as hell, but did a great job on Cousins the rest of the way.

[JDR720]

Al is 108th in the NBA in PPS (points per shot) among 116 qualified players. just ahead of Reggie Jackson and just behind JR Smith.

[MKGsMotor]

Petition to rename this thread "Fatass Burden: The Al Jefferson Thread"

[Benjamin Linus]

Still like the "Could of had Paul Millsap for less - The Al Jefferson Thread"

I wonder if we would have signed Millsap, if we would have drafted Noel instead of Zeller. Damn, that lineup would have been soooo much better.