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Utah Jazz: Maggette drawing lots of attention

I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that the Jazz will make no major moves in the off season. It happens time and time again, where the Jazz are one piece away from being a SERIOUS contender. Until Larry Miller quits running this team as a business and takes some chances to make a real run at a championship, the Jazz and their fans will have to settle for being just a pretty good team. Larry and Kevin: "If you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting." Take a note out of Danny Ainge's book and invest in one more quality player that can bring the missing pieces. Is it any wonder Deron Williams wants to talk with management before signing a long deal, he can see the writing on the walls and in the history books of the Utah Jazz. He has said "I just want to win."

Could someone please explain why the Jazz would have any interest now in Magette? With Brewer, CJ, and Almond all being wonderful young (and affordable) SGs with tons of potential, and the Jazz needing a big defender more than anything, not to mention the need to preserve cap space for Williams, why waste any time considering an SG whose best days are probably behind him???

The only way the jazz can get good players is through the draft (Dwill, brewer, milsap, AK) or by offering them max money (Booz) or they have to find a special player that actually has family values and would be ok with living in Utah (Korver). What gangster NBA player chooses living and playing for Utah over Boston, Orlando, Golden State, players would even rather play for Clippers! It is sad. The Jazz are so close to being Championship good with one or two more pieces. I hope they can pull something off.

The Jazz have interest in Magette because he is a better player than all of the players you mentioned. What good does it do to have a whole slew of players with potential that are inexpensive if they do not contribute.

Don't get me wrong Brewer is a great player but you will notice that teams won't even defend Bewer on the perimeter. That makes it difficult to stretch the floor and create space for more guys.

Finally read the post from "It's Ok we have Jason Hart" and you will get some insight on what the Jazz should do to become truly better. Spoiler- it does not intail have a gutten of mediocre 2 guards on your roster.

I disagree with whoever responded to 4Jass. Magette is not much better than Brewer or CJ in my opinion. He may shoot better from the perimeter, but he doesn't move without the ball like Brewer, and CJ can shoot if he finds his rhythm. We haven't even seen Almond yet, but I'm thinking we're set at the SG position. I have no complaints whatsoever at PG too. We all know DWill is one of the best three points in the league, and Ronnie Price is a great back up.
So why Magette? I hope he goes elsewhere, cuz we don't need him. I don't know what Kevin O' is doing. THe entire basketball world knows what we lack to be a real title contender. Go get a BIG MAN with defensive presence. Send Collins and Hart packing, and throw in our draft pick if you need to to land someone who isn't a project, but is ready to play.

Amen to the the need for a big-man, heck get rid of Memo he is to streaky and couldn't defend a paper bag. Between him and Boozer the Jazz have more streaks than a skunk. Trade Memo (if anyone is willing to pick up his ridiculous contract) and get a defensive stopper or trade Boozer and develop Millsap, he is going to be a monster.

would be a nice addition, but I do agree Utah needs a big man that can play defense. Does anyone else think that if Utah even had Ostertag on this team, they could get over the top? Everyone knows he never played to his potential, but he was a big body who could defend fairly well (when he wasn't in foul trouble) and rebound. That's the type of player Utah needs in order to make it to the top. Utah's offense isn't the problem. It's their defense and until they get that defensive player, I don't see Utah going any further.

Magette plays NO DEFENSE. Therefore, he's not a good fit.

News flash tell me what big men are available and if there were who would want late first round draft picks and Hart and Collins for them. In case you didn't notice big men that even have a little ability are a rare commodity thats why you see so many more teams running the floor and playing 4-s at the 5. And as far as every body questioning that Larry wants to win, I don't think he would have opened his wallet to Boozer, AK, and Memo in the past few years if he wasn't commited.
As Jazz fans we have been spoiled we had one bad year and listen to the way we repay our owner for rebuilding as fast as we did. Let the experts do their job and if you don't like the way we run our team why don't you cheer for the Nuggets they are a perfect example of going out and getting big names with zero result.

