Rewards of the tank:2014 off-season!

[Xiao Yao You]

Adrian Wojnarowski: Meanwhile, Rockets, Cavs pushing closer to creating max contract slots. Deals lined up for Jeremy Lin. Cavs shopping Jarrett Jack w/ a pick. Twitter @WojYahooNBA

Jack I'd love! Maybe get a 1st to take him too?

Marc J. Spears: Lakers free agent G Kent Bazemore is receiving interest from BOS (meeting), SA (meeting), ATL, HOU, UTAH, GS, LAL, PHX, DAL, a source said. Twitter

[Xiao Yao You]

The Cavaliers want to engage the Jazz on a sign-and-trade for Hayward, but Utah has shown no inclination to do anything with Cleveland but unblinkingly match an offer sheet and keep Hayward, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Yahoo! Sports

If that's max or even close do it. Cavs have some nice pieces.

[Xiao Yao You]

Dwain Price: According to a reliable source, the #Mavs still have #Jazz RFA Gordon Hayward on their wish-list. Twitter @DwainPrice

[Xiao Yao You]

Eric Pincus: The Kings do not want to re-sign RFA Isaiah Thomas but if the offer is cheap enough from another team- they will-Lakers at $2.7 mil is cheap Twitter @EricPincus

I'd like him at that price

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]As responsibilities have increased, Hayward

[Xiao Yao You]

Beyond Lucas, the Jazz have few options. They could bring back Ian Clark, however, he didn't get a lot of time with the ball in his hands much last season. Furthermore, he's not really a defensive guard either, and he's not exactly a veteran either. Jameer Nelson (recently waived by the Orlando Magic), Ramon Sessions (formerly of half the league), Kirk Hinrich (who will not be allowed to wear #12 here), and Luke Ridnour (FRODO!) are possibilities if we want to go out there and spend money. All of those guys would actually want to play though. So, uh, it's unlikely that any of them want to come to a team that has Burke and Exum. If you keep going down the list you eventually get to guys like Shelvin Mack (G-time's boy), but he's not really experienced either. A perfect situation would be to get Chauncey Billups -- but that's a pipe dream. There's no way he'll come here. And most likely, no way that the Jazz would look at him. They have their man in Lucas already, when you read between the lines. And I think that's absurd.

Dream Situation: Chauncey Billups or Earl Watson

Nightmare / Reality: John Lucas III

Strength or Weakness: This should be a strength, especially if they can shore up the position with a strong veteran defender. It's not going to happen. At best the Jazz can get two of those three things. With Lucas we are getting one of them, a veteran.

Billups being from Denver might play for the Jazz

Wingmen:

It looks like we are moving away from Richard Jefferson and Marvin Williams -- two of the three small forwards who started all season long. As a result, the fulcrum for our wing spot is going to be Gordon Hayward -- who was the third small forward who started. I adore his game and the Jazz would have a huge hole to fill if he is no longer on the team. But before we get there, we need to actually talk about who is on the team. Right now our three best wing players are Alec Burks (not bad for a guy in your wing rotation), Dante Exum (a tall point guard who has never played on the wing before), and Rodney Hood (another rookie). Video game basketball aside, this is not a sufficiently strong wing rotation. The next dude on the books who could even PLAY wing would be Jeremy Evans, and that's based on the concept that Andrei Kirilenko could play there.

So what's missing? Both talent and depth. The main target of Gordon Hayward is obvious. But the free agency hunt for a wing doesn't end there. The Jazz will need to add more talent after him. The obvious idea is to get Ian Clark back, who is on a non-guaranted contract. Clark is a shooter who has leadership ability and a better than average handle. He should be dirt cheap as well. RJ or Marvin could help here too, but Marvin appears to be courted by a TON of other teams, some of them contenders. RJ is better at being that veteran mentor than John Lucas III is, but will probably be much more expensive. Utah will have to look outside of their own team to fill these spots I think.

