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Lowe: Winners and Losers (ESPN)

Engorged On Unborn Gore

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https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27143232/winners-losers-wildest-nba-week-ever
The Utah Jazz are loaded after trading for Conley and splurging on Bojan Bogdanovic -- a last-minute pivot after Nikola Mirotic spurned them. Jeff Greenand Ed Davis bring needed depth.

Utah will miss Derrick Favors. An injury to Green or Davis would bring more danger than it should. But the Jazz will be really hard to guard with four shooters around Gobert and two ball handlers who can score from anywhere, in Conley and Mitchell.

In the past, Quin Snyder leaned on complex motion to mask a lack of go-go talent. The Jazz can simplify now and run more classic spread pick-and-roll around Gobert. They remind of the peak Dwight Howard-era Magic, down to Gobert grabbing enough offensive rebounds on his own to mimic the effect of a normal team having two or even three guys crash the glass.

Gobert faces a huge burden on defense, but is it really so much bigger with Bogdanovic as small-ball power forward than with Jae Crowder? Gobert is back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year. It's his job to handle that burden.

Utah can make the Finals, but I'm a tick lower on the Jazz than the consensus. They don't feel soft, exactly. Maybe lacking in force? Compare them to last season's Philadelphia 76ers, who overwhelmed opponents -- and unnerved the champion Toronto Raptors -- with sheer size and athleticism. Even Conley doesn't scare you in that sense. He's fast, but he's barely 6-foot-1; he beats you with craft. Gobert is not as powerful or coordinated rolling to the rim as peak Howard.

Which projected starter is defending huge alpha wing scorers like LeBron, George and Leonard? What about James Harden? That job fell mostly to Ricky Rubio in last season's playoffs.

Dante Exum and Royce O'Neale figure into those questions. They bring some of that missing oomph. But will Utah be able to score enough against elite defenses with one or both on the floor? Bogdanovic is 30; that four-year, $73 million deal may not age well.
 
Gobert faces a huge burden on defense, but is it really so much bigger with Bogdanovic as small-ball power forward than with Jae Crowder? Gobert is back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year. It's his job to handle that burden.

With more made shots within Snyder's schemes, I think Rudy's burden gets much lighter.
 
Lowe is right though... we lack athleticism. IMO we should be looking to add athletic wing/forward type either through FA/trade or through the draft next summer. Hopefully Brantley is part of the solution too...

He's right about the Jazz' needs. But his Orlando/Dwight Howard comp is weak. The Jazz don't just have shooters around Gobert. They've got 4 shooters/3 PNR playmakers. And in reference to "softness", Gobert is the opposite of Howard.
 
The one part that stuck out to me the most is the Bogdanovic deal not aging very well. I have been too excited about him coming to even worry about the deal. I think he has a solid 3-4 years left regardless and it’s 18m a year not 30+ like some of these other guys.
 
Yeah, he nailed it. I’m happy with everything so far, but I can’t help but feel this team lacks some “force” as he says. I feel having Crowder would help kind of a lot. I can see him even playing as a small-ball C a la Tucker.
 
The one part that stuck out to me the most is the Bogdanovic deal not aging very well. I have been too excited about him coming to even worry about the deal. I think he has a solid 3-4 years left regardless and it’s 18m a year not 30+ like some of these other guys.
It was a big offer no doubt. Bojan's market value is about 15 mil per for 4 years or 20mil per for 2. Us offering him 19mil per for 4 years is the main reason why we were able to outbid Indy.
 
The one part that stuck out to me the most is the Bogdanovic deal not aging very well. I have been too excited about him coming to even worry about the deal. I think he has a solid 3-4 years left regardless and it’s 18m a year not 30+ like some of these other guys.
You don’t make that deal worried about year 4 when the championship window is strangely wide open now, and the Jazz had a cap-window open pre-Mitchell’s raise.

