10 games 'till Trade Deadline

[Stickler]

Can anyone name me ONE major player for major player trade Rip Van O'Conner has ever made for the Jazz?

Why do you KOC bashers always move the stick like this? It used to be: KOC is afraid to make a trade. He brought us Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, and Al Jefferson through trades. Now it's: Yes but he didn't trade a major player to get them. So what? Why is it a positive to trade major players? Every time the Jazz have had a sink-or-swim moment, they always swim. Getting Deron was a coup. Getting Jefferson was a coup. Every time I start to get nervous about the direction of the franchise, KOC makes magic happen.

KOC's role is not to tell the truth to the media, his role is to play his cards close to his vest. Like a good poker player, his job is to be secretive, patient, and give away no give aways. It was Larry's role to tell the truth to the press, and we don't have anybody doing that anymore, so we feel the presence of that gap, as Jazz fans.

But I think O'Conner does a terrific job at everything but drafting -- and that's hit or miss with every team in the NBA. There's no GM you can look at in the league who drafts consistently well.

We have to recognize that KOC has limitations imposed on him by ownership. Those limitations don't necessarily reflect the quality of the job he does, they're just part of the reality of not having a billionaire for an owner.

I was an O'Conner basher for a while. I couldn't fathom why he didn't trade Carlos Boozer. I was upset that he traded away Brewer and Maynor -- but then he turned Brewer and Boozer into Jefferson, and you couldn't really fault him. It's not really his fault that the Jefferson trade didn't make the wins rain down. He made it happen. His job is to make things happen, and he does. Ergo, he does a good job.

I wish we still had Matthews. I wish we still had Maynor. But you have to recognize that those were money-saving decisions. That falls on ownership.

 

[NCJazz]

Wes Matthews is averaging 16 ppg.

Can we trade Raja Bell for him?

I love the Raja for Wes was a straight up swap. With all the upfront money Matthews is making like 7-8 million this year. If we could have gotten him for 4 million or less it would have been done.

 

[NCJazz]

Why do you KOC bashers always move the stick like this? It used to be: KOC is afraid to make a trade. He brought us Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, and Al Jefferson through trades. Now it's: Yes but he didn't trade a major player to get them. So what? Why is it a positive to trade major players? Every time the Jazz have had a sink-or-swim moment, they always swim. Getting Deron was a coup. Getting Jefferson was a coup. Every time I start to get nervous about the direction of the franchise, KOC makes magic happen.

KOC's role is not to tell the truth to the media, his role is to play his cards close to his vest. Like a good poker player, his job is to be secretive, patient, and give away no give aways. It was Larry's role to tell the truth to the press, and we don't have anybody doing that anymore, so we feel the presence of that gap, as Jazz fans.

But I think O'Conner does a terrific job at everything but drafting -- and that's hit or miss with every team in the NBA. There's no GM you can look at in the league who drafts consistently well.

We have to recognize that KOC has limitations imposed on him by ownership. Those limitations don't necessarily reflect the quality of the job he does, they're just part of the reality of not having a billionaire for an owner.

I was an O'Conner basher for a while. I couldn't fathom why he didn't trade Carlos Boozer. I was upset that he traded away Brewer and Maynor -- but then he turned Brewer and Boozer into Jefferson, and you couldn't really fault him. It's not really his fault that the Jefferson trade didn't make the wins rain down. He made it happen. His job is to make things happen, and he does. Ergo, he does a good job.

I wish we still had Matthews. I wish we still had Maynor. But you have to recognize that those were money-saving decisions. That falls on ownership.

Great points. IF the Millers said we can be 20 million over the luxury tax I think he would be able to do what the Lakers, Dallas, and other free spending teams do, but the bottom line is only a small minority of teams spend the crazy money.The new CBA may fix this anyway.

 

[Lost_Jazz_Fan]

Can anyone name me ONE major player for major player trade Rip Van O'Conner has ever made for the Jazz?

Giracek for Korver of course!

 

[vj_74]

Every time the Jazz have had a sink-or-swim moment, they always swim. Getting Deron was a coup. Getting Jefferson was a coup. Every time I start to get nervous about the direction of the franchise, KOC makes magic happen.

I wish we still had Matthews. I wish we still had Maynor. But you have to recognize that those were money-saving decisions. That falls on ownership.

I agree with you that it is the ownership that is the MAJOR problem. Good for the Millers, they get away easily(not from me of course) and the likes of KOC take a lot of flak from the fans.

But the part I have bolded is precisely my problem. The Jazz seem to wait for a sink-or-swim situatio n before they do something that just helps them stay afloat. They are passive and reactive most of the time.

The "blockbuster" Korver for Giricek trade was also made only after 3 frustrating years spent with Girisuck and after Sloan got frustrated and threw his *** out. Al Jefferson trade was made because the risk of not making the playoffs after losing Boozer was high and that is a big no-no for the Millers.

Jazz are good at getting out of crisis situations by making a move or two, that much I can give them credit for.
But they seldom, if at all, have a made an impact trade in the last decade just for the sake of team improvement and not as a crisis management step. Maybe the Fisher move? That's all I can remember

 

[vj_74]

Great points. IF the Millers said we can be 20 million over the luxury tax I think he would be able to do what the Lakers, Dallas, and other free spending teams do, but the bottom line is only a small minority of teams spend the crazy money.The new CBA may fix this anyway.

Well the Jazz are already over the LT. The spending alone is not the issue.

Why the stubborn refusal to trade AK when they had the chance? As if he was a franchise conerstone.

They gave away Brewer and Maynor. They let go of Wes.All for financial reasons.

Yet the BIGGEST financial screwup was caused by Kirilenko's contract and puzzlingly they remain silent on the issue and pretend like someone is going to give them a franchise player in a trade for AK, and until that point they would rather have AK on this team.

65 million dollars flushed down the toilet in the last 4 years on AK. And I have no sympathies with the Miller and top brass for that. The collateral damage cuased by AK's contract has been high in the form of loss of some solid players and promising prospects, team chemistry and such.