I’m going to be honest with you Jazz fans, the options that we have at shooting guard aren’t that great; however a few could do what we need. Which if you haven’t heard by now is hit an open shot and play some perimeter defense. By the time you exclude free agents that have already signed, or players that are on the Jerry Sloan all-star rejects list there’s not a lot left.To appease the masses I will unveil my potential list; fyi Doug Stats (http://www.dougstats.com/) has Mo’ Pete listed as a Small Forward but I went ahead an included him here.
And now on to the show my friends.
Level I – Elite Eight
Because Derek Fisher was our starting shooting guard last season, I have used him in the comparisons; however I don’t like this as Derek is more of a point guard so it may skew the results a little. With that said, I have not limited the free agents based on age or minutes played; only based on their overall comparisons to Derek Fisher. The following players were better or equal to Derek Fisher in eight of thirteen statistical categories. The list follows alphabetically:
Kelenna Azubuike –
Azubuike played 670 minutes for the Golden State Warriors last year, which included playing time in 41 games; and nine starts. He shot approximately 45% from inside the arch, and 43% from behind. Which makes sense with Nellie’s run and gun style. Azubuile also gathered twenty-two steals and ten blocks at only 6’5”.
The bad, Azubuike gave up thirty-nine turnover to twenty-eight assists, which gives him a .71 assist to turnover rate. Asubuike is also a restricted free agent this year; which allows Golden State to match any offer that he is given. I expect them to counter any offer that he may receive.
But it would be cool to have Fez and Az on the same team.
Eddie House –
What’s not to like about a 6’1” shooting guard? And why every time that I see his name spelled out do I think the TV show House, and picture our shooting guard walking around with a cane.
Eddie actually has some pretty solid stats; he shot 43% from inside and outside the arch, as well as 92% from the free throw line. He had solid assist to turnover numbers coming in about 2.5 to 1, and he was able to grab 92 boards.
But, and that’s a big but. He is twenty-nine years old and has already played on seven teams in seven years as a pro. I imagine that the better years for House are behind him; and given his vertically challenged stature; I personally wouldn’t look to sign him.
Mickael Pietrus –
The Warriors have Pietrus, Azubuike, and Bellinelli at the two guard spot; the prior two are both restricted free agents this year; so which one is the likely one to leave. My feeling is that it’s Azubuike; but I could be wrong. Pietrus has some decent stats, but I’m not feeling any type of a man crush toward him. Let’s hope that he stays in Golden State, by the way his picture looks an awful lot like Dikembe.
Morris Peterson –
Morris Peterson –
Wow, Morris ended up in the Level I group; the way that worked out was almost like I rigged it or something. Seriously, though it wasn’t tweaked in anyway to reflect that the Jazz should highly consider Morris Peterson.
Let’s give a good thorough breakdown on Peterson since in about two days he will be a member of the Jazz, or as soon as he and his agent realize that no one is going to give him a five year deal. First, all of Peterson’s numbers for shooting were better than Fisher’s he had a true and effective field goal percentage above 53%, which is phenomenal. In addition, though some have knocked Peterson, especially here on local radio; his defense statistically appears to be effective. Having solid numbers in the blocks per personal foul and steals per personal foul categories.
There are however, a few downfalls to Morris’ game. First, from the categories evaluated he was toward the bottom for assists per game, he was last in number of assists to field goals attempted; and was only middle of the pack in assists to turnovers.
On top of that; of all the players analyzed, Morris had the highest three point attempts per field goals attempted of any other player. More than half of all his shots were from behind the arch, something likely to not bode well with Jerry Sloan who preaches layups first and jump shots second.
The last knock on his game is whether or not he plays aggressive enough offensively for the Jazz system; Fisher averaged almost half a free throw attempt for every field goal attempt. Morris on the other hand only averaged a little less than a quarter of an attempt for every field goal, only four players were lower statistically.
Away from his game, the biggest downfall of Morris is his contractual demands; he and his agent are asking for 5 years and $32 million. Gulp!!!
I’ll let Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman sum up my feelings about Peterson. “Oh Ron” ahem Morris, “there are literally thousands of other men that I should be with instead, but I am 72 percent sure that I love you.”
Level II –
I was going to spend a lot of time giving nice synopsis about the players here; but I think I ‘m going to give you a couple of highlights about them and leave you with this thought. Not one of them would be an upgrade, in my humble opinion; over any of our current players.
Dermarr Johnson -
I could pass Dermarr on the street and never know it. Like Mo’ Pete, Dermarr has never seen a three pointer that he didn’t like. From the statistical analysis point of view, the only bright side to Dermarr is that he plays better defense than Derek Fisher. However, I’m a little concerned that New Orleans is more interested in trying to sign Mo’ Pete than resigning this guy. This screams Lindsay Lohan type issues to me.
