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Boozer also trying to convince Bulls to pursue Wes Matthews

mrob said:
Absolutely. He earned a starting spot on a team with a lot of talented wings. I'm surprised to see so many down on one of the brightest spots of last season.
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I'm not down on Wes. I just don't want to fall in love with him. He's a stud, but Billyshelby's not wearing rose colored glasses and looking at him objectively. That's pretty smart.
 
Can Jazz now offer Matthews a contract before any one else and can Matthews accept it?
 
Wonder if they have. Why not beat other teams to the punch. Could be a bit of a gamble if they overbid other teams too.
 
We can and should pay market value for Wesley, whatever that may be. People seem to think that we can just let good players go because some theoretical better player is waiting in the wings for us to sign. We should all know by now that it simply doesn't happen. There are teams out there that will strip every decent player from our ranks if given the opportunity. There are teams that are have the ability to overpay and pay millions of luxury tax money year after year. In the few times where we have the leverage to keep a good player (ie restricted free agency) we must take advantage of it. We have a hard enough time competing in the lopsided financial and geographical situation of the NBA. We can't let teams take our role players over a few million here and there.
 
jazzmeister said:
I'd seriously consider it. Matthews did everything the Jazz asked of him last year and more. He showed a confidence I had not seen out of a rookie since Deron, and showed a complete game. He did this all as an undrafted rookie. He was an MLE player for the Jazz last year and in the playoffs. He's only going to improve, and with get more opportunities to step up. I think Wesley is the real deal and our answer at SG and a better all around player than CJ. Yep I said it. I'd match, because what are the alternatives?
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I'm with you. What's NOT to like about Wesley? Undrafted. Had a terrible summer league, but didn't get discouraged. Worked his tail off to just make the team, then kept improving and improving.
Look at his stats: 48% FG, 38% 3-PT, 83% FT's. Averaged 25 mins/per and added 2 rbds and 2 assists, against 1 TO and just 2 fouls. Decent defender for a rookie. Played in all 82 games.

And did I mention he posted those numbers as a rookie??? Sure, everyone wants a 6'7" off guard. But Matthews isn't exactly a midget at 6'5". And he's no prima donna. I'm really liking the Matthews-CJ-Hayward rotation, with Miles being the guy that can swing between SG and SF on the defensive end.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I'd match any offer for Matthews, even the full MLE for 5 years.
 
GlassEater said:
I'm with you. What's NOT to like about Wesley? Undrafted. Had a terrible summer league, but didn't get discouraged. Worked his tail off to just make the team, then kept improving and improving.
Look at his stats: 48% FG, 38% 3-PT, 83% FT's. Averaged 25 mins/per and added 2 rbds and 2 assists, against 1 TO and just 2 fouls. Decent defender for a rookie. Played in all 82 games.

And did I mention he posted those numbers as a rookie??? Sure, everyone wants a 6'7" off guard. But Matthews isn't exactly a midget at 6'5". And he's no prima donna. I'm really liking the Matthews-CJ-Hayward rotation, with Miles being the guy that can swing between SG and SF on the defensive end.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I'd match any offer for Matthews, even the full MLE for 5 years.
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Matthews is 5'6" at best.
 
billyshelby said:
Wes is not an athlete. And he's played one year. His per/48's are pretty terrible.
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Really? 18 pts in a limited role is terrible?

You have to look at touches. Wes was clearly the 4th or 5th option when he assumed the starting role. He still averaged 9.4 pts in 25 mins. I look more at his 48% FG and 38% 3-PT and 87% FT's. I GLADLY take that from the Jazz' SG, especially a ROOKIE thrust into a starting role.

I guess if you believe he's reached his ceiling. I mean no one ever improves on their rookie numbers and it's much more likely he plays worse as he gets more experience.

True, you can knock him on his size: 6'4"-6'5." I doubt he'll ever be a Ray Allen or a Joe Johnson. But then again we're talking maybe $5M/per at the high end, not $20M.
 
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Mark me down in the group of Jazz fans that thinks Matthews is worth matching the full MLE if he gets offered that by another team. So far it sounds like Portland, Chicago and San Antonio are interested. I know that we're all just arm-chair GM's on this board, but let's look at San Antonio's interest in Wes. That teams FO may be the best at evaluating talent. They seriously almost never miss. In fact, the only major miss I can see is the recent one with Richard Jefferson. Now obviously San Antonio has yet to offer their full MLE to Matthews, but if they do, don't you think that their talent evaluators just might have a little better idea whats going on than all of us here at Jazzfanz?

The beautiful thing in this scenario is that the Jazz don't have to outbid themselves. They can sit back, actually let him get an offer from another team and then match it should they decide to do so. If it's a deal for the full MLE, obviously Wes is worth it, or at the very least that what his true market value is.

It is tough because he's had only 1 year in the NBA, but I think you have to look ahead with this kid and see what he can mature into. That's why I would have no problem with the Jazz paying the full MLE. I think he can exceed 40% from the 3-point line which is exactly what you want from your starting SG, he can catch and shoot, create his own shot, penetrate to the rim and get to the foul line, and his hustle is off the charts.
 
I would be surprised if any one offers Matthews the full MLE this quickly. Every one else is trying to build their rosters and won't throw the full MLE at Matthews and have nothing else to sign more players.
 
I like Matthews. He did a lot well this past season. That said, he needs to be kept with a decent contract.
 
At the rate we are attracting free agents here I wouldn't mind keeping Matthews around for the full MLE for 5 years, instead of using it on whatever else we can lure here at the moment.

Wesley>Morrow.
 
Morrow got $12 million over 3 years from NJ. I'd be okay with giving Matthews that kind of money, but not much more.
 
I think the reason we let Korver go was to be sure we had the $$$ to re-sign Matthews. If we do let Matthews get away, it's gonna be a real long season...
 
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