<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Utah Jazz have decided not to match the Milwaukee Bucks' offer to guard Maurice ?Mo? Williams. Jazz Sr. Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin O?Connor made the following statement on the decision:</div> Link I still think we should of kept Mo, but there are some benefits from losing him. Firstly, the Jazz have a lot of draft picks coming up, and they need the room for their first rounders especially. The Jazz now have more cap room for next season, and this can be spent on giving AK47 the max, or resigning Raja Bell. It also gives Carlos Arroyo more minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Stockton:</div><div class="quote_post">Link I still think we should of kept Mo, but there are some benefits from losing him. Firstly, the Jazz have a lot of draft picks coming up, and they need the room for their first rounders especially. The Jazz now have more cap room for next season, and this can be spent on giving AK47 the max, or resigning Raja Bell. It also gives Carlos Arroyo more minutes.</div> Mo will fit in better as a Buck. He'll be playing behind Ford, who is injured and James, who will get his share of minutes at the 2 guard spot. Either way, Mo will get to show what he's capable of as a Buck, like he did in Alabama. He wasn't going to get much PT anyways with Arroyo, Lopez and minor minutes from Bell anyways. Also, on AK, the Jazz can give him the max regardless whether they are over or under the cap.
I'm sure the Jazz realized he'd probably be happier on the Bucks and decided to let him go. Also, the luxury of a 3rd string PG even at a low price still does hit into your pocketbook. Even though Mo played well and will definitely improve, there just was no time for him there and the Jazz decided to be fair and not hog him. They can go ahead and fill the roster spot with a need at another position and there's simply more flexibility.
Man, I wish we would of matched this, Mo is going to be great and he fit so well under the Jerry Sloan system. Oh well I hope Mo the best in Milwaukee, once TJ Ford gets healthy I can't see him getting many more minutes than he would in Utah. Anyways, I think Terry Porter will help Mo on his game. Good Luck Mo.
If they can give Okur a 56 million dollar contract and Boozer a 66 miliion dollar contract then they should've give Williams a 5 million dollar contract, bad move in my opinion. Mo was a great spark off the bench and could've even battled Lopez for 2nd string.
With Mo Williams and Sasha Pavlovic gone, there goes the 2003 Jazz draft. I think Kevin O'Connor could of handled this better, by protecting Sasha and not Mo Williams. If Sasha wasn't wanted, they could of gotten a first rounder out of him. The Jazz would of known Mo Williams would of been offered a contract by another team, and if they weren't very serious about matching it they should of left him unprotected, so they could of gotten something out of Pavlovic.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Stockton:</div><div class="quote_post">With Mo Williams and Sasha Pavlovic gone, there goes the 2003 Jazz draft. I think Kevin O'Connor could of handled this better, by protecting Sasha and not Mo Williams. If Sasha wasn't wanted, they could of gotten a first rounder out of him. The Jazz would of known Mo Williams would of been offered a contract by another team, and if they weren't very serious about matching it they should of left him unprotected, so they could of gotten something out of Pavlovic.</div> I'm glad that someone finally agrees w/ what I've been saying all along in this forum. If you don't want Pavlovic, fine. But don't give him away for nothing, use him as trade bait. Now the Jazz are in a position where they can not afford to have either Arroyo or Lopez get injured. I've heard that they are looking to bring a journeyman third string point guard. I seriously doubt that who ever they bring in will be as effective as either Mo Williams or Sasha Pavlovic. Sarunas Jasiekavus anyone?
Actually at the time, the Jazz didn't think the Bobcats wanted Sasha, so they protected Mo knowing that the Bobcats would want Mo. But when Cleveland called them and said that they would trade for Pavolvic, the Bobcats snatched him up. Then, the Jazz thought they could re-sign Mo for not much at all, and still be way under the cap. But once the Jazz picked up Okur and Boozer, they wasn't much left for Mo's $5.5 million dollar contract. So, looking back it may seem like we should of protected Sasha, but also looking back, I bet the Blazers wish they would of taken Jordan instead of Sam Bowie.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting spark22:</div><div class="quote_post">Actually at the time, the Jazz didn't think the Bobcats wanted Sasha, so they protected Mo knowing that the Bobcats would want Mo. But when Cleveland called them and said that they would trade for Pavolvic, the Bobcats snatched him up.</div> Why wouldn't the Bobcats have wanted Pavlovic? He was the 19th pick in the draft and he will be under contract at a low price for the next three years. Kevin O'Connor's job is to understand the market values of his players. The Jazz did an excellent job in the draft and with free agency but this was a mistake, that in all honesty, really should never have happened. I wonder when you are going to take Mo Williams (aka P-Nut) out of your signature.
