I completely agree with you. The thing people don't realize is that ACL injuries take over a year to completely recover from, but they definitely can be overcome with a return to 100% of previous function (unlike microfracture for instance). It's my belief that Al Jefferson's value will never be lower than it is now (until he gets over the hill of course). To trade for him now would be to get him at a good deal, even if he does make 42M over the next 3 years; ignore the stats from last year and look at the ones from the year before. His PER was better than Yao Ming's in both years and averages out to ~23. At the big man that is a STEAL. And Minnesota has already planned its roster around him with Love, Darko, and Pekovic; it's clear they don't see him in their future. Because obviously there's nothing in Minnesota's future besides sucking, and Al Jefferson does nothing for them to get them closer to that end. It could be that the Rockets are secretly aware of his value but feigning disinterest to lower his trade value. The ideal situation is to get Minnesota to admit to the perception of Jefferson as nothing more than a bad contract, as many of you seem to agree with.
There are alot of reasons to go for jefferson. He's big,rugged,can play 4 and 5,good rebounder and shotblocker, and he's 25. I think people are overvaluing the free throw aspect so they can say he's not a morey type player. In the playoffs, you need to make shots under contest. In the playoffs, you need skilled players because everyone plays hard. To beat the lakers, you need quickness and size. In the nba, you can defend with either quikness or length.The lakers are a good defensive team beause of their size,not footspeed. They know ultimitely, the game will slow down in the playoffs and engulf you with their size. One of the main reasons the rockets struggled in 08-09 vs la in the regular season is because anytime they needed a basket, they draw yao from the rim with pick and roll and attack the rim backside or with a mid range jumper. Scola is a hard working player and does all h e can, but there is a huge difference with jefferson backside at the rim vs scola or hayes. Is jefferson on morey target list? Dont know, but he should be given the cost isnt too much. Battier or Jeffries,anderson, patterson or hill, and maybe the rockets pick in 2012. Unless something disasterous happens, the rockets 2012 pick will be in the 20's and if something does happen, they still have ny pick.
That's actually a good deal for us. Jeffries/Battier, Hill and a pick for overpriced AL J and taking Andersen off our hands. Andersen's worth 3 mill so that effectively makes Al J's salary lower to a more acceptable 11 mill range rather than a near max 14M. I really don't think big Al could become a C though. He's too short and is a defensive liability.
Good catch. Also, no need for snarkiness -- no one said anything about magic. He lives in LA and they play in Orlando. That said, if you establish that they are statistically equivalent, you now have to ask who is a better fit alongside Yao. I say alongside because it makes no sense to invest 13M+ on a backup center. I hope we can all agree on that. So alongside Yao, what we need is a PF who can float to about 15+ feet and hit the face up jumper when the doubles come for Yao. We don't need another low block guy because it will make the job of opposing defenses easier -- they can basically double both Yao and PF simultaneously with the same 2 defenders. So you need someone who creates space. Juwon Howard, with all his flaws, had that face up shot from the elbow, and scola has that same high arching shot from the baseline. So that is what I'd do.
Mollamar, posters need to stop worrying about players who fit with yao vs players who can play without yao. At this stage, Yao is going to be more play finisher vs play creator. They can run high/low action or double high action in their sets. Btw, jefferson can knock down 15 ft ers and teams do double team him. Backside rebounds would be plentiful while both are on the court. Not to mention, you need a post presence when yao is off the court both offensive and defensively. Thats why it turns to a layup drill when yao goes out or down. He solves your bqackup center problem too.
IMO, the most important move the Rockets can make this summer is to find not just a good a backup for Yao, but an excellent one. His health is their Achilles heel. Jefferson is that guy. He gives them the size they need to compete with the conference's top teams, youth, shotblocking. I think he's the main missing piece for the Rockets. If they could somehow land him without giving too much, I'd be thrilled.
It's not horrible. It's average or, at worst, slightly below average and that is mainly because of his lateral quickness. Before his ACL tear he was giving nearly two blocks a game. His size and length alone cause problems for people around the basket. The people saying he is horrible are just repeating what they heard from others. Everyone not named KG looks sub-par on defense when they play for Minnesota.
If we get Al Jefferson and Tyson Chandler I would grade the offseason an A. Then come trade deadline we deal for Granger. I think we would be in business.
Jefferson is listed as 6-10, 265. He's not short and is by no means a lightweight. He can definitely play Center. That has been his role in recent years with the T-Wolves, and he has stood up very well to Yao Ming. Here are comparison statistics of every game Jefferson played against Yao Ming, when he was the only legitimate center on the team: Feb 2009 (the next game Jefferson was out for the season) Jefferson - 15/31 for 34 points 13 rebounds 4 assists and 3 blocks Yao - 9/17 for 18 points 4 rebounds 3 assists 5 pf Jan 2009 Jefferson - 16/30 for 36 points 22 rebounds 4 stls 2 blocks Yao - 12/18 for 30 points 6 rebounds 5 blocks Feb 2008 Jefferson - 14/26 for 33 points 16 rebounds 3 blocks Yao - 6/11 for 16 points 5 rebounds January 2008 Jefferson - 2/10 for 6 points 6 rebounds and 2 blocks Yao - 6/8 for 15 points 4 rebounds and 2 blocks Outside of the one game in January of '08, Jefferson more than held his own against Yao. I was initially against trading for Big Al, but I think a Yao/Jefferson combo would be a two headed monster to cause nightmarish matchup problems for any team out there. Plus it would nullify the Lakers size advantage. You can get him on the cheap right now, I say do it. Yao/Jefferson/Scola mixing in Hill, Hayes or Patterson once in awhile...that is a dominant front court. The one major drawback is Big Al's D especially against quick 4's.
Jeffries, Battier, and 2nd round pick for Jefferson. Battier is bought out. Sign him back....Hey, it could happen.
Exactly, his listed height, which can be whatever the player wants. His actual pre-draft measurements were 6'8.5" w/o shoes and 6'9.75" with shoes.
He was 19, when he came into the league. He could have grown at 23, but so can Aaron Brooks. He was drafted at 22 years of age.
