The Downbeat - 28 December 2009 - #131 - The Holiday Hangover Edition

  The Jazz could be signing a PG this week.  Scott at Ridiculous upside breaks down some top candidates.  Could we see a return of a couple of former Jazz men?

  Thanks to BC7 for forwarding this on.  Here's a letter from Greg Miller to season ticket holders after the Maynor trade.  Also, so as to not get lost in the message, Greg is now on twitter, http://twitter.com/GregInUtah

December 23, 2009

Dear Jazz Season Ticket Holder:

As a follow-up to yesterday’s trade, I want to personally let you know why we made the decision we did as we value your commitment to the Jazz.

1.       Fact: I want the Utah Jazz to win.

2.       Fact: The Jazz need to be financially viable in the long run.

3.       Fact: Unfortunately, due to Matt Harpring’s numerous injuries, he is unable to play. This means the Jazz is paying $13 million (salary and luxury tax) and getting nothing in return.

4.       Fact: I am not happy about trading Eric Maynor.

The genesis of yesterday’s trade began last summer when Boozer, Okur and Korver all exercised their option to continue to play for the Utah Jazz. I was surprised, but happy when all three were back on our roster at the start of this season.

Portland then made their run at Millsap in the late summer. As a franchise, we believe in Paul and hope he has a long and prosperous career with the Utah Jazz. Because of this, I felt strongly that we needed to make an unprecedented move to match Portland’s offer and keep Paul here. Doing this meant for the first time in franchise history, the Jazz entered the luxury tax realm. To me the reason for this is obvious: Millsap can help us win.

It is important to note that from a financial standpoint this is a double negative—first because we have to pay one dollar of luxury tax for every dollar of player salary over the luxury tax threshold and second, because the teams that pay luxury tax forfeit their ability to collect their share of the tax paid by teams over the limit.

We entered the season committed to an all-time-high salary expense. We did it with our eyes wide open.  I don’t mind paying the luxury tax for healthy players that can help us win, but it is very difficult for me to pay the money and not have the benefit of a player’s services. The trade with Oklahoma City resolved this concern.

Having the league’s premier point guard in Deron Williams, and a veteran backup in Ronnie Price, took some of the sting out of this decision.

Again, I am not happy about trading Eric Maynor away and truly wish him the best going forward.

I appreciate the years Matt Harpring played with the Jazz. His toughness and work ethic are consistent with the values of this organization. Matt will always be part of the Jazz family.

My family and I appreciate your continued support of the Jazz and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Greg Miller

CEO

  The NBA released the second round of all-star voting results just before the holiday break.  I completely missed them.  Here are the results in the West:

WESTERN CONFERENCE Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 1,204,234; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 668,243; Pau Gasol (LAL) 565,414; Tim Duncan (SA) 564,728; Kevin Durant (OKC) 406,581; Trevor Ariza (Hou) 355,529; Luis Scola (Hou) 295,691; Shawn Marion (Dal) 268,853; Ron Artest (LAL) 197,689; Lamar Odom (LAL) 152,684; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 129,909.

Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,380,383; Steve Nash (Pho) 546,064; Tracy McGrady (Hou) 541,190; Chris Paul (NO) 521,468; Jason Kidd (Dal) 372,225; Aaron Brooks (Hou) 298,892; Chauncey Billups (Den) 241,737; Deron Williams (Utah) 208,991; Jason Terry (Dal) 195,456; Brandon Roy (Por) 189,137; Manu Ginobili (SA) 171,624.

Centers: Amar’e Stoudemire (Pho) 950,737; Andrew Bynum (LAL) 588,471; Nene (Den) 199,667; Marc Gasol (Mem) 160,686; Greg Oden (Por) 108,147; Al Jefferson (Min) 98,669; Antonio McDyess (SA) 94,479; Marcus Camby (LAC) 86,719; Andris Biedrins (GS) 77,287; Mehmet Okur (Utah) 69,612; Emeka Okafor (NO) 61,823; Spencer Hawes (Sac) 20,646.

The only good news is that Nash overtook McGrady for #2 on the guard list.  The reason that's good is that McGrady won't steal a spot on the team from someone else.  It's even better for Deron because it would have made it that more difficult for him to get picked even by the coaches with Nash and Paul not being in.

The bad news of course being that it's not likely that DWill will be voted in by the fans.  Still a lot of time to vote though.  It would be nice to get him in above Brooks, Billups, and Kidd.  He seems kind of down though about not getting voted in:

Williams said he isn't paying attention to the balloting process and didn't know he is only in eighth place among West guards.

"I know I'm not going to get voted in," Williams said, "so it doesn't matter."

Sucks to hear him say something like that but now he can just turn his focus to the game.

Surprising that Boozer still hasn't cracked the list yet given the year he's having.  But like someone said in one of the comments, if Jazz fans aren't even voting for him...