Unfortunately, my predictions were accurate.
The Jazz managed to win one of their 5 post-season playoff games against the Los Angeles Lakers.
So what should the Jazz do now?
It’s actually a little hard to know what they should do without knowing who will opt-out of their contracts.
Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Deron Williams, C.J. Miles, Ronnie Brewer, and Kosta Koufos are all under contract for next year, unless they are traded.
Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Kyle Korver can all opt out of their contracts.
Kyrylo Fesenko has a team option on his contract.
Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight, Ronnie Price, Morris Almond, and Paul Millsap are all restricted and unrestricted free agents.
If I were running the Jazz, I would try my hardest to make sure that I had Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, and Andrei Kirilenko returning to the Jazz lineup. (I’ve still gotta think that we can get AK47 back to his defending ways.)
In addition, I’d want to make sure that I had a bench that included Kyle Korver, Brevin Knight, and Jarron Collins, as long as they stay cheap. I need a three-point threat. I need a solid backup to Deron Williams. I need a big guy who knows Jerry Sloan’s system. These three fit the bill to a tee — in fact it is highly unlikely that I will find better for the price that I can get these three.
I like Matt Harpring’s leadership and toughness, so I keep him too, as long as he isn’t needed to make some trade work.
I keep Koufos and Fesenko because I need some size up front, and I am not likely to find big guys for as cheap as I can have these two. If I have to offer either one of them up to make a trade work, I won’t be too upset about it — but with such low salaries, this isn’t too likely.
In my opinion, every one else on the roster is expendable — including Millsap and Okur. Let me explain why seeing as how they are both very good players.
Millsap is too small to be the Jazz power forward. He has great energy, but he really doesn’t match up very well against the big power forwards of the league. He is a great energy backup who might be able to play both the 3 and the 4 depending on the situation, but he really can’t compete with Boozer’s 20-10 potential night after night after night for 82 games. His price tag is likely to be too high for a backup forward.
Okur creates a large amount of matchup problems, but he doesn’t block shots, doesn’t do a great job keeping the big guys from scoring in the post, and pretty much provides the same thing that most of the other Jazz players do — offense. The Jazz need some shot blocking and power out of the 4 or 5. And since I have already hamstrung myself (pun intended) by taking 20-10 Boozer , I need a major defensive presence in the post to compensate for it. Having a three-point shooting center is nice, but it’s a luxury I can’t afford when what I really need is some shot blocking out of the 4 or 5. If he could come off the bench to provide a different look, that’d be great, but I really can’t justify the expense.
If Okur opts out of his contract (unlikely), then I let him go — or try and work out a sign-and-trade where I can at least get something for him.
If he stays, I try to trade him along with CJ Miles and/or Ronnie Price for a shot blocker who can clean up around the rim with easy put-backs. The Jazz could even afford to wait around until the trade deadline, when Mehmet Okur suddenly becomes Mehmet Okur’s expiring contract.
Who might be available for the Jazz as a shot-blocking big man?
Well, I think that’s a topic for another article.
