NBA 2012-2013

[SandYFan]

I think they should do it. The draft isn't a good way to build a team unless you're A) really good at drafting (Utah isn't) or B) In the top three or four. Maybe Utah will be better at drafting with Lindsay.

If it doesn't work out you're on the hook for less time than a rookie deal. We need backup bigs anyways.

I take exception to your portrayal of Utah as a poor drafting team.


2011: Kanter
2010: Hayward
2006: Brewer
2005: Deron
2004: Humphries

Those are the lottery picks the Jazz have had over the last 10 years. That's not terrible at all... in fact, all of those guys are contributors in the league today.

[MarkGrace]

I take exception to your portrayal of Utah as a poor drafting team.


2011: Kanter
2010: Hayward
2006: Brewer
2005: Deron
2004: Humphries

Those are the lottery picks the Jazz have had over the last 10 years. That's not terrible at all... in fact, all of those guys are contributors in the league today.

The Jazz have been fine in the draft. But Douger said "really good" and they also haven't been that.

[SandYFan]

The Jazz have been fine in the draft. But Douger said "really good" and they also haven't been that.

I'd be interested to see a team with comparable picks over the last 10 years do significantly better.

[The_Douger]

I take exception to your portrayal of Utah as a poor drafting team.


2011: Kanter
2010: Hayward
2006: Brewer
2005: Deron
2004: Humphries

Those are the lottery picks the Jazz have had over the last 10 years. That's not terrible at all... in fact, all of those guys are contributors in the league today.

Well, I did state that most of the time it's hard to come up with someone decent unless you get a top three or four pick. Obviously Deron was a great player, and while Kanter appears to be promising, I'm in wait and see mode with him. Humphries wasn't anything special and Brewer wasn't either. Hayward was one they did pretty well on. Is he anything more than a third guy on a great team? I don't know.

Over the years we've drafted guys like Scott Padgett, Raul Lopez, Morris Almond, Kirk Snyder, and other players that haven't really panned out. Many of the guys who've been decent we ended up letting to at some point like Nazr Mohammed or Mo Williams. CJ Miles is a guy that I still wonder why we stuck with him for so long.

My point is, the draft usually isn't a great way to build your team and it would be just as valuable to move the higher pick for the big man that Houston wants to dump. The Spurs have been masterful at finding guys that fit in to what they're doing, but what they're doing is based on having a big man who's an all time great. So, you hope that the Jazz can emulate some of the Spurs magic by having Lindsay in the front office, but I'd rather take a lottery big man who might be a project over hoping we strike gold with the 14th pick, which hasn't been kind for the most part over the years. Especially in this draft, which is so crappy to begin with.

[MarkGrace]

Well, I did state that most of the time it's hard to come up with someone decent unless you get a top three or four pick. Obviously Deron was a great player, and while Kanter appears to be promising, I'm in wait and see mode with him. Humphries wasn't anything special and Brewer wasn't either. Hayward was one they did pretty well on. Is he anything more than a third guy on a great team? I don't know.

Over the years we've drafted guys like Scott Padgett, Raul Lopez, Morris Almond, Kirk Snyder, and other players that haven't really panned out. Many of the guys who've been decent we ended up letting to at some point like Nazr Mohammed or Mo Williams. CJ Miles is a guy that I still wonder why we stuck with him for so long.

My point is, the draft usually isn't a great way to build your team and it would be just as valuable to move the higher pick for the big man that Houston wants to dump. The Spurs have been masterful at finding guys that fit in to what they're doing, but what they're doing is based on having a big man who's an all time great. So, you hope that the Jazz can emulate some of the Spurs magic by having Lindsay in the front office, but I'd rather take a lottery big man who might be a project over hoping we strike gold with the 14th pick, which hasn't been kind for the most part over the years. Especially in this draft, which is so crappy to begin with.

Brewer and Hump were both good picks, so was CJ. Other than Snyder, that Padgett/Lopez/Almond group were all picked so low there's little expectation for them; Padgett had a 6-7 year career, which is fine for the 2nd to last pick in the 1st round. To me the only real whiff in that group was Snyder.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Rumors from the Kings side saying Utah and Sacramento in talks to have Utah move up to 7. I can't imagine the 14 and 21 being enough to get up to #7 and get Jimmer from them. Would Burks be involved?

I wonder who Utah would be targeting going up to that range. Burke or McCollum would seem to be the most obvious answer. But in the 7-10 range, I would't be surprised to see Cody Zeller end up the best player. I think some analysts have nailed it by saying that Zeller is a victim of the high expectations that were set after his freshman year. His athletic testing was terrific, his perimeter shot makes him a great compliment to most other post players, he plays hard and runs the floor really well. But I can't see Utah moving up to get him.

