Al Jefferson

[Jespher]

Sure, Al Jefferson is a cornerstone, but that franchise isn't going anywhere fast and Kevin Love plays the same position and is younger. If Kevin Martin must be traded, this is the type of player the Kings should try to get in return... Here's one idea that would work for all parties...

Sacramento Out

Kevin Martin
Kenny Thomas (Expiring)

Sacramento In

Al Jefferson
Jared Jeffries

Minnesota Out

Al Jefferson
Mark Blount (Expiring)

Minnesota In

Kevin Martin
Danilo Galinari or Jordan Hill
Eddy Curry

New York Out

Eddy Curry
Jared Jeffries
Jordan Hill or Danilo Gallinari

New York In

Kenny Thomas (Expiring)
Mark Blount (Expiring)

Why Kings Do This: They would get a third young big to complete the front line. Sure the defense wouldn't be perfect, but they could grow together, rebound well, score inside and out, and maybe, just maybe even block some shots...

Why Kings Don't Do This: Al Jefferson is a handfull on the block, but he's not that great a defender. This would also eat up the King's cap space this offseason, making them lose out on the 2010 shopping spree. The log jam of wing players would remain clogged. Also, having Big Al down low might clog up the lane, making it harder for Evans and Casspi to drive for layups.

Why Minnesota Does This: They get more young pieces to add to a young developing team. Sure they lose Jefferson, but they would get a stud SG and a young promising PF/C that wouldn't be fighting Kevin Love for minutes/touches in the paint.

Why Minnesota Doesn't Do This: Al Jefferson is a beast, and a cornerstone of their francise. Sometimes there are pieces that you just can't trade...

Why New York Does This: This would be their ideal trade. It would remove their two big long term contracts for expirings and allow them to make a push for 2 max players in the summer sweepstakes of 2010. This season is already a lost one, and Jordan Hill will take too long to develop.

Why New York Doesn't Do This: They would have to give up one of their young bigs to rid themselves of their last poisonous contracts. It might be too expensive for them, but I doubt Donnie Walsh would hesitate to free up some more cap space.

New Kings Line-up:

PG Tyreke Evans/Beno Udrih/Sergio Rodriguez
SG Francisco Garcia/Jared Jeffries/Ime Udoka
SF Omri Casspi/Donte Greene/Andres Nocioni
PF Jason Thompson/Jon Brockman/Sean May
C Al Jefferson/Spencer Hawes

 

[Smills91]

There's just something about Al Jeff that makes me not want him. While a very good player, I just don't think he's worth that contract as I don't view him as a 'difference maker'. You can't spend that kind of money on a player that doesn't affect the win-loss column.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I tend to agree with Smills on this one. Whatever he brings hasn't really translated to winning. Yeah, yeah, bad teams. I'm just not sold.

 

[hammystyle]

I tend to agree with Smills on this one. Whatever he brings hasn't really translated to winning. Yeah, yeah, bad teams. I'm just not sold.

We'd be trading Kevin Martin for him, and he hasn't won anything either.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

We'd be trading Kevin Martin for him, and he hasn't won anything either.

True, if we could do Kevin for Al straight up I'd consider it if it was the best we could do for Kev. But this deal also includes Kenny Thomas who it is believed could land us Okafor if we are willing to commit to his salary. I'd rather have Okafor + whoever we could get for Kevin than Jefferson alone.

 

[bajaden]

First off, I doubt that the T Wolves would trade Jefferson. But if they were willing to trade him straight across for Martin, I'd do it in a heartbeat. He just turned 25 years old, so were not talking about an old man here. He's a big, and the Kings need a big. He's also a very good player, and a legitimate low post player. He may not be known as a great defender, but he's not a terrible defender and averages around 1.3 blocks per game. He's also hard to post up with his lower body strength. To say that he's not a winner is just not fair. Look at the surrounding cast he's had around him on both of the teams he's been on.

This isn't going to happen anyway, so I'm just wasting my time responding. Nice idea though.

 

[hammystyle]

First off, I doubt that the T Wolves would trade Jefferson. But if they were willing to trade him straight across for Martin, I'd do it in a heartbeat. He just turned 25 years old, so were not talking about an old man here. He's a big, and the Kings need a big. He's also a very good player, and a legitimate low post player. He may not be known as a great defender, but he's not a terrible defender and averages around 1.3 blocks per game. He's also hard to post up with his lower body strength. To say that he's not a winner is just not fair. Look at the surrounding cast he's had around him on both of the teams he's been on.

