An interesting trade for Al Jefferson that doesn't include Tiago Splitter

[MarHill]

Bleacher Report is okay for what it is.

I just wanted to get some discussion from this thread. No big deal.

Especially with some of the bad trade proposals I've seen over the years on ST......this is at least realistic scenario.

I don't believe the Spurs will do this trade because it does hurt their backcourt depth. However, I could see it being a possibility because Jefferson could be the lynchpin into a post Big 3 era.

[DrunkTXLabrat]

Cory Joseph is not suddenly going to become the Spurs primary back up PG for the playoff stretch, that's absurd. If he was capable of that he'd already be in the rotation. And Diaw would be a liablility playing major minutes at SF, he's not a wing player anymore.

Try again.

okay.

basically i buy the jefferson improves on defense theory.

baynes and bonner share increased role player level minutes at 5. i think that works cause the spurs will be very situation cautious. baynes is the bench splitter, and bonner is just a slump spark.

jefferson is the full time bench timmy. mostly with baynes and bonner, but occasionally with splitter. jefferson is smart and enthused. paired with baynes and splitter for help defense. i'd expect jeffersons blocks to go up.

diaw and manu split minutes at 3. i buy that. baynes, catching on or not, is still gonna get the bench splitter minutes until pop figures him out. diaw has to be the 3 and i don't think he's as big a defensive liablity as you think. he's gonna have a good interior defense rotation to back him up. manu is the 3 in a diaw isn't cutting situation.

manu is the 2 obviously. imagine his game, with jefferson in his bench squad. decolo is the 2 insurance, and i love that. his defense and shot are suspect. but i'm big on nando. he's tall and quck enough. and i think he can hawk passing lanes just as good as he can pass. speaking of his passing ability, he doesn't need to shoot. i'd rather he keep dishing dimes. defenses have to respect nando passes so much, he's got any shot opportunity he wants. and i trust he can knock them down.

don't believe in cojo as the primary backup point? well i dunno how you can say that. who knows what cojo can do if given the minutes? i think he'd be fine, but it doesn't matter. decolo is a dream backup point. his court vision makes everybody look better. cojo simply wouldn't be the primary backup point.

[freetiago]

Jefferson has never played with the caliber of shooters/spacing SA has
i believe Jazz are usually been one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in terms of % and 3 pts made dating back to the sloan days
he would become better on offense by that alone and because actually have a PG setting him up
defensively he would play the PF/splitter role of guarding a post up guy and going out on the perimeter
SA already gets torched from midrange anyway so he cant be that much worse
he can probably do a decent job of guarding post up guys/weaker offensive option but really there isnt even that many post up bigs in the league today

SA needs to get rid of all the useless depth they have and get back quality talent
trading away guys who cant dribble the basketball, pass it, or are undersized with bad physical abilities for a 20 ppg low post scorer is a deal you make

[spurraider21]

Deal for Milsap, not Jefferson. Better fit and he's less likely to give at ude as far as having a bench role.

[Bruno]

This trade is just bad.

Adding a third team to a trade for Al Jefferson or Smith might help build a better trade but not like that.

[look_at_g_shred]

Jefferson has never played with the caliber of shooters/spacing SA has
i believe Jazz are usually been one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in terms of % and 3 pts made dating back to the sloan days
he would become better on offense by that alone and because actually have a PG setting him up
defensively he would play the PF/splitter role of guarding a post up guy and going out on the perimeter
SA already gets torched from midrange anyway so he cant be that much worse
he can probably do a decent job of guarding post up guys/weaker offensive option but really there isnt even that many post up bigs in the league today

SA needs to get rid of all the useless depth they have and get back quality talent
trading away guys who cant dribble the basketball, pass it, or are undersized with bad physical abilities for a 20 ppg low post scorer is a deal you make

Great point.

[Seventyniner]

SA needs to get rid of all the useless depth they have and get back quality talent
trading away guys who cant dribble the basketball (Bowen), pass it (K. Thomas), or are undersized with bad physical abilities (Oberto) for a 20 ppg low post scorer (He Who Shall Not Me Named) is a deal you make

/facepalm


And idgaf that ol' #24 wasn't a low post scorer.

[Sdayi135]

Deal for Milsap, not Jefferson. Better fit and he's less likely to give at ude as far as having a bench role.

