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AK - Do we want him back?

candrew said:
Jazz payroll right now is over 60 mil. My guess is their target payroll is in the low 50's.

I wouldn't count on The Jazz signing anyone until they get rid of some salary first.
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They're basically at $63MM right now, Bell will be gone so you're right we're sitting at about $60MM. The luxury tax is around $68-$70MM. I honestly don't think they'd be too afraid to dip into the tax this year, but I'm quite confident that they'd go right up to it without any problems.
 
margodydek said:
Their basically at $63MM right now, Bell will be gone so you're right we're sitting at about $60MM. The luxury tax is around $68-$70MM. I honestly don't think they'd be too afraid to dip into the tax this year, but I'm quite confident that they'd go right up to it without any problems.
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Isn't there a penalty for being over the tax for a certain # of years in a row? Why would they want to go over the tax now and get into the # early?
 
Keith McLeod is available too. John Amaechi I think, as well. We need an enforcer, so I'm open to Olden Polynice.

No. Good hell. No.
 
It seems like KOC is signing shooters (green), drafting shooters (Murphy), and trading for shooters (Mo and Foster). Basically I think KOC is sick and tired of the Jazz not being able to shoot the three and is getting us a ton of shooters in hope that one or two actually stick. At least, that's my theory.

AK is not a shooter, so he doesn't fit in my theory.
 
margodydek said:
Here are the other wings that Locke mentioned we could go after:

Rashard Lewis
Delfino
Pietrus
Brandon Rush
Webster
Korver

Others mentioned in the media are:

Roger (how, u?) Mason
Danny Green

AK's the best of the bunch, and the only other one I could excited about would probably be Korver.

Edit: I would also endorse Rush
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Shooters!!! Actually, I wouldn't mind Lewis on a reasonable contract.
 
StephenMaria said:
It seems like KOC is signing shooters (green), drafting shooters (Murphy), and trading for shooters (Mo and Foster). Basically I think KOC is sick and tired of the Jazz not being able to shoot the three and is getting us a ton of shooters in hope that one or two actually stick. At least, that's my theory.

AK is not a shooter, so he doesn't fit in my theory.
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I believe this is apparent, as well.
 
My take is thusly.

I'd take back AK. Or Okur. Or Dwill. Or Ostertag. Or Boozer. Or Keith McLeod. ****, I'd take back Blue Edwards if I thought it would help the team.

My question then becomes not would I take him back, but rather, would he help the team?

Helping the team is more than just winning games. You have to look at the whole picture. Salary. Fit. Where the team is headed. Everything.

Right now this is a team that is trying to both be good and develop from within. Mixing vets and highly drafted youngsters. We're also hoarding some cap room next summer that could potentially be used to land a big fish or expended to acquire some other future assets.

Personally, if I've got a choice between resigning Josh Howard or signing AK I take AK every time. Twice on Sundays.

It's not even close. They are miles apart on talent. AK could help us win games.

But.

Salary and health and age.

AK's got some chronic health issues. His back is never really 'right' as far as I can tell. He'll have a couple good weeks, then a couple bad weeks. And on it goes. This makes him very unreliable as a guy you want to count on for major minutes.

Then there is his age. He's 31. Not ancient by any means, but, obviously on the downhill slide of his career.

Lastly, contract. And this whole long rant comes down to one thing. Salary. How much? For how long? I can't even begin to decide if I want AK back until I know what the price is going to be. If he's looking at a 3 year 24 million offer elsewhere, well, we have to wish him well and move on. If it's a 2 year 8 million deal, I think we sign him and be happy. If it's a 3 year 16 million dollar deal then I really have to think about it, but, probably let him walk.

So, if you've read this far, sorry for all the paragraphs. My entire post could probably have been cut down to the following 2 sentences.

If AK is gonna get more than 4.25 mil a year, I probably wish him well. Any less than that and I want him on the Jazz.
 
margodydek said:
They're basically at $63MM right now, Bell will be gone so you're right we're sitting at about $60MM. The luxury tax is around $68-$70MM. I honestly don't think they'd be too afraid to dip into the tax this year, but I'm quite confident that they'd go right up to it without any problems.
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The pro for offering a contract to AK are that he's better than any other SF currently on the roster. The con is that he's still the same AK, only one year older. He still can't shoot. So you have Favors/Millsap, Kanter, AK, Hayward (or Burks) and Mo/Devin. What's wrong with that rotation? You only have one player, MO, who is a threat from outside + Millsap who has a decent mid-range game.