This isn't going to happen anyway, so I'm just wasting my time responding. Nice idea though.

The T-Wolves are probly going to have to trade either Jefferson or Love. Both excellent young post players, but they replicate each others strengths and weaknesses. Maybe they don't see it that way, but I think most people do. Now if they do trade one, I think they trade the older, much more expensive guy coming off a knee injury. Its hard to believe but Love is arguably the better player already.

Now if they were to trade Jefferson they have two glaring weaknesses they'd be after. A defensive minded C or a scoring wing. They're loaded with PG's and PF's and Brewer is a great defensive wing can't play offense. So unless they want to trade Jefferson for Chandler or Okafor, the prospect of them trading Jefferson for Martin isn't that far-fetched.

Tell you what, we should just go head to head with them and cut out the Knicks. Jefferson + one of their many #1's for Martin and Hawes. That's a deal that would make sense for both teams.

 

[bajaden]

The T-Wolves are probly going to have to trade either Jefferson or Love. Both excellent young post players, but they replicate each others strengths and weaknesses. Maybe they don't see it that way, but I think most people do. Now if they do trade one, I think they trade the older, much more expensive guy coming off a knee injury. Its hard to believe but Love is arguably the better player already.

Now if they were to trade Jefferson they have two glaring weaknesses they'd be after. A defensive minded C or a scoring wing. They're loaded with PG's and PF's and Brewer is a great defensive wing can't play offense. So unless they want to trade Jefferson for Chandler or Okafor, the prospect of them trading Jefferson for Martin isn't that far-fetched.

Tell you what, we should just go head to head with them and cut out the Knicks. Jefferson + one of their many #1's for Martin and Hawes. That's a deal that would make sense for both teams.

Well logic might tell you and I, that they need to make a trade, but I'm not sure that their GM is on the same page. This is the GM that went point guard crazy this preseason. Drafting both Flynn and Rubio was crazy when you look at that team and see all of its needs. And now you have Rubio making statements saying that (IF) he ever plays in the NBA it will be because he's won a championship on a spanish team. So you might have a wasted number one right there.

However, I agree with you. This doesn't have to be a three team deal. If they want to trade Jefferson then lets just deal directly with them. The problem with placing Hawes in the deal is that leaves us with no center of our own. Which I would perfer not to happen. I don't have an answer though.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

However, I agree with you. This doesn't have to be a three team deal. If they want to trade Jefferson then lets just deal directly with them. The problem with placing Hawes in the deal is that leaves us with no center of our own. Which I would perfer not to happen. I don't have an answer though.

I agree, the deal is much better if it is just between us. If we're not moving Kenny in the deal then we can still theoretically use him to get Okafor or as part of a deal to bring another center in. Kind of like the Okafor/Bosh dream except Jefferson is a little cheaper right now. I still think he's a bit overrated but this is the kind of deal that would make sense since we'd only be moving one of our big trading chips.

 

[hammystyle]

Well logic might tell you and I, that they need to make a trade, but I'm not sure that their GM is on the same page. This is the GM that went point guard crazy this preseason. Drafting both Flynn and Rubio was crazy when you look at that team and see all of its needs. And now you have Rubio making statements saying that (IF) he ever plays in the NBA it will be because he's won a championship on a spanish team. So you might have a wasted number one right there.

However, I agree with you. This doesn't have to be a three team deal. If they want to trade Jefferson then lets just deal directly with them. The problem with placing Hawes in the deal is that leaves us with no center of our own. Which I would perfer not to happen. I don't have an answer though.

You're probly right, I do not know how urgent the fix is in Minny. They seem to content to collect assets and flounder while not building any kind of real team. In Jefferson's case patience is probably a virtue, because as he gets his legs better he'll probly increase his trade value.

If we were able to pull it off the Kings would still be short a true center on D, but JT and Jefferson could mix-match assignments to get by until that's remedied. Its hard to imagine Hawes' absence would negatively affect the defense that much. The O would be much better.

