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Matthews: Jazz never made me an offer. I would have accepted less.

Borat said:
If Jazz did make Wes an offer, it's quite hard to fathom that Wes would just fabricate the false information that they didn't. But ... KOC seems to deny it, so Harcher described it best: he said, she said. Bottom line: I've been saying this is moot ever since learning about 34 mil offer. There was no way realistically that we could have kept Wes. I am happy with how KOC addressed the situation, and that's the biggest change since the time I thought the offer was 25 mil.
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I think it comes down to semantics. KOC probably talked ballpark with Wes' agent. Something like, we'll give Wesley $4M/per for 5 years. Wes' agent then said they wanted the full MLE. At which point, KOC told them to shop around. In KOC's mind this was an "offer." No, it wasn't on paper. But Wesley and his agent can indeed say they never received an offer since nothing was written down. Kind of like the "I did not have sex with that woman" statement. Or saying it depends on what the definition of "is" is.

Notice all the denials are coming from Wesley. His agent has said nothing. Makes one wonder how much communicating the two actually did. But Wesley is also to blame. Before signing the offer sheet, he could have very well asked his agent to call KOC, explain that he was getting ready to sign an offer sheet for the full MLE and ask KOC what Utah's best offer would be. Maybe KOC would have thought it was a bluff. Maybe he would have said 5/$25M. In any case, by signing the offer sheet, Matthews should have known full well there was a chance Utah wouldn't match.
 
wes is obviously trying to save face by making himself sound like the victim of negotiations-gone-bad. and it doesn't hold much water, but i could really care less. wesley was never the key to our future, he was a guy who played a particular role very well. it's also not the most irreplaceable role to fill, as indicated by the fact that we filled it with someone who (arguably) does it better for $10M instead of paying him $33M.

the jazz didn't overpay him, which makes me happy. then they went out and got a spot-up shooter and defensive specialist for less than a third the total price tag. so do i care if wesley is in a portland jersey? no, not really. even though i think the way he left was a little douchey.
 
Borat said:
If Jazz did make Wes an offer, it's quite hard to fathom that Wes would just fabricate the false information that they didn't. But ... KOC seems to deny it, so Harcher described it best: he said, she said.
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If I read him right, then you must have misread what Harcher said. I took him to be pointing out the equivocal ways in which the term "offer" can be used. He then showed why this could make it easy, not "hard" as you say, to fathom why Wes would make his claim. The point is that Wes didn't "just fabricate the false information," as you suggest. Wes was using the term "offer" to mean one thing, but probably anybody else would not confine it to that restricted sense. Certainly Wes didn't even begin to claim that KOC refused to speak to him (i.e., his agent). Nor did he even claim that no informal offer had been made, as I recall.

From what I remember, he merely said that he was "surprised" the Jazz didn't match and that he "might" have accepted a "fair" (leaving unspecified what he would think was "fair") offer. By even saying this he is saying he "might" also have continued to extract "unfair" concessions from the Jazz, using Portland as leverage, too. I take KOC as saying that Wes's agent "refused to negotiate" by making "non-negotiable" demands. I didn't hear Wes deny that, directly or indirectly.

Edit: I didn't read this until after I made this post:

GlassEater said:
I think it comes down to semantics.
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Yeah, what Glass done said, eh? In the whole post, not just the part I quoted.
 
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Borat said:
Sure I didn't want to lose him either, since he had an OK year here and is young, but let's not exaggerate. Given the guy spent just 1 year in Utah and played only 24 mins a game, "surreal" is a bit of an overkill, isn't it? We didn't just lose Jazz icon to another team. If anything, we replaced him with the guy who was more of a Jazzman than he is.
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Ok, you win, surreal is a bit of an overkill. It was just my way of saying that I didn't think that situation would ever happen, so it seemed weird seeing it happen. Nitpick much?
 
calijazz said:
Seeing Wes introduced as a Blazer is a pretty surreal. Never thought he would be gone...what a bizarre off-season. He was pretty gracious to the Jazz and the fans though.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jul/21/video-blazers-matthews-speaks-media/
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FWIW, Wes Matthews started his speech with a seemingly heartfelt and significant tribute to the Utah Jazz. Then he reasonably went on to say that he is now a Blazer and ready to get in the gym and get better.

