What's new
By:

INSIDER- Jazz off season Grade

framer said:
The Jazz should get off to a much faster start this year, last year we were barely playing basketball at the start of the season. I also think our defense will be dramatically improved with Marvin Williams and a training camp to get the bigs on the same page. Additionally, the less compressed schedule will give us more time to instruct the younger players between games. It is actually very remarkable that we made the playoffs last year. This team is underrated.
Click to expand...
And not having to work in Bell, Miles and Howard who took turns being absolutely turrible should help.

My predictions:
1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. LA Lakers
4. LA Clippers
5. Utah
6. Memphis
7. Denver
8. Minnesota

Just miss: Dallas, Golden State, Phoenix
Complete Unknown: Houston (could still end up with D. Howard)

The Thunder and Spurs are obviously a cut above the rest. San Antonio looked vulnerable last year until the final month when they were unbeatable. Lakers weren't quite as good, but they've essentially replaced Fisher with Nash. DAMN! So yes, you have to put those teams in the Top 3.

The next 5 spots are a toss-up.
4. LA Clippers: CP3 to Blake Griffin. If Odom and Crawford come in and play well, I'd put the Clippers in as the favorites for the 4 seed.
5. Utah: OK, Memphis should probably be in this spot (or at #4). I'm a homer, though. Jazz finished strong. IMO, Mo W. > Harris, Marvin W. > Howard, and Burks with more PT > Bell. Favors and Hayward should also be much better having spent the summer at P3 and playing on the Select Team. What could hurt is grumbling over starting spots and/or playing time.
6. Memphis: Randolph will be back for the entire year, but he's getting up there in years. They get rid of Mayo and sign Bayless, and draft a nice rookie guard in Wroten. Can Allen step up and produce as the starting SG? Not much of a bench (Speights, Bayless). Solid team, but not overly impressive. I put them 6th because I think the Clippers and Jazz have improved more.
7. Denver: will have Chandler back for the entire season. They're balanced, but with no superstars are they stuck in the 5-8 range for the next several years?
8. Minnesota: Love is demanding a playoff team and Kahn has responded boldly. They added Budinger, signed Roy, and have an offer sheet out for Batum. Wolves could be surprise team in WC.

9. Golden State: the WC is deep. They have a ton of talent, but have always done something to mess things up. Bogut, Lee, Barnes, Thompson and Curry is a scary starting 5...if Curry and Bogut can stay healthy. Jack is nice addition and will allow Curry to play off the ball when the two are paired together. Bench is otherwise weak.
10. Dallas: playoff team last season, but team is aging. They gambled on getting Deron and Howard, instead had to settle on Collison and Kaman. Big drop in standings is coming.
11. Phoenix: after thinking this team was a lottery lock, I'm not so sure. Phoenix could still fight for one of the last seeds. They lose Nash, but have added Dragic, Beasley and Scola. The offer sheet to Gordon was matched. Who knows, maybe they now go after that other top-tier SG still on the market (CJ Miles).
12. Portland: they don't have a coach and their "Big-3", assuming they match Minnesota's offer are Aldridge, Batum and Matthews. Money doesn't always insure success.
13. I'll put Houston here for now. Does anyone know what the hell they're doing? It's Dwight Howard or lottery (or maybe both).
14. Sacramento; have some pieces, could move up. Distraction over where they'll be moving to will unsettle players.
15. New Orleans: Unibrow is a nice building block. I think Gordon is overpayed. They've added Ryan Anderson and also drafted Rivers. Future is brighter in NO, but still a few years away from playoff consideration.
 
NUMBERICA said:
Alright, with hindsight becoming pretty clear at this point, I'm going to say that this offseason was a disappointment for me. Sorry to be That Guy.

-The Jazz weren't able to acquire any extra picks
-The Jazz still haven't traded The Clogger
-The Jazz didn't trade nothing to get Mo Williams, they traded $8.5 million for him, but I still like Mo
-Marvin Williams?
-From my vantage point, there were some killer deals out there that the Jazz missed out on. Whether the Jazz had a need for any of the following, and even though I don't love all of these players, they're still good value and it's still frustrating: Darren Collison/Dahntay Jones for a total scrub, Jarrett Jack for squat, Jose Calderon being shopped for probably nothing, Luis Scola picked up for nothing, Dorrell Wright traded for nothing (an immensely better deal than Marvin Williams as he's a 2013 expiring), Brendan Haywood for nothing, it doesn't sound like the Jazz were even in the mix for Steve Nash, Goran Dragic, Jason Kidd, or Kyle Lowry.

Hopefully Mo is awesome AND signs longterm for cheap. And hopefully Marvin Williams becomes a super-role player. And hopefully the Jazz trade out of Big Al purgatory.

It feels like this offseason could've really been utilized to galvanize the (re)building plan, and through a combination of bad luck ('coin toss') and bad timing (if they had stayed under the cap, they could've been in a position to bid on an amnestied player/not eaten into 2013 cap space for Marvin Williams, or if they had waited been in a better position to get a better player than Mo Williams), it feels like marginal improvement of the roster. And Big Al is here, so not much can really change anyway.
Click to expand...

...no question in my mind....I'd hire you in a minute to run my front office/player personnel transactions and movement! You obviously are better by a factor of 10 than the knuckleheads running the N.Y. Knicks! If you could just dump Jefferson for even 2 MoTown tickets....you could easily win GM of the year!
 
