Wow#2 tonight for me.
Borat, come on out. You were right about KOC not talking with him at all. I stand (sit) corrected. Need to call Hopper.
1. The Jazz assummed they knew his market value - they were wrong.
2. Wes is DEFINATELY bummed in that article - or at least they cut the article to portray that. Wow. Wow. Wow. "I would have stayed for less" (paraphrase...) unbelieveable. he is sad to be in portland. Wow...
I'm going to have a Jazz-induced insomnia this evening...
Harcher, I'm not so fast to concede this matter for the following reasosn:
1. I'm not gunna call Matthews a liar, because I don't know what happened. It was reported that his agent told the Jazz they would accept no less than the maximum. That could be true and Matthews might not have been fully aware of it if (as players presumably do) he let his agent do his talking for him. If KOC denied this (I don't expect him to address it either way, but he might, who knows), I would give more credibility to his version. I would at least know he was there, and actually heard what was, and was not, said.
2. You suggest that Matthews claims that: "I would have stayed for less" (paraphrase...)," but, as pointed out, that is not what the article says. It quotes Matthews as sayin that if they had made a fair offer, he MIGHT have accepted. By his own definition the offer would have been "fair" but he clearly leaves open the possibility that he would have nonetheless continued to demand a presumably "unfair" (to the Jazz) contract offer, using Portland as leverage to extract "unfair" concessions. The very phrasing smacks of "seller's remorse."
3. Nothing whatsover prevented Matthews and his agent from telling the Jazz what (lower) amount he would be willing to accept, but he doesn't even begin to claim to have done that? If he means what he says in this story, my question would be: "Why not?" There are two parties here, and the Jazz are only one side of it. Neither is prohibited from approaching the other with an offer.
4. It really just doesn't make sense for KOC to simply refuse to have any discussions with Matthews' agent. The suggestion goes beyond being just "non-sensical." It sounds absurd to me, and I would be hesitant to give such a suggestion immediate credence based on a statement Matthews was reported to have made today.