"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[MarkGrace]

As long as I've known him, Kevin O'Connor has never been a fan of tanking. The reason being that a culture of losing starts forming and that playing meaningful basketball is as important to a player's development as playing lots of minutes.

For years, the Jazz have embodied that philosophy. This year, that's all changing.

With Dennis Lindsey now leading the team and the NBA landscape changing, the Jazz have joined the teams "Riggin' for Wiggins." And somewhere, O'Connor's blood pressure is soaring.

The team is loaded with young talent already. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter have been mentored for several seasons behind veterans, and both have the potential to be All-Stars someday. Ditto for Gordon Hayward. And lots of people on the team are high on Alec Burks as well. So deciding to let Milsap, Jefferson and Williams walk this summer was about more than just tanking -- it was about giving their young core a chance before difficult decisions have to be made in free agency.

The newest addition to that young core is Burke, who the Jazz traded up to get. While I was higher on a couple of other point guards in the draft, I understand that the Jazz need a leader for their young team and what Burke possesses in spades is moxy. His lack of size and elite athletic ability were exposed at summer league. But he's a tough player who plays with a chip on his shoulder and he should find a way to overcome his physical weaknesses.

The drafting of Gobert was also about upside. He's not ready to play in the NBA, but his 7-foot-9 wingspan and his work ethic were too much for the Jazz to pass on. Clark, the MVP of the championship game at the Las Vegas Summer League, also gives them a young player who can score from both positions in the backcourt.

Biedrins, Jefferson and Rush were all throws-in so that the Jazz could get a hold of the Warriors' 2014 and 2016 first-round picks. Biedrins and Rush both have upside and could end up getting minutes this season, and perhaps even another contract in Utah.

If the Jazz are going to be bad, they only want to be bad for one year -- and they picked the right year to do it. The competition in the West was likely too stiff to make the playoffs anyway. Next year's draft is loaded, and a year of leadership experience for Hayward, Favors, Kanter, Burks and Burke is a good thing.

Flush with cash next summer, the Jazz can re-sign who they want, add others via free agency and move right back into being contenders in 2014-15.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...on-grades-west

Rush seem to always get referred to as a throw-in, but I've always been of the impression that they actually wanted him.

[Jacob]

From Zack Lowe: "Executives around the league were at a loss as to why the Jazz didn't make a strong play for Harden when OKC was dealing him last year." (paraphrase)

[The_Douger]

I thought that's what they should have done.

[MarkGrace]

Five young players on the spot.

Alec Burks, Utah Jazz

This summer, Utah parted ways with Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson and the very pretense of competing for a playoff spot immediately. The youth movement is in full force, and while prospects such as power forward Derrick Favors, center Enes Kanter and point guard Trey Burke will step into big roles for the Jazz, I’m particularly interested to see what third-year guard Burks does with the opportunity.

Burks, 22, the 12th pick in 2011, is already a decent perimeter shooter who gravitates toward the corners and navigates the baseline as a cutter well. He’s a good enough ball handler to make moves in transition or take advantage of lax defense, but he’s better suited for life off the ball. That could be a problem if he were expected to create more consistently, but Burks is set to fill a nice role in between the ball-dominant Burke and the more versatile Gordon Hayward in Utah’s perimeter rotation, from which he can space the floor and attack selectively.

He’ll need to work on his defense, though, as Burks reads help situations poorly and is still learning how to navigate screens. He’d benefit from not having to defend point guards on such a regular basis. When not trying to keep up with the super-quick, Burks did OK at keeping ball handlers in front of him and fighting to make up ground when his man got past him. He’s just susceptible to so many of the little quirks that plague young defenders — biting on pump fakes when trailing, digging down to help against a post player at the wrong moment, mishandling the process of going under a screen, etc. He can learn a bit by playing more, but Burks has to improve his fundamental understanding of defense if he’s ever going to be a starting-caliber player on a good team.

http://nba.si.com/2013/08/01/jeremy-...r_a4&eref=sihp

I disagree that he's better suited off ball. Right now I'm starting Rush and giving Burks the role Hayward played most of last year.

[MarkGrace]

In Lindsey's most recent interview he says he's talked to the coaching staff about incorporating the corner 3 to a greater degree. Can he just become the coach already? Anyway, he said this was one of the reasons they had interest in Ian Clark. You can tell he's really going after the SA model here by surrounding the core guys with players who will hopefully grow into specialist type roles. He referred to wanting to have every guy on the floor be a weapon or a threat. Weapons are your main attack guys and the key to running your sets, threats are guys who can space the floor and knock down shots when open. Every interview he gives he talks about needing more shooting.

