Jazz Trades: Williams today, Harris tomorrow? ...A.K. all week.

As I sat surrounded by what seemed to be the visitor’s section for Golden State, I witnessed something that has not happened in my lifetime; the Jazz completed their worst home court losing streak since 1982.

If it hadn’t of been for the dry humor of my wife trying to convince me to steal the recently purchased Jazz ball from the pre-teen next to me, and then giving it to her to hurl at someone’s head, I might not of made it through the historic lose.

With a cool head from my wife’s humor, a good night’s sleep, and a much needed break ahead, I can calmly present what I will be using as therapy for the next 7 days… ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine.

1st trade: We found him, let’s get him back! (Submitted by: Ice-Man)

This is the trade to get Wes Mathews back! Giving up two pieces for “the one that got away” seems like a lofty price… until we saw Wes’s first game as a Blazer.

So consider this the Sportscave crew standing outside of Mathew’s house in the rain holding a boom-box blasting “In your Eye’s”.

2nd trade: Half the fat, twice the taste!

I have already presented this one… but I still like it. Especially when you look at the $ saved! Hill is an up & coming guy that hasn’t really had a fair shake in the league yet… put him in our rotation, shake the hell out of him, and see what comes out!


Lee is the most under rated, under used, under paid wing I can think of… If he is on this Jazz team, he shows his value and we have a good problem in a few years; Utah will have to pay him the big bucks to keep him!



3rd trade: “The big boy reset button” trade.

This is the one. This one hit’s the reset button on your old, grey Nintendo. You have gotten pretty far with this group, but you just can’t beat the last few levels… sometimes frustration kicks in, and in a haste you hit the reset button… S@#T! Mario would roll over in his grave.


After the despair drifts away, a slight amount of hope, excitement, and vision begins to seep in your sleep deprived & over carbonated brain as you see what could be… how you’ll do things differently this time around.

By giving up the talent of D-Will (hard to even think), the pieces that come back are REALLY exciting. Taking back Outlaw convinces N.J. to take A.K., and Harris is a top 10 PG now who could be even a little better in a few years with this team. The key to this is Watson, who let’s you do this because he is such a good back-up.

Kevin Martin is a scorer. End of story. He is average at everything else, but right now, for this team, that works. I think Patterson and Hill speak for themselves. Both will be productive, defensive minded bigs who can chip in a good night of scoring every once in a while as well.

It may take a while for this one to sink in, but I think it is an interesting thought.

So until Feb. 24th, look for me hoping for a trade... maybe.

ESPN's Trade machine

I would do this in a minute!

The long-shot here is Memphis... but they REALLY want to get rid of Thabeet, and might be willing to let O.J. go to lose the Thabeet contract, and O.J. has multiple questions in his past.
The good news is they get a Center who,when healthy, spreads the floor that can also allow the more mobile Gasol to be an extremely long PF at times (especially if they loose Z. Randolph).
I think Houston does this as well. They get two 7 footers, one mobile veteran, and one young project who still has an up side... especially in a half court offense like Adleman can run.
And as for O.J. Rick again has proven he can take some rough guys (take a look at the Sac-town teams he took deep in the playoffs back in the day... some rough dudes on those teams) and get them to preform at a high level.
If Utah didn't do this, I would be really surprised. I love Memo, but getting an athletic & aggressive rebounder big in Hill (think a poor man's Javale McGee) AND a cheap, under used SG that can defend and shoot the three (think a younger Raja Bell!).

What do you think?



ESPN's Holliger says this about these two...

Courtney Lee:

+ Solid wing defender who can check most 2s despite middling athleticism.


+ Good outside shooter, but better from midrange than long distance.


+ Good finisher at basket but lacks the burst or ball skills to get there often.


Lee made 44.4 percent of his long 2s but slumped to 33.8 percent on 3s; he can be a much more valuable player if he establishes himself as a 40 percent 3-point shooter -- something he accomplished as a rookie in Orlando.


Otherwise, we pretty much know the story with Lee after just two seasons. He's a good defender but not a dominating one. He'll hit open shots but won't create that many. In short, he's a near-perfect role-playing wing, but he has very little chance of moving up in the world. Regardless, he'll last a decade and make tens of millions of dollars if he keeps sticking Js.



Jordan Hill:

+ Classic energy payer who crashes offensive boards and blocks shots.


+ Offensive game mostly limited to jab-step for 15-footers; needs post game.


+ Lack of strength resulted in high foul rate; must add strength.


Viewed as a bust in New York, Hill wasn't bad at all for a rookie power forward based on his overall numbers. He was fourth at his position in offensive rebound rate, 16th in blocks, and his scoring numbers (15.6 per 40 minutes) were very respectable.


Hill fouled entirely too often -- more than once every seven minutes -- and his lack of strength makes him a suspect post defender, but that can be addressed by pumping iron. He's not a star by any means, but he'll be a useful rotation player. New York just gave up on him too quickly.


Having Jordan be the first big off the bench would give a long, athletic big that has a huge upside with a nose for rebounding and a defender in the post. I really think this kid is going to be special.
As for Lee... he is hand cuffed right now in Houston, playing behind a bevy of proven wing players. Before Houston brought him over from N.J., he was dumping in over 12 points a game in just his second year in the league.

Final thought:
I think these two are perhaps some of the best, realistic pick-ups Utah could get. If brought over, both could be playing pretty big roles on Utah's roster by the end of April.
I really feel like this trade could put the Jazz on the level with L.A., Dallas, and O.K.C.... and if the cards fall right, San Antonio.