Comments about ‘Utah Jazz to sign veteran point guard Earl Watson’

Finally a backup that can dribble(unlike Price) and shoots free throws better than 60%(unlike Gaines).

I love this addition by the Jazz. He will be a very solid backup to D-Will.

I am not sure if this guy is better or worse than Gaines but it will not matter unless he or Gaines replace Price.

Please just give up someone who can run the team and actually make a shot when necessary.

Somebody who makes the other 4 players better but who can score if that is the last option.

So far this guy looks much better than Price on several metrics.

He may be a better find than Bell.

Please trade Price with his expiring contract.

This probably means that Gaines wont come back, although id rather see Gaines at the 3rd string pg than Price. Maybe they're planning on moving Price to backup 2 guard? Its his best position, so its a possibility? I dont see any reason not to keep Gaines, he has experience in the system and costs pennies. Maybe they'll keep them both and use them for trade bait later in the year.

Good pick up though, hopefully he doesnt turn into the 2nd coming of Brevin Knight. But I dont think he will, he's only 31 and still has gas in the tank.

The Cleveland Plains Dealer has an article on Fesenko. It appears the Cavaliers want Fes badly (read comments) but with the CBA about to be renegotiated they are being cautious.

Cleveland will likely make Fes an offer but unless they do what Portland did with Matthews (overpay him) I expect the Jazz to keep Fesenko.

So ... who blinks first and loses out on Fesenko? The Jazz, Cleveland or Houston.

Earl Watson is an unstoppable force.

With him now on board i cant possibly see how the Jazz wont win it all.

I flew to SLC from Houston last Friday..... Sitting across the aisle was Fesenko. It sounds like Houston rumors may be correct.

Fes is not good and would only be a BIG loss because of his size, not his play. If I were the Jazz, I would not match any unreasonable offers or much more than the million or so for 1 season they already offerred.

I like Price, but his game has been inconsistent at best.

Earl Watson will be a great back up pg. The only thing that worries me is will he be able to be a momentum changer, with only 8-12 minutes a game.

Fesenko is as good as gone. Watch the Cavs give him a big contract offer. The Jazz won't match and we will have Elson as our center. Championship here we come.

If Fesenko comes back, and Okur is healthy I do have to say this will be the deepest team the Jazz have ever had. Not good enough to beat the Lakers, but they should get the 2 or 3 seed.

I watched the replay of game 3 vs the lakers a few days ago, and I was particularly watching Fess to see if he's worth more money. I came away with the feeling that he is. His stats were not very good that game but he altered a bunch of shots and got a few blocks he didn't get credit for because they came after an initial foul.

Watson is a guy that the Jazz could replace on a whim and I don't know if he'll make the Jazz any better. Fess's size is irreplaceable to the Jazz right now and if he can improve at all, maybe even learn how to catch, he could be a real asset to this team. 15 min a night from Fess does make the Jazz better and much deeper.

Fesenko is not that good. He's a huge body, but thats about it. I lost all respect for him when he started practicing free-throws during the playoffs. Why wasn't he doing this the entire season? We don't need players that don't work all year long.

Unless Fess proves to me more than a couple of spirts of usefullness let him go. Maybe if we offered a new Electronic game that would do the trick..

Watson is a great addition. He outplayed TJ Ford on the Pacers. I like Ronnie Price and the energy he brings and the hops he has, but he is so unreliable when shooting his jumpers. I like the competition this brings to the back up PG spot. The Jazz need another big man, Fes or not. I think Fes should come in and show what he can do and earn himself an NBA contract. If he signs with Houston he will get buried on the depth chart. With Memo recovering Fes can step up and show what he can do. Either way, the Jazz need another big.

I actually hope that either Fesenko just bombs this season--because he is a below average basketball player for his size; or that he steps up & makes significant improvement for whatever team he ends up playing for. At least that way we'll all know for sure if Fez doesn't belong in the NBA or if the Jazz invested 3+ years in a player with potential & got their money's worth.

Watson could be a good upgrade at backup pg. No offense to Price and Sunny D, but they are not legit NBA point guards. Price usually plays very out of control, and is not a great shooter. Sunny D is more of a true pg, but he can't hit free throws to save his life. I think Sunny D is the odd man out. His contract isn't guaranteed. Price will be ok as pg #3, and some occasional minutes at sg. I hope they don't throw crazy money at Fes. I don't see him getting much better.

The Jazz should pay up to 3 million for Fes. He's a big dude that is fairly athletic for his size. He played lights out against Denver in the playoffs last year and was a contributor to the Jazz winning that series.
Without him we have 6'10" Jefferson, an injured Memo, and Fransisco Elson. That's not going to get it done.

SLC Tribune reported that Jazz had multi-year offer on table to Fes which they subsequently pulled, miffed that he had not yet signed the qualifying offer and was still shopping himself around.

Des News had nothing on this.

Why in the world would the Jazz feel that such a guard is going to help this team?

If they have some brains they would go out and get a player that is actually talented, rather than some no-name person?

Only here in Utah--I guess it's just what we've come to expect from the team that can't win a championship, and isn't really committed or serious about winning a championship anyway.

The signing of this individual is unusual.