GM's Ranked around the NBA

I read online that they have ranked the GM's around the league, and our very own KOC made a good impression the last ten years with the moves he has made. He ended up making the top five. He ended at two only second to Pat Riley, and Riley is at the top because he landed Bosh and Lebron. Here is the article http://www.sbnation.com/2010/7/22/1582380/nba-general-manager-rankings-pat-riley-heat. What they had to say for our good old KOC was this,

"Hired: 1999.

Coaches: Jerry Sloan (1999-present).

Long-term plan: Build a good team that fits Sloan's vision.

Key draft picks: Deron Williams (3rd, 2005), Gordon Hayward (9rd, 2010), Ronnie Brewer (14th, 2006), Kris Humphries (14th, 2004), Kirk Snyder (16th, 2004), Sasha Pavlovic (19th, 2003), Eric Maynor (20th, 2009), CJ Miles (34th, 2005), Paul Millsap (47th, 2006), Mo Williams (47th, 2003),

Key trades:

• 2000: Traded Howard Eisley to the Mavericks, Adam Keefe to the Warriors and a first-round pick to the Celtics for Donyell Marshall.
• 2010: Traded Kosta Koufus and a future first-round pick to the Timberwolves for Al Jefferson.

Key free agent signings: Carlos Boozer in 2004 (six years, $68 million), Mehmet Okur in 2004 and 2009 (six years, $40 million, two years, $21 million), Andrei Kirilenko in 2004 (maximum contract), Matt Harpring in 2006 (five years, $25 million), Deron Williams in 2008 (maximum contract).

Key free agents let go: Boozer (2010), Karl Malone (2003), Derek Fisher (2008).

O'Connor may be the most underappreciated GM in basketball. Nobody does a better job of sticking to a plan. O'Connor has committed to Jerry Sloan as his coach and finds players that perfectly fit his system. Players like Wesley Matthews, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Matt Harpring and even Deron Williams would all have been successful elsewhere, but their success was magnified because they were all perfect fits for Sloan. O'Connor understands that you can't just throw together talent and expect it to jell. You have to find the right kind of talent, and for over a decade, he's done exactly that.

O'Connor has also done a great job managing the luxury tax, something that will always be an issue because Utah is a small market. Last season, he made cost-cutting moves that didn't affect his team's performance, then recovered from losing Carlos Boozer by trading for Al Jefferson. His one mistake was giving Andrei Kirilenko too much money in 2004, but otherwise, his record is impeccable.

The only thing lacking is a championship, but that's tough to do when you only get one top-five pick in a decade. O'Connor used that pick well, and he's made every last move count. That's the mark of a good GM."

Lets go team now and make something happen this year!

Good Fit

The Jazz just added Al Jefferson according to a lot of media reports. It hasn't finalized yet, but they definitely get better in my opinion. Jefferson is longer and younger than Boozer. Add Brewer to the team and we are back to being top 4 in the west again. Just as I was wondering what was going to happen as a Jazz fan this year, KOC pulls out his knack for finding decent players and pulls off this trade. The Jazz also got Raja Bell back, here is to hoping we have the stopper we need.

That looks like it hurt!

In other news, Dan Gilbert got fined 100k for his letter about Lebron, and according to his twitter account (here link to Dan Gilbert on Twitter), he really is acting childish with this whole issue by calling out everyone that is now heading to Miami. Rev. Jesse Jackson probably hit it on the nose by ripping Gilbert in his comments (here link to ESPN article) and I couldn't agree more with him that Gilbert is treating James as a product and not a person. He had his rights as commissioner Stern stated (here link to ESPN article) to do what he wanted. James did show his honesty and sincerity in his "Decision," and ultimately it was his choice. hereA link to good article by Gordon Monson about the issue.

Free Agency

The team has definitely gotten worse with the losses of Boozer and Korver, but there is hope. Millsap is a good up and coming Power Forward in the league and with more minutes a night I feel he can step it up and become a strong player for our team. Plus Boozer is about to hit 30 and not many players get better after the age of 30. Boozer also has only shown up in one big game (Rockets game 7 2007 playoffs), and he has 28% of games over the last 6 years. Boozer also was a 13 points 9 rebounds a game before he got to Utah (a place where Power Forwards thrive, and where Jerry Sloan milks you for all you are worth), so who knows if he can produce with the likes of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose (score first point guard) around him. Hopefully the Jazz can come to terms with Udonis Haslem or someone of his style of play because he could nicely fill in for the missing minutes of Millsap off of the bench (plus he works hard and hustles for every loose ball). I feel that Gordon Hayward will fill in nicely for Korver because he can dribble and pass the ball and he makes those around him better, but his shot will need to improve because Korver is amongst the best at this in the league. I believe the big question comes from what will happen with Memo, and AK. If Memo can return to what he was two years ago when Booz was out with an injury, and AK can return to his All Star level, the team will be much improved from last years team and there will not be any let down. Evans had a nice showing at the summer league and could possibly fit in nicely this fall, that is if he can bulk up by fall and make the team. We did get the TPE from the Boozer deal with the Bulls, so hopefully the Jazz can do something there to help the team and get some parts that will compliment Dwill and make him happy enough to see that the Jazz are dedicated to making a team that is competitive and that can compete for a title.
Around the league everyone is still buzzing about the James decision. I agree that his "decision" show probably was a little silly, but the way the media wants to be involved in everything these days, I am not shocked. James seemed sincere in his choice on TV and worried as to how people would react to him. The way I see it is that he worked hard for 7 years in Cleveland and he got them back into the playoffs and even made a run at the title in 2007 but lost the the San Antonio Spurs. He had his right as a FA to go where he wanted to, and to be honest if I were in his shoes I would have done the same thing. Teaming up with Dwade and Chris Bosh would make them the Ultimate team. It doesn't make him less of a person, because as you hear all the time, this is a business and in business if you want to be successful you want to package the best stuff. They did really well in the olympics together, so we will have to see what they can put around them in Miami with the money they have left over. My prediction is that the Heat are the team to beat for the next few years. As to my opinion of what the Cavs owner did, he could have been humble about the fact that he just lost the league MVP, but he decided to take the selfish route and blame it all on James. Very interesting articles are out there, and it will be interesting to see how David Stern reacts to it, but James took the higher road and said he didn't want to get into it when asked about the owner's reaction. here link to ESPN article