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Jazz notify Wesley Matthews they will NOT match

I understand why Wesley might have felt slighted by the Jazz, but any reasonable person knows that unless the Jazz had offered him the full MLE he would have turned it down until he had at least entertained offers from other teams. His agent is in the business to make his client as much money as he can. I don't blame Wes at all for wanting to get paid, and wish him well. The Jazz played this perfectly and now Portland has a very expensive bench player.
 
If you ain't the lead dog, your view never changes. Wesley's new view will be of Brandon Roy's butt for the next 5 years.
 
Ya know, this is another reason we should have made him an offer. I think it's clear that Portland was bluffing. If we made a reasonable offer in 4 mill / yr range to begin with, then Portland may not have made any offer and just let it go because they might've figured the Jazz had set their ceiling and they didn't really want or need Matthews, they just wanted to screw the Jazz. In not making an offer, everyone gets screwed: Matthews, the Jazz, and Portland. Making an offer was the one option to prevent this.

And with Shandon Anderson, it was a different scenario. He actually wanted to leave the Jazz unlike Matthews.
 
write4u said:
Ya know, this is another reason we should have made him an offer. I think it's clear that Portland was bluffing. If we made a reasonable offer in 4 mill / yr range to begin with, then Portland may not have made any offer and just let it go because they might've figured the Jazz had set their ceiling and they didn't really want or need Matthews, they just wanted to screw the Jazz. In not making an offer, everyone gets screwed: Matthews, the Jazz, and Portland. Making an offer was the one option to prevent this.

And with Shandon Anderson, it was a different scenario. He actually wanted to leave the Jazz unlike Matthews.
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Now you're worried about Portland? If they want to screw themselves, even with our players, I'll drive the bus. It's like you're wishing for some magical place where all players sign fair contracts and play with the teams they're "supposed" to.
 
I wish we'd kept Matthews but at the end of the day, we don't know that a lesser offer means he wouldn't have "shopped around", as we say in sales. If indeed his agent was gonna stand firm that he get the full MLE, a lesser offer wouldn't have kept him. When he says he "might" have signed for less, we don't know how much less (not much i'd gather). I'm gonna miss him, he'd become one of my fav. Jazzmen, but like many agents had told the Jazz, that offer Portland made was ridiculous. And I don't believe for a second that the Blazers thought the Jazz WOULDN'T match...they're still probably in a bit of shock right now. Of course they like Wes, but I'm sure their emotions are a little mixed right now.
 
As an aside, Portland just recently traded Martell Webster, the guy they took in '05 after the trade was made that got us Dwill. How much better is Wesley than Webster? I actually think they're somewhat similar players.
 
Martell is a very good player and better shooter than Wesley. Wesley is better defensively and going to the basket. But so far as the level of their play, I would say very close.
 
Wes may struggle. The pressure of the money, a new system, and role have changed many a player.
Never sign a player to a long big deal based on one year. This could really come back to hurt the Portland franchise.
 
anyone know where this ranks in a list of highest value contracts ever given to an undrafted player?

i figure it has to be top-ten. the only one i could think of higher is Ben Wallace, $60 million for 4 years. i assume Brad Miller had a bigger contract than Wes at some point in his career. who else?
 
Most overpaid contract of the entire offseason? Good work, Wesley. Good luck in Portland except when playing the Jazz. I'll root for you always, otherwise.
 
JazzGal said:
I don't blame the Jazz for not matching this crazy offer, but I'm going to miss Wesley, who has been my favorite player this year. I hope this all works out for him and he has a long and productive NBA career. And I hope we re-sign him someday.

sigh
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I'm sorry to see him go as well. I thought how he progressed this past season was amazing and un-expected. That said, his performance in game three of the lakers series, really bothered me. It could have been an aberration, but who knows.
 
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