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Earl Watson Commits to Sign!

Not a fan of this signing. Dude's shooting touch is suspect and his decision making at the point is questionable. He's consistently got one of the worst turnover rates (not turnovers per game, don't come at me with that stat) among PGs in the league. Last year, out of 67 PGs with consistent playing time in the league he was ranked 64th.

Not an upgrade over Price as the backup PG and not young enough to potentially be something down the road. Just the latest in the long line of Utah Jazz veteran backup PGs on the mediocrity treadmill.

That said, he's much better than Mike James.
 
Didn't Deron knock one of Watson's teeth out in a game last season?
 
Numerous reports have the Jazz signing veteran point guard Earl Watson to a contract. This is another sign the Jazz are committed to winning regardless of the price tag. Watson becomes one of the most experienced back up point guards the Jazz have signed. More often than not, the Jazz have taken inexperienced and inexpensive players as the back up point guard.
Watson comes to the Jazz having started over 200 career games over his nine year career including 52 last year in Indiana. I was fortunate enough to spend the 06-07 season with Earl as the radio voice for the Seattle Supersonics. The Jazz are getting a hard nosed kid out of the projects of Kansas City.
Watson plays with an edge and toughness that Jerry Sloan is going to like. He is a defender. He battles for every possession. He understands the game and plays hard every night.
Life has not been easy on Watson. His 17 year old brother was killed in a car accident in 2004. Earls' arm tattooed with a sketch of his brother Eric. Between 8th and 11th grade Watson had 5 friends killed. All of this has formed Watson and his mindset. In 2006 he said, "The money we make is stupid," he said. "If you play for the money, you lose yourself and have no identity. I play for the love of the game, and I play to win.”
These tragic moments have also pushed Watson toward community involvement. In Denver, he played Santa Earl to single mothers who couldn’t afford presents for their kids. Back home in Kansas City, he funds an entire summer basketball league, the Earl Watson Youth Basketball League, for 6th, 7th and 8th grade kids.
On the floor, Watson was a 4 year starter, over 120 games, for Steve Lavin at UCLA playing alongside good friend Baron Davis. Originally drafted by the Supersonics in the 2nd round Watson made his mark immediately and played 64 games as a rookie. Watson signed with Memphis and played under Hubie Brown for three years. In the off-season he signed with Denver, but was traded to the Sonics at the trade deadline and played with the Sonics/Thunder for the next 4 years.
Too often in Watson’s career he has gone to a place where the point guard position was in flux. In turn, Watson has often been frustrated feeling he deserves a larger role. In Memphis he battled with Jason Williams, in Denver with Andre Miller, in Seattle with Luke Ridnour and in Indiana with TJ Ford. Many times Watson’s stay with his team has ended in dispute.
However, in Utah his role should be more clearly defined with Deron as the definite leader and point guard. At 31, wit 9 years experience, having not been on a winning team since the 04-05 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Watson clearly is looking for a spot on a winner. His toughness and veteran savvy adds to an ever improving Jazz bench.
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.=-
 
I like this signing. A lot. I think people will always complain about our back-up point guard (let's face it; anything is going to be a drop from Deron) but I would much rather have Watson as our backup than Price or Gaines.
 
Jazz just upgraded Gains with Watson. What's not to like about this. Back-up PG was our weakest position. Let's face it, Price is a good 3d stringer, but not a good 2nd stringer, and Gains plain stinks. Now, all of the sudden we have a very good 2nd stringer and a good 3d stringer. Very good move.
 
I'm telling you he's not that much better than Gaines. At least he's a step above Price in running an offense.
 
Locke's breakdown continued.

https://www.nba.com/jazz/features/locked_on_jazz.html


On 130, K-Fan yesterday Kevin O’Connor wouldn’t comment directly about Watson but said, “we are looking to make our team better.”

Adding someone with over 200 career starts to become your back-up point guard would seem to fit into the “getting better” category. More importantly, Watson adds depth to a wing rotation that could be left thin by injury or slow development by Gordon Hayward.

As we discussed in Question 9, if the Jazz need to play Andrei Kirilenko at the power forward position to fill in for Memo Okur’s injury they maybe thin at the wing. The addition of Watson, who has played more than 20 minutes a night every year since 2003, allows the Jazz to play Deron Williams off the ball adding wing depth.

Playing two ball handling guards has become more and more common around the Western Conference. In Dallas they play Jason Terry and Jason Kidd, in Devenr Ty Lawson with Chauncey Billiups, and in OKC they play former Jazzman Eric Maynor with Russell Westbrook.

Watson will allow the Jazz to move Deron off the ball and relieve some of the burden off of him in addition to opening him up for more of an offensive role. Prior to trading Maynor last year the Jazz had increased Deron’s role off the ball and he was flourishing.