I agree with the first comment. I love that the Jazz always win a lot of games and show well in the playoffs, but I think unless something changes, Utah will always be a half-step behind someone else in the end.

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean blowing up what we've got. If we can trade Booz or Memo or AK for a guy who brings something different that really makes us better, fine. Players like these three don't grow on trees, though. I love Millsap, but I don't think he's ever going to make Boozer expendable.

Maybe getting Maggette would be just what the Jazz need. His shot would be an asset--and then the Jazz could bundle a couple of their other guards into a trade that might get them immediate help in the middle (and also buy time for Fess and Koufos to develop).

Utah will never get Maggette, though. Too many other teams are interested. If he wants a ring, he's going to sign with San Antonio or Boston. If he wants money, he's got some decent teams offering a lot more than Utah can.

I wish we could get Maggette, but it ain't gonna happen.

I agree that we need a big and wish we could have landed Diop. The Jazz actually have drafted 3 good young centers in the last 2 years, unfortunately none of them are ready for prime time yet.

I just have to laugh at the people who want to get rid of Memo. I wonder if you actually watched any Jazz games this year or if you just have the basketball IQ of a peanut. Memo is an all star calliber center and just because he doesn't block alot of shots doesn't mean he doesn't play good D. He plays hard and does a good job of getting position and staying between his man and the basket. He also is a perfect fit for the Jazz system.

I think the JAzz will be fine and if they could keep this group together I think they would be perrennial title contenders.

I am seriously concerned about Boozer, I think opposing teams have figured him out. He's not a good passer and his court vision isn't very good. So you put your center on him and let him get the ball, then you colapse two guys behind him into the paint so he either shoots the Jumper over a 7 footer or he drives into traffic. Against teams playing active D he gets killed. That being said he is still a great rebounder and one of the best post scorers in the game.

but it doesn't matter really because Boozer is as good as gone.

The Jazz will be fine without him if two things happen. First they need their young guys to continue to improve. Brewer, Millsap, CJ, and Almond continue to develop and at least two of the three young bigs (Fes, Kosta, and Tomic) need to contribute quality minutes. Second, they need to pick up a starting quality veteran swing man, either a PF/SF or a SF/S, with proven ability to score and defend.

I would like to trade Hart, Collins, and Harpring for Dalembert. Philly is no longer big on him and he plays good D with little O which would be fine for what we need. Philly is looking to pursue top players in the FA market and this would allow them more flexibility in the next year as well.

Philly likes to trade with us that's no secret. We would open up roster space for some of our young players to start playing as well. All in all this would improve our team.

Sometimes, I feel pro teams (as well as corporations) will say one thing to the public, but actually intend to do something entirely different.

The Jazz have no shot and dont intend to sign Maggette. If they were serious, there would be a sign and trade done with more marketable pieces. And even with Magette, the Jazz would not beter than they were last yr.

The strength of the team's offense is DWill and Booze, and Booze was terribly mismatched by taller defenders, and agressive help defenders in the playoffs. Despite his skill, he is 6ft 8 and needs to focus on rebounding, physical and positioning defense.

Diop would ahve helped, but he cant stay on the floor for more than 15-18 min, as he is a offensive liability.

I thought the best move the Jazz could have made would be to draft a quick 4 player who would defend and block shots. But the Jazz got Okur like Koufos, who may be insurance in the event that Okur opts out next yr. Yes...we hear of Booze's option next yr, but Okur also has the same option and the odds are he will be a FA too.

I agree with Magnus. With the exception of a team like Boston, who brought in three outstanding players who were ready and able to produce immediately, because they were a good fit to begin with, it is very, very difficult to shake up the lineup of a team with one player coming in and several leaving, and have the chemistry of the team work immediately, if ever. The musical chairs we now have with players who go to the highest bidder every couple of years, it is going to be ever more difficult to put together a consistent winner no matter who is brought in. A much more important factor is to coach and manage the team such that each player gives his best; a good example of that is the BYU football team. Year after year they over-achieve due to superb managing of what they have, which makes each player give his all. If the Jazz could manage that, the present lineup, or I should say, the next lineup, would be fine to take a run at Boston and others. Remember, two years ago, this squad nearly made it to the finals!

