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The Lauri Thread

So my thing with lauri is he is not an iso scorer or ball handling scorer. however, he is an excellent off ball scorer who doesnt need the ball for very long to get a bucket. I think if the jazz want to maximize him they need a primarily scoring guard more involved in the offense who also has a good passing game. Keyonte just isn't there yet, hes not as explosive or deep bag as he needs to be. also a lot of turnovers happening. I like the markkanen/sexton duo, but the jazz seem set on trading sexton. Out of the 3 vets rumored on the market, I think he should be the one to keep.
 
The constant talk about how the new CBA will change the way players receive contract does spook me. I think Lauri’s value is fine this summer even if he continues to have a down year….but we have to acknowledge that there is a huge potential downside risk to keeping him beyond this summer.
 
Seriously – what is Lauri's purpose on this roster? (Other than helping the Jazz reach the salary floor.)

I can't see any. He's currently the 3rd or 4th option while being paid $40 million per year. He's just a guy now, going through the motions out there, not even pretending like he's enjoying any of it.

He should be smack in the middle of his prime, but it's looking more and more like his (short) prime came and went. His trade value keeps decreasing with every day, month and year that goes by and all the wear and tear he's picked up due to his ultra taxing play style will start showing up more and more as he gets nearer to 30.

If anyone thinks this team isn't tanking next season too, they're crazy. '26 is looking like another great draft and the current young guys aren't exactly future cornerstones.

Lauri's timeline doesn't make any sense. IMO he should be gone at the earliest opportunity. Otherwise there is a real risk that his contract turns into an albatross.

Has anyone ever turned so quickly from ridiculously underpaid to ridiculously overpaid?
 
It also has to be reminded his first quarter of the season has been very scattered, and we saw great flashes of good Lauri in the opener and few weeks ago.

He's had bad luck of back spasms, coming back from them and in the first game after a week of break, landing hard on his back/hip, and just when he got a bit of going he hit his knee hard on Wemby, and then he also had a game off for child birth of his wife.

We all know by now he's a very much of a rhythm player, and both the bad luck and roster construction aren't supporting it too much this season, so far.

I'm not sure why they play him right now, if he was questionable before last night's game. You can see his back or something is bothering a bit so wouldn't it be best to really relax for few weeks, play with his kids and get 100%. BC that's what he and Jazz needs for him getting those 15+ shots and scoring 20+ efficiently like he'd done only few times this season.
Maybe he just refuses to not play if he somehow can+ I guess him being the primary focus of defense helps the young guys go off. Maybe.
 
Step-Back Lauri said:
It also has to be reminded his first quarter of the season has been very scattered, and we saw great flashes of good Lauri in the opener and few weeks ago.

He's had bad luck of back spasms, coming back from them and in the first game after a week of break, landing hard on his back/hip, and just when he got a bit of going he hit his knee hard on Wemby, and then he also had a game off for child birth of his wife.

We all know by now he's a very much of a rhythm player, and both the bad luck and roster construction aren't supporting it too much this season, so far.

I'm not sure why they play him right now, if he was questionable before last night's game. You can see his back or something is bothering a bit so wouldn't it be best to really relax for few weeks, play with his kids and get 100%. BC that's what he and Jazz needs for him getting those 15+ shots and scoring 20+ efficiently like he'd done only few times this season.
Maybe he just refuses to not play if he somehow can+ I guess him being the primary focus of defense helps the young guys go off. Maybe.
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It really doesn't make sense why they won't just rest him to get to 100%. The area where he's really struggling this year is around the basket. Only 58% at the rim after being 71%+ the last two seasons. The good news is that these struggles are unlikely to stick, the bad news is that he's definitely playing through injury and this is an indication of that. There is only downside for both Lauri and the Jazz.
 
KqWIN said:
It really doesn't make sense why they won't just rest him to get to 100%.
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Probably because the dude wants to play and the Jazz know that he's not good/healthy enough to harm the tank by himself.

As for why he wants to play... God knows. He's not making any all NBA teams this season, doesn't seem to be enjoying himself out there and is probably making his back worse.
 
