No I don't think they'll let them walk if possible. But I don't think he'll let them shaft us neither. Case in point - KOC let Mathews walk - that was a surprise wasn't it? All indications are that he's good for approx. $5m per, but KOC didn't think so.
Also if you look at the history of what KOC has done in the past, he signed Boozer & Okur in FAs, and I don't think anyone would argue that they aren't value for money. Matching of Millsap was good value for money. Same thing with the signings of Foye, Howard, Tinsley, Earl, all have been good value for money.
All indicators point towards them being prudent and not giving away free money. You've got to respect that and give them the benefit of the doubt, until they go out and sign a "bad contract" as you've stated. If that happens, then you can have a go, LOL..
I agree with all you have said, and I want so bad to believe what you are saying. Here is my big issue. We let Boozer walk because of his injury issues and his getting "paid" comments.
We signed Memo to a big contract because he was a "loyal" Jazz guy. Same with Harp. I believe they feel the same way about Al.
They didn't feel that way about Matthews (btw, KOC was wrong on Matthews. That is an example where KOC missed the boat). Millsap was "that loyal" guy, but I think they have soured a little on him, especially after hearing Corbin's comments about Millsap and Favors.
Foye, Howard (who was NOT a good signing. He wasn't a bad signing, but he didn't help this team out), Tinsley and Earl can be called good "value" but they are far from essential. Foye is a good player, and I do want him back, but he hasn't led us anywhere.
So, basically, the only significant FA signings KOC has done has been Memo, Boozer and Harpring.
Now we come back to my original worry. Who are the Memo/Boozer/Harprings this year? Everyone knew Memo and Boozer were very good players with tons of potential. Where are those guys this year? I don't see any.
So, KOC/Lindsey are going to go into the offseason with their top 3 guys being highly sought after (Millsap, Al, Foye). I think they really like Foye, but probably look at him like they looked at Matthews; they want to resign him, but won't break the bank for him. That leaves Millsap and Al.
If you let Millsap and Al both walk, this team takes a HUGE step backwards. Kanter isn't ready to play 30 mins a game yet, and Favors can't be relied on to carry a team, the way Al and Millsap can be. Who can the Jazz sign as a big that can come in and start for the first couple of years, then transition to the bench or expire? Next year, if we let both Al and Millsap walk, there will be a lot of games where Kanter and Favors are both on the bench very early and cost us games. They are young, and they haven't gained enough experience when they had the chance (the last couple of years with Al and Millsap around to help out).
I highly doubt the Miller's would be ok with the Jazz getting a sixth seed this year then falling to 10th in the West next year because you let Al and Millsap walk.
I don't buy the S&T crap. What S&T ever brought back anything of any note?
I don't buy that the Miller's will let the Jazz fall out of the playoff race (see the last two years).
Either Al will be back at a max level contract, or Paul will be back grossly overpaid.
If you look at their overall games, and the fact that Locke keeps telling us how elite Al is (although the wins would argue otherwise), I am terrified that Al will be our "superstar" to build around. And we will be fed the line about how Favor's defense will cover up for Al and we will be awesome (although the numbers tell us otherwise. Al is so BAD defensively, and can do so little on that side of the court, that NO ONE can cover up his defensive lack of ability). So we will be hitching our wagon to an incredibly inefficient offensive player that does not make those around him better and a TERRIBLE defensive player.
It will be even worse than AK. At least AK played defense every now and then.
We have been going through the same crap since Bell left us to go to PHX and we got beat by SA in the WCF's. We were one piece away from contending for a title, and to get that piece we had to dump AK. The Jazz weren't willing to do that. Just like they hoped AK would get better every summer (remember all the lies we were told; how much weight he had gained, how much he worked on his jumpshot, how much Russia made him so much better, only to find out two weeks into the season that nothing had changed); we will do the same thing with Al.
We will hear about how he worked on his passing, his lateral quickness, his shot blocking (remember all the stuff we heard about him last summer. Yeah, get used to hearing that). Only to find out two weeks into the season that he still doesn't rotate on defense, he can't guard the PNR, he still forces up shots while tripled teamed (even when Foye and Hayward, two elite 3 pt shooters are wide open), etc, etc, etc.
Like I said before, I'll still catch portions of games, when players that might actually do something play until the end of this year.
I have been a KOC apologist. If Al is on this team next fall, I'm out. I can't take 5 more years of a max player who forces shots, ruins the offense, and doesn't play defense. I suffered through Boozer, I've slowly faded with Al. If this is who the Jazz have decided to become (slightly better than mediocre) then good luck to them.
