What to do with AK?
- Thread starter AtheistPreacher
- Start date
AtheistPreacher
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I remember him years ago basically telling the media that he felt ashamed that he was making so much bank and not living up to it. That's what makes me think he'd be willing to sign with the Jazz for slightly less than he's worth now that he's collected all of his ridiculous max salary for all those years. He seems like that kind of guy.
Then again, when it comes right down to it, 98% players end up taking the money and running. Who knows?
billyshelby
Well-Known Member
I don't think you're being naive and I think that's a major reason why the Jazz should be talking to him now. Whether it's nice or not, they have AK in a slightly vulnerable position. It's win-win if AK offers a little giveback and Utah gets him to finish out his career. But if its about the money for him, or he just wants out, the smarter move is to become a free agent and go from there.
Underrated my ***. He is getting paid more than Deron and turns in half the productivity.
And more importantly the ****er takes 15 games off on an average every season like it is almost a given. No one even reacts anymore when they hear he is down with some injury or the other. And he gets a free pass on that while Boozer got bashed every time he went down.
SaltyDawg
Well-Known Member
Right, because AK's ridiculous salary had absolutely nothing to do with us losing Matthews and Korver, and nothing to do with us letting that Harpring TPE expire when we could probably get a good player like Gortat for it.
If you don't think his ridiculous salary is hurting the Jazz on the court, then you weren't paying attention when the Jazz gave away Brewer and Maynor in salary dumps last year, and let Korver and Matthews walk for nothing this year.
billyshelby
Well-Known Member
I'm not the type to put duplicate posts in multiple threads, but if there's going to be duplicate AK threads running around, it serves a purpose. These are the statistics for AK:
Last season, amongst small forwards, per minute, AK was:
13th in scoring
18th in rebounding
5th in assists
1st in steals
1st in blocks (doubling the number two guy.)
7th in PER (just under Gerald Wallace, just ahead of Paul Pierce)
For sake of comparison, here are the PER numbers of Jazz wings:
AK: 18.25
Korver: 13.99
Mathews: 12.35
Brewer: 12.55
Miles: 10.84
Last season, amongst small forwards, per minute, AK was:
13th in scoring
18th in rebounding
5th in assists
1st in steals
1st in blocks (doubling the number two guy.)
7th in PER (just under Gerald Wallace, just ahead of Paul Pierce)
For sake of comparison, here are the PER numbers of Jazz wings:
AK: 18.25
Korver: 13.99
Mathews: 12.35
Brewer: 12.55
Miles: 10.84
Too bad he didnt play in the playoffs when we needed him.
He gets a Free Pass on more than that! Talk to Masha about that one.
Also the Booz Bash was that when he went down, he was down forever. It wasn't just a day or two back issue with Booz. It was almost always a month at a time injury.
AtheistPreacher
Well-Known Member
Why can people not read?
As Stickler and I have been saying, we all know very well that AK's contract is God-awful, terrible, apocalyptically bad, or whatever superlatives you'd like to use. And yes, it's clearly tied the Jazz's hands in terms of making contract offers to other players. Show me where anyone claimed it didn't.
But, once again, we're not saying he's underrated *for his current contract*. No one thinks that. But it *is* reasonable to claim that he's still a good player, and better than some people think he is nowadays. As we've all agreed, $17 million is frickin' ridiculous, but I wouldn't mind having him for $7 million, or the mid-level.
So, once again, as Stickler said, "underrated" and "overpaid" are not mutually exclusive. He's much worse than his contract suggests but better than some of the haters around here think he is. Is that really so hard to understand?
SaltyDawg
Well-Known Member
And again, you are the one missing the point. AK is probably a good mid level player, but he isn't better than Matthews, Gortat, Al Harrington, and a minimum player. That is what the Jazz could have if they weren't paying AK- all of those players. In fact, we could have had all of those guys plus another mid level player instead of Raja.
So right now, this year, while you say AK is under rated, he is actally hurting the Jazz. The Jazz would actually be a better team without him. And if the Jazz would be a better team without him, there is no way you can tell me he is under rated.
NotDeadYet
Well-Known Member
No question AK has played very well for us at times. Other times he's been too much like Boozer; disappearing.
Comparing AK to other SF's is somewhat deceptive, as AK played a lot at BOTH the SF and PF positions last year. My contention is he's a far greater impact player as a PF than at SF. His heart is in the game when he's hustling and scrambling for loose balls, offensive rebounds, and going for steals and blocks. A lot more of that occurs with him at PF, closer to the basket, than at SF, farther from the basket. At SF his greatest strength is distributing the ball. Taking him away from the paint turns him into an average SF, as he's not a consistant scoring threat away from the paint.
Comparing AK to other SF's is somewhat deceptive, as AK played a lot at BOTH the SF and PF positions last year. My contention is he's a far greater impact player as a PF than at SF. His heart is in the game when he's hustling and scrambling for loose balls, offensive rebounds, and going for steals and blocks. A lot more of that occurs with him at PF, closer to the basket, than at SF, farther from the basket. At SF his greatest strength is distributing the ball. Taking him away from the paint turns him into an average SF, as he's not a consistant scoring threat away from the paint.
Jazz Traveler
Well-Known Member
Keep him. The Jazz know what kind of player they have in AK. He can impact a game the way few players can. My beef isn't as much with AK as it is with the way Sloan has utilized him.
carolinajazz
Well-Known Member
...nobody is going to give us anything for Klinko. So, the best we can hope for is he stays healthy, plays hard and well on the final year of his contract like Boozer did last year, and helps us compete in our division. He knows our system, he's a board crasher who can drive hopper types crazy.....and has moments of brilliance! We are going to win 50 plus games with or without him.
ncoloradojazz
Banned
i had a dream last night that he was traded to phoenix
Stickler
Well-Known Member
SaltyDawg, no offense, but you're the one who doesn't get it. How many times do we have to agree with you? AK has a bad contract. Conceded. There isn't a person in the world, except maybe Masha, who would dream of disagreeing with you. But that's simply not what we're talking about. But since we're on the subject, there is no guarantee the Jazz would have Gortat, Harrington, and whoever else is on your wish list if only they hadn't signed AK to all that money. In fact, they probably wouldn't have D-Will or Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap. The whole team would have been constructed differently. We'd have a completely different history. It's utter pointlessness to go down that road.
But for the record, AK wasn't responsible for the Maynor salary dump. AK doesn't make the front office decisions. If you want to be mad at somebody about it, at least have the balls to place the blame where the blame is due: on the Millers for not wanting to pay the luxury tax.
And I don't see the good in complaining about the Ronnie Brewer trade anymore, considering A) He got injured almost immediately following the trade. B) Wesley Matthews actually ended up being better for us. And C) That trade allowed us to bring in Al Jefferson.
I want Maynor back more than anybody. I loved the guy. But your anger at AK is at best misplaced, and at worst, not much more than sour grapes.
But for the record, AK wasn't responsible for the Maynor salary dump. AK doesn't make the front office decisions. If you want to be mad at somebody about it, at least have the balls to place the blame where the blame is due: on the Millers for not wanting to pay the luxury tax.
And I don't see the good in complaining about the Ronnie Brewer trade anymore, considering A) He got injured almost immediately following the trade. B) Wesley Matthews actually ended up being better for us. And C) That trade allowed us to bring in Al Jefferson.
I want Maynor back more than anybody. I loved the guy. But your anger at AK is at best misplaced, and at worst, not much more than sour grapes.
Exactly... & I won't mind resigning him for full MLE after his contract expires either.