Jazz See Miles Into The Future

Posted by Johnathan Kendrick on July 25, 2008

Call it foresight. Hope It’s vision. However it turns out – CJ Miles will remain a member of the Jazz, for the next several months anyway. Miles signed with OKC looking for more money and a better opportunity for playing time. He now will have the opportunity to try to break in further to a Jazz team with an established rotation.

Further Implications on Free Agency - Unless the Jazz make another move via trade or contract buyout – they are off the free agent market. Matching the offer to Miles leaves the Jazz with the roster stocked to the max with 15.

Speaking of Rotation – With 15 guys under contract, the Jazz will be unable to dress every player for every game. Only 12 players are allowed to dress per game. The Jazz have 3 players who are eligible to play in the D-League in Almond, Fess, and rookie Kosta Koufus. However only 2 of those 3 can be assigned to the Flash at a time. Leaving Jerry Sloan the unenviable task of telling one player a game that he won’t be dressing.

5 Comments

Jared Conger on July 25, 2008 said:

why am i hoping this is for a sign and trade?

so do we trade Mo’ Almond now, or let him suffer the D-League another season? The man is ready to play, he may lose his luster if we dont’ play him.

justalars on July 25, 2008 said:

I heard that if you sign a restricted free agent you cant trade them right off. I would expect to see more moves, involving either Harpring or AK. I also think if mo almond shows he can shoot, I think they’ll just let Korver walk if he opts out next summer. Maybe we are stacked now at the 2 and 3 spots, but in a year or two we may not be. I doubt we’ve seen the last of the Jazz and their moves this summer.

Jared Conger on July 25, 2008 said:

Almonds Revue numbers: 28/63 FG - 44% | 4/10 3FG - 40% | 37/45 FT - 82% | 19.4 ppg

Aaron on July 25, 2008 said:

When I heard that OKC had offered CJ that deal, my first thought was that there was no reason to match, that the Jazz had plenty of players at the 2-3 and that there was no justification for paying the team’s 3rd 2-guard almost $4 mil a year.

So, I’m a little surprised that the Jazz matched, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed. In fact, now that the tough decision has been made, I’m kind of glad. If AK gets traded (can’t the Jazz convince the Hawks or the Grizzlies to take him??? It’s too bad Isaiah isn’t in New York anymore; I’m sure that he would have jumped at the chance to take AK…) or hurt, he’ll be able to step in and start at the 3 (and Harpring can continue to come off the bench, a role he fills so well). He’s super athletic, and the Jazz have generally been successful when he started (see the beginning of the year 2 years ago, before Fisher inexplicably took his minutes). My guess is that his defense and awareness will improve, especially if he smells playing time.

So, I’ve gone back and forth on CJ over the last week, but I’m pretty convinced that he’ll provide a great deal more good for the Jazz with his presence than with his absence

And I’ve never blamed CJ for not wanting to play in the Revue–it’s not good basketball. I love watching basketball, but those games are hard to watch.

justalars on July 26, 2008 said:

I cant believe 45% of those who use this site are sad to see us sign CJ back. It makes no sense to me. First of all CJ was getting clean up duty and an occasional start is all. So he shouldn’t effect Almonds playing time. In addition if Almond cant beat CJ out for playing time, its because CJ will be playing well or Almond will be playing poorly. Which to me both seem to be positive reasons for having CJ back. If Almond can surpass CJ and get his minutes that is better for us than just giving him the minutes. Competition makes our team better and thats what we want. Its about the team not the individual right!