But 7 would be a good spot to be in case some surprises happen and someone like Porter fell to 7. At 7 you are likely going to have a shot at Porter, Bennett, Burke, McCollum or Zeller.

[MarkGrace]

When NBA commissioner David Stern presented LeBron James with the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in Thursday night's Game 7, James cemented his 2013 playoff run's place among the best in league history.

During the Finals, I ranked the 50 greatest individual playoff runs since 1978. It's already time for a rewrite, because James' season cracked the top 10. With an adjusted figure of 7.4 wins above replacement during the playoffs, plus bonuses for a championship and the Finals MVP, James' total postseason score of 8.9 puts him eighth -- just behind Hakeem Olajuwon's 1994 playoffs but ahead of Moses Malone in 1983 (the famous "Fo' Fo' Fo'" run) and Larry Bird's best postseason.

While James wasn't quite as dominant as he was a year ago -- when his role in Miami's title run placed him second only to Michael Jordan in 1991 -- he still managed to more than double the WARP total of any other player during the postseason.

James recorded three triple-doubles, including a pair in the Finals. (He now has four career Finals triple-doubles; only Magic Johnson, with eight, has more.) He demonstrated the defensive versatility to guard bruising big man David West in one series and quicksilver point guard Tony Parker the next. And he saved the best for last, just when critics were ready to write off his NBA Finals performance.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/playo...postseason-run

[The_Douger]

Brewer and Hump were both good picks, so was CJ. Other than Snyder, that Padgett/Lopez/Almond group were all picked so low there's little expectation for them; Padgett had a 6-7 year career, which is fine for the 2nd to last pick in the 1st round. To me the only real whiff in that group was Snyder.

I sure felt like we stuck with CJ a lot longer than I would have. Almond didn't even really play in the league at all. Lopez just stings because we could have had Parker, and we gave him a contract even after a bad knee injury.

We're in no man's land, either too good to get someone decent, or not quite bad enough to get a difference maker.

I hope they play everyone this year and really see what we have instead of trying to get vets in here to make a "playoff run" from the 8th spot.

[The_Douger]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/playo...postseason-run

That is just unbelievable. 2 triple doubles in the series, 3 in the playoffs. Wow.

[SandYFan]

My point is, the draft usually isn't a great way to build your team and it would be just as valuable to move the higher pick for the big man that Houston wants to dump. The Spurs have been masterful at finding guys that fit in to what they're doing, but what they're doing is based on having a big man who's an all time great. So, you hope that the Jazz can emulate some of the Spurs magic by having Lindsay in the front office, but I'd rather take a lottery big man who might be a project over hoping we strike gold with the 14th pick, which hasn't been kind for the most part over the years. Especially in this draft, which is so crappy to begin with.

Is it the Spurs being able to find diamonds in the rough? Or is it the Spurs being able to develop players like no one else in the NBA? We all watched Leonard play. Did any of us think he'd turn into what he is? I submit the Spurs' developmental abilities are more important then their drafting abilities.

[smokymountainrain]

I take exception to your portrayal of Utah as a poor drafting team.


2011: Kanter
2010: Hayward
2006: Brewer
2005: Deron
2004: Humphries

Those are the lottery picks the Jazz have had over the last 10 years. That's not terrible at all... in fact, all of those guys are contributors in the league today.

I realize it's nitpicky, but Brewer isn't a contributor today. He did nothing this year.

Also, if you draft a decent player like Humphries, but you don't play him or keep him long enough so that he can contribute to your team, should that count as a good draft? I say hell no.

For example, if the Jazz trade Burks this offseason before ever giving him a consistent opportunity to play, and he becomes a good player for some other team down the road, the 12th pick in the 2011 draft was a failure on the part of the Jazz.

[MarkGrace]

There is very little chance of Dwight Howard re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, according to sources close to the situation.

Howard is willing to forgo the extra $30 million the Lakers can pay him to play for a coach and in a system he feels will better use his skill set, one source said.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...rd-sources-say

Article says he has interest in ATL, HOU, DAL right now. Houston would be a force if they could land him.

[Surfah]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...rd-sources-say

I don't blame him. I won't be terribly upset if he walks though.

[The_Douger]

Smart guy.

[smokymountainrain]

I don't blame him. I won't be terribly upset if he walks though.

Nor would I if I were a LAL fan. He was a mess on that team.