I like Al Jefferson. I hear and read that we should trade him for nothing and how he doesn’t fit in on our team. I disagree with those opinions of Al. I don’t get the train of thought that we should trade him for a trade exception and a 2nd rounder. I recognize that it took awhile for Al to fit in on the court, the offense tended to stop when the ball was past to him. I do wonder though how much of that though was the offense not being executed correctly? I wonder how much of that was do to the issues off the court that lead to Sloan retiring and Deron being traded?
I like Al because the first interview he gave after being traded to Utah he couldn’t stop smiling. Al kept saying the right things of how great it was to be in Utah. I like Al because he promised to get a win in LA and instantly took on the hate that we fans carry for the Lakers. I like Al because he is a back to the basket player and a low post threat in a league where that is slowly becoming a dying art. I like players who want to be here, who cares about his teammates and wants to win, I saw all of that in Al this past year.
Another reason I like Al is because of this video. I love that every report we’ve heard about him from Coach Corbin (during pre-draft workouts), from the Jazz beat writers and from other Jazz players (Jeremy Evans on The Fan) talk about how Al is working hard this summer. In a summer where players are fighting owners over millions of dollars, we haven’t heard a complaint from Al about money, we haven’t heard him say he will play in a different country we just hear of him working harder than he’s ever worked and improving his game.
