Morris Almond Option Not Picked Up

Posted by Jared Conger on November 01, 2008

‘What’s Next for Mo?’ (NBAE/Getty Images)

The SL Trib broke a story today about the Jazz deciding not to pick up the former first round draft pick’s third year option, to which Almond said, “I’ve seen that coming for a while. Something had to give, and this is the start of that.”

What does this mean for the Jazz?

Well Almond broke all of the scoring records in NBDL last year, and from the looks of his combined efforts from the Rocky Mountain Revue, and Preseason this year he was looking to showcase his sweet shooting stroke, oft times outshining some players in the Jazz regular rotation.

Did we see this coming? Well, we should have. Once we signed on Kyle Korver, whom is technically a small forward, but plays a pretty nice shooting guard, we picked up that certain, well, that certain “Jeff Hornacek” type of player. With CJ Miles getting resigned this was the obvious move.

What kind of player will Morris Almond be? I gotta tell ya, he reminds me of Rip Hamilton, only he looks like a purer shooter than Rip came into the league as.

But enough about this, whom will trade for him? What can we recoup for our loss? Possibly another future draft pick? Or do you see them picking up a big man with an expiring contract for the open cap space heading into next season?

My crystal ball points towards the latter of the two options, while the Trib may be quoted as stating the following  - “If Almond is traded, two potential destinations are San Antonio and Detroit. Both teams were interested in Almond leading up to the 2007 draft. Almond worked out twice for the Spurs and was convinced he was heading there after a dinner with coach Gregg Popovich.”

10 Comments

Mallory Meyer on November 01, 2008 said:

Hopefully this means good things for Mo. He needs more of a shot than the Jazz are willing to give him. Best of luck Almond! Jared, who’s better? Mo or CJ? I’ve yet to be able to figure that out.

steve on November 01, 2008 said:

Well i def. think morris almond is better then CJ. The jazz just need to give him a shot, hes a way better shooter then CJ and yes he may need to work on his defense but i would take morris almond over CJ any day. He has proven he can score, What has CJ proven he can do. Nothing.

Linda McFarland on November 01, 2008 said:

Steve….I have to agree to disagree. Morris has rated pretty high in my estimation as a fine young man and a great shooter. The prolem is that he wants to shoot and leave the defense to the other players. He needs a team where he can be their top scorer (like Detroit) and the others do the defense. The Jazz just just don’t play that way. There is also a difference in the 6′2″ and 6′6″. I may be off an inch one way or the other but the height certainly helps with defense. ( or you have to cover the floor in seconds like Knight does.) I wish Almond the best of everything and he may be a nemises we have to deal with in a future game but if we care about him then he is better off to move on.

JOHN on November 01, 2008 said:

I think that the Jazz are making a huge mistake. The guy is amazing and if we trade him just watch. He will destroy us everytime we play against his new team. It is the Jazz curse. Look at Mo Williams! He’s playing with “The King!”

Jeff Hunt on November 02, 2008 said:

I think that it would be a good move to trade him for a big contract. I mean don’t get me wrong. I believe that Mo will kill us every time with him gone and if it were me i would wait for Matt Harpring to retire and then play Mo but i don’t think Mo is willing to wait that long. There will be others in the draft and Mo Almond is no King James so it isn’t going to hurt us that bad. Who knows maybe it will help us.

doug on November 02, 2008 said:

With 8 free agents after this season we need to keep Almond. I can guarantee you that the Jazz can’t/wont sign all 8 back. The Jazz need to keep Almond, and prepare for the mass Exodus by the majority of the 8. It should be as easy as that, but hey thats probably why I don’t work for the Jazz

Henry on November 02, 2008 said:

I don’t think the decision on Morris Almond is smart. Morris Almond is a valuable player. Without picking him for a third year option, it leaves the Jazz with nothing returned from him. We should have some small forward and/or shooting guard to trade with other teams in the midseason for the inside defender(s). Morris Almond can be the one to be on the trade talk or to fill-in the vacate position.

Amir on November 03, 2008 said:

most of you people are wrong almond is going to be great player in the future but he dont fit with jazz they got 4 shooting guard already he cant get any playing time what jazz need is small forward 6′10 to play with lamar odom,rashard lewis,hedo turkolu,stojakovic with out 6′10 i dont think jazz can move to the second round in playoffs.

Boondock Saint on November 03, 2008 said:

Mo is going to light it up like he did in the D-League but we all know that isn’t Jerry Sloan’s and, consequently, the Jazz’s style. The Jazz system of the pick and roll would suffer immensly from someone looking to take 15+ plus shots.

Linda McFarland on November 04, 2008 said:

Amir- Why in particular do you think the Jazz can’t make it to the second round?
I think things are looking good right now!

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