I also think Memo is one of the best centers in the league, far underrated. He played stronger defense than Boozer did all year, especially playoff time. He even did it with a bad leg, that's tenacious D. Name a true center that plays better offense from 10 out.He even learned to play down low this year and quickened his first step.

Millsap played better offense and defense in limited minutes than Boozer did in playoffs, and is much more hard nosed. He is not afraid to take a bump. Millsap may not take as many outside jump shots, but they look good when he does. It took Boozer a while to develop into his game, Millsap's interior games is already stronger.

It would be good to keep Boozer if he gets stronger in the post, but Millsap is already stronger and could fill that role nicely. Making a move for some young, athletic 4-5's would be the best bet. Jazz have shooters and a great outside shooting percentage. They lost some of their inside game and they need to build there to open the outside shooters.

I have been looking at the Wages of Win data (adjusted for 48 minutes). Here are the following scores for 06/07 first and then 07/08. Boozer, Willaims, AK, and Brewer rank in the top 15 at their positions for 07/08 (whole year data). The rest of the 07/08 data are for the first half (41 games) of 07/08 (only data I could find).

Boozer .345, .251 rank 4th
Willaims .149, .238 rank 6th
AK .178, .187 rank 11th
Brewer .122, .203 rank 7th
Okur .102, -.9 at the half
Miles -.227, .136 at the half
Millsap .178, .130 at the half
Harping .102, .109 "

Several things of note. Williams, Brewer and Miles made vast improvements and may improve some more in 08/09. Boozer was weaker in 07/08. Replacing Brewer with Maggette (.176) does not make sense. However, if Maggette can rotate with both AK and Brewer that would raise the number of wins. Korver was about an .05 player with Phil while Harping is consistent at .10.

We seem to need help at center, bench point guard and bench 2 and 3. We need help on defense especially at the 2 and 3 positions.

Korver was a vast improvement over Gircek based on wp48 numbers. Korver's eff rating is very similar to Maggette but Korvers wp48 number is a lot weaker.

Eff numbers tend to be biased in favor of offense so Maggette may be better on defense than is thought.

Collins and Hart have negative wp48 numbers which is why they do not play much.

I applaud Larry Miller's efforts to bring the Jazz the type of players who can help the team win a championship. Time and time again he has pulled the trigger on moves that were calculated to help the team ream that goal. Don't forget how hard we went after Maggette last time he was on the market. Miller knows that fans will always support a winner, and he also enjoys the extra income realized when the Jazz go far in the playoffs. But selecting players is not a science, and it is impossible to get all the best players on one team due to the players' desires themselves as well as the many rules regarding the amount of money that can be offered. Still, the Jazz rate highly in the trades they have made in the past 25 years. There isn't a team that hasn't made mistakes in trades as well as the draft, but the Jazz continue to show remarkable vision and ability to pick out players who help the Jazz. This is especially remarkable because Utah is not only a small market but also is not regarded as a great place to live by many NBA players.

The Celtics are going to be a flash in the pan. Danny Ainge invested in the short-term, being that Boston is one of the oldest teams in the league. The Big 3 are all in their 30's and will only be relevant for another couple years.

KOC on the other hand has wisely invested in the future and his efforts WILL be rewarded with Finals opportunities for at least a decade. The Jazz are young and haven't even reached the ceiling of how good they can get. Don't throw KOC under the bus just yet, were only in JULY and trying to lock up D-Will!!! KOC is willing to make the team better. Ex: 1) traded up to get D-Will, 2) traded for Korver which sparked a turnaround that season, etc.

I agree though that we need another piece that's a veteran and a defensive presence. But I don't think Maggette fits the bill as a defensive enforcer. As a player who can score 20 pts. in any given night, I don't see Maggette buying into the concept of playing on a team built around D-Will and Boozer unless the Jazz fork over more money (which isn't going to happen).