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Alternate history Utah Jazz by way of Detroit.

framer

framer

Well-Known Member
I remember that many here were really high on Detroit after they were able to obtain Point Guard of the Future Brandon Knight, who many here coveted, and two superior Big men prospects in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. Last season, they were set up in a similar fashion to what we have this year, with the three young players as a "core" in addition to Stuckey and Bynum who were looking like true assets as well. They even had a rookie project in reserve in the form of Kyle Singler that they could afford to bring along slowly.
I would say that tracks very similarly to where we are right now. Then they did this:

Detroit Pistons Name Maurice Cheeks Head Coach
Detroit Pistons Sign Free Agent Forward Josh Smith
Pistons Re-Sign Guard Will Bynum
Draft Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tony Mitchell, and Peyton Siva
Detroit Pistons Sign Forward Luigi Datome
Pistons Sign Free Agent Guard Chauncey Billups
Detroit Pistons Acquire Guard Brandon Jennings by trading Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, and Viacheslav Kravtsov

Compare and contrast that with what the Jazz have done this year and what we should do for the rest of the year and next.
I think it will make many of us happy for what we have and how things look going forward.
Here is my 10,000 ft. observations.
1. That is a salary cap hell that we will not be sniffing in the near future.
2. We have done a much better job of developing our youngs, even though Detroit played theirs more. Also we are/were more patient.
3. You can actually see a plan with the Jazz. Detroit, not so much.
4. If you are going to get rid of a coach, make sure you have a better plan than Mo Cheeks. Corbin is superior to Cheeks.
5. We are a better team right now in our unfinished state with a minimum veteran presence.
6. It is uncanny that we have really did well with our picks the last 4 years (and acquiring Favors).

I bring this up, again, because over half the board would probably have said that Detroit's future was brighter than ours just last year.
 
Hard to build a quality team, but easy to screw one up.

I like Dennis Lindsey. I like his attitude towards life and basketball. I like how he wants to build his team through the draft and will turn over every stone to do so. I like that he's young and aggressive in his moves.

He's not afraid to be bold. Took some balls to let the Vets go, wheeling and dealing for Burke, Gobert and Neto in the draft and to make the trade with Golden State.

With all that said, his legacy will be decided by who he hires as his coach. Many of us see Ty Corbin as a below average NBA head coach. You can't win a championship with a guy like that no matter how talented your players are. I think DL genuinely wants (and expects) to win an NBA championship. I wish he would have moved on from Ty last year in favor of Hornacek or Stevens. I really don't see Corbin back next year. I know some want Tom Thibodeau, but I don't know if the Jazz will pay the cost to get him. It would be worth it if they could pull it off.

It's bold. He'd bring instant credibility and toughness to a young team. Also didn't realize that Thibodeau was at Houston as an Assistant Coach for several years while DL was in the Front Office. Could be the connection needed to make such a move.
 
DL's legacy will be decided by who the Jazz get in this draft and what he decides with Hayward, Kanter and Burks. These decisions are pivotal. He can either trade young assets to try to acquire better starters, or roll the dice and hope the youngsters keep improving. So far, he's made some very shrewd moves. And he convinced Miller, KOC and the others to rebuild rather than re-sign Millsap, Carroll, etc.

I do agree part of his kegacy will be deciding the fate of Ty (and replacement?). I think the decision has yet to be made. However, I think most of the media are simply Jazz lackeys. The trial balloon has already been floated in writing about the defensive deficiencies of the team - and reminding us all that Corbin would be judged on that metric.
 
I think what this shows us is that keeping Tyrone Corbin is actually not the worst thing that can happen, there are worse coaches out there. I hope that if we are dropping Ty that there is already a plan in place as well as a backup and that we aren't left scrambling. Also, its fun to reflect that Lindsey was able to turn a pretty crappy late lottery pick into someone who could arguable become the best player in last year's draft. The jazz haven't really missed in the past 4 years when it comes to drafting. George might be better than Hayward, but Hayward is far better than the pick we took into that draft. I'm pretty confident we will get a great value no matter where we pick in this year's draft.
 
framer said:
I remember that many here were really high on Detroit after they were able to obtain Point Guard of the Future Brandon Knight, who many here coveted, and two superior Big men prospects in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. Last season, they were set up in a similar fashion to what we have this year, with the three young players as a "core" in addition to Stuckey and Bynum who were looking like true assets as well. They even had a rookie project in reserve in the form of Kyle Singler that they could afford to bring along slowly.
I would say that tracks very similarly to where we are right now. Then they did this:

Detroit Pistons Name Maurice Cheeks Head Coach
Detroit Pistons Sign Free Agent Forward Josh Smith
Pistons Re-Sign Guard Will Bynum
Draft Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tony Mitchell, and Peyton Siva
Detroit Pistons Sign Forward Luigi Datome
Pistons Sign Free Agent Guard Chauncey Billups
Detroit Pistons Acquire Guard Brandon Jennings by trading Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, and Viacheslav Kravtsov

Compare and contrast that with what the Jazz have done this year and what we should do for the rest of the year and next.
I think it will make many of us happy for what we have and how things look going forward.
Here is my 10,000 ft. observations.
1. That is a salary cap hell that we will not be sniffing in the near future.
2. We have done a much better job of developing our youngs, even though Detroit played theirs more. Also we are/were more patient.
3. You can actually see a plan with the Jazz. Detroit, not so much.
4. If you are going to get rid of a coach, make sure you have a better plan than Mo Cheeks. Corbin is superior to Cheeks.
5. We are a better team right now in our unfinished state with a minimum veteran presence.
6. It is uncanny that we have really did well with our picks the last 4 years (and acquiring Favors).

I bring this up, again, because over half the board would probably have said that Detroit's future was brighter than ours just last year.
Click to expand...
I don't recall lots of people thinking Detroit had a brighter future?
 
Even if they did, the moral to the story is DON'T let Joe Dumars put together a team for Maurice Cheeks. Check and check. Problem solved.
 
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