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Roster Building From Here - FA and Summer of 2023

I agree Reid is more obtainable than Reaves.

Not sure Reid helps the Jazz as much as other teams that need front court help. I mean, I suppose you could do a three man rotation of Reid/Kessler/Markkanen, but does Reid provide more actual value than doing the same with Olynyk? Just more potential years? Feels like a lateral-ish move to me. Would depend on what happens with Olynyk. Backcourt is the more pressing issue, particularly at PG. Feels like playmaking is the biggest concern in the backcourt, and I'm not sure Sexton, THT, or Clarkson if he's signed is the solution. They're shot creators, which is important, but you need a playmaker to get Markkanen the ball in the right spots. Not sure Reaves is that. Haven't really watched him much.
Reid is as much or more about needling Minnesota as it is anything else. He’s a good, modern big and young (which KO is not).

Reaves is balling TF out. The way the Jazz get better from here is making bets that spikes in production are for real or otherwise diamond hunting in the rough. He is incredibly efficient and is probably their best table-setter besides Lebron. Unselfish, high IQ/feel, really good defensively, and happy to do the dirty work. I think he plugs a lot of what the Jazz are short on wrapped into one player. He will cost money though, but I am obviously bullish.
 
I think VanVleet is the obvious target for a reason. I think he'd have to change his game slightly to make more of a fit. More of a facilitator. His 3pt% is down, but are they harder 3s? 41% corner threes, so I assume he'd be 38-40 with easier looks.
 
Jazz need an elite on-ball player from somewhere, someone who can set guys up and also score reliably in isolation.
 
I think Dorian Finney Smith is a candidate. I'd check on OG if the price isn't bonkers. In FA the big fish we should consider:

Cam Johnson
FVV
Austin Reaves (a little short as a SF though... I'd sign him and figure it out)
Jerami Grant
Kuzma - Meh
Harrison Barnes... I know he's 30... he's still productive and I bet he has 3-4 good years left.
Grant Williams - though I don't there is much else there... kinda is who he is.

There are a bunch of other smaller names I'd consider... Shake Milton is having a good season, Naz Reid, Max Strus, etc.

Its weird... we have offloaded so much talent that we should have some real low hanging fruit for improvement... but I'm struggling to figure out the best path.
Good summary.

The low hanging fruits are there. We have the worst bench in the league right now and upgrading anyone on the starting lineup is also an immediate and impactful upgrade to the bench if we upgrade through FA or by not giving away our current top 7 guys. Our starting lineup can be upgraded at 1, 2 and 4... so Sexton/THT/Dunn (or whoever our current 1 is), Ochai and KO are essentially the bars. All 3 are good but can also operate from the bench... so upgrading just 1 or 2 of them is also an option if we also add quality to our bench.

Adding one top shelf guy like Brown should be the key target since we want that second guy the opponents really have to plan for and worry about come playoff time. It could also be a ball dominant guy like Dame or Luka... assuming they wont break down Hardy's system and can build chemistry with Lauri and Kessler (I think Kessler is gonna raise his offense a lot going forward). I dont want a single minded iso scorer though, so gotta have some serious passing and playmaking chops if we get one of them uberdribblers.

Other possible higher end upgrades... well you got them listed there. DFS, OG and Mikal Brigdes are probably the best that come to mind that could be available... since those are all solid defenders and shooters. Some could be too expensive for our pallet though (Bridges in particular). Basically any good PoA defender who can stay in front of the top guards and has good shooting and off ball skills on offense (screening, C&S movement, rim running).

But the key is, we need to restore the depth we lost. Remember how we were one of the best offenses in the league while we still had it? What did we need to really add was better defenders who can score as well as who we had for starters back then. I would rather restore the depth by adding to the top.. but it could also be done by bringing in younger guys like Reaves, Cam Johnson etc who have a good chance to win the starter role but arent necessarily fully estabilshed yet.

Then add few good rookies from this class to round up the bench and we are set to field a top 3 offense with much improved defense next season.
 
Some people seem to think we need huge upgrades because our record stands at .500 range. Thing is, we dont. We had a top 5 offense before the trade deadline and only needed defense to close out / stay in games... or to be able to blow them away early. And that was with the makeshift roster where some pieces didnt fit. Now we know what pieces fit and what we need going forward.

I thought we were a clutch team because our close result record indicates so... but NBA.com latest power rankings stated that we are 21-26 in games that were within five points in the last five minutes. Our record in games decided by 3 or less is 10-6. So as 16 games stay close all the way that means 11 of those 47 close games we run away with the win late and 20 of 47 the opponent does that.

Add some capability to get defensive stops and we can change that 21-26 to 31-16 and suddenly we are a 50 win team. It doesnt work that simple ofc, but this was just to illustrate the point of defense/depth being key for us.
 
Who said anything about overpaying? I also think Reaves would be a terrific fit as the starting 2.

Also, Jazz can have as much as ~$70 million in cap space this off-season and should spend some of it since they could be as much as ~$60 million under the salary floor (90% of the cap).

Being under the salary floor is a defensible rebuild strategy but that’s not what’s happening next year.

Of course going after an available star (that fits/isn’t a team-killing cancer) would be priority one. But availability is not something the Jazz control.
If I were the Jazz and I got Austin Reaves I wouldn’t be starting him at the two. He’d be at the one. Especially because Agbaji is projecting as the starting two next season. That would be a really good backcourt
 
Some people seem to think we need huge upgrades because our record stands at .500 range. Thing is, we dont. We had a top 5 offense before the trade deadline and only needed defense to close out / stay in games... or to be able to blow them away early. And that was with the makeshift roster where some pieces didnt fit. Now we know what pieces fit and what we need going forward.

I thought we were a clutch team because our close result record indicates so... but NBA.com latest power rankings stated that we are 21-26 in games that were within five points in the last five minutes. Our record in games decided by 3 or less is 10-6. So as 16 games stay close all the way that means 11 of those 47 close games we run away with the win late and 20 of 47 the opponent does that.

Add some capability to get defensive stops and we can change that 21-26 to 31-16 and suddenly we are a 50 win team. It doesnt work that simple ofc, but this was just to illustrate the point of defense/depth being key for us.
I'm thinking the Jazz still could use some wing depth and probably a good facilitator or two to compliment what we have. They've pretty well hung in with a tough WC, so we are far off. But yeah, we do need some good defensive players.
 
Austin Reaves has an assist % of 13.8% and an assist ratio of 21.9%. Are we confusing who this guy is just because he is capable of passing a little?

(for comparison prime Joe Ingles has had an assist % of 26.2% and an assist ratio of 30.9%)
 
Austin Reaves has an assist % of 13.8% and an assist ratio of 21.9%. Are we confusing who this guy is just because he is capable of passing a little?

(for comparison prime Joe Ingles has had an assist % of 26.2% and an assist ratio of 30.9%)
I guess maybe some people are thinking he could have a different role with us and be used differently or something.
 
Naz has single handedly kept Minnesota in multiple games this year. What in the world is going on here.
He's fine, but he's also at a point in his career where he isnt going to sign on to be a backup to two all-star level players. Also think Kelly Olynyk is just overall a better fit as a 3rd big. Dont think Naz is a good fit with Walker or Lauri tbh.
 
I guess maybe some people are thinking he could have a different role with us and be used differently or something.
If we sign him, I would assume it’s because the Jazz believe he can be their starting PG. I only wonder if they’d really make him the highest paid player on the team right now.
 
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