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You're the GM this offseason. What do you do?

Handlogten's Heros said:
Anyone arguing OKC is better than is is dumb AF. We kicked they *** a couple years ago... now we are way better and they are declining and aren’t able to improve because of cap issues and no picks... they are ***... gtfo with that.
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OKC improved significantly last year just by shedding Melo.

I fail to see how they’re in decline. Do we have evidence that Westbrook, George, or Adams are in decline?

I get that fan is short for fanatic and it’s crazy to not say that we didn’t beat them down two years ago because we’re awesome. But the truth is we owe a significant amount of credit to our playoff victory against them two years ago to Melo. He was our best player just ahead of Mitchell. His 32 mins with 38 percent shooting, 12 pts, and zero defense really fueled our team.

Watch this video if you don’t think Melo contributed heavily To our playoff victory two years ago:

 
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The Thriller said:
OKC improved significantly last year just by shedding Melo.

I fail to see how they’re in decline. Do we have evidence that Westbrook, George, or Adams are in decline?
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Yes... pg had surgery and Westbrook and Adams have been on a steady decline.

OKC ends up getting us on the second night of back to backs during the season... so regular season we may have lost a couple... in the playoffs we’d beat them in 5. They trash.
 
Conley's contract has made our bench thin, unless we are gambling on a healthy year from Dante, it needs to be shored up. That's the debate now, can we use the cap space to get 2 guys who are playable in the playoffs for 1 18M Derrick Favors.

Injuries happen, right now if we've got half the team that is around GLeague ability and on minimum contracts, we're toast.
 
TheStormofWar said:
They got smoked by Portland 4-1 and haven't been past the first round in three years?
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Portland was arguably the third best team in the west this year behind Houston and golden state. There’s no shame in losing to Portland unless we’re still under the misconception that we were better than Portland last year. Which is laughable.
 
The Thriller said:
Portland was arguably the third best team in the west this year behind Houston and golden state. There’s no shame in losing to Portland unless we’re still under the misconception that we were better than Portland last year. Which is laughable.
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They lost to Portland without Nurkic. We were better than Portland without Nurkic.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Yes... pg had surgery and Westbrook and Adams have been on a steady decline.

OKC ends up getting us on the second night of back to backs during the season... so regular season we may have lost a couple... in the playoffs we’d beat them in 5. They trash.
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I don’t follow your logic. George was a MVP candidate with bad shoulders. So you think he’ll be worse now that his shoulders have been repaired? Or do you think the surgeries will hinder his healing? I don’t understand your logic here.

Westbrook’s points took a slight dip last year but his assists were at a career high. Everything else looks fine. And Adams stats are almost identical to what he’s produced his past 3 years.

Steady decline? Maybe you just have a different interpretation of what that term means.
 
The Thriller said:
Portland was arguably the third best team in the west this year behind Houston and golden state. There’s no shame in losing to Portland unless we’re still under the misconception that we were better than Portland last year. Which is laughable.
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If you say so, but PDX did not have Nurkic for that series. You have your opinion, and I'll respect that. I really just don't see where Denver, OKC, or even PDX is better than us with Conley.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
They lost to Portland without Nurkic. We were better than Portland without Nurkic.
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Not hard to see what Portland would’ve done against us.

They wouldn’t have played small ball and would’ve sped up the game. We still don’t have a counter to that since we don’t have Post players that can punish teams inside and we don’t have the horses to run.

Hence, why we need to add more pieces to really take advantage of the Conley trade.

I’m not sure if many of you watched the playoffs this year. But it’s all about speed and shooting right now. We don’t have near enough of that to be considered a top 3 team as so many of you are indicating. Are we a top 5 team int he west now? Yeah probably. Not top 3. And none of you have put up a convincing argument to show otherwise.
 
The Thriller said:
Not hard to see what Portland would’ve done against us.

They wouldn’t have played small ball and would’ve sped up the game. We still don’t have a counter to that since we don’t have Post players that can punish teams inside and we don’t have the horses to run.

