2013 Offseason Assessment of Flip

[Papalrep]

The Jazz are going to be a great team, unless they let Kahn draft for them

[bleedspeed]

The Jazz are going to be a great team, unless they let Kahn draft for them

Jazz have a nice young lineup. It will be interesting how they do next season. I don't see them winning 30 games though.

[KiwiMatt]

The Jazz are going to be a great team, unless they let Kahn draft for them

Jazz have a nice young lineup. It will be interesting how they do next season. I don't see them winning 30 games though.

It's obivous the Jazz are in tank mode or should I say Wiggins mode. I think Utah, Milwaukee and Philly battle it out for worst team.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

You're forgetting about SAC, PHO and LAL.

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

World K and Lip.....

Listen to the funkadelic from 7/19 from about the 33 minute mark on. This is where Flip talks about AK and he does mention that he "made a pitch to bring him back" after the opt out. He also says that AK thought he was "worth what he was making" in a long term deal. (ie 10 mil per)

Barrero mentions the 3 years 7 mil or 6 mil deal and Flip says he doesnt want to get into specifics but then later says he did make a pitch to keep him just not at the 10 mil price.

With all thats been said on this I find it hard to believe that after AK walked out of the 10 mil option, Flip didnt make an offer of any kind to retain him. I believe these comments are Flip saying he made the offer but AK rejected.

http://www.kfan.com/player/?station=KFXN-FM&program_name=podcast&program_id=KFAN_Barreiro.xml&mid=23480647

[Lipoli390]

Maelstrom - thanks for posting the interview. I listened to the whole thing again. Reminded me how great an interview it was. Dan asked great questions and got a lot of good information out of Flip. I encourage others go listen to it.

As for the AK portion, you're right about Flip's reference to AK wanting to keep making what he was making, but Flip also went out of his way to mention his concern about AK's "availability", meaning his tendency to miss games. I take Flip at his word that he "made a pitch," but listening carefully to everything Flip says and the way he says it, it seems clear he wasn't enthusiastic about bringing AK back and I suspect that message got through to AK. No acrimony or disrespect on Flip's part, just a different directionthan Kahn. We'll never know exactly what "pitch" was made, but considering what AK ultimately settled for and the fact that he liked it here and loved playing for Adelman, I doubt he was holding out for 3 years at $10 million each. just s hunch, but based on some pretty good clues.

But honestly, I'm not overly concerned about losing AK. That's not going to be the difference in whether this team progresses into a championship contender. So I'm fine not signing AK to a 3 year deal, whether for $6, $7 or $8 million per year. His injury tendencies and age were legitimate concerns for a 3 or 4 year deal. I respect Flip's thinking on this. Right now, how far this team progresses will turn on the following:

1. Whether Love stays healthy, improves defensively and plays consistently on the offensive end at the level he played two years ago.

2. Whether Ricky gets his knee back to 100%, stays healthy and improves his perimeter shooting to at least the level we used to see from Jason Kidd

3. Whether Pek re-signs and stays healthy, giving us the consistent 18 points, 9 boards and good lateral/positional defense he's capable of when healthy

4. Whether Martin stays healthy and can play the next 3-4 years of his contract at close to the level we used to see from him in is prime

5. Whether Dieng can emerge as a top rim protector and major contributor off the bench backing up Pek

6. Whether at least one of our talented young guys other than Dieng - i.e. Williams, Shved, or Shabazz -- emerges as a very good two-way 6th man or starter within the next few years. I'm looking for Williams to possibly emerge this coming season.

[Monster]

You're forgetting about SAC, PHO and LAL.

Sac got better this offseason they aren't going to be that bad.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

And as much as I would like to see the Lakers flop, any team that starts out with Bryant, Nash and Gasol is going to be just fine. Most knowledgeable basketball people see the end of the Dwightmare as a positive, and Kamen will actually be more of an offensive force than Howard was. They will still be horrible defensively, but will score enough to be at least a .500 team.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

They're going to get absolutely throttled by the West, which in turn makes them bad. They're not horrendous, but they are still bad. Landry, Moute, Vasquez, McLemore were brought in. Solid if you're a contending team and those are role players with one above average in Vasquez. Still a bottom feeder.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yeah, Sacramento is going to struggle to win 25 games. Cousins is going to go nuts this year...he doesn't handle losing well.