Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Sap

AOL Sports, the "Fanhouse" website has provided us some insight to what we're all probably thinking. If Carlos Boozer decides to opt out of his contract, the Jazz may just let him go and re-sign Millsap in his place.

Of course, this decision is a long way off into the future. But, it's great to see Millsap playing so well in light of Boozer's absence. His 32 points and 10 rebounds against KG and the Celtics shows us that Millsap may be ready for a permanent resting place in the starting lineup.

Clearly, I think it's best to have both Boozer and Millsap healthy and contributing to the team. We'll have to hope that Boozer returns to the lineup soon. Because without him, the Jazz have been playing .500 ball (in 14 games, the Jazz are 7-7 without Boozer in the lineup). Get well soon, Carlos... And let's continue the great effort, Big Paul Millsap!

Here are some additional articles to think about... SLTrib by Gordon Monson and John Hollinger comments at ESPN.com.

9 comments:

Pasty Gangsta said...

I think this issue is amazingly underreported in the Utah papers. Over the last month Millsap has been averaging 18.5 and 11.8. Boozer, when healthy, was averaging 20.5 and 11.7. Both were shooting 55% from the field.

In other words, they have the same stats. Somewhat amazingly, there are only four or five 20-10 guys in the NBA right now (Garnett is probably one but he never gets there because the Cs limit his minutes). The Jazz have two, but it does us no good when one is hurt or buried on the bench because the other is playing.

True, we are 7-7 without Boozer but Williams has also been hurt/not himself and AK, Brewer, and others have missed games. Plus if we traded Booze we'd conceivably get something valuable in return.

The Jazz should move Boozer. Millsap gives them the same thing at a much lower price.

Tucker McCann said...

I am worried that Milsap may be defendable once people figure out his mo-jo (crash boards, crash boards, and crash boards). The fact that he is 6'8" worries me too. However, in regards to competitive nature, he is head and shoulders above Boozer.

But i agree, I do not understand why we are not attempting to trade Boozer right now. Get him out of SLC.

Pasty Gangsta said...

Is Millsap any shorter than Boozer? I admit that Boozer is "bigger" in a sense, but he doesn't D up and is soft in the playoffs, so I'm not sure it matters.

Paul just plays incredibly hard. He's like Keefe but with talent and without red hair.

Draft Guru said...

The reason we can't trade Boozer is because the Jazz are bumping up against the luxury tax as we speak. We would have to trade Boozer for another player who's contract also expires after this season (or trade Kirilenko for an expiring). If we trade for someone with a similar/but longer contract, we risk not being able to retain players we'd like to keep. Basically, we need to shed $$$ in order to re-sign guys like Millsap.

Pasty Gangsta said...

Could we not cut a package deal where we get some value and some expiring contracts though? It seems like we could/should get something in return for him.

Draft Guru said...

Absolutely. I suppose we could trade him for a lesser talent/expiring contract and try and get some draft picks in exchange. Or do a two-for-one, with one of those players expiring. It'd be tough though... because the team trading for him knows also that Boozer will be a free agent and could very easily leave their team at seasons end.

Tucker McCann said...

Golden Griff suggested to me that we trade Boozer for LeBron, straight across.

The Golden Griff said...

That would be a good trade. Good idea, Booner

Pasty Gangsta said...

Yep, it would have to be someone who thought they could resign him or were happy to lose him at the end of the year for cap purposes. We could also do a sign and trade with Miami this summer, right?

I don't mind losing the Booze at all, but it would be nice if we could get a little something something for him.