I disagree with you there. I think Utah knows exactly what they have in Kanter and Burks. And it's not a "treacherous path" to be approaching the end of their contracts as they will be RFA's.
I think Kanter is still a mystery to the FO. They know he's studly offensively, but they haven't studied him as a starter with a healthy roster. They don't know if him and Favors could work together and be successful if all the other teammates were healthy. They know he was touch, but they don't even know if he can shoot the 3 ball in games (Turkish national coach swears he can). They haven't tried a different defensive scheme to hide his deficiencies like Bulls did for Boozer, and Charlotte's done for Al (both were blamed for our bad defense, yet both play on top tier defensive teams now).
Yes, they will be RFA's. But just because you have the ability to keep them, doesn't mean you know why you should keep them, or for how much. Utah doesn't get a discount when they sign their rookies, they pay the premium. If you're forced to pay more than a play is worth, you should have enough data to be truly informed where you should draw the line.
What do I think Burks can average if he gets 30 mins (whether as a starter or 6th man)? He's at 14/per now in 27 mins. Give him more touches in an extra 5 mins. and he could bump that up to 18-20 points. There's no question.
I agree, that's highly achievable. But, is that his ceiling? What can he do at 36 mpg playing all of his minutes against starters? What would a faster tempo offense do for his game? What would having time with ALL of the C5 at once do to his game? How does he defend in the 1st quarter vs the 4th?
Kanter? Offensive stud, but gets lost on defense. Is not a rim protector. Has shown for 2 years he can dominate 2nd-stringers. It's not like he's wasting away on the bench; he's averaging 25 mins/per. I can almost guarantee he'll be the odd man out. Due to his size, some team is going to overpay and start him at the 5. I see the Jazz going with Favors/Gobert at center and using stretch-4's.
Many fans view him as the odd man out. In Dennis Lindsey's most recent 1280 interview when asked about Kanter's defense, Lindsey says he (DL) should take the blame for a big portion of it for not getting other players around him who could play defense. That sounds like Lindsey is high on Kanter because of what he does offensively, even if Corbin isn't (because Corbin is being evaluated on how well he can build a defense).
You say you know Kanter can dominate 2nd string bigs, but wouldn't you like to know more? In Favors' absence Kanter shined offensively scoring 25 pts back to back. Can he do it again? Could he be integrated into the offense if he was encouraged to shoot the 3? Some of his jumpers are just a couple feet inside the arc, is an NBA 3 really so far-fetched given his soft touch?
On some possessions he runs the floor really well, chasing down full court passes, but then on others he looks like Al Jefferson trotting into the frame with 10 seconds left on the shot clock. If the PG's played at a faster pace more consistently, could this inspire him to run?
