Houston trades Mo T to Utah for 6.5 million trade exception and a future second rounder. Houston sends 3.0 million of the exception and B.Nachbar to Indiana for Ron Artest. ( Rockets may have to give a future Ist rounder to sweeten the deal) Houston sends 2.5 million of the trade exception and secound rounder from Utah to N.Y. for Othella Harrington. After a fruitless summer, MoT could be the biggest off-season gain for the Utah. Indiana gets some compensation and cap relief for Artest . With Dice in rotation N.Y. would probably be happy to trade Othella for the trade exception. For Rockets Othella +Artest for Mo T is a winner. Is'nt it? Your thoughts:
Utah needs to take their Payroll to NBA minimum of approximately 30 Million and MoT could well be the best player on their roster.
Personally, I don't like Artest, but your scenario makes *some* bit of sense for each team. But can you really split exceptions like that?
Thats true... why would Utah want to give up money for someone overpaid... They know they have a chance at getting some key free agents why throw away money when much money is needed for the big name free agents..
The exception can be split. I agree that Artest brings a lot of baggage with on court skills. But that is the reason he would not cost us much.
1. Jazz could just sign some scrub to a hefty 1 year contract to make it to the minimum. Or give up a 2nd rounder for a big expiring contract, which would preferable to committing to a big longterm contract when they are rebuilding. 2. Keon, Kiri, Harpring > MoT
If Atl doesn't match the offer for JTerry, then they will be pretty close to the minimum already. Also, I believe Utah is looking for high draft picks in return if they were to do a deal like that (similar to the Keon Clark deal). In the end, I agree with you and have always said that there are better options for Utah than Mo Taylor.
We can replace MoT with the expiring contract of Glen Rice, but I think that Utah would prefer MoT over Rice because any quality free agent is reluctant to be a part of Utah's rebuilding process. Then can only get decent young players who have a hefty contract. MoT is still young and is a solid Post Player and is under contract. Free agents of the likes of Elton Brand, Jermain O'Neal, Juwan Howard, Michael Olakandi, PJ Brown, Brad miller to name a few turned down the Jazz this summer. Is there any post player available in this year's free agent pool who is better than MoT? What are the chances that the Jazz land will attract the All Star big Men next year? They have to upgrade their roster by trades. This the reason they acquired Keon Clark from the Kings. I think we have a fair chance, of course if JVG is interested.
1) Elton Brand is on record in the media that he would have signed an offer sheet from Utah if they'd have offered him one. 2) If you are correct that "no one wants to play in Utah" (and I disagree) then they will have to pay a premium for their FA's. In that case, why tie up big bucks in Taylor? He's a decent player, but is he worth nearly $35m over the next 4 years? No. $35m goes a long way in re-signing Ostertag to a more reasonable deal, matching Clark's market value, re-signing Harpring and retaining Stevenson and Kirilenko off of their rookie contracts (extending them). 3) Mo Taylor gets paid for what he does with the ball 1on1. Sloan's Jazz offense is built on PnR's and reacting to what the defense gives you. Sloan would have no attraction to a Taylor type player...none...nada...nunca... I dislike Malone as much as the next guy but MoT is almost the anti-Karla.
I strongly disagree. Given the proper number of touches, Mo T. could easily average 18-20 ppg. And although he is apparently destined to forever be a weak rebounder, he is not afraid to go in the paint and mix it up in post play and has a feathery touch at 12-15 feet out. He has a go to move (the jump hook) and a reliable back up move (the jumper), can handle the ball very well for a 4 and can play/score inside or out. Mo gets a bad rap for his inability to rebound, and I agree that a 6'9" power forward should be able to muster more than 4 or 5 rebounds a game, but save for this glaring deficiency, Mo is not nearly as bad as some of you "fans" seem to believe.
Agreed MoT is a decent offensive player who can score 18-20 point on a nightly basis if he is a go to guy. But the problem is our future is Griffin and Mo is too expensive for a backup.
don't get me wrong here, I'm usually one of the biggest MoTay supporters on the board, and I'm happy to have him on the team. But all 3 of those players mentioned are at the very least comparable to what Motay brings to the table. Harpring put up numbers about as good as MoTay's career best numbers - and he did this at the small forward position. Kiri brings to the d what Mo brings to the o, and Kiri is a decent offesive player to boot, along with what a lot of people deem to be great potential. Keon can play anywhere from center to sf, is a good shot blocker, and good on o as well. And they are all cheaper than mo. To say that Mo would be their best player is ridiculous. Maybe best offensive player.
If MoT is willing to work for playing time JVG will give it to him and if he will work he will improve. It wouldn't take much improvement for MoT to live up to his contract, a little more PT and some extra effort on the boards and he is easily a 18-8 player with 3-5 assists per game. If MoT can do this he is worth his contract. If he is not willing to work I say we lock him in a room full of twinkies and weed... pee test him when he gets out and get him kicked out of the league. JVG will bring a clean slate and those who step up and work will play, those who whine and complain will be gone. And good ridance.
