Your off-season grades for D.L. and the Jazz (Poll)

[Quin's Murderface]

I give them a C

My reasoning is that they royally screwed up the Hayward thing by not reading the situation well. As a GM (one of only a select few jobs like this in the world) you have a difficult job in that you need to be able to judge player markets, player progression, and get a feel for when to cut bait on players and get assets in return. In this case DL failed badly to get any assets out of Hayward, or to build whatever Hayward wanted/needed to stay. So that part of the offseason was an F even though I respect DL, and think he is good.

After that disaster, I think DL did very well to go the route he has so far. Understanding that FA and trades are still possible, I think he has done a smart thing in letting the team give space for Hood, Exum, and Mitchell to develop offensively while keeping a core defensive philosophy. I would give perfect marks if they could find a way to trade Favors+pieces for some kind of better offensive option at 4. I fear we are going to lose another player for nothing if they don't trade him in the offseason.

Edit: I also liked the moves pre-Hayward. Joe is a nice piece to have. Mitchell was a good pick. Dropping Lyles was something some GM's would struggle with, and Rubio is just a good player either way.

It's tough to have a good grade overall, though, when you lose a star player for nothing.

 

[dipship31]

Regardless the reason this is the first offseason we have lost a FA of significance to the open market, who we fully intended to keep, in franchise history so that has to knock the grade down quite a bit.

After the big miss though I'm happy with just about everything else. Lyles for Mitchell could be that laughable move talked about for years in our favor, Rubio could have a better overall impact on this team than Hill did (would've been more confident in that if Hay stayed), and the minor deals seem like guys who can contribute in spurts and we didn't have to overpay or sign them long term so our future is still flexible.

C+ overall for me

 

[Tom Pitt]

DL CHOSE ****ing LYLES

Maybe the mods could change the thread to - "How ****ed up is Brute's grading of DL?"

I give them a C

My reasoning is that they royally screwed up the Hayward thing by not reading the situation well. As a GM (one of only a select few jobs like this in the world) you have a difficult job in that you need to be able to judge player markets, player progression, and get a feel for when to cut bait on players and get assets in return. In this case DL failed badly to get any assets out of Hayward, or to build whatever Hayward wanted/needed to stay.

Seems to me That they traded Lyles might be saying more about Donovan than it does about Lyles.

I don't blame DL for Hayward leaving. I don't think DL would waste his time trying to get GH to stay if he did not think there was a realistic possibility and in that respect maybe that DL and the JAZZ were all in on retaining him says more about Hayward and his agent than it does about Lindsey and the FO.

 

[Tom Pitt]

Essentially swapping Rubio for Hill is a forward looking move and given the fact that Hayward left the right one. I'd take Hill over Rubio in most situations; but do we want to watch Hill every night have to jack up 15-20 shots a game to get Utah to 40 wins? Probably not.

I think you should also include Hill's reliability over the past two seasons juxtaposed with Ricky's. Missing Hill all season probably cost us the 3rd seed (projections did say we lost 9 wins to injury more than anyone else, so 60ish win team). We replaced Hill with Rubio who rates out according to various metrics as a better player than Hill thus helping us win more games. Also, we can reasonably expect him to play more games than Hill will next season (Hill injured a toe in November and was sitting out playoff games in May because of it.)

With good healthy Jazz probably win 45-50 games when you account for Hayward -11 win projection off 60 wins... West got tougher but also factor in internal development along with health as we did... and How good is Donovan? How do the new free agent signings make us better? Dante ready?

 

[Tom Pitt]

I think D+ is about right, Rubio is a good pick up and Mitchell could be something, but its only summer league so i'm not wetting my pants just yet.

The Burks situation is a nightmare and his failure to sign a free agent who can produce some scoring is a glaring negative, so D+ for me, maybe a C cause the team has got stronger defensively. I'd have also like to have seen them make a move for a better back up for Rudy, to take some of the load off him down the stretch.

You may be vastly underrating Udoh's defensive ability/versatility . Rim protector who can switch 1-5 and also has a book club. Count me in on this dude.

 

[Rubashov]

You may be vastly underrating Udoh's defensive ability/versatility . Rim protector who can switch 1-5 and also has a book club. Count me in on this dude.

The book club sells me, unless its Sci-Fi and fantasy, he can **** off to Comic Con if it is.

 

[elan_prodigy]

B+.

I don't blame then for #coward leaving, I think they were lead on if anything.