And really, my concept of a 15 man roster is to have four point guards and five bigmen. The rest should be wings. I don't think the Jazz are going to finish free agency with more than 13 players though (which would leave one open for training camp, and one open for a trade later). So if the Jazz do go with Hayward, Burks, Clark, Hood then there are four wings. Dante will have to play at the wing as well, but I count him as one of our point guards. At least one more player is needed. And, according to the rumors, that one guy could be Kent Bazemore.

After scouting him for all of one night (huge sample size, what was it, like 2-3 hours tops?) I feel confident that he could help our team because he's a really good three point shooter and has long arms. The problem I have with this is that he was a starter last year for the end of the season (Los Angeles Lakers) and was only really remarkable for 20+ games over his entire NBA career. They just happened to be the last 20+ games leading up to free agency. He also played 28.0 mpg last year with the Lakers, and I just don't think the Jazz have 28 mpg to spare for the wingspot right now. Hayward and Burks will both end up playing 30 each, leaving only 36 for Exum, Hood, Clark, Bazemore, and anyone else (Evans?) . . . that's going to be a logjam.

If the Jazz bring back Hayward and Clark, the last wing should be a cheap vet who doesn't need to play basketball anymore. Does such a player exist? Ryan Gomes, Josh Howard, Stephen Jackson, Brandon Rush, Hedo Turkoglu, Andres Nocioni, James Jones, Metta World Peace, Chris Douglas-Roberts, along with RJ and Marv, are vets. But a lot of them come with a lot of baggage. If I had to pick one I'd take either Gomes, Nocioni, or Jones. Or just bite the bullet and bring back RJ -- and thus risk losing a bunch of fans.

If the Jazz do not bring Hayward or Clark or neither of them, then there are many more options with which the Jazz can fill out their wing problem. You could instead of going for one guy to play the minutes, one guy to develop, and one guy to sit on the bench for eternity, the Jazz could go for two rotation guys, and an old guy. Or something entire different. Three old guys! (Hopefully not) Yes, the prospect of the Jazz paying Nick Young, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Richard Hamilton to fill out the wing vacancies frightens me to no end.

Dream Situation: Gordon Hayward, Ian Clark, Andres Nocioni

Nightmare: Kent Bazemore (because it kills Burks and Exum's mins), Richard Jefferson (in a big role), Josh Howard

Strength or Weakness: It really depends on what the team does, but in the big picture, I think wing is going to be somewhere in-between a strength and a weakness for at least another season or two. Hayward is really good. Burks can be really good. Exum, who isn't involved in this evaluation but will probably play some SG/SF at times, could be great. Hood is about two years away from being a legit rotation player no one can complain about. This will take time, which is fine, because the wing spot seems to be one of the most talented spots in the league right now.

Always liked Nocioni. Not sure he has much left

Bigmen:

This starts with Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. And, not surprisingly, they also should start the games. While they do not have completely complimentary games, if you are assessing the talent your positional groups have, starting with two #3 draft picks isn't a bad way to start. Both are double double threats who can bang inside, play the pick and roll, and block shots. Backing them up will be sharp shooter Steve Novak, walking highlight reel Jeremy Evans, and an actual part of the French Alps in Rudy Gobert. In my theory, I'd love to have five bigmen. There are five already.

The only way to go is to maybe load up a tweener (a guy in-between the 3 and the 4) onto the roster, a dude like Malcolm Thomas fits the bill. He also doesn't need to play unless someone gets hurt.

If the front office starts to trade guys then, and only then, do the Jazz really need to go into the free agent marketplace and find someone to pick up. Channing Frye would be good here if we were in 'win now' mode, but the team just picked up Novak, who essentially does some of the same things. Kyrylo Fesenko is always fun to have around, but isn't nearly vet enough, or serious enough, to deserve actual consideration. Greg Monroe, Chris Bosh, and Pau Gasol are all talented, but by the same token, so is Ante Tomic, and there's no way he's coming over either

Effectively, our bigman rotation is already set now. Which is kind of a shame, because there are some very talented bigs out there who could be really good additions to our team. (No, I am not talking about Anthony Tolliver !)