Hence, why we need to add more pieces to really take advantage of the Conley trade.

I’m not sure if many of you watched the playoffs this year. But it’s all about speed and shooting right now. We don’t have near enough of that to be considered a top 3 team as so many of you are indicating. Are we a top 5 team int he west now? Yeah probably. Not top 3. And none of you have put up a convincing argument to show otherwise.
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We would have murdered them.

I watched a lot of the playoffs. It’s about skill and shooting... speed isn’t that big of a deal... those games slow down to a grind most of the time.
 
The Thriller said:
Not hard to see what Portland would’ve done against us.

They wouldn’t have played small ball and would’ve sped up the game. We still don’t have a counter to that since we don’t have Post players that can punish teams inside and we don’t have the horses to run.

Hence, why we need to add more pieces to really take advantage of the Conley trade.

I’m not sure if many of you watched the playoffs this year. But it’s all about speed and shooting right now. We don’t have near enough of that to be considered a top 3 team as so many of you are indicating. Are we a top 5 team int he west now? Yeah probably. Not top 3. And none of you have put up a convincing argument to show otherwise.
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We were a top 5 team in the west the last two season with Ricky Rubio who is a bottom 10 starting point guard, we now have a top 7-8 point guard. Conley is going to improve this team dramatically, he's one of the best pick and roll players in the league, his catch and shoot numbers are great, he gives us that secondary playmaker and scorer that we've been desperately missing, he'll take a ton of pressure off of Donovan and teams won't be able to completely zero in on him defensively like they have in the past. We will still have an elite defense next season and now we will have a top 10 offense to go with it. Health permitting we should definitely be a top 3 seed next year.
 
The Thriller said:
I don’t follow your logic. George was a MVP candidate with bad shoulders. So you think he’ll be worse now that his shoulders have been repaired? Or do you think the surgeries will hinder his healing? I don’t understand your logic here.

Westbrook’s points took a slight dip last year but his assists were at a career high. Everything else looks fine. And Adams stats are almost identical to what he’s produced his past 3 years.

Steady decline? Maybe you just have a different interpretation of what that term means.
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Did you watch them? Adams and Westbrook aren’t moving the same way at all. Westbrook has a knee procedure every year. PG will be coming off a surgery. He’s the least likely to decline but shoulders can be tricky.

The team was reportedly trying to move Adams because that luxury tax bill doesn’t look so great when your team sucks in the first round every year. They aren’t all in like they were in the past.

If you are worried about them then you’re just a negative Nancy that can’t see how good your own team is.

Lakers (depending on what they do), Houston, GS if Klay is healthy and they address their serious depth issues. Those are the teams that concern me.
 

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Handlogten's Heros said:
Did you watch them? Adams and Westbrook aren’t moving the same way at all. Westbrook has a knee procedure every year. PG will be coming off a surgery. He’s the least likely to decline but shoulders can be tricky.

The team was reportedly trying to move Adams because that luxury tax bill doesn’t look so great when your team sucks in the first round every year. They aren’t all in like they were in the past.

If you are worried about them then you’re just a negative Nancy that can’t see how good your own team is.

Lakers (depending on what they do), Houston, GS if Klay is healthy and they address their serious depth issues. Those are the teams that concern me.
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The guy in the gif can really jump for a fat guy

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
 
Ron Mexico said:
Offer JaMychal Green the full room exception the moment FA begins. Clippers have bigger things to focus on. He is a perfect fit here and I think there is a decent chance he takes it. This lets Favors play all the backup 5 minutes and then split the minutes at the 4 with Green and if needs be we can do small ball with Royce or Ingles. We also still have Niang. This lets us see how Favors fits with Conley and Gobert. It also allows us to trade him if we decide to go that route later when his value will be highest.

Is there another player that can shoot as well as he can, rebound, and still play solid defense at the 4 that we could get?

