Just stop, willya, S2? Matthews had, performance-wise (although perhaps not effort-wise) a less than stellar performance in the summer league. He was strictly cheap insurance when the Jazz took him on. You, in effect, seem to be claiming that they "should have known" at training camp, that he was a better player than Brewer and decided to instantly ship Brewer off while signing Matthews for a longer term on the cheap.
Stop with your "just stop." Until you propose a player who is equivalent or better than Matthews, whom the Jazz can legitimately sign for less, Matthews is the best option whose contract was used as a bullying tactic after just one year in the league because Utah didn't negotiate a better deal. The eminent Sir Kicky put up a list of possible alternatives, and none of them seems all too viable--unless they sign for less. I was a Brewer backer for years, and I would still like to see Matthews for the MLE than Brew for half of it because Matthews can somewhat shoot.
And why the hell are you talking about the summer league only? Player evaluation starts long before the trip to Florida. As a matter of practice (not just with Matthews), Utah should offer more than one measly year to players who are halfway coherent and well behaved. You offer an undrafted player the equivalent of a late 1st-round pick's salary, and he'll accept it for a couple of years right out of college.
Matthews was a high-character player with playoff experience and an NBA pedigree who fell through the cracks. Gilbert Arenas' crazy deal after two years with GSW should've already been a lesson to the Jazz that this type of thing would happen. Heck, Portland did this to them last year. Fool me once? Shame on you.
https://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Wesley-Matthews-5501/
For you, I guess it's convenient and satisfying that YOUR hindsight is 20/20, and that it allows you to mislead the credulous with a false appearance of foresight into believing that you have more grounds for claiming your own superiority as a GM over KOC. But it's simply a game for suckers, and you're not fooling anyone else. But you are, in the process, more or less slandering the Jazz management. But, then again, I guess that's all you're really here for to begin with, eh?
My recommendation continues to be the same: make it for more than one year if the pre-signing analysis warrants it. IMHO, Wes's did. IMHO, Augustine's doesn't.
Oh, and BTW, Hopper, this is a Utah Jazz website, where we analyze the actions of players, coaches, GMs, owners, and fans, so don't get your panties all tied up in a bun when someone actually puts forth some analysis, positive or negative.