Watson also brings an increased toughness. Talking to one long time NBA observer last night and he said, “I think he is still one of the best on-ball defenders I have seen. Jerry needs to tell him not to shoot. He thinks he is a shooter but he is not. “

The toughness Watson brings on the defensive end is a huge upgrade. When the Jazz have Watson, Bell, AK and Millsap on the floor together they will be well above average defensively at each position. In addition, Deron took huge strides defensively last season.

Watson does have a tendency to let it rip without a conscience on the offensive end. He pushes the ball with great tenacity, but will pull up for a spot up three in transition that will not sit well with Coach Sloan.

For his career, Watson is a 42% shooter and 33% from three point range. Over the last two seasons his three point shooting has only been 27%.

Last year Watson’s Locke Offensive ranking was a 2.8. This puts him above the replacement level threshold (0) but not to the league average (10). In contrast, Ronnie Price last year was -5.1 meaning he was below replacement level and used offensive possessions well below the league average.

Watson shot the three 23% of his possessions and went to the free throw line an impressive 10% of his possessions, top 20 in point guards. However, he turned the ball over 22% of the possessions that ended in his hands last year, the second highest percentage of any point guard in the NBA.

This will be an adjustment for Watson. He is an energy player who has needed time on the floor. He has always had a significant role on the team playing over 20 minutes. As a streaky shooter he could really struggle to find his shot in limited minutes. In addition, Watson has always played a very free flowing game that will need to fit into the Jazz system, another adjustment that after 9 years in the league could be difficult.

Maybe the most important factor for the Jazz is if they need Watson to play extended minutes he is more than capable and when it comes playoff time he is experienced ready.
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Barf - never liked Watson.

Most of us know Watson is a streaky shooter and turnover prone. But what is really significant is he is a veteran that will be forced to play a lot less minutes than he is accustomed to - he's averaged about 24mpg that last 5 years. In Utah he'll be lucky to get half of that At this point in his career, I just don't see this guy being the type of player that can be productive during two 6 minute clips per game. What I do see is his minutes dwindling down a la Jason Hart to the point where we're all pining for Ronnie Price again.
 
for whatever's left in the table, KOC is doing a great job on the pickups. i sure hope we dont sign back sundiata..
 
mellow said:
meh....I'd still rather have Maynor.


Too bad the jazz weren't committed to winning at any price.
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We still paid the luxury tax last year. How many teams are willing to win at any price. Even the Lakers were concerned with how much luxury tax they will have to pay. Considering how small a market Utah is combined with the owners who arent the richest in the NBA be glad they are spending as much as they are. I live in Memphis where we almost did not sign Henry because the Grizzlies were the only team in the NBA not wanting to give the standard rookie contract. By the way think this signing inreases the chances we will see Price used in a luxury tax savings trade during the season.
 
NCJazz said:
We still paid the luxury tax last year. How many teams are willing to win at any price. Even the Lakers were concerned with how much luxury tax they will have to pay. Considering how small a market Utah is combined with the owners who arent the richest in the NBA be glad they are spending as much as they are. I live in Memphis where we almost did not sign Henry because the Grizzlies were the only team in the NBA not wanting to give the standard rookie contract. By the way think this signing inreases the chances we will see Price used in a luxury tax savings trade during the season.
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Yep. We might see them agree to trade Fes for a future draft choice IF the trading partner will also take Price off our hands. Similar to the giveaway of Maynor. With Elson, a far better and more experienced player, we really don't have much of a need for Fes, IMO.
 
Revolution 9 said:
At least he's a step above Price in running an offense.
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You'd think so, but the numbers don't bear out a significant difference.

On possessions they use:

Price turns the ball over 12.5% of the time.
Watson turns the ball over 14.9% of the time.

Price gets an assist 27.5% of the time.
Watson gets an assist 34% of the time.

Their pure point ratings are nearly identical.
 
Sirkickyass said:
You'd think so, but the numbers don't bear out a significant difference.

On possessions they use:

Price turns the ball over 12.5% of the time.
Watson turns the ball over 14.9% of the time.

Price gets an assist 27.5% of the time.
Watson gets an assist 34% of the time.

Their pure point ratings are nearly identical.
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I am not too concerned with stats on this matter. I have watched both of them play a lot and Earl Watson plays under control more often. He also is patient with the pick and roll and understands where to position himself for a mid range shot or to drive or to hit the guy rolling or popping for a jumper.
Price does not know how to do this. Price gets the pick than drives out of control to the hoop or shoots bad outside shots (shot selection).
Price's shot selection might as well be a turnover. He isn't a play maker which is what we need.

I am not saying Earl Watson will finally solve our back up point guard position but he is an upgrade over Price when it comes to running an offense. I am not sure how you can even argue that point. Defense Earl Watson I think is a better defender but that is only because I think Price is overrated and gets way too many dumb fouls and gets burnt way more than people realize. I love his effort but guys get passed him a lot.

I love Price as a 3rd point guard but Earl Watson is a better pure point guard than Price. We will see though if he turns into Jason Hart/Brevin Knight or Howard Eisley (young). My would say 70 percent chance that we will like what we see from him.
 
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