"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[Jacob]

Who is available next year in free agency when we have all this cash to spend?

Dwight and cp3, of course.

[MarkGrace]

Who is available next year in free agency when we have all this cash to spend?

I was trying to find a concrete list last night but didn't turn up a good one. I know it's expected to be better than FA '12, but even if they don't turn up a marquee player, I still think it's a sound strategy. With the hard cap kicking in next year (and people are saying that guys like Mayo are evidence that teams are already starting to think about the new cap) and a lot of teams already locked into deals with players, they'll have more to spend than any other team in a market where everything is basically on sale.

I read KOC's comments differently than some. By short-term he doesn't mean this year, he means the next two to three versus the next five to six. To me this means not that they won't add a player this year (like they did with Mo), but they're not going to go out and sign a guy like OJ Mayo to a 3 year $15mm deal or something. He's a short-term help but spending money on him now impinges what they can do in the next one or two free agency periods where in theory they should be able to get more value for their dollar.

Who knows, maybe it will backfire. But for now I'm on board and think it's the right move. We get this year to get a better feel for the young 4, and then have two 1st rounders next year (that we can hopefully turn into a top 10 or something) and a pile of cash to start filing in around them. The only way I see them deviating from this plan is if a young (in the 23-25 range to fit in with the rest of the group) and established talent (I'm thinking like a Harden or Gordon) at a position of need is available at a reasonable value. The odds of that happening, though, probably aren't great.

[The_Douger]

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say neither of those guys comes to Utah.

What are we going to do next?

[MarkGrace]

Dwight and cp3, of course.

Yeah I think both are unrestricted. Harden could potentially be available as well (kind of a long shot).

[The_Douger]

Yeah I think both are unrestricted. Harden could potentially be available as well (kind of a long shot).

i guess I just don't want to see us go out and pick up a pair of redundant guys like we did years ago with Boozer and Okur, and then be stuck in a spot where the team can't beat the good teams, but certainly won't suck enough to get anyone good in the draft.

[Maximus]

Have no fear, Evans> Dwill

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8115144/nba-ranking-free-agents-future-projected-per

The top 10

1. Ryan Anderson (2013 Age: 24)
Estimated PER: 21.8; Status: RFA
Anderson

Anderson has always had sparkling per-minute numbers and last season, he took a major step forward in playing time. The combination of efficiency and opportunity marked him as an All-Star caliber talent. Unfortunately, his performance lagged after Dwight Howard was injured. With Howard potentially on his way out of Orlando, it's entirely possible that the new Magic regime will view him as too expensive to retain.

2. Brook Lopez (2013 Age: 24)
Estimated PER: 21.7; Status: RFA
Lopez

It was just five games, but last season Lopez's problematic rebounding numbers were unbelievably low for an NBA center. His troubles in that area seem to get worse with each season. For the Nets, that may present a problem both in terms of counting on him as a building block and using him as a trade chip. While the defense and rebuilding are lax, few big men have Lopez's upside as a scorer. Brooklyn obviously won't let him walk, but whether Lopez remains a Net, he's got to be paired up with an impact interior defender.

3. Jeremy Evans (2013 Age: 25)
Estimated PER: 21.0; Status: RFA
Evans

You won't see Evans this high up on many top free-agent lists but, again, we're ranking players by a bottom-line metric. The fact of the matter is that Evans has been remarkably efficient so far in his career, posting a .665 true shooting percentage in two NBA seasons. Sure, that's because he dunks about everything he gets his hands on, but he's also got crazy-good shot-blocking numbers. He's only played 680 minutes in two NBA seasons and may be hopelessly stuck behind a logjam of big men in Utah. It would be really interesting to see what Evans could do with a regular rotation role.

4. Tim Duncan (2013 Age: 36)
Estimated PER: 20.9; Status: UFA
Duncan

As we saw throughout the playoffs, Duncan is still a franchise-type performer. Wouldn't it be a gas to see him just up and change teams? But we know that's not going to happen. Whether it's one season, two seasons or more, Duncan is a Spur for life. In the grand scheme of things, that's a really refreshing thought.

5. Deron Williams (2013 Age: 28)
Estimated PER: 20.7; Status: UFA
Williams

You might have assumed that Williams would be the default top free agent and, in reality, he is. His estimated PER would rank on top if it were based on his past three seasons in Utah. As a Net, Williams has had to shoulder too much of the scoring load and his efficiency has taken a hit as a result. He's still one of the league's best guards, but he's 28 and probably as good as he's ever going to be. Still, he's the best unrestricted free agent who might actually switch teams. The problem for the majority of the league is that Williams has pretty much promised to either stay with the Nets or return to his hometown of Dallas. At least he's honest about his intentions.

[MarkGrace]

Summer league starts July 9th.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Are the Jazz wining and dining any FAs this week?

[MarkGrace]

Are the Jazz wining and dining any FAs this week?

Danny Green!

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Danny Green!

When are they going to bring in Harold Arceneaux?

[MarkGrace]

When are they going to bring in Harold Arceneaux?

I'd rather see Eddie Gill as the 6th PG behind Burks.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

PK tweets that possible destination for Devin Harris is Atlanta in exchange for Marvin Williams. But Williams has a $7.5 M player option next year; not sure if it is a partial guarantee. And I'm not sure why I'm bothering listing something that PK tweeted w/o any corroborating report.

Would mean picking Mo up made a lot more sense, both on the Jazz end and why Mo and his agent would agree to pick up the option for one year instead of trying to secure a long-term contract. Now he'd get to start at PG in a contract year, instead of playing 25 mpg off the bench in LA.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

"Gordon Hayward made important athletic and physical gains last off-season. In this clip we see Gordon Hayward's 2012 drop to depth jump and a force plate graph comparison. The solid blue line represents his vertical force from the 6/24/12 test. The dotted blue line represents his vertical force from the 5/3/2011 test. Both were off-season P3 entrance tests..Here are a few things that stand out - Initial contact force down 16%, peak concentric force up 61.6% and 36.6% less ground contact time. Gordon has greatly improved his ability to utilize the stretch shortening cycle. This translates to Gordon having more power and efficiency in many basketball specific movements and actions."

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=482079585154815

[MarkGrace]

I swear I need a translator for most of those P3 entries.

[Jacob]

PK tweets that possible destination for Devin Harris is Atlanta in exchange for Marvin Williams. But Williams has a $7.5 M player option next year; not sure if it is a partial guarantee. And I'm not sure why I'm bothering listing something that PK tweeted w/o any corroborating report.

Would mean picking Mo up made a lot more sense, both on the Jazz end and why Mo and his agent would agree to pick up the option for one year instead of trying to secure a long-term contract. Now he'd get to start at PG in a contract year, instead of playing 25 mpg off the bench in LA.

Marvin is a below average NBA player, right?
I'd rather pay AK 8m/yr for 2 years. But the Jazz can't sign any free agents now, I suppose.