Cornering the market on players named Morris
It sounded Sunday as if there's definite interest on the part of Morris Peterson and the Jazz. Maybe not enough to get a deal done July 1 like Vince Carter, Jason Kapono and Luke Walton all did, but enough to starting considering the Jazz's future with Peterson.
It's hard not to come to that conclusion when the team calls the player 1 minute after the start of the free-agent negotiating period and the player is said to have the team first on his wish list. Another agent confirmed that he'd heard the Jazz were after Peterson.
I'm sure they'll be a ton of comments on sltrib.com about Peterson. You have to like the combination of shooting and defense he brings. Plus he's still 29 (for a few more months) and his consecutive games streak shows his durability. Maybe not a bad investment.
(Peterson also watched as the Raptors wasted little time in signing Kapono to a four-year, $24 million contract to replace him.)
Given the state of the Western Conference, I have to imagine Jazz fans are excited that their team is trying to make a move to keep them among the conference leaders, if not put them over the top in trying to win a championship.
Two other issues to consider are what the Jazz would do with so many shooting guards and how they would be able to squeeze in a Peterson contract under the luxury-tax threshold. Peterson's probably going to come in between $3 million and $5 million.
The crunch at shooting guard isn't ideal but the Jazz do have options. They like that Derek Fisher, Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond all can play alternate positions in addition to shooting guard. That's point guard for Fisher, small forward for the two youngsters.
The Jazz also have the option to send Brewer and/or Almond to their NBA Development League affiliate in Orem to get minutes next season. They can assign any of their rookies or second-year players to the Utah Flash up to three times a season.
C.J. Miles, meanwhile, is an interesting proposition because all he has to do to return is sign the Jazz's qualifying offer. He's the player Larry Miller predicted could develop into an All-Star in five to seven years after being drafted.
You don't want to give up on that potential, especially after having invested two years already. As a third-year player, Miles can't go to the D-League, however, and his development is going to be hindered by the other guys competing at his position.
I left a couple messages Sunday for his agent, trying to gauge interest in Miles around the league, but didn't hear back.
As for Peterson, one thing I heard but couldn't get in the story was that he wants to play for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. It's Peterson's belief that Sloan shares a lot of similarities with Tom Izzo, his college coach at Michigan State.
Both are discipline-oriented, system-oriented coaches. Peterson played on Michigan State's 2000 NCAA championship team along with Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell, two other Flint, Mich., products.
One other thing: I asked Kevin O'Connor how he pronounced second-round draft pick Kyrylo Fesenko's name. He said he'd tried it "18" different ways before Fesenko told him he likes to just go by "Fes."
With that in mind, "Fes" will be introduced this afternoon at the Jazz's practice facility. I heard after he worked out in Salt Lake last week he asked one of the Jazz staffers if he could go walk around the city a little. Nobody ever had asked that before.
Should be an interesting guy. Your typical 7-foot, 20-year-old sightseeing Ukrainian.
--Ross Siler
It's hard not to come to that conclusion when the team calls the player 1 minute after the start of the free-agent negotiating period and the player is said to have the team first on his wish list. Another agent confirmed that he'd heard the Jazz were after Peterson.
I'm sure they'll be a ton of comments on sltrib.com about Peterson. You have to like the combination of shooting and defense he brings. Plus he's still 29 (for a few more months) and his consecutive games streak shows his durability. Maybe not a bad investment.
(Peterson also watched as the Raptors wasted little time in signing Kapono to a four-year, $24 million contract to replace him.)
Given the state of the Western Conference, I have to imagine Jazz fans are excited that their team is trying to make a move to keep them among the conference leaders, if not put them over the top in trying to win a championship.
Two other issues to consider are what the Jazz would do with so many shooting guards and how they would be able to squeeze in a Peterson contract under the luxury-tax threshold. Peterson's probably going to come in between $3 million and $5 million.
The crunch at shooting guard isn't ideal but the Jazz do have options. They like that Derek Fisher, Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond all can play alternate positions in addition to shooting guard. That's point guard for Fisher, small forward for the two youngsters.
The Jazz also have the option to send Brewer and/or Almond to their NBA Development League affiliate in Orem to get minutes next season. They can assign any of their rookies or second-year players to the Utah Flash up to three times a season.
C.J. Miles, meanwhile, is an interesting proposition because all he has to do to return is sign the Jazz's qualifying offer. He's the player Larry Miller predicted could develop into an All-Star in five to seven years after being drafted.
You don't want to give up on that potential, especially after having invested two years already. As a third-year player, Miles can't go to the D-League, however, and his development is going to be hindered by the other guys competing at his position.
I left a couple messages Sunday for his agent, trying to gauge interest in Miles around the league, but didn't hear back.
As for Peterson, one thing I heard but couldn't get in the story was that he wants to play for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. It's Peterson's belief that Sloan shares a lot of similarities with Tom Izzo, his college coach at Michigan State.
Both are discipline-oriented, system-oriented coaches. Peterson played on Michigan State's 2000 NCAA championship team along with Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell, two other Flint, Mich., products.
One other thing: I asked Kevin O'Connor how he pronounced second-round draft pick Kyrylo Fesenko's name. He said he'd tried it "18" different ways before Fesenko told him he likes to just go by "Fes."
With that in mind, "Fes" will be introduced this afternoon at the Jazz's practice facility. I heard after he worked out in Salt Lake last week he asked one of the Jazz staffers if he could go walk around the city a little. Nobody ever had asked that before.
Should be an interesting guy. Your typical 7-foot, 20-year-old sightseeing Ukrainian.
--Ross Siler
12:23 AM
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