Wesley Matthews had a pretty solid season with the Utah Jazz. It seemed as if he may re-sign, but the swingman will be heading to Portland to play for the Trail Blazers coming into the 2010-11 season. According to the Associated Press, Matthews signed a five-year, $34 million offer.
As an undrafted free agent from Marquette, Matthews entered his second year with the Jazz, having 9.4 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game. Matthews played all 82 games last year, starting 48 of them.
The Trail Blazers held a news conference on the inking of the small forward with a bright future.
“A lot of people respected what I did because of how hard I played, how hard I went. That wasn’t to get a big contract like this. This big contract helps my family out. I’m all right as long as I can play this game. So people that say I’m overpaid, I might be. We never know. I know one thing, I will be in the gym and I will be working to give myself a chance to be the best I can be,” Matthews said.
The Jazz found a replacement quickly for Matthews, signing Raja Bell about a week before this deal went down.
“As only a first-year player last season, he demonstrated a lot of maturity and ability. He’s already one of the best young defenders in the league and offensively he’s an emerging threat,” new Blazers general manager Rich Cho said in a statement. “He’s going to add a lot of versatility to our roster.”
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