If we get him then our roster just needs another wing. Hopefully we can get one for the min. Looking at what happened in the ESPN mock FA it looks like there should be a few players that we could get there. Avery Bradley went for min and would be a solid fit. Wilson Chandler would be a great fit as well. Alex Caruso would be nice as well but I doubt he goes for that cheap, but we could waive Neto and/or trade Bradley and clear up 3 million to offer him before using the tpe.
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Nobody is taking the full Room Exception on day 1. A lot of the dominos won’t fall right away, and lower level guys aren’t usually willing to take a deal until that shakes out - unless it’s a massive overpay, or a fair deal where they want to be (like Jingles got.) I don’t see the Room Exception in Utah being that kind of deal.

Jazz have time to explore their options. At this point, I’m hoping for one of two things.
A.) Get Tobias Harris in the door and roll out a new Core4 that focuses on putting playmakers and shooters around Rudy.
B.) Keep Favors and Exum, and run it back with Conley instead of Rubio. Jazz keep their top defensive players, while (hopefully) seeing an improvement in offense and leadership. This pathway still allows them to look at other most other options trade-wise as the season unfolds.
 
The Thriller said:
Torn ACLs aren’t what they used to be. Especially since his game wasn’t predicated on speed anyway. Klay will be back fairly quickly. Even without Durant, Golden State nearly took out Toronto. People are being overly optimistic thinking that their window has closed.

OKC was a better team this year than when we faced them two years ago. I don’t care what records say. Sorry, you can agree to disagree but I remember most on this board agreed with me in desiring to avoid them at all costs in the playoffs.

And who’s this Exum you’re talking about? People really expect to get any meaningful production from him this year? Even when healthy he sucked.
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Torn ACLs are much better now. But it's still usually 9 months until players are back on the court and longer until back to full strength. Klay won't be back to full strength next season. They did put up a really good fight in the playoffs. But they are much worse next season. They are losing a lot of players and fire power.

Exum is healthy again. He was helping the team a lot before his injury.

You are really overrating Westbrook and OKC. He was the reason we beat them in the playoffs. Melo was part of it. The way we played Westbrook was a bigger part. People wanted us to avoid them because they beat us in the regular season but they just got lucky with the schedule against us. They were worse last year and even worse this year and Jazz are greatly improved.

You are really underestimating Conley. The fact you said it's a nominal improvement means you are greatly underestimating him or you're a huge Rubio homer.

But it's fine to be down and looking for the negative about your team it's pretty common around here. I guess you'll just be pleasantly surprised.
 
Ellis269 said:
Nobody is taking the full Room Exception on day 1. A lot of the dominos won’t fall right away, and lower level guys aren’t usually willing to take a deal until that shakes out - unless it’s a massive overpay, or a fair deal where they want to be (like Jingles got.) I don’t see the Room Exception in Utah being that kind of deal.

Jazz have time to explore their options. At this point, I’m hoping for one of two things.
A.) Get Tobias Harris in the door and roll out a new Core4 that focuses on putting playmakers and shooters around Rudy.
B.) Keep Favors and Exum, and run it back with Conley instead of Rubio. Jazz keep their top defensive players, while (hopefully) seeing an improvement in offense and leadership. This pathway still allows them to look at other most other options trade-wise as the season unfolds.
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Sometimes players take quick deals. It happens every year, especially if they like the situation and know their own team isn't reaching out to them and putting them on the back burner.

I'll take Favors, Exum, and JaMychal over Tobias. That's a better team to me.
 
From Tony Jones' new article

“We expect to be aggressive in free agency,” Utah general manager Justin Zanik said.

What does that mean? The Jazz may not even know. They certainly have a course of action. But, this is where some of what happens may be a tad beyond their control.

