Rest Easy, The Jazz Will Be Awful

[rjfan]

Sure, this is certainly true.

But how much better? This is a team of players who cant create shots and don't move the ball well. What happens if this team ever gets in a "clutch" situation?

When I talked before over not seeing us far from the top picks, it was pretty much down to the way I see it. We're problably too talented (as not 100% bottomed out in terms of outgoing players) to being trashed out by 20 mid third every game, but even when it should be somewhat close (as that team shouldn't be expected to be blowing no one out of the water), neither our defense or offense should be near elite enough to be able carry us to victory on any consistent basis, neither collective or individually.

And thank god it is that way, we're tanking, we should lose as many games as posible for a top pick (even if not need to settle for a worst record, 4th to 6th already gets you really good chances at the lottery)

 

[Avery]

As a Jazz fan, if you've wanted to get lower bowl for cheap, my guess is season ticket holders will be letting them go for rock-bottom prices. That's one bright spot.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

The Jazz's current roster isn't too different from the Houston Rockets' roster after they blew up in 20/21. That Rockets team won at just under a 20-win pace. I don't think we're that bad, but the Jazz are hollowed out with a mix of shards from the previous team and a few middling young prospects.

That Rockets team had John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Kelly Olynyk, Eric Gordon, Danuel House, Ben McLemore, Avery Bradley and Christian Wood. The only young talent of note was Kenyon Martin Jr., JaeSean Tate and Kevin Porter Jr. In total, 30 players were on that roster at one time or another. It was a clearinghouse of old vets that other teams could pick up.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Probably better than last year’s team. Certainly couldn’t be any worse.

I'm struggling to understand what "better" or "worse" means in the context of this upcoming season.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

As a Jazz fan, if you've wanted to get lower bowl for cheap, my guess is season ticket holders will be letting them go for rock-bottom prices. That's one bright spot.

I looked earlier, and the regular prices are actually up compared to last season. I have a hard time with the idea of spending $150 for a decent seat only to root for the Jazz to lose. There isn't even a young player on this team that I'd look forward to seeing play.

 

[JazzGal]

As a Jazz fan, if you've wanted to get lower bowl for cheap, my guess is season ticket holders will be letting them go for rock-bottom prices. That's one bright spot.

I got great seats for cheap the year after Stockton/Malone. Fun season.

Sent from my SM-A426U using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Here's where I think this is going....
** At this stage, the Jazz are just sifting through players to see if they like any of them.
** Markkanen is a starting-level player, and he's still just 25. I think the Jazz will keep him longer term.
** Collin Sexton will probably end up being a backup on the team the Jazz want to build, or he may be an asset to be traded in the future once he gets further along his development curve.
** Jared Vanderbilt is a culture-setter with his energy and effort, and I think he's part of the team's plans in the near-term at least.
** Jazz will keep NAW, THT, Agbaji and Bolmaro as development projects, though none are likely to be untouchable in future trades.
** It's not clear to me how much the Jazz really like Walker Kessler and whether he fits what they want from the center position. It's possible that he was a throw-in in the Gobert trade. He could be developed and moved within a couple years. He doesn't project to be good enough to be a long-term staple.
** Jazz will try to trade away Conley, Clarkson, Beasley and Olynyk. None of them will be around on the future team and none are really systemically that important. Conley at least brings some order to the chaos in the meantime.
** Jazz will dump Rudy Gay if they have to.

 

[oneye]

They’ll be bad, which was expected.

 

[HeatCheck]

Here's where I think this is going....
** At this stage, the Jazz are just sifting through players to see if they like any of them.
** Markkanen is a starting-level player, and he's still just 25. I think the Jazz will keep him longer term.
** Collin Sexton will probably end up being a backup on the team the Jazz want to build, or he may be an asset to be traded in the future once he gets further along his development curve.
** Jared Vanderbilt is a culture-setter with his energy and effort, and I think he's part of the team's plans in the near-term at least.
** Jazz will keep NAW, THT, Agbaji and Bolmaro as development projects, though none are likely to be untouchable in future trades.
** It's not clear to me how much the Jazz really like Walker Kessler and whether he fits what they want from the center position. It's possible that he was a throw-in in the Gobert trade. He could be developed and moved within a couple years. He doesn't project to be good enough to be a long-term staple.
** Jazz will try to trade away Conley, Clarkson, Beasley and Olynyk. None of them will be around on the future team and none are really systemically that important.
** Jazz will dump Rudy Gay if they have to.