If you're going to play Favors and Kanter, you better have a SF and guards who can shoot. No to AK. It is time to move on. Why do you think there's been no rumors about AK coming back to the NBA? He's a FA but hasn't been linked to ANY team. Could it be that no one is interested, at least at the price he is asking?


We're not competing for a title next season. Let's get a SF with some upside - or at least one who is close to his peak. AK is on the decline. Yes, he still dominates in Europe. Look at his competition. How many Europeans were drafted this year? Most of the decent Euros are already in the NBA or are very raw youngsters.
 
write4u said:
Yeah, we also took Mo back. Moving forward also involves getting better. This is AK without Jerry and DWill, both of which were impediments to his role with the "old" Jazz. AK makes us better, at least so far as the team is currently constituted.
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I don't think that's a great way of putting it. I would say that the impediment to AK's role was that the Jazz got better offensive options than AK and AK had a hard time dealing with it. Plus the injuries didn't help. You always knew he'd be out several stretches of 3 or more games.
 
I think this team right now WITH AK would struggle to win 50 games.

The assumption that they'd go over or very close to the tax to accomadate another signing while maintaining their current talent level is a false one.
 
ak > miles
ak > howard
ak > gerald green
ak > danny green
ak > roger mason
ak > shannon brown
ak > lou williams
ak > marco belinelli
ak > nick young

any questions?

the only way it makes sense NOT to bring AK back is if he wants something approaching 8 figures or if he wants 4+ years guaranteed.

plus, if we really ditch al like most of us are hoping, AK gives you so many lineup possibilities because he can play anywhere from 2 through 4. wanna go small? mo-burks-hayward-ak-fave. big? devin-ak-paul-fave-kanter. want a long, quick defensive lineup? devin-hayward-ak-fave-kanter. need a bunch of scorers? devin-mo-hayward-paul-fave.
 
I heard that AK spent his off year bulking up and working on his game, I absolutley want him back on the Jazz.
One of those statements is sarcastic, the other is subject to change.
 
theNBAnerd said:
ak > miles
ak > howard
ak > gerald green
ak > danny green
ak > roger mason
ak > shannon brown
ak > lou williams
ak > marco belinelli
ak > nick young

any questions?

the only way it makes sense NOT to bring AK back is if he wants something approaching 8 figures or if he wants 4+ years guaranteed.

plus, if we really ditch al like most of us are hoping, AK gives you so many lineup possibilities because he can play anywhere from 2 through 4. wanna go small? mo-burks-hayward-ak-fave. big? devin-ak-paul-fave-kanter. want a long, quick defensive lineup? devin-hayward-ak-fave-kanter. need a bunch of scorers? devin-mo-hayward-paul-fave.
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Lou Williams was one of the best 6th men last year. He is better than AK.
 
even in lou williams' best year, he only gave the sixers half of what AK can give the jazz. 14.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.5 ast, 0.6 stl, 0.4 blocks, 40% shooting and almost no defense.

meanwhile, AK was simply leading his team to the championship game for all european leagues with 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 stl, 1.9 blks, 60% shooting and elite defense.
 
AK is now available if the Jazz want him. The Nets are signing everyone is sight, so they obviously no longer have room for him. Who is AK going to play for? An article in the NY Post yesterday said he is now undecided about his return to the NBA -- apparently because he has no strong suitors, because all the past year he has been saying he's returning to the NBA. His coach recently confirmed this too.
 
Bringing back AK is honestly just like bringing back CJ. We still haven't completely gone through the complete bereavement period from having the expectation that AK would, quite literally, be a top 3 player to being what he became. It's hard to admit we were wrong and we have this insatiable desire to make sure we give it any opportunity to see if any of the past hope, no matter how little, is salvageable. It's the type of attachment a mom has to her son after being out on parole for child pornography. She wants him to get out, move into her basement and hope he 'finally' gets a fair shake so she can stick it to all her friends who were mad every time she went and put money on his books while he was in the slammer.

GET OVER IT, FOR HELL'S SAKE!
 
theNBAnerd said:
even in lou williams' best year in the NBA, he only gave the sixers half of what AK can give the jazz. 14.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.5 ast, 0.6 stl, 0.4 blocks, 40% shooting and almost no defense.

meanwhile, AK was simply leading his team to the championship game for all european leagues with 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 stl, 1.9 blks, 60% shooting and elite defense.
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NBA > Europe
 
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