Here’s what we know: The Jazz feel they can open as much as $17.9 million in cap space, with the vast majority coming from Favors’ non-guaranteed contract should the Jazz decide not to bring their starting power forward back. Let’s say they don’t keep Favors. If the Jazz don’t use that entire $17.9 number on one player, they gain an additional $900,000 in cap space. In essence, if they break up the cap space, they feel they have $18.8 million in space, without bringing Favors back.
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If Utah spends around $12 or 13 million on a starter type of talent, the Jazz could have as much as $6 million to spend on another player, PLUS, their $4.7 million room exception to spend on another, before their cap situation is stripped down to veteran minimum type players.

What does this mean? Essentially, the Jazz could bring in a main player, while pretty much creating two mid-level type exceptions for themselves. All of which means the Jazz could swap out Favors and bring in three rotation type players, a three-for-one, if you will.
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Is it a guarantee the Jazz take that route? Of course not. Favors has huge fans in the front office. He’s a reliable starting power forward and a spectacular backup center. The Jazz have team control, and they already know they can play him 20-25 minutes a night — even if he deserves more minutes — and he will remain a thriving locker room presence.

What the Jazz have in Favors is unique. He’s a starter in his prime who doesn’t play starters minutes, doesn’t cry about it and is always there when you need him (Jazz fans who have watched playoff games know what that means). He’s not perfect — Favors is not a perimeter shooter from the power forward spot, and probably never will be. But, he’s 80 percent of what you need.
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At the same time, the front office realizes what’s at stake. With the Western Conference wide open for the first time, and teams loading up for the challenge, it would behoove the Jazz to maximize the window while it’s open. That may cause for difficult decisions. Still, the Jazz won’t jettison Favors for the heck of it. For Favors not to be on the roster next season, the Jazz front office has to know that the move they make — in their minds — makes the team definitively better.
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So, what do the Jazz need?

The answer to that is a simple one. There’s not enough shooting on the roster, currently. Not nearly enough.
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In this day and age, it’s hard to win with just three guys who can shoot the ball under any circumstance. And this is why, sources tell The Athletic, the Utah Jazz hold interest in Nikola Mirotic.

Mirotic in a vaccum isn’t a better player than Favors. He’s hard to watch at times defensively. He can be a bit shot-hungry at other times. But he can really shoot. He’s a career 36 percent from 3-point range on volume. He’s skilled enough to attack closeouts and make plays off the dribble in some spots. He can get hot enough to win a game for you.

The Jazz like him. If they can get him at the $12 or $13 million slot, they can plug him into the power forward spot. His gravity would definitely help the Jazz offense — Mirotic certainly has gravity, it may be his biggest strength.
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No question, the Jazz would sacrifice defense by putting him on the floor. So, with the other two slots, they would probably need to seek 3-and-D help, in the form of someone like Trevor Ariza. They would need someone who can guard power forward in the case that the Jazz run into a team in the postseason capable of playing Mirotic off the floor in a series
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According to sources, the Jazz also have some interest in Thaddeus Young. He’s interesting. He’s not as good or as dangerous a shooter as Mirotic, but he’s a near elite defender, which is unique for a power forward because he can switch adroitly through almost all five positions, and yet shoots 35 percent from 3-point range. He averaged almost 13 points per game from the Indiana Pacers, and did so while shooting almost 53 percent from the field.
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And, of course, people like Bobby Portis want to come to the Jazz. Although the Jazz are hesitant to get involved with Portis, a sweet-shooting power forward with the Washington Wizards, because of his restricted free agent status.
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Tony Jones said it would be a 3 for 1 type deal if we cut favors. That's not true. We still have the trade room with Favors. So it's a 2 for 3 type move. Which could be worth it depending on the players and prices, but more risky.
 
zyzz said:
From Tony Jones' new article
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Jones is pretty spot on with this. I figure the Jazz still need a rotational guard (PG preferable), 3/4, and 4/5. Conley solves a ton of issues the team had, but created a couple of minor ones. That said, it's nothing that can't be fixed pretty easily. If the Jazz aren't going for another home run, I'd go with the best 3D guys we can get. There will be some bargains out there.

Something to consider as well the Jazz trading Favors for a few of the necessary players as well.
 
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