I am not sure, but I remember hearing this guy's name in trade rumor threads in the past. Is this the same guy who plays forward for Denver and is really starting to come into his own? If so, what was the rumored trade that had us trading for him? He has terrific potential and seems like another one of those European bigs who are poised to make it big in the NBA.
denver have got kmart, nene at max or near max type deals and reggie evans on a near mle level contract. jl3 for kleiza would have gotten them safely under the luxury tax threshold, ie avoid luxury tax. denver will be way over the LT threshold next season so it's highly unlikely they'll offer up a jl3 for kleiza deal again.
He was actually indirectly not traded according to the rumor. Apparently we were to send the TWolves Juwan in exchange for Mike James and possibly Eddie Griffin, then we'd turn around and send possibly JL3 or one of our other guards to the Nugz for Kleiza. The trade for Juwan was nixed apparently when JVG said he didn't want to disrupt the chemistry they had. This trade getting nixed also nixed the Kleiza trade. It was on SI.com I think.
also, one of the other reason was that the wolves wanted hayes as well, wasn't it? i'm pretty sure jvg knew hayes is one of the few cheap players that compliment yao well.
eh no he played well against us... decent player, can hit the three, not bad from the midrange, not sure about his D
Kleiza for Jl3 - a dumb deal to have not happened. But then we do a lot of stuff like that. Lost in the whole conversation is if JUWAN +SURA cost us 10 MIllion plus- dont we deserve better? We are spending the money- but on the wrong pieces!
My conspiracy theory is JVG wants an extension so he doesnt want any changes that may affect his chance to get out from 1st round. Team improvements or not, JVG doesnt really care at this moment. Any chance to get rid of Juwan's contract is great. CD is being a fool again just to be a puppet for the coach.
That would have been a coup if the deal had gone through. There were stretches in that game where Linas made Kobe look silly as Bryant was his primary defender.
No, he is no Medvedenko. Medvedenko was a stiff, Kleiza is quite athletic. Remember he is only 22. But he doesn't have a clear position--he is too small for 4, maybe not quick enough (or too much bulk) for 3. Kleiza was the leading scorer in 2003 World Junior championship. I don't think we have asset that we can pry him from Denver even they are kinda crowded at 3 and 4.
Almost everyone here was against trading Juwan for James if I remember, but AI also remember almost everyone wanted to do that Lucas for Kleiza trade. The Rockets could have really pulled off of a rape if they would have done that one, but according to the Chronicle JVG nixed it.
Who does JVG think he is ? He is not the GM! JVG would sacrifice a great near future for his extension. Bring in Silas, Elie, or Adleman.
I doubt JVG has had final word on player decisions since Morey was brought in, otherwise his hiring was a complete waste of time and money. In fact, I think JVG indicated over the summer Morey's hiring was a complete surprise to him. Some people here blame JVG for not liking V-Mac because he was brought here against his wishes. Then, on the other hand, JVG gets blamed for vetoing a personnel decision. Which is it, or does JVG get the blame no matter what?
BS The Chronicle reported the deal could have been completed and that Dawson and Morey wanted to do it, in fact it was discussed that it was a money ball move. The Chronicle stated that JVG did not want to do the deal arguing the team had good chemistry and that he did not want to chance it. I could just as easily say that JVG didn't want to have to play Spanoulis if JL3 was gone and sacrificed the chance to get Kleiza just because of his ego as you can say that I stated JVG nixed the deal just because I "don't like him." So let's stop skewing facts and making our own opinions seem like truth please. The REAL truth was the Chronicle reported JVG nixed the deal because of "chemistry." PLEASE refrain from calling someone a JVG hater when they simply are stating a reported fact.
I wonder if Denver would have backed out when they found out Juwan wasn't being traded but it seems like they would have gone ahead with the Kleiza/JL3 trade anyway. It would have been nice if the Rockets would have gotten Kleiza. If Juwan gets injured all we have is Hayes at the 4.
I think the Chronicle assumed Keliza was to play the 4. I don't think it had anything to do with it. Kleiza is not a PF. I think the Chronicle just assumed that since Howard was discussed with the James deal. Remember later on it turned out that it was ACTUALLY Chuck Hayes that Minny wanted, as was then later reported. This makes much more sense as McHale would have really been toking up to want to add Juwan's deal to that team's cap situation. So basically it was the Rockets looking at it like this: They wanted to keep Howard, play Novak more, and add Kleiza, while dropping Lucas and playing Spanoulis more. This makes since from the GM point of view, and definitely from the moneyball view. But considering how JVG works as a coach it would have killed him to consider it, so much so you can easily see him nizing the chance to do it even if it meant giving up on James, whom he apparently loves. No matter how you look at it, Morey and Dawson wanted to do it and it made sense, but JVG wouldn't do it. He's to in love with guys like Hayes and Lucas. This board is full of fans that are enomored with his coaching and with hustle guys like Hayes. I think this deal that Morey wanted to do and that was nixed for "chemistry" by JVG proves two things. 1. Morey can be a damn good GM (this combined with the Battier deal would have been perfect -on it's own the Battier deal doesn't make much sense, but if he was planning on combining it with this type of deal then it is brilliant) 2. JVG should NEVER EVER NEVER have a say in anymore trade deadline moves.