[cd021]

Millsap: http://basketball.realgm.com/tradech..._trade/6243625
Jefferson: http://basketball.realgm.com/tradech..._trade/6243626

They add up. Except that the Jazz have 15 players under contract and would have to cut two players outright in order to even make this work.

Oh, and whatever filler the Spurs get back would have to include a backup SF. Not sure I trust whomever that might end up being.

Bell still on there roster? If He is he could be including (depending on salary of course) and Kawhi could play 34-36 a night. Bell could fill in the rest. If we are desperate, Diaw can play SF like he has for most of his career.

[Darkwaters]

You realize that Raja hasn't played a game this whole season because of a contract dispute, right? Plus hes on the books for $3.5M. No, Raja doesn't make sense.

And Diaw at SF? Sure, in the right setting and in the right matchup...but as the everyday backup? No.

[therealtruth]

basically i buy the jefferson improves on defense theory.

I don't. I remember everyone though RJ would become a better defender. A Bruce Bowen with more offense. Didn't happen. Players don't change their stripes that quickly. If they haven't bothered playing defense for several years they won't start now.

[cd021]

Deal for Milsap, not Jefferson. Better fit and he's less likely to give at ude as far as having a bench role.

Splitter should move back to the bench and form a 3 player PF-C rotation Each could still play 30 minutes a game considering there are 96 total minutes there. Jefferson has made the playoffs once in 8 seasons. I bet he doesn't care as long as he is a big contributor on a legit team.

[cd021]

You realize that Raja hasn't played a game this whole season because of a contract dispute, right? Plus hes on the books for $3.5M. No, Raja doesn't make sense.

And Diaw at SF? Sure, in the right setting and in the right matchup...but as the everyday backup? No.

I know that Raja has yet to play this season but Kawhi can definitely log 36 minutes a night. Raja has history with the spurs. I'm not saying he comes off the couch and starts. 12-15 is something he should be more than capable of doing. There are still plenty of Spurs fans who want Kenyon Martin on the team despite him not playing since last May (9 months). We would need to take back another player because we would be moving 3 (in my proposal: Joseph/De Colo, Jackson, Blair) for Jefferson/Millsap. Bell would be an UFA so it would take anything away from our future cap flex.

Most teams don't have the roster space to take back 2 additional players outright + Utah has had problems with Bell for the better part of 2 seasons. Completely agree that Diaw is a situational SF, which is what i meant. Against teams like the Clippers, Jazz, & even Grizzlies he could play SF in the post season as none of those teams have a potent SF to cover. Since arriving in San Antonio last season (through the post season + this season) he is hitting 47.7% of his 3pt shots so he has the range to play of the wing and is still agile enough to attack off the dribble (he even showed that last season in the post season when he was, at least 25lbs bigger than he is now).

[cd021]

I don't. I remember everyone though RJ would become a better defender. A Bruce Bowen with more offense. Didn't happen. Players don't change their stripes that quickly. If they haven't bothered playing defense for several years they won't start now.

Post defense tends to be easier than guarding the 2 guard position. Where the better scorers usually are. + didn't one of the spurs better defensive lineups (in terms of per 100 possessions )include Jefferson and Blair? Jefferson is 6-10 give or take several inches taller than blair and probably gambles less than Blair overall. Playing with Duncan who is .4 behind Sanders for league leader in blocks per game should help erase some of the mistakes with help D. You can't tell me that you wouldn't trust him to stop the offensive juggernaut know as the OKC big man rotation (Ibaka, Thabeet, Collison, Perkins) on the block. Truth is that really only 1 team in the west can hurt us in the post (Memphis) but they cant realistically beat us in a 7 game series.

[maverick1948]

This trade would put the Spurs over the LUXURY TAX level. We would have to add 2 players to our roster to fill out the required number of players. The incoming salary of Jefferson puts us over the luxury tax, then add in 2 cheap salaries and we are paying 18.5 million for Jefferson instead of 15mil. Then we have the worry of resigning him to a contract. What if he gets an offer he prefers to SA? No way SA does this trade. Maybe Jax, Bonner, Blair and Neal. This would leave us enough money to replace the 2 empty roster spots and not go into the luxury tax. This is the only way I would do the trade and then I would have to think long and hard on it.

[Mal]

I think that Smith trade have better chances than this one. Rival sending their best player for Spurs` crap and Speights ? RC isnt that good.