Bounced back well, signed some nice peices, DM is a stud and Rubio is a good addition, at great price, could do great things with Rudy.

Moving up 11 spots for Trey "bum" Lyles was the move of the draft also.

 

[jazzlurker]

DL couldn't have anticipated Lyles attitude completely digressing to a whiny child not being able to play super mario brothers. Lyles didn't put the work in to get better. Look at his software engineer physique.

Going with Rubio made the Jazz younger and allows their core to develop and peak towards the end of the Warriors dynasty.

Which free agent/player traded would have moved the needle enough to push the Jazz to the next level? Butler? George? C3P0? Any other move would have been a lateral move.
The rest of the team needs time to grow as evident by the 4-0 demolishing.

Glam Hounds ability to push the Jazz to the next level was capped out. The rest of the team needs time to grow as evident by the 4-0 demolishing. LBJ has upper tier talent around him and they were pancaked.

At least, the Jazz were not hostage to a max contract that realistically did not make them any better.

 

[fishonjazz]

I think D+ is about right, Rubio is a good pick up and Mitchell could be something, but its only summer league so i'm not wetting my pants just yet.

The Burks situation is a nightmare and his failure to sign a free agent who can produce some scoring is a glaring negative, so D+ for me, maybe a C cause the team has got stronger defensively. I'd have also like to have seen them make a move for a better back up for Rudy, to take some of the load off him down the stretch.

What is "the burks situation" and what does burks have to do with what DL did this off season?

 

[Park Bites]

I wish there was an incomplete option. I can't say how the off season was until i see a few things happen

- mitchell - if he gets playing time and shines then that will improve the grade.
- Rubio - His fit with this team will also speak volumes. I am a little disappointed that we spent a first round pick on Hill and now he is gone but considering the money he lost kind of makes me laugh.
- O'Neale - His defense might get him some playing time and if his shot is falling he could be an invaluable piece to the Jazz and he is still young at 24
- Udoh - Loved the signing and I wanted him after watching the euro league final four. IF he spells Gobert for 15 to 18 minutes a night with solid rebound and defense this signing is a win.

IF all the above happened i would give an a-.

 

[mellow]

Haynerd's "Indecision" hurt. But I think Dennis O'Lindsey rebounded well. He didn't overreact by signing a marginal player to a long-term near max deal, he didn't gut the team of the familiar players, nor did he trade Favors or Burks for 10-cents on the dollar.

His response following the "Indecision" shows Lindsey is cool, calculating and controlled. I applaud his approach to signing veterans to 2-year deals. It makes the contract tradeable, does not allow the player to get comfortable (the player is auditioning for his next contract), and it does not tie the Jazz down. If a superstar became available the Jazz have the pieces to make a trade.

I graded him down to a B+ because of the Tony Bradley pick. I felt like there were multiple wing/skill players at the end of the draft who could have made a more immediate impact (my favorite was Semi). I don't understand drafting an old school style center project when the league is going smaller and the team has the best center in the league. There are multiple serviceable bigs available (see Epke for example) who can play right away, and the market for bigs is only going to become more diluted in the next two-years.

That being said, Dennis is a pretty smart guy, and knows way more about his team, and the league so I am ready to be shown the error in my thinking.

 

[Jack Strop]

B+.
Even if DL thought Hayward was going to leave, do you think he would have gotten any good assets from Boston last year? Second, it would have been a PR nightmare to trade your best player, who had not uttered a peep about being unhappy or wanting to go elsewhere.

DL pivoted as fast as he could after Hayward FINALLY published his manifesto. Lindsey reportedly heard about on a flight back from the East, so he was working on contingency plans.

Rubio: not DL's fault Hill was demanding a Brink's truck. He made use of the 2016 cap space to show Hayward he had a PG who could set up Gordon for some easier looks. He didn't wait around hoping Hill would reduce his price. A

Mitchell: trading up from 24 to 11 is near impossible without giving up another good asset. Ok, he made a mistake 2 yrs ago drafting Lyles. He moved on, traded up AND gets one of the steals of the draft. A++

Ingles: done to try to keep Hayward. If Ingles maintains his 3PT %, He is very tradeable if Jazz need cap space. B

FA signings: good, solid backups who fit the defense-first philosophy. No stupid contracts. This is VERY important if Utah keeps both Dante and Rodney. C for talent, B+ for one-year + option deals.

Not trading Diaw: immaterial. A partner didn't materialize. DL didn't need Diaws contract to trade for Rubio. And he signed FA's instead of trading for veterans. No demerit for this.