I'm not the one that brought the idea up so maybe you should ask the person who did? OK. Matthews is overpaid and it looks the Jazz were never even considering matching it. Blazers look like fools here, if they didn't already. Go non-existing GM.
Agreed. Matthews went for 13 pt/game without being the No. 1 option and with solid defense in the playoffs. Assuming we still have Miller or some other real point guard, I would take that kind of player. The only concern for me would be if we trade Miller and still don't get back another playmaker, then the absence of Roy's playmaking ability might be hard to duplicate.
Exactly! Imagine a stopper lineup of Armon Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nic Batum, Dante Cunningham, and Marcus Camby. Can you say, "None shall pass!"
I'm not sure if I'm ready to anoint AJ a stopper after seeing him play 27 minutes of summer league ball, but that unit would be interesting (in theory).
I was trying to come up with a PG that could play a lick of defense. Miller probably would still fit the bill. I imagine this lineup being ushered in at the end of games.
My comment about Matthews vs. Al Jefferson was completely from Utah's POV, to them adding Jefferson after they jut lost Boozer and Okur is still recovering from an achilles injury is a no-brainer if it means choosing between he and a "3 and D" wing player. I wouldn't want Jefferson on the Blazers and even given the money, Matthews fits in and fills a greater need.
Nic and Dante make a great pair defensively, though... maybe Matthews / Batum / Cunningham / Camby / Oden? Again, purely for single-play defensive stops... that lineup doesn't do a ton of scoring.
SpearsNBAYahoo Wolves to trade Jefferson to Jazz for future 1st rd pick, 1st rd pick from Mem in Brewer trade and a trade exception, Y! Sports has learned. 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck
He played the Martell Webster Role (when Roy was injured). He shoots a few % higher than Webster, has almost double the turnovers/TO rate and same defensive efficiency, at the same age. I don't like seeing Webster go, but if we got Matthews I think he'd do a decent job approximating what we'd get from Webster. Although, since a lot of his shooting was predicated on coming off of picks, and we don't do picks that well, I'm a bit concerned that there'd be a lot of regression in shooting %, with no appreciable drop in TO rate. but it's a small risk, if it gives the team the warm fuzzy to go after a stellar PG.
Mathews will be valuable when Rudy is gone... but damn. I was hoping the Jazz were gonna take a step back with Boozer gone. No such luck.
