Devin Harris on Al Jefferson: Jazz fans will be surprised if they see him

[Brown Notes]

The thing is, if Jefferson was 30+ I would be on board with Sep's idea of getting rid of him in favor of developing players (i.e., playing Kanter full time.)

But he's 26. Jefferson is at least as likely to be considered a core player moving forward after another 82 games as any player on the roster. We all would like to believe that Favors and Kanter will be great players but the likelihood for both achieving that is not a sure thing. Jefferson's ability to produce in the NBA is not questioned and he has not reached his ceiling either. People around here seem to dismiss reports of him working hard on his body and game in the offseason but I don't know what he could do that would generate more positive news.

Al has never been a distraction, a bad locker room guy or a risk off court. He's never given any indication of not wanting to be in Utah or being grumpy with teammates or coaches. He was Kevin McHale's personal understudy for several years and is a perfect vet for the young talented bigs to play behind. In addition those guys being there push Al to work even harder to keep beating them out.

Even if Al is not a future core player, it is dumb to believe that he would be worth less somehow next season in a contract year. It is not possible in the NBA to simply trade away somebody's contract, moving Al would mean bringing in somebody that is just as expensive and maybe locked in for a longer period. If that player is a wing then we will be having the same conversation about limiting the minutes of Hayward or Burks, and in any case if Utah wants another vet wing they just sign AK.

It just doesn't make any sense to move Al Jefferson before the end of 2011.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

The thing is, if Jefferson was 30+ I would be on board with Sep's idea of getting rid of him in favor of developing players (i.e., playing Kanter full time.)

But he's 26. Jefferson is at least as likely to be considered a core player moving forward after another 82 games as any player on the roster. We all would like to believe that Favors and Kanter will be great players but the likelihood for both achieving that is not a sure thing. Jefferson's ability to produce in the NBA is not questioned and he has not reached his ceiling either. People around here seem to dismiss reports of him working hard on his body and game in the offseason but I don't know what he could do that would generate more positive news.

Al has never been a distraction, a bad locker room guy or a risk off court. He's never given any indication of not wanting to be in Utah or being grumpy with teammates or coaches. He was Kevin McHale's personal understudy for several years and is a perfect vet for the young talented bigs to play behind. In addition those guys being there push Al to work even harder to keep beating them out.

Even if Al is not a future core player, it is dumb to believe that he would be worth less somehow next season in a contract year. It is not possible in the NBA to simply trade away somebody's contract, moving Al would mean bringing in somebody that is just as expensive and maybe locked in for a longer period. If that player is a wing then we will be having the same conversation about limiting the minutes of Hayward or Burks, and in any case if Utah wants another vet wing they just sign AK.

It just doesn't make any sense to move Al Jefferson before the end of 2011.

I just don't see any point in trading him. We already have tons of young pieces, and two more coming in next draft potentially. Can we really get equal value if we trade him? Do we really need more young players? The only point I see in trading him is if Favors or Kanter are just ridiculous next year (think Griffin/Duncan rookie/sophomore type production) that renders Jefferson basically useless. I doubt that happens.

 

[Brown Notes]

Yea. Everybody loves to talk about developing players but the AJ acquisition was beautiful because somebody else already did that for us and we got him pretty much for free.

Why we want to jettison him with the idea of living through the lumps of riding two guys while they learn the game is beyond my simple comprehension.

It gets even more difficult to understand when I start thinking about it from the perspective of a new head coach in a truncated season. You want to have players you can depend on to know what they are doing. Harris and AJ will be heavily relied upon in this regard.

 

[sepanol]

Man, we aren't talking about who is the best overall centre. The argument started with you claiming Kanter would be at LEAST as good offensively as Big Al, and I along with other posters are simply asking "kay, so who in the NBA is better offensively than Al Jefferson?" As you're probably realizing, there is really not that many; in fact I'd maybe slot only 3 ahead of him for PF/Cs in general. Were not talking the overall package, were talking strictly offense.



So since Scola, Love, Griffin, Jordan, Kaman, Lopez, Bogut all didn't make the playoffs last season clearly they must all be garbage on both sides of the floor, right? A teams success should always be measured by a single player? Seriously disagree.

All these players you counted above except Jordan, they are at least as good as or better than Big Al. Especially if we look at the salary/performance ratio.
So i told you, Big Al is one of the best offensive center doesnt mean he is also one of the best center overall.
And you again dont get the point, i didnt measure the team success with single player, im just telling, we should first see Big Al in a single playoff game,and then we will discuss his offensive efficency better. Because playoffs is the real deal

 

[sepanol]

The thing is, if Jefferson was 30+ I would be on board with Sep's idea of getting rid of him in favor of developing players (i.e., playing Kanter full time.)

But he's 26. Jefferson is at least as likely to be considered a core player moving forward after another 82 games as any player on the roster. We all would like to believe that Favors and Kanter will be great players but the likelihood for both achieving that is not a sure thing. Jefferson's ability to produce in the NBA is not questioned and he has not reached his ceiling either. People around here seem to dismiss reports of him working hard on his body and game in the offseason but I don't know what he could do that would generate more positive news.