 

[bajaden]

You're probly right, I do not know how urgent the fix is in Minny. They seem to content to collect assets and flounder while not building any kind of real team. In Jefferson's case patience is probably a virtue, because as he gets his legs better he'll probly increase his trade value.

If we were able to pull it off the Kings would still be short a true center on D, but JT and Jefferson could mix-match assignments to get by until that's remedied. Its hard to imagine Hawes' absence would negatively affect the defense that much. The O would be much better.

I'll tell you a player I would love to go after and I would gladly give up both Martin and Hawes to get. Except I have no idea how to make the salaries work with players moving that both teams would be happy with. But the player is Brook Lopez. I can't see any way to make it happen though.

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I have Al Jefferson on my fantasy team, and I don't think he's the sort of player we'd want. I'd never judge a player based on fantasy stats, but he continually puts up Sisyphean stat lines for me (basically has to put 200% work to get 100% done) and part of the reason is due to the fact that for a big man, he gets to the free throw line at an obscenely low rate. Scouts will always laud his skills and plethora of moves in the paint, and his overall inside-outside game, but he's more of a smooth skilled worker rather than any physical brute in my estimation. It seems like advanced aging as well--he's fairly inconsistent, and I tend to like Kevin Love better because to me he has more defined skills (such as rebounding, passing and deep range). He can block shots some, for sure, but probably not good enough to make up for my reservations about other parts of his game.

 

[Jespher]

I'll tell you a player I would love to go after and I would gladly give up both Martin and Hawes to get. Except I have no idea how to make the salaries work with players moving that both teams would be happy with. But the player is Brook Lopez. I can't see any way to make it happen though.

http://www.kingsfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35122

 

[Aenadin]

There's just something about Al Jeff that makes me not want him. While a very good player, I just don't think he's worth that contract as I don't view him as a 'difference maker'. You can't spend that kind of money on a player that doesn't affect the win-loss column.

is it the knees?

 

[Smills91]

We'd be trading Kevin Martin for him, and he hasn't won anything either.

Martin's hit a game winning shot in a playoff game. That means something. Al Jefferson's never really played in a meaningful playoff game.

 

[Widowmaker2k]

From a value perspective, you absolutely have to do a Martin for Jefferson trade. Young star bigs are more valuable, league-wide, than young star SGs. That being said, however, I don't think he's a good fit for the team. We absolutely, positively, need a big defensive presence down there if we ever want to win anything. Jefferson's a mediocre defender, unfortunately. Now, if you can convince a guy like Gortat to come play for us in the Pollard role, it might just work.

 

[Tetsujin]

From a value perspective, you absolutely have to do a Martin for Jefferson trade. Young star bigs are more valuable, league-wide, than young star SGs. That being said, however, I don't think he's a good fit for the team. We absolutely, positively, need a big defensive presence down there if we ever want to win anything. Jefferson's a mediocre defender, unfortunately. Now, if you can convince a guy like Gortat to come play for us in the Pollard role, it might just work.

Jefferson isn't that young anymore (physically, at least), has debatable stardom, and isn't too big of a big. As you said, Al Jefferson lacks much of a defensive presence at all and that is what we need.

 

[bajaden]

Jefferson isn't that young anymore (physically, at least), has debatable stardom, and isn't too big of a big. As you said, Al Jefferson lacks much of a defensive presence at all and that is what we need.

Now I will admit that Jefferson looks older facially than he is. But the truth is that he's only 25 years old. He's also 6'10" in shoes and weighs 265 pounds. He has a 9'2" vertical reach to go along with it. Now I'm not sure what you consider old and small, but to me he's neither old, nor is he small. He's actually one of the bigger big men in the league. Yes he has had some knee problems, and there are no guarantee's that he won't have more. Truth is, I don't know, and neither do you. So I'll stick to what I do know. He's a better low post player than any player we currently have on the team. He's not a great defensive player, but neither is Amare Stoudemire, and I would bet most people on this fourm would love to have him on the team.

If were just looking for a very good big defensive player, then he's not it. If were looking for a very good big defensive and offensive player, then there's probably not one available. Only so many Garnett's around. If you think that he's just not a good fit for the current team, then point taken.

 

[hammystyle]

Martin's hit a game winning shot in a playoff game. That means something. Al Jefferson's never really played in a meaningful playoff game.

I'm not sure whether this is serious or a joke.