I have no issue with Bojan at all. As I have been so, so loud about; my issue is the opportunity cost lost in being obsessed with a guy that has done practically nothing in his entire five seasons (and how that seems to INCREASE his value, somehow). I feel Marcus Morris could’ve been an important get, and I feel strongly about Caruso as well (why would the Jazz go after him if they’re hell-bent on giving X every opportunity?). Keeping him OFF the Lakers alone carries some worth since I think he’s a real player.

Anyway.
 
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Yeah, he nailed it. I’m happy with everything so far, but I can’t help but feel this team lacks some “force” as he says. I feel having Crowder would help kind of a lot. I can see him even playing as a small-ball C a la Tucker.
I agree but at the same time I was done with Jae's chucking habits. He'd be the last guy I would want taking shots on this team at this point and I'd feel like he'd try to get his.
 
You don’t make that deal worried about year 4 when the championship window is strangely wide open now, and the Jazz had a cap-window open pre-Mitchell’s raise.

I have no issue with Bojan at all. As I have been so, so loud about; my issue is the opportunity cost lost in being obsessed with a guy that has practically done nothing in his entire five season (and how that seems to INCREASE his value, somehow). I feel Marcus Morris could’ve been an important get, and I feel strongly about Caruso as well (why would the Jazz go after him if they’re hell-bent on giving X every opportunity). Keeping him OFF the Lakers alone carries some worth since I think he’s a real player.

Anyway.

Solid post.
 
He thinks we're like the Dwight Howard era Magic? WTF lol. We're nothing like that team aside from both teams having a multi-time DPOY Center.

"Compare them to last seasons Philadelphia 76ers".... why??? Out of all teams why...

The one thing he's right about is the question of who will guard LeBron/Kawhi/etc. But the thing is we have multiple different bodies to throw at these types of players. Green, Niang, O'neale, Brantley, Exum, Mudiay, Mitchell, Bojan, Jingles... all these guys have size and/or length, speed and/or strength.

One question he didn't ask is... how do teams guard us now? We might not completely shutdown the LeBron/Kawhi of the world (which is fine because nobody does). But we can now score with them.
 
I wrote this in a different thread last Thursday. It’s better here:



According to my reckoning, there's a very low probability that the FO has hit on the precise pieces to deliver a championship. I mean, we haven't even seen this group play together to know what kind of roster-balancing moves are needed. In addition, there's the cash-strapped reality the FO was facing after the acquisition of Conley and Bogdanovic.

And so the best chance we have at a championship as of right now resides in the following scenario: if our marginal or poor assets up their value and thereby produce a scenario where we are able to balance our roster with a higher quality player than the post-Conley and -Bogdanovich landscape allowed, and with some knowledge of how the team will play together.

And there's also the chance that Dante puts it all together, stays healthy, and works well for this roster. His defense is (or can be) very valuable against HOU and GSW.
 
Accurate article, Lowe has always been a fan of ours. I'm thinking unless we get really lucky our ceiling this year is a WCF loss, floor is second round. Next year will be the big one, again depending on luck. I'm more bullish on Exum than most, and there are still a couple more moves needed.
 
Accurate article, Lowe has always been a fan of ours. I'm thinking unless we get really lucky our ceiling this year is a WCF loss, floor is second round. Next year will be the big one, again depending on luck. I'm more bullish on Exum than most, and there are still a couple more moves needed.

Next year we will also have the full MLE and the BAE to improve.

Also, some of Lowe’s critique of the Jazz can be applied league wide. Outside of LAC is anyone really equipped to stop LeBron? Jazz have done really good against Harden two years straight. Only two that really worry me in the west are LeBron and Kawhi.

I fully agree on the need for more “force”. I said we needed a bruiser/physical guy like a week ago.
 
Luc Mbah a Moute may be the answer here, or possibly Jarrell Brantley. Or we might acquire someone at the deadline - the Jazz should have a better idea what team needs might be by then.
 
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