Dream Situation: For me, they stay put

Nightmare: They break it up before seeing if Favors/Kanter can work, and we have to scramble to get back the same type of talent and potential we originally had.

Strength or Weakness: It better be a strength. There's an All-Around guy with a focus on Defense, and All-Around guy with a focus on Offense, a shooting specialist, an athleticism specialist, and a guy who is the single largest and longest player in the entire league right now. Hood could see some time at PF at times as well, being another shooting specialist, stretch four.

Tomic

Right now the Jazz have 7 players under contract, with two more rookies left to sign. Hayward should make it 9 players under contract when he signs somewhere, and we match it. That brings the team to 9 of 13. Two more guys could easily be found via picking up players that we have non-guaranteed contracts for. Three if the team is feeling thrifty. That means there's space for two free agents at the most. And unless trades start to happen, that's basically our team for 2014-15.

Holy crap, I just realized that Billups would really help not just Burke and Exum, but also Burks, who used to work out with him in the off-season in Colorado . . . man . . . this needs to happen.

Sorry for that tangent. But yes, this is our team, and our needs (vet presence, defense, three point shooting) are most likely not all going to be fulfilled through free agency. But that's just how it goes.

[Xiao Yao You]

Marc J. Spears: Heat prez Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra flew to NC to meet with Jazz free agent forward Marvin Williams yesterday, a source told Yahoo. Twitter

[El Kabong]

Geez, Heat must be desperate if Spo AND Riley are flying out to meet someone like Marvin Williams.

[Xiao Yao You]

They do appear to be desperate at this point. Not sure Marvin is enough to keep the big 3 together though

[Xiao Yao You]

David Locke: Marvin Williams meeting with Heat. Problem for Jazz is with Marv being courted by Spurs and Heat, Jazz have to pay more than contenders Twitter @Lockedonsports

Jared Zwerling: Marvin Williams' agent Jim Tanner reps Ray Allen & previously Shane Battier = two high-class guys. A positive business connection for Heat. Twitter @JaredZwerling

Jared Zwerling: In addition to Anthony Morrow & Marvin Williams, Heat is in play for Kris Humphries. Also hearing Wiz, Celtics & Hornets emerging for Kris. Twitter

Why would you want to pay more than vet minimum if that?

[Xiao Yao You]

Adrian Wojnarowski: Cavaliers want to unload Jarrett Jack's $6M annual deal to clear space, without touching Anderson Varejao -- a LeBron James favorite. Twitter @WojYahooNBA

Only guaranteed 500,000 in 3rd year. The Jazz have already committed to Novak past this seasom so why not Jack and some other assets? Might have to let Lucas go though!

[Xiao Yao You]

Jody Genessy: Jazz quietly added another member to their staff: Lamar Skeeter. Twitter bio says he's doing video/player development. (h/t @5kl). Twitter @DJJazzyJody

Still have D-league coaches to add.

[Xiao Yao You]

Ken Berger: The Mavs, Cavs, Lakers and Heat are pursuing Wizards free agent Trevor Ariza, league sources say. Ariza seeking deal starting at $9-$11m. Twitter @KBergCBS

Ken Berger: With Ariza, incumbent Wizards also in pursuit, sources say. Twitter @KBergCBS

Alex Kennedy: Cavs continue to express serious interest in Trevor Ariza, per sources. LeBron James is obviously No. 1 target, but Ariza is part of Plan B. Twitter @AlexKennedyNBA

I guess Jazz are out of the running? Don't think I'd want him at that price anyway.

[Xiao Yao You]

https://twitter.com/JdotJohnson24/st...867776/photo/1

[El Kabong]

Mavs offered Parsons a deal, so I guess they're out of the Hayward running.