Another 2015 FA Issue

[Handlogten's Heros]

This is not a Caakkk Bakking thread I promise. One thing we overlooked last summer was using our cap space to overpay a middle to lower tier FA with a second year team option or unguaranteed.

This is now a little bit of an issue with potentially making moves on draft night. We have excess cap space next year, we ended the year under the cap (an asset that has now disappeared). One way to use our pick and cap space would be to trade #12 for a higher salary guy (say Rudy Gay) but this is kind of difficult without sending out one of our good high paid players because we don't have the contracts to match up on draft night.

The way we handled FA last year still has me puzzled. I understand not bringing in a top tier FA I guess, but why not take the one year gamble on a lower tiered guy. Worst case you overpaid him slightly for a year and now he's a trade asset that you can cut lose without any cap repercussions.

 

[Coach Ellis]

That's a good point. I personally was advocating getting Jeremy Lin and Bismack Biyambo on the cheap to add to the team's depth, since I figured both were young enough to fit the team's culture. That's a bigger issue, but I agree. . . They should have done a deal like they did with Booker the year before to provide better trade options this offseason.

 

[FalseFlagg K]

That's a good point. I personally was advocating getting Jeremy Lin and Bismack Biyambo on the cheap to add to the team's depth, since I figured both were young enough to fit the team's culture. That's a bigger issue, but I agree. . . They should have done a deal like they did with Booker the year before to provide better trade options this offseason.

I thought Lin would have been a real good addition .. he wouldn't have been too pricey either

 

[Coach Ellis]

I thought Lin would have been a real good addition .. he wouldn't have been too pricey either

I wanted to trade for Lin two years ago for three reasons.

#1.) Because I thought he'd be a good fit for the Jazz. Young guy who tries on defense and could provide scoring off the bench. He's confident in himself and a willing passer for his teammates. I thought he'd be a great P&R point guard for Quin's offense and a veteran guy who could show Exum the ropes. Go back and watch his tape from the New York Linsanity days - that's how I pictured the Jazz using him.

#2.) Because the a Rockets were giving away a decent asset (2015 1st round pick) to unload his contract. I'd have LOVED to grab an extra 1st round pick to move around with.

#3.) Because he's a popular, well known and marketable player. The Jazz can use all of the positive publicity they can get. Bringing Lin (and his fans) under the Utah Jazz umbrella would have been a great, short-term and relatively inexpensive investment.

I wanted Bismack Biyambo this past offseason because I really liked his defensive energy and thought he'd fit the culture of the team perfectly. He'd have gotten great minutes behind Gobert and could have become a part of the future core at his age if he played as well as a backup C.

I also wanted to keep Carroll and add Bazemore because of their combination of age, measurables, cost and work ethic. I really hope that guy is out there this offseason, but I just don't know if there is. Especially with the ridiculous money that is going to get thrown around on mediocre players.

 

[LoPo]

Lin would have been perfect for so many reasons. On the court, he could have only helped our weak PG position. Off the court, he would have opened us up to so many extra lines of revenue. In the soccer world, some clubs try to acquire Asian talents because it exposes the club to so many more marketing opportunities. Take Inter Milan for example - they have kept Yugo Nagatomo for years despite his fringe starter status because his fan base is massive.

If we let people like Wes Matthews leave as a business decision then we have to be opportunistic in these other ways too. Some wise international pickups could be very instrumental to the long term health of the organization.

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