Wednesday report
It looked earlier Wednesday as if Paul Millsap was running out of options to find free agent money. Detroit (Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva) and Toronto (Hedo Turkoglu) already had made their signings while Memphis had traded for Zach Randolph.
Five teams - - Boston (Rasheed Wallace), Dallas (Marcin Gortat), Houston (Trevor Ariza), the L.A. Lakers (Ron Artest) and San Antonio (Antonio McDyess) - - had spent their midlevel exceptions, though the Rockets later were granted a disabled player exception for Yao Ming.
Then comes tonight's stunning report out of Portland that the Trail Blazers, having been spurned by Turkoglu, are preparing to make an offer to Paul Millsap that was described as "toxic" when it comes to the Jazz matching, by the Oregonian newspaper.
The Blazers seemingly have greater needs at small forward and point guard, where free agents Lamar Odom and Andre Miller potentially could make more sense, but the Oregonian's report identified Millsap as Portland's target.
Maybe the Blazers are just trying to inflict maximum luxury-tax punishment on the Jazz, but I don't think they would tie up their free-agent money for seven days in an offer sheet just to watch the Jazz match it.
There are ways Portland can structure an offer to Millsap that would deter the Jazz from matching.
For one thing, the Blazers can offer a maximum 17.5 percent of the total value of the contract as a signing bonus. Combined with the potential luxury-tax penalties from having an $80 million payroll, it could be a bloodbath for the Jazz's financial books.
The Blazers also could front-load the contract in its first year or two. In fact, Millsap could see his salary drop, although it's obviously the total value that's key. Front-loading could benefit the Blazers, who still have to sign Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge to extensions.
The Jazz hadn't even made an offer to Millsap as of early Wednesday evening. They'd been waiting and hoping that the market would evaporate, with the hope that they could sign Millsap for less than what everyone expected.
We'll see whether the Blazers make an offer and what it comes in at. It's still stunning that Portland would make such a push for Millsap when Aldridge averaged 37.1 minutes and played in 81 games.
At least Carlos Boozer's checkered injury history afforded Millsap the chance to start 38 games last season. There's little possibility of finding Millsap minutes at center, either, as long as Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are on Portland's roster.
* * *
The Jazz's summer-league game Wednesday against Indiana was about what you'd expect from a team playing its third game in three days. The Jazz gave up 95 points in a 40-minute game while committing 35 fouls to the Pacers' 13.
Eric Maynor struggled in going 2-for-9 with five points and three assists. Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin thought Maynor looked tired after logging the most minutes on the team so far in summer league.
The knock on Maynor has been his shooting, but he's hit three-pointers in each of the last two games. What's been killing his numbers has been the number of floaters and runners he's missed off drives.
"It'll get going," Maynor said. "I'm really struggling with it right now, but the thing about it is you get to play again tomorrow."
I wrote about Goran Suton for the paper - - he's now 0-for-7 on three-pointers. James Augustine might have been the Jazz's best performer, finishing with 12 points and several strong drives to the basket against the Pacers' big men.
Kevin Kruger had five assists and continues to play well off Josh Duncan. Kevin Lyde also had what I would describe as a scrapbook moment in the third quarter tipping in a Suton miss while Tyler Hansbrough held him down.
You don't get a lot of three-point play opportunities against a Hansbrough, so it's best to savor those moments if you're Lyde. Alas, he missed the free throw. The Jazz will play Orlando at 3 p.m. Thursday.
* * *
It wouldn't be a Jazz summer league without some controversy about who's not in attendance.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said he wished C.J. Miles had played in Orlando and said he got the impression from Miles during exit meetings that he was interested.
I noted that Miles was a fourth-year player and Sloan said: "He should be a rookie in the league." Miles did make the jump from high school to the NBA. "That should be a goal of a player," Sloan added, "to make themselves better every time they have a chance."
Sloan said the Jazz would have liked for Kyrylo Fesenko to play and for Kosta Koufos not to have suffered the dislocated left ring finger that has kept him out of this week's games.
Koufos did arrive at the gym an hour before the game to work out with strength coach Mark McKown.