Al has never been a distraction, a bad locker room guy or a risk off court. He's never given any indication of not wanting to be in Utah or being grumpy with teammates or coaches. He was Kevin McHale's personal understudy for several years and is a perfect vet for the young talented bigs to play behind. In addition those guys being there push Al to work even harder to keep beating them out.

Even if Al is not a future core player, it is dumb to believe that he would be worth less somehow next season in a contract year. It is not possible in the NBA to simply trade away somebody's contract, moving Al would mean bringing in somebody that is just as expensive and maybe locked in for a longer period. If that player is a wing then we will be having the same conversation about limiting the minutes of Hayward or Burks, and in any case if Utah wants another vet wing they just sign AK.

It just doesn't make any sense to move Al Jefferson before the end of 2011.

I said, if we find something good in return, i dont say lets just rush to give him away, also his personality is good, at least better than Boozer, but i didnt like his body language last year especially after Deron is gone, and he was benched behind Favors in couple of games 4th quarters. There will be games he will be benched with such a large big man rotation, so we arent sure how he will respond to those moments.

Anyway we will see, im not very high on Big Al as you guys, but i dont say he is totally a bad player. Just we should use every opportunity to make this team contender, because we dont have the flexibility to sign big names in free agencies like knicks or lakers. So trades and drafts are our only chance. And so far we are doing good in the last 2 years in these cases, i hope it will continue

 

[Deleted member 848]

All these players you counted above except Jordan, they are at least as good as or better than Big Al. Especially if we look at the salary/performance ratio.
So i told you, Big Al is one of the best offensive center doesnt mean he is also one of the best center overall.
And you again dont get the point, i didnt measure the team success with single player, im just telling, we should first see Big Al in a single playoff game,and then we will discuss his offensive efficency better. Because playoffs is the real deal

lol.

 

[billyshelby]

Your comments seem like a joke but just in case if its serious i should answer,
i have seen only Big Al playing more mins than the number of your posts in these site. So i have my own ideas about each of these players and i dont need your precious ideas about how good they are. And it is pretty obvious you dont read my posts at all because you add Favors and Millsap on that line without knowing how high im on these players, and probably you didnt add Memo because he is turkish, so i would never criticize him right?

You cant prove how shallow your ideas are better than this, thats why better lets not discuss basketball with you. At least those other guys im arguing with , are providing some back up for their opinions, it would be nice if you bother yourself to give me contra ideas instead of hallucinatory ideas.

Dude, your hero got drafted on the Jazz. I got no problem with fanboy posts. Cheer your guy on, I'm down with that. But don't pretend you've ever seen Al, Sap, or Favors play more than 10 times collectively. And for the love of god, stop posting about how proven NBA players are expendable so your hero can get more minutes. Hard as this is for you to believe, I'm as excited about Kanter as you. But he has to earn his minutes like every other guy.

 

[Stifle Tower]

I wish I was naive enough to believe this. Every off-season, you read stories about players working harder than ever, putting on weight they need, losing weight they don't, improving holes in their game, etc, etc. Vast majority of them show absolutely no effect of any of that once the season start.

Come to think of it, I've never heard anyone say "Oh, this off-season, I've been eating Krispy Kream donuts, hanging out at the local pub. I've managed to get fat, lazy, and out of shape. Oh, and my jumper still makes everyone cringe because I've done jack-all to improve it." And yet it happens all the time.

Years of hearing about how hard AK was working, how much he improved his shooting and how much muscle he had added left us all skeptical. As they say...pictures or it didn't happen!

 

[sepanol]

Dude, your hero got drafted on the Jazz. I got no problem with fanboy posts. Cheer your guy on, I'm down with that. But don't pretend you've ever seen Al, Sap, or Favors play more than 10 times collectively. And for the love of god, stop posting about how proven NBA players are expendable so your hero can get more minutes. Hard as this is for you to believe, I'm as excited about Kanter as you. But he has to earn his minutes like every other guy.

I watch the whole ****ing season, i have probably seen more games in the last few years than you ever did, so dont come to funny conclusions like just because he is my countryman, i dont know any other players except him. I have seen Kanter as much as everybody else here, but i have much probably seen Big Al more than you.
It is really stupid that you think just because i am not american i can not watch nba games, or are you just trying to justify yourself with that because you dont have anything else to blame on me except than being a Kanter homer?

 

[sepanol]

lol.

So i take it as you agree with me at last. Thanks

 

[sepanol]

By the way, in the euro cup, many turkish guys were posting in this site, but right now it seems like i am the only one. So it seems very superficial to me, all these homer talks and such kinda stuff about me. If i was a homer, i wouldn't bother myself to write right now at all.

 

[cowhide]

I wish I was naive enough to believe this. Every off-season, you read stories about players working harder than ever, putting on weight they need, losing weight they don't, improving holes in their game, etc, etc. Vast majority of them show absolutely no effect of any of that once the season start.

Come to think of it, I've never heard anyone say "Oh, this off-season, I've been eating Krispy Kream donuts, hanging out at the local pub. I've managed to get fat, lazy, and out of shape. Oh, and my jumper still makes everyone cringe because I've done jack-all to improve it." And yet it happens all the time.

I agree with your point but Ostertag may not have said these things but he certainly did them. I wish there was basketball so we could see all the Jazz players and see if they have truly improved.