The Lauri Thread

[homeytennis]

I get the impression that Ryan Smith trusts Ainge explicitly. It feels more likely that Ainge decides to give up on the team than Ryan gives up on Ainge. At least that's the impression that I have.

Some of it might be what is Ryan Smith's business plan? If the Jazz are still selling tickets Smith might care about the team
s W-L record.

 

[HadAnEffectHere]

I get the impression that Ryan Smith trusts Ainge explicitly. It feels more likely that Ainge decides to give up on the team than Ryan gives up on Ainge. At least that's the impression that I have.

I mean, but how many years can Ainge just strike out and fail at his explicit goals while putting together a team intentionally trying to lose games before that trust is shaken?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

I mean, but how many years can Ainge just strike out and fail at his explicit goals while putting together a team intentionally trying to lose games before that trust is shaken?

Yeah. Also – at what point does the Utah media start asking these questions? It's been crickets so far.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Yeah I get that. Its a scary area to have issues with. I've had some issues with back spasms off and on. I am sure there are some things he can do to help remedy/prevent the issues.

Whatever it is, you never like to see a 7 footer rub their lower back in games, suddenly turn into an under the rim player and need "management". Not at 27 years of age.

 

[KqWIN]

I mean, but how many years can Ainge just strike out and fail at his explicit goals while putting together a team intentionally trying to lose games before that trust is shaken?

I try not to take anything said at press conferences too seriously, but it actually upset me that he is so smug + loud and proud about his failed plans. Like even if he's lying, why should we celebrate him failing? If the plan was what was reported, it would have been catastrophic if he had succeeded.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Here's another Lauri related question, at least in my opinion. Should we continue to target super young guys with our later picks this year or should we target guys who might theoretically be more ready to contribute right away?

 

[HadAnEffectHere]

Here's another Lauri related question, at least in my opinion. Should we continue to target super young guys with our later picks this year or should we target guys who might theoretically be more ready to contribute right away?

There's no one in the top 10 that is ready right now. All of them are projects.

I think Flagg and Harper are great prospects, but they're very raw and years away.

Oh, later picks, misread.

Ehhhh, those picks are going to get traded, we already have 7 players on rookie contracts.

 

[outerspacefan]

The major question mark that will inform how this goes is how much rope Ryan Smith allows Ainge and Will Hardy to have if we don't get a top two pick.

His ownership has been a catastrophe that saw him blow up a #1 seed to trade away two Hall of Famers in their 20s with long term contracts for three years of intentional losing with so far zero high level prospects in return.

At some point Ainge has to find a star in the draft or I can't see how he survives this. Will Hardy has to eventually get his team to play hard or I don't see how he survives this.

If we end up getting like the 4th pick and Lauri has no trade value next offseason, I could see Ainge panic trading the pick to try to be a play-in team.

Ainge passed the point of Lauri's peak value (deadline 2024) with the idea that he could put stars around Lauri and it... It's getting much harder to see how that happens or how he survives if he keeps being wrong.

Hard to argue with any of this at this point.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Ehhhh, those picks are going to get traded, we already have 7 players on rookie contracts.

Possibly, but for what?

Which brings up another good Lauri question though. How does keeping or trading Lauri this summer impact our likelihood of keeping all of our picks?

 

[HadAnEffectHere]

Possibly, but for what?

Which brings up another good Lauri question though. How does keeping or trading Lauri this summer impact our likelihood of keeping all of our picks?

This is a good question.

Ainge and the Jazz said over and over again before the last two drafts that they didn't want to draft three rookies only to... draft three rookies.

But they just literally can't do that again this year.

So I would guess these late firsts get traded for like multiple mid seconds in future years.

 

[Tanktastic]

Possibly, but for what?

Well, the Cavs picks currently looks almost like early 2nds, so nothing of consequence.

The pick hauls immediately after trades always look fantastic, but some turn into garbage and it's quite rare to actually get the super value.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

Umm, we're talking about a guy who insisted on playing injured for a team that was desperately trying to lose to improve its draft positioning over the final stretch of a season.

Yeah... I don't think so.

In fact, you could almost say that Lauri is known for playing hard and destroying his body even when it doesn't necessarily make much sense. Employee of the Month syndrome. I'm pretty sure he has the most miles on his legs out of all true NBA 7 footers who've played as long as him.

I don't need Lauri to play reckless around the rim or posterize people, but he's just not moving at all like a guy who has a healthy lower back. He's very stiff, upright, robotic and groundbound – and that's how you play when you're trying to protect your back and avoid unpredictable movements. It's not necessarily an injury per se, but nagging long-term wear and tear that's bothering him more and more.

IMO he's carrying too much weight too.

Sadly I have to agree with this guy. This was always my mentality back in the day when I played sports. Some only have one speed.