"You can do the workouts," Sloan said, "but what he needs is being out here playing and understanding what we're doing and try to adjust to that. I think that's an important part of his development, as well as still working hard."
--Ross Siler
Five teams - - Boston (Rasheed Wallace), Dallas (Marcin Gortat), Houston (Trevor Ariza), the L.A. Lakers (Ron Artest) and San Antonio (Antonio McDyess) - - had spent their midlevel exceptions, though the Rockets later were granted a disabled player exception for Yao Ming.
Then comes tonight's stunning report out of Portland that the Trail Blazers, having been spurned by Turkoglu, are preparing to make an offer to Paul Millsap that was described as "toxic" when it comes to the Jazz matching, by the Oregonian newspaper.
The Blazers seemingly have greater needs at small forward and point guard, where free agents Lamar Odom and Andre Miller potentially could make more sense, but the Oregonian's report identified Millsap as Portland's target.
Maybe the Blazers are just trying to inflict maximum luxury-tax punishment on the Jazz, but I don't think they would tie up their free-agent money for seven days in an offer sheet just to watch the Jazz match it.
There are ways Portland can structure an offer to Millsap that would deter the Jazz from matching.
For one thing, the Blazers can offer a maximum 17.5 percent of the total value of the contract as a signing bonus. Combined with the potential luxury-tax penalties from having an $80 million payroll, it could be a bloodbath for the Jazz's financial books.
The Blazers also could front-load the contract in its first year or two. In fact, Millsap could see his salary drop, although it's obviously the total value that's key. Front-loading could benefit the Blazers, who still have to sign Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge to extensions.
The Jazz hadn't even made an offer to Millsap as of early Wednesday evening. They'd been waiting and hoping that the market would evaporate, with the hope that they could sign Millsap for less than what everyone expected.
We'll see whether the Blazers make an offer and what it comes in at. It's still stunning that Portland would make such a push for Millsap when Aldridge averaged 37.1 minutes and played in 81 games.
At least Carlos Boozer's checkered injury history afforded Millsap the chance to start 38 games last season. There's little possibility of finding Millsap minutes at center, either, as long as Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are on Portland's roster.
* * *
The Jazz's summer-league game Wednesday against Indiana was about what you'd expect from a team playing its third game in three days. The Jazz gave up 95 points in a 40-minute game while committing 35 fouls to the Pacers' 13.
Eric Maynor struggled in going 2-for-9 with five points and three assists. Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin thought Maynor looked tired after logging the most minutes on the team so far in summer league.
The knock on Maynor has been his shooting, but he's hit three-pointers in each of the last two games. What's been killing his numbers has been the number of floaters and runners he's missed off drives.
"It'll get going," Maynor said. "I'm really struggling with it right now, but the thing about it is you get to play again tomorrow."
I wrote about Goran Suton for the paper - - he's now 0-for-7 on three-pointers. James Augustine might have been the Jazz's best performer, finishing with 12 points and several strong drives to the basket against the Pacers' big men.
Kevin Kruger had five assists and continues to play well off Josh Duncan. Kevin Lyde also had what I would describe as a scrapbook moment in the third quarter tipping in a Suton miss while Tyler Hansbrough held him down.
You don't get a lot of three-point play opportunities against a Hansbrough, so it's best to savor those moments if you're Lyde. Alas, he missed the free throw. The Jazz will play Orlando at 3 p.m. Thursday.
* * *
It wouldn't be a Jazz summer league without some controversy about who's not in attendance.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said he wished C.J. Miles had played in Orlando and said he got the impression from Miles during exit meetings that he was interested.
I noted that Miles was a fourth-year player and Sloan said: "He should be a rookie in the league." Miles did make the jump from high school to the NBA. "That should be a goal of a player," Sloan added, "to make themselves better every time they have a chance."
Sloan said the Jazz would have liked for Kyrylo Fesenko to play and for Kosta Koufos not to have suffered the dislocated left ring finger that has kept him out of this week's games.
Koufos did arrive at the gym an hour before the game to work out with strength coach Mark McKown.
"You can do the workouts," Sloan said, "but what he needs is being out here playing and understanding what we're doing and try to adjust to that. I think that's an important part of his development, as well as still working hard."
--Ross Siler
11:51 PM
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