I think that it's a bit of semantics, too. Matthews knows that his role would likely have been bigger in Utah, and he liked playing for the Jazz. He wishes that Utah's "offer", in whatever form it came, would have been equal to the Blazers' written offer. I reckon that the agent wanted to maximize WM's payout at least as much as maximizing WM's satisfaction, because that's how agents get paid. Matthews might have had to make it clear to his agent that he was willing to play for less to stay in Utah. Maybe Wes did, anyway, but didn't want to play for, say, the $5 million or $10 million less that a hypothetical $25 million contract (or lower) from Utah would've implied vs. the full MLE that Portland paid.
 
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InGameStrategy said:
FWIW, Wes Matthews started his speech with a seemingly heartfelt and significant tribute to the Utah Jazz. Then he reasonably went on to say that he is now a Blazer and ready to get in the gym and get better.
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Yeah, S2, I agree. If nuthin else, Matthews once again demonstrated that he is both intelligent and articulate. Beyond that, I think he showed sincerity. He will be missed.
 
Important to note:

He says in the video that the only contract offer on paper that he saw from Jazz was qualifying offer. Key words being "on paper."
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https://twitter.com/tribjazz/status/19101275943 (Siler)

Here's the video he's referring to:

https://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/blazers_video_watch_the_wesley.html

I don't think anyone in their right mind could still blame KOC for losing Wes anymore...there is no one to blame really. It's just how business goes in the NBA.
 
I haven't bothered much with this thread other than skimming through it a bit because I don't seem to care about Matthews half as much as most of the people on this board, but all I have to say after reading everything from Matthews, his agent, KOC, and the Jazz people, is:

Enjoy Portland and your newfound $$. Hope you like riding the pine. Don't let the door hit you in the *** on the way out.

And to Portland: Lol.
 
calijazz said:
https://twitter.com/tribjazz/status/19101275943 (Siler)

Here's the video he's referring to:

https://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/blazers_video_watch_the_wesley.html

I don't think anyone in their right mind could still blame KOC for losing Wes anymore...there is no one to blame really. It's just how business goes in the NBA.
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Good find, Cal. That seems to clear up any possible remaining "mystery." I don't hear the words "on paper," but I haven't listened to the whole thing yet. He has addressed the "offer" issue though. As I hear it (paraphrasing) he says: "The only "document" I saw was the qualifying offer. All the rest was between my agent and the Jazz." I'm assuming that the "on paper" comment of Siler is referring to Wes's use of the term "document."
 
If Wes really wanted to stay in Utah, and was willing to accept less money, then it was up to him to make that clear to his agent. From everything we've heard on this, I think it is pretty clear he didn't do this. He's gotten himself a much larger contract than most think he is worth at this point... but the ultimate cost for him remains to be seen. He does seem disappointed... and there may be more of that to come as he finds out the role he is to play in Portland.
 
My theory on what went down: WM did express to his agent that he "preferred" to stay in Utah, but seeing only dollar signs, his agent brainwashed him into thinking that the Jazz would match whatever offer was given to him by another team, so it would be a win-win situation by signing an offer sheet with the Blazers (get paid max money plus still play for the Jazz). In the end it was only a win-win situation for the agent...

Sad to see WM go. I felt the same way when Shandon Anderson went to Houston. Hope Matthew's career doesn't end up the same way.
 
Why is Portland so pissed at us? Im guessing its the draft trade that got us Dwill and them Martell Webster.
 
Yeah, sounds like the agent played Wesley a bit, so he could make his max, rather than working for his client's best interests. I think this shows that players need to be more proactive and not leave everything up to the agent. In other words, players need to monitor the negotiation and have the GMs copy everything, so to speak, to them, just to ensure that their agent is being honest with them.
 
At least it seems, based on the press conference, that he's left on good terms. However unfortunate the miscommunication and war of words between Wesley, his agent and KOC - that all seems to have been put to bed. It was a bit amusing to me that half of Matthews' press conference was taken up by him thanking the Jazz. Then he realized he better say something about Portland.

Who knows? Maybe in 5 years we'll be looking for a SG and Wesley will come back our way.
 
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