Dahntay Jones –
Let’s give a good thorough breakdown on Peterson since in about two days he will be a member of the Jazz, or as soon as he and his agent realize that no one is going to give him a five year deal. First, all of Peterson’s numbers for shooting were better than Fisher’s he had a true and effective field goal percentage above 53%, which is phenomenal. In addition, though some have knocked Peterson, especially here on local radio; his defense statistically appears to be effective. Having solid numbers in the blocks per personal foul and steals per personal foul categories.
There are however, a few downfalls to Morris’ game. First, from the categories evaluated he was toward the bottom for assists per game, he was last in number of assists to field goals attempted; and was only middle of the pack in assists to turnovers.
On top of that; of all the players analyzed, Morris had the highest three point attempts per field goals attempted of any other player. More than half of all his shots were from behind the arch, something likely to not bode well with Jerry Sloan who preaches layups first and jump shots second.
The last knock on his game is whether or not he plays aggressive enough offensively for the Jazz system; Fisher averaged almost half a free throw attempt for every field goal attempt. Morris on the other hand only averaged a little less than a quarter of an attempt for every field goal, only four players were lower statistically.
Away from his game, the biggest downfall of Morris is his contractual demands; he and his agent are asking for 5 years and $32 million. Gulp!!!
I’ll let Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman sum up my feelings about Peterson. “Oh Ron” ahem Morris, “there are literally thousands of other men that I should be with instead, but I am 72 percent sure that I love you.”
Level II –
I was going to spend a lot of time giving nice synopsis about the players here; but I think I ‘m going to give you a couple of highlights about them and leave you with this thought. Not one of them would be an upgrade, in my humble opinion; over any of our current players.
Dermarr Johnson -
I could pass Dermarr on the street and never know it. Like Mo’ Pete, Dermarr has never seen a three pointer that he didn’t like. From the statistical analysis point of view, the only bright side to Dermarr is that he plays better defense than Derek Fisher. However, I’m a little concerned that New Orleans is more interested in trying to sign Mo’ Pete than resigning this guy. This screams Lindsay Lohan type issues to me.
Dahntay Jones –
I wouldn’t mind too much if the Jazz made a move here. Dahntay is an ex-Dukie, who played along side Boozer. For years Jazz fans have talked about how great it would be to sign Corey Maggette; well one of the best aspects of Dahntay’s games is his ability to get to the line a la Corey Maggette. He went to the free throw line .38 times per field goal try. Of all the free agents included in the list; his was the highest; and while at the line he knocks down approximately 80% of his shots.
Dahntay has good shooting percentages knocking down 48% inside the arch and 42% outside. He looks to be a little turnover prone but that’s the knock on Morris Almond as well. I think this would be a great piece, and I think we could get him for Giricek type money or possible less..
Tarance Kinsey –
Another Memphis shooting guard that is available. Tarance shots the ball almost as well as Dahntay from inside the arch, but from outside he is terrible. Let’s put it this way, Araujo’s career three point percentage is only three hundredths worse than Tarance’s.
The positive about Tarance is that he plays really good defense. He had the highest steals per game of the group; and the numbers held up when you looked at steals per personal foul; which he was almost at one steal per personal foul. I would liken Tarance to Ronnie Brewer; probably a good slasher; gets easy point near the basket, but his shot isn’t anything to write home about. Personally I would rather just stick with Ronnie.
Desmond Mason –
Desmond Mason, played and started 75 games last year, shot the ball 900 times, not one of those were a three pointer. His free throw percentage was only 66%, and had more turnovers than assists. Oh by the way, he made eight plus million dollars last year. Mo’ Pete will be a much better bargain for the Hornets, but man this kid can score with style.
“And that’s all I got to say about that.”
Level III –
Unlike the Point Guards the players here seem to have a more potential to turn into something special.
C.J. Miles –
The guy has enough Tremendous Upside Potential that if he would have gone to college Dick Vitale would have blown two arteries talking about him on draft night. Unfortunately for C.J. and the Jazz, he opted out of college; and has now spent more time in the Jerry Sloan doghouse than Greg Ostertag. To top things off, C.J. opted to not participate in the Rocky Mountain Review this summer; which made Jerry a little less than happy. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,685192661,00.html
Needless to say this isn’t going to bode well for C.J., if the Jazz chose to bring him back; which now does not seem like a fore gone conclusion. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about C.J. we all know what he is capable of; it’s whether he will get the Deshawn treatment or not that keeps us fans on pins and needles.
Donnell Taylor –
Let’s face it, at the end of the list is not a good place to be. Donnell may turn in to a nice backup someday; but he doesn’t address any needs that we have right now.
Summary:
There you have it Jazz fans two or three potential shooting guards that could fill the Jazz needs. At this point I don’t think we will see C.J. in a Jazz uniform next season; and anticipate that the starting line up will be Giricek, Brewer, and Almond. For those of you ga-ga over Mo’ Pete; I ask that you help me start a sign Dahntay Jones petition and save our cap space for another big man.
Stay tuned the big man update is coming soon.
Free Agents Excluded:
- Vince Carter
- Matt Carroll
- Devin Brown
- Jerry Stackhouse
- DeShawn Stevenson
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