The Downbeat - 1 July 2010 - #262 - The Oh, Canada! Ehdition

Son of a ...

Portland has targeted Utah’s restricted free agent Wesley Matthews, who had a surprising rookie season after going undrafted out of Marquette.

– Adrian Wojnarowski, June 30, 10:30 ET

I'm not a cap expert or even an apprentice but the Blazers are just over the cap ($57M) with about $58.8M in salaries. So that means that they could only offer Matthews the MLE which will be around $6M this season.

If they end up making an offer to Matthews with only the intent of "poisoning" the Jazz like they did with Millsap, I look forward to another year of injuries for them.

It looks like Ronnie Brewer was the victim of another logjam in Memphis. He wasn't offered a QO by last night which means he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The QO was only for $3.7M but the Grizzlies are doing everything they can to re-sign Rudy Gay and they need the money,

Assuming the team retains Gay at a starting salary in the $10-$13 million range — and they seem to be operating on that assumption — then the team's payroll would be in the $59-$62 million range with 12 roster players. If Brewer didn't get any free agent offers and merely accepted the $3.7 million qualifying offer, then that could push the payroll to something approaching $66 million. The league's luxury tax — a threshold this team will not cross, at least not under the current circumstances — has been estimated at $68 million, but could come in a little lower than that. So, if Gay's deal comes in at the high end and the luxury tax were to come in at the low end, then merely retaining Brewer on the seemingly cheapish qualifying offer could have the team bumping up against the luxury tax, making it difficult to add one more player to the roster and removing much roster flexibility to respond to in-season injuries.

They also drafted three SGs in the draft: Xavier Henry, Dominique Jones, and combo guard Greivis Vasquez. In addition, though his playing time was limited, the above article states that Brewer never really seemed to fit into the offense there.

So, could we see Ronnie B return to the Jazz? I wouldn't think so. We would have another jamming of logs and the Jazz won't have the cash to do so, especially if they have to use up their MLE on Matthews.

The move now makes the Jazz FO look better as Memphis gave up a first-round pick for pretty much nothing.

From Siler,

Let's hope that dialogue included sign and trade possibilities. It had to be discussed along with bringing him back. Boozer knows that he need the cooperation of the Jazz for him to land a max contract with another team hence him saying all the right things this summer on his 2010 radio tour.

You can look at Karl Malone and John Stockton as an example of just how long they played together before they were consistent contenders but I really think that the Jazz have reached their ceiling with the Deron and Boozer combo. That's not saying that Millsap is the answer either but unless the Jazz were able to land a great defensive center to cover up for Boozer, I just don't see them advancing past where they are now.

Heaven help us if Carlos Boozer is still here in 6 years and Deron Williams is not.

Kyle Korver gone?

With NBA rumors buzzing like a stadium full of vuvuzelas, a source close to Jazz unrestricted free agent Kyle Korver said the 3-point sharpshooter doesn't believe he is coming back to Utah.

"The pick actually stunned all the Jazz guys," the source said.

"He's about 95 percent certain that he's not coming back," the source said Wednesday, hours before the start of the NBA's free agency period.

The source also said it was a "shocker" for Korver when the Jazz recently selected 6-foot-8 small forward Gordon Hayward with the No. 9 pick in the draft.

"Everything they were telling him was on the lines (that) they were going to go after a big guy down low," said the source, who asked not to be identified.

Instead, the Jazz took Hayward, a wing player whose skill set is similar to Korver's.

I have to wonder if that source is Deron's friend, Matt Mitnick. He's close to all of the players and since it wasn't listed as a team source, my bet it on him. Maybe one of our Dodge Barrage teams should be a bunch of Kyle's pink 26 jerseys for old time's sake?

Thursday poll,