I think this is part of the reason we see Burks come off the bench. Clark also seems like a solid backcourt pairing with Burks.

[Jacob]

In Lindsey's most recent interview he says he's talked to the coaching staff about incorporating the corner 3 to a greater degree. Can he just become the coach already? Anyway, he said this was one of the reasons they had interest in Ian Clark. You can tell he's really going after the SA model here by surrounding the core guys with players who will hopefully grow into specialist type roles. He referred to wanting to have every guy on the floor be a weapon or a threat. Weapons are your main attack guys and the key to running your sets, threats are guys who can space the floor and knock down shots when open. Every interview he gives he talks about needing more shooting.

I think this is part of the reason we see Burks come off the bench. Clark also seems like a solid backcourt pairing with Burks.

I wonder if Lindsey would have rather given the head coaching job to Hornacek this off-season.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

In Lindsey's most recent interview he says he's talked to the coaching staff about incorporating the corner 3 to a greater degree. Can he just become the coach already? Anyway, he said this was one of the reasons they had interest in Ian Clark. You can tell he's really going after the SA model here by surrounding the core guys with players who will hopefully grow into specialist type roles. He referred to wanting to have every guy on the floor be a weapon or a threat. Weapons are your main attack guys and the key to running your sets, threats are guys who can space the floor and knock down shots when open. Every interview he gives he talks about needing more shooting.

I think this is part of the reason we see Burks come off the bench. Clark also seems like a solid backcourt pairing with Burks.

Lindsey to Corbin: "Our team needs to play more defense."

Lindsey to Corbin: "We need to play the young guys."

Lindsey to Corbin: "We need to incorporate the corner 3."

I don't know if Lindsey should be the coach, but it seems apparent that it shouldn't be Corbin.

[MarkGrace]

Locke on the Jazz/Harden.

"What is your response to the Zach Lowe article that the Jazz should have pursued James Harden harder?

Locke"s response (paraphrasing):

"I can't say too much because of how much I know. But the Jazz have always done things very quietly. So for Lowe to say that is completely wrong. The Jazz had a deal on the table and to be honest if Harden wasn't on the Rockets he would be on the Jazz."

EDIT: Additional comment regarding the same.

"there had to be some big decisions that had to be made from the Jazz standpoint, whether they want to max Harden, what they were willing to give up, who they were willing to trade, and I think there's a chance that while those discussions were going on Houston was able to jump."

[cougjunkie]

Locke on the Jazz/Harden.

Easy to say now and in hindsight with hiw well Harden played last year looks like they should have sweetened the deal. Houston didn't give up much I am guessing Burks and the Kanter pick would have done it.

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[MarkGrace]

Easy to say now and in hindsight with hiw well Harden played last year looks like they should have sweetened the deal. Houston didn't give up much I am guessing Burks and the Kanter pick would have done it.

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Definitely a much easier call now than then. He's the best SG in the league now, but at the time he'd never been a starter and you could reasonably ask how he'd transition to no. 1 option.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Definitely a much easier call now than then. He's the best SG in the league now, but at the time he'd never been a starter and you could reasonably ask how he'd transition to no. 1 option.

And he'd just come off a finals where he averaged 12 ppg on 37% shooting and had gotten lit up pretty badly on defense all playoffs.

[SandYFan]

And he'd just come off a finals where he averaged 12 ppg on 37% shooting and had gotten lit up pretty badly on defense all playoffs.

I'm on record saying the Jazz should have traded for Harden as early as March 2012. I saw the writing on the wall that OKC was going to move him, and you don't see Harden's kind of confidence, shooting ability and court vision often.

[The_Douger]

Locke on the Jazz/Harden.



EDIT: Additional comment regarding the same.

I wish he was on our team. We haven't had a guy like that on our team, ever, really.

I thought he was a max guy, but obviously it was a harder decision at that time. The Rockets look pretty smart on that move.

[MarkGrace]

I'm on record saying the Jazz should have traded for Harden as early as March 2012. I saw the writing on the wall that OKC was going to move him, and you don't see Harden's kind of confidence, shooting ability and court vision often.

That's not a terribly hard to conclusion to reach. The only real question is at what cost (either terms of a package and a contract). If Locke is correct, that seems to be what they were hung up on.

[Blueintheface]

Harden would have been a difference maker but I'm really going to enjoy seeing what kind of players we've got right now. Again, I'm really excited for the future of the Utah Jazz. I might have to start 2 countdown clocks soon: Regular season tipoff and the 2014 draft....