KqWIN said:
It really doesn't make sense why they won't just rest him to get to 100%. The area where he's really struggling this year is around the basket. Only 58% at the rim after being 71%+ the last two seasons. The good news is that these struggles are unlikely to stick, the bad news is that he's definitely playing through injury and this is an indication of that. There is only downside for both Lauri and the Jazz.
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If he is hurting at all and not 100% then is incredibly stupid to be playing him right now.
We want losses and he already got paid. Let's keep him healthy for God's sake
 
I totally reject this idea the tank is either rolling or it’s not. Last time I checked lotto odds aren’t a binary result. Every single player has an effect on the tanking and its relative to their ability. We suck with Lauri, we’ll suck even more if he rests.
 
KqWIN said:
I totally reject this idea the tank is either rolling or it’s not. Last time I checked lotto odds aren’t a binary result. Every single player has an effect on the tanking and its relative to their ability. We suck with Lauri, we’ll suck even more if he rests.
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Yep. Might as go with the suck even more option if Lauri is hurting.
 
Obviously fan opinion =\= real trade value, but already seeing other fans call the non-trade + massive extension a major mistake. I’m still hopeful Lauri’s value can persist through one bad season, but I was scared about this before the year. You give a max to a player who is realistically a borderline all star and put him in a terrible position to succeed. The standard for what a max player is rising.

This may be a situation where DA’s greed/failures have caught up to us. He totally failed at building around Lauri the past two summers (maybe it was a good thing he failed his plans) but may also try to hold onto Lauri until it’s a complete fleecing. Reality is that from the outside looking in it makes no sense for Lauri to be on this team.
 
KqWIN said:
Obviously fan opinion =\= real trade value, but already seeing other fans call the non-trade + massive extension a major mistake. I’m still hopeful Lauri’s value can persist through one bad season, but I was scared about this before the year. You give a max to a player who is realistically a borderline all star and put him in a terrible position to succeed. The standard for what a max player is rising.

This may be a situation where DA’s greed/failures have caught up to us. He totally failed at building around Lauri the past two summers (maybe it was a good thing he failed his plans) but may also try to hold onto Lauri until it’s a complete fleecing. Reality is that from the outside looking in it makes no sense for Lauri to be on this team.
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Amen
 
His trade value is plummeting really strongly. He has taken every month more three pointers, and his percents have gone every month worse. Inside, he's far away from good right now. His confidence and/or motivation is bad, and his revamped 3pt shot is more unreliable it has ever been. He has a massive summer ahead. Time to go work with his game. Be the future with the Jazz or not, he at least has to fix that 3pt shot. He's made it so fast now that it's become ugly and super inconsistent.
 
Step-Back Lauri said:
His trade value is plummeting really strongly. He has taken every month more three pointers, and his percents have gone every month worse. Inside, he's far away from good right now. His confidence and/or motivation is bad, and his revamped 3pt shot is more unreliable it has ever been. He has a massive summer ahead. Time to go work with his game. Be the future with the Jazz or not, he at least has to fix that 3pt shot. He's made it so fast now that it's become ugly and super inconsistent.
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It takes more than a bad stretch of shooting to tank value, but I would agree that when you get a max contract, teams will be more picky. So smaller things have bigger chances of reducing value when that much cap space is at stake.
 
The version of Lauri we got in his first two seasons in Utah was one of the most unique players in the league. The way he combined (a) extreme gravity on the perimeter with (b) extreme rim pressure if a defender overplayed his hand on the perimeter was awesome to watch. For Lauri's sake, and for the love of the game, I want that version back—and I honestly care more about getting that back than I care about whether he's playing for Utah. (But I obvi hope Utah gets a good haul for him if he's traded).
 
I'm worried about Lauri too, but I do want to reserve judgement--if possible--until: (1) he plays in a season where he knows the team is dedicated to winning, and (2) he plays with anyone else who draws more gameplan attention from the other team.

But the way the NBA works, we might have to make a move before we can even see him under those conditions.
 
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