Portland Trail Blazers Sign Wesley Matthews to Offer Sheet: The Perfect Target
Note: Fan Huddle , the site on which I have written about the Portland Trail Blazers for the past year, is experiencing some technical difficulties. They are so serious, in fact, that the site cannot even be accessed. Until the problem is fixed, I will be writing articles about the team here. Enjoy!
Without a General Manager, Portland’s front office is lacking leadership. Given their previous inquiries, I was afraid co-GMs Mike Born and Chad Buchanan would make an impulsive and unnecessary move in free agency. The team needs a shooter, but some have argued they need a dependable point guard despite their depth at that position. Yet signing a pure scorer should be their main objective. And it appears it is.
The Blazers extended an offer sheet to Wesley Matthews, an undrafted signing by the Utah Jazz, who was very valuable during his rookie season and into the playoffs. The offer, reported by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, spans five years and is worth $34 million. The deal is believed to be very front-loaded, and the annual salary takes up all of their mid-level exception.
Matthews signed the offer sheet, meaning he will be a Blazer if the Jazz do not match the deal within the next seven days.
Formerly of Marquette University, he is a 23-year-old, 6’5″, 220-pound shooting guard, a perfectly built prototype for his position.
He averaged nine points per game during the regular season, made 48 percent of his field goals, and 38 percent of his three-pointers while playing superb defense in all 82 regular-season games. He really made a name for himself in the playoffs, averaging 13 points despite watching both shooting percentages dip.
He’s not worth $34 million, but with the money that has been handed out in this free-agency period it is not surprising. He’s predominately enticing because of his defensive ability. And, if indeed signed, he would join a cavalcade of defensive stars: Nicolas Batum, Greg Oden, and Marcus Camby. But here’s the question: Will the Jazz match?
They were certainly high on him, and he was extremely valuable, but Portland has made an offer that would drastically overpay, so I find it unlikely that Utah would give him that kind of money.
GMs around the league believe they should match, and that could be in part because, coupled with the loss of Kyle Korver to the Chicago Bulls, the Jazz would be very thin on the wings. Losing both Korver and power forward Carlos Boozer over the past few days could motivate the Jazz to keep him, despite the price being fairly high.
In the event that Utah doesn’t retain him, Matthews would bring a lot to the table for other teams.
He has a high basketball I.Q., his toughness is praised, he can spread the floor with a smooth and efficient shooting stroke, and he can play stifling perimeter defense. With Korver, Anthony Morrow, and J.J. Redick off the board, Portland needed to be aggressive in filling a desperate need.
He should fit into head coach Nate McMillan’s system very well. McMillan has always desired defensive-minded players, and Matthews fits the bill.
The contract would pay him $9.2 million next year. This was done with hopes that the expense would be too much for the Jazz to bear. Yet, last offseason, Portland offered their restricted free-agent power forward a four-year, $32 million deal to see it matched. If the same transpires this time around, the Blazers will be forced to look elsewhere. If it isn’t, the team will have found a gem.
