<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Kevin O'Connor helped pick this U.S. Olympic basketball team, so he plans to be in Greece when it wins gold, or it doesn't. But before he jets off to Europe, he has to finish picking Utah's team - a task that, like the Olympians', is more challenging than people might expect. Mo Williams sits atop the Jazz vice president's to-do list this week, and while Utah's future probably doesn't hinge on whether O'Connor matches Milwaukee's contract offer to the second-year guard, there still are several factors that make the decision a difficult one. "I wish this was easy," O'Connor said, "but there are a lot of things to consider." He's been considering them all since Aug. 8, when the Bucks formally presented Utah with an offer sheet, signed by Williams, that would pay the restricted free agent $5.5 million over the next three seasons, including nearly $2 million this year. The Jazz have until Aug. 23, to match the contract. O'Connor won't say it, but he had to be shocked by the Bucks' offer. The Jazz had hoped all summer that their voluminous salary-cap space, plus their oft-stated intention to match any offer Williams received, would scare off any potential suitors for the second-round draft pick. O'Connor made the NBA-mandated offer of a one-year, $770,046 contract, and clearly hoped that Williams would simply sign it. But Milwaukee's point-guard vacancy during T.J. Ford's recuperation from a spinal injury, the Bucks' discovery that few young guards are available in the free-agent market, and the patience of Williams' agent, Mark Bartlestein, combined to make O'Connor's choice a complicated - and expensive - one. He can either pay Williams, who averaged 5.0 points in 13.5 minutes as a rookie, more than five times his previous salary of $366,000, or allow one of the franchise's valuable assets to walk away. "You always try to make the best business decision you can," O'Connor said. "It's hard to know what that is sometimes."</div> <div align="center">Link</div>
Match the contract all ready! Mo has great upside, and I know he is better than Raul and in a few years he will be as good as Carlos Arroyo. So what is the big deal, just sign him, If we can give Okur $50 million, Mo is worth $5.5 Million.
Its not really a huge contract that he was offered so it is obvious what they should do is match. This young kid has huge upside he just declared for the draft too soon he should have stayed in school another year or two and developed his game. He is sort of like a player that reminds me of chauncy billups. A guy that will be a solid if not all star guard in the future. He just needs a few years be pacient like the wolves are being with ebi and it will pay off. Think about it now he played 13.5 minutes averaged 5 points a game now translate that into the average 48 minutes per game stat and you have a very good player in the future if he is given playing time. You either have two choices here give a guard with "potential" a small pay day or lose him and mabye regret it in the future. This may turn out to be a bargen if they match.
The Jazz should match, Mo's only going to get better. I see a lot more potential in him than Raul Lopez. Carlos Arroyo has a good shot at breaking out this season, and he will help Mo along the way. The deal is not huge, and is matchable. If he's let go, there aren't many PG's who Utah can sign for cheap who will do the job. He's the best option for the 3rd PG for Utah, and he's shown a lot of promise. Also, the Pavlovic decision would look really bad if Mo went.