I'm guessing the Jazzman's future franchise player(s) is a teenager at this point. It's possible there isn't a single player on this team that will still be here in a few years. Maybe a few of them stick around as culture pieces and/or as complimentary pieces once a franchise player is drafted and developed. I know Agbaji didn't get to play much today but he and Kessler seem like potentially decent bets to stick around but who knows at this point. If Markkanen and Sexton play well I wouldn't be surprised to see either one eventually traded especially as their contracts start to age. Vanderbilt is a guy I could see them extend if he keeps playing with the same amount of energy.

Unfortunately the current veterans on this team don't appear to have much trade value at all.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I'm guessing the Jazzman's future franchise player(s) is a teenager at this point. It's possible there isn't a single player on this team that will still be here in a few years. Maybe a few of them stick around as culture pieces and/or as complimentary pieces once a franchise player is drafted and developed. I know Agbaji didn't get to play much today but he and Kessler seem like potentially decent bets to stick around but who knows at this point. If Markkanen and Sexton play well I wouldn't be surprised to see either one eventually traded especially as their contracts start to age. Vanderbilt is a guy I could see them extend if he keeps playing with the same amount of energy.

Unfortunately the current veterans on this team don't appear to have much trade value at all.

The Celtics drafted their foundational players--Smart, Brown and Tatum--in 2014-17. That team just made the Finals for the first time 5 years after the last of them (Tatum) was drafted. So yeah, the Jazz are hoping to draft guys who are 16 - 19 years-old right now and then develop them into a contending team in 5 - 7 years.

The problem that the Jazz keep having is that it takes years to draft and develop All Star-level players, and then quite often the player decides he wants to leave Utah somewhere in the middle of his 2nd contract. It looks like the European players are generally less antsy to get to LA or NYC.

 

[Strutter]

I got great seats for cheap the year after Stockton/Malone. Fun season.

Sent from my SM-A426U using JazzFanz mobile app

In a weird way, that was one of my favorite seasons, the 42-40 one with Arroyo and Kirilenko.

 

[HeatCheck]

The Celtics drafted their foundational players--Smart, Brown and Tatum--in 2014-17. That team just made the Finals for the first time 5 years after the last of them (Tatum) was drafted. So yeah, the Jazz are hoping to draft guys who are 16 - 19 years-old right now and then develop them into a contending team in 5 - 7 years.

The problem that the Jazz keep having is that it takes years to draft and develop All Star-level players, and then quite often the player decides he wants to leave Utah somewhere in the middle of his 2nd contract. It looks like the European players are generally less antsy to get to LA or NYC.

Yep. I think this year is all about setting a culture and *potentially* finding a few players to compliment the future franchise player. I think they need to follow the Minnesota/Cleveland model and act quickly once they draft and identify a franchise guy. Cavs had a few quality pieces on their roster and once they drafted Mobley realized they had a potential top 10 talent and immediately traded all their assets for Don. I have confidence that Ainge is going to find a Tatum type talent for the Jazz in the next few years. Hopefully they will have the culture in place to immediately go all in to build around their guy. As a smaller market I think that's the only way to build as the rookie contract clock starts ticking immediately and the team is only going to have 7-9 years of team control and potentially less if the player is unhappy.

Totally agree that some of the foreign players seem less "antsy" to play for the big market teams. It didn't hurt that a team like the Bucks did a great job building around Giannis so that he didn't want to leave. I think it was important for Ainge to get all those unprotected picks so he now has a ton of ammo to go out and make moves after they draft their Tatum (or Giannis or Morant, etc). The worst spot to be is where Charlotte currently sits. They thought they had a potential franchise guy in LaMelo and now they have absolutely nothing next to him..I can pretty much guarantee that guy will be out of Charlotte within 4-5 years.