I agree that Big Al still needs to go, but as for Mo and Marvin, I am excited. Both are upgrades from who they replaced, and Marvin has the potential to be one of those "Change of Scenery" trades that often work out very well. He has unrealized potential. New coach, teammates, fans, system, and city make for optimism.
 
Numberica, I am impressed with your analysis. I agree with your frustration regarding the off season. I really wanted the Jazz to get a first rounder to select our future SF (Barnes/PJIII -especially when he kept dropping). I think the Jazz could have done better in tweaking the roster but I am happy that there will be no Raja, CJ or Howard. At least I hope so.

I am still nervous that KOC will add another washed up veteran to continue the Jazz tradition of playing a washed up vet over a promising younger player. I like the acquisitions of both Mo and Marvin however I don't think either was a home run. I will wait to see how they really impact the team.

After reading your predictions, my first thought was WOW!! the western conference is loaded. There is a chance that the Jazz improve and not make the playoffs or they could be as high as number four. I am excited about this season and still wonder if the Jazz will move Big AL to open up playing time for Favors.
 
Stoked said:
I'm always excited about the Jazz. I think if Al continued to improve his passing and made his O move in half the time he does now he would be a much better player.
Click to expand...

And gave two ****s about defense. If he doesn't care enough by now he's never going to care. Trade his ***!
 
MoTown16 said:
And not having to work in Bell, Miles and Howard who took turns being absolutely turrible should help.

My predictions:
1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. LA Lakers
4. LA Clippers
5. Utah
6. Memphis
7. Denver
8. Minnesota

Just miss: Dallas, Golden State, Phoenix
Complete Unknown: Houston (could still end up with D. Howard)

The Thunder and Spurs are obviously a cut above the rest. San Antonio looked vulnerable last year until the final month when they were unbeatable. Lakers weren't quite as good, but they've essentially replaced Fisher with Nash. DAMN! So yes, you have to put those teams in the Top 3.

The next 5 spots are a toss-up.
4. LA Clippers: CP3 to Blake Griffin. If Odom and Crawford come in and play well, I'd put the Clippers in as the favorites for the 4 seed.
5. Utah: OK, Memphis should probably be in this spot (or at #4). I'm a homer, though. Jazz finished strong. IMO, Mo W. > Harris, Marvin W. > Howard, and Burks with more PT > Bell. Favors and Hayward should also be much better having spent the summer at P3 and playing on the Select Team. What could hurt is grumbling over starting spots and/or playing time.
6. Memphis: Randolph will be back for the entire year, but he's getting up there in years. They get rid of Mayo and sign Bayless, and draft a nice rookie guard in Wroten. Can Allen step up and produce as the starting SG? Not much of a bench (Speights, Bayless). Solid team, but not overly impressive. I put them 6th because I think the Clippers and Jazz have improved more.
7. Denver: will have Chandler back for the entire season. They're balanced, but with no superstars are they stuck in the 5-8 range for the next several years?
8. Minnesota: Love is demanding a playoff team and Kahn has responded boldly. They added Budinger, signed Roy, and have an offer sheet out for Batum. Wolves could be surprise team in WC.

9. Golden State: the WC is deep. They have a ton of talent, but have always done something to mess things up. Bogut, Lee, Barnes, Thompson and Curry is a scary starting 5...if Curry and Bogut can stay healthy. Jack is nice addition and will allow Curry to play off the ball when the two are paired together. Bench is otherwise weak.
10. Dallas: playoff team last season, but team is aging. They gambled on getting Deron and Howard, instead had to settle on Collison and Kaman. Big drop in standings is coming.
11. Phoenix: after thinking this team was a lottery lock, I'm not so sure. Phoenix could still fight for one of the last seeds. They lose Nash, but have added Dragic, Beasley and Scola. The offer sheet to Gordon was matched. Who knows, maybe they now go after that other top-tier SG still on the market (CJ Miles).
12. Portland: they don't have a coach and their "Big-3", assuming they match Minnesota's offer are Aldridge, Batum and Matthews. Money doesn't always insure success.
13. I'll put Houston here for now. Does anyone know what the hell they're doing? It's Dwight Howard or lottery (or maybe both).
14. Sacramento; have some pieces, could move up. Distraction over where they'll be moving to will unsettle players.
15. New Orleans: Unibrow is a nice building block. I think Gordon is overpayed. They've added Ryan Anderson and also drafted Rivers. Future is brighter in NO, but still a few years away from playoff consideration.
Click to expand...

Burks w/o playing time > Bell
 
Stoked said:
I'm always excited about the Jazz. I think if Al continued to improve his passing and made his O move in half the time he does now he would be a much better player.
Click to expand...

That's the best part of sports. The offseason and early part of the season when almost everyone is optimistic.
 
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda...

If you can claim one of these guys off waivers, you can trade them later. Particularly Scola.

Also, considering the hole of anything close to a youngish NBA PG, Aaron Brooks probably made a lot of sense, too (Jimmer ain't happening).
 
NUMBERICA said:
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda...

If you can claim one of these guys off waivers, you can trade them later. Particularly Scola.

Also, considering the hole of anything close to a youngish NBA PG, Aaron Brooks probably made a lot of sense, too (Jimmer ain't happening).
Click to expand...

Do waiver claims go in reverse order of records? Also, I believe you can't bid on an amnestied player unless you are under the cap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top