You Get What You Pay For

The Jazz backcourt this year was terrible even before trading Deron Williams. Raja Bell has been an unquestionable failure as a starting shooting guard. The team has invested the majority of their resources (most notably cash) to the frontcourt by paying Millsap, Jefferson and Okur. They went for size and tried to manage the shooting guard position on the cheap. Instead of paying Kyle Korver $5M a year they signed Raja Bell for  $3M a year. Instead of matching the Blazers offer for Wes Matthews the Jazz went out and signed someone like Earl Watson.

I decided to do some analysis by looking at what guards left last year’s team compared to some of the current options. The former Jazz players make about twice as much as the current Jazz backcourt options. They are twice as expensive, but have produced more than three times as many wins. Below is a chart comparing the former players with the current players:

When looking at Raja Bell play what Jazz fan can’t help but think of how much better the team would be with Matthews, Korver or Brewer. Instead of Ronnie Price missing shot after shot as the backup point guard, the Jazz could have at least had Eric Maynor provide a little more value. The Jazz had the options, but decided to do things cheaply, and that could be one of the reasons why this season has gone so poorly. For the Jazz they didn’t get what they paid for – they got less.