2018 pre-season!

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2018/10/12/1...aditional-four

The one thing about Favors attitude that was alluded to earlier is that he has always given his all to get better. It seems like every summer we see a picture of him on social media working to improve and stay in shape. It is very likely that Favors will come back this season sporting improved shooting or maybe even a more respectable three point shot, despite entering his 9th season.

the past few summers since he moved to Utah anyway. Before that we saw little to no improvement in his game

Even though he may never be a three point assassin in the likeness of teammate Joe Ingles, he will need to be able space the floor in order for coach Quin Snyder to keep him on the floor in small ball situations. If Favors can be at least respectable from three point range this season, it will be incredibly valuable to have him in the game to spread the floor for Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio on offense. That combined with Favors-Gobert frontcourt wreaking havoc on the defensive end could make for one of the best starting five lineups in the entire league.

why would anyone think he become respectable though?

Jazz fans are almost universally rooting for Favors to succeed and to be a part of this team. It is easy to cheer for a player who sacrifices any individual success to that of the team. If the Jazz are to go on a championship run, Derrick Favors will need to play a big role.

A championship run won't happen with him starting at the 4

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2018/10/12/1...w-royce-oneale

[QUOTE]Royce O

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2018/10/12/1...es-depth-chart

[QUOTE]Quin needs to find minutes for Dante Exum, Royce O

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2018/10/12/1...ert-dante-exum

[QUOTE]As fans, we often yearn for roster turnover. The notion of coming into a new season with a shiny new toy is enticing, but Lindsey didn

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https://www.slcdunk.com/research-sta...habo-sefolosha

Of course, the Jazz will absolutely, certainly, without a doubt, be exercising their team options on Donovan Mitchell* and Royce O’Neale, who are massive steals for their current paychecks. Tony Bradley should also get his options picked up as well as a high-upside prospect*. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Jazz don’t lock in Raul Neto, given that he started 53 games his rookie year and has always been willing to come off of the bench and give really solid minutes as a third string point guard. That leaves us with $41.1 million in cap space to work with.

Only reason I see Neto on the team is because of Rudy. He needs to be let loose to someone that can appreciate him

Having these expiring contracts can be extremely useful as trade pieces to allow for rapid salary relief if necessary, though they likely won’t be seen as such. Thabo and Ekpe are definitely steals at their current contracts, and Derrick, Ricky, and Alec can all be extremely productive for any team, so most teams trading for them would actually probably want some guarantee that they would resign. With the possible exception of Alec, the Jazz would be giving their trading partner a player that produces above their contract, so this route likely won’t make sense. That said, perhaps the Jazz find a star available at the deadline and the other team is looking to do a full tear-down-and-rebuild. Expiring contracts with upside are exactly what would be called for in that case.

I'd be looking to move all those guys but I would have last year too

Out of the likely free agent class, only Kyrie, Klay, Kemba, and Jimmy Butler would probably command the full max, but Middleton, Harris, Mirotic, would likely come close. Names I’d like to see the Jazz really lock in on this upcoming offseason would be Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, and Nikola Mirotic, in that order.

Harris and Mirotic will definitely be on their radar. My guess is Favors and Ricky get the money though.

One thing that might be extremely interesting to skim through is the list of all players in the NBA listed by salary—a great source for this article—to get a perspective on what salary is commanded by which players (and how ridiculously Golden State has gotten away with contract murder). With that in mind, the Jazz have truly been set up with an amazingly favorable contract situation, with no real overpays and tons of flexibility to accommodate any future iteration of the Jazz. What do you think the Jazz should do with their expiring contract situation? Tell us in the comments below.

Exum is not an overpay?

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2018/10/12/1...lor-basketball

Exu the 7th best player on the team!

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https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-the-best.html

[QUOTE]In comparison, the Jazz are projected by the CBS data as having a 1.1 percent chance of winning the championship. That

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http://saltcityhoops.com/preseason-p...and-questions/

[QUOTE]But at this stage it

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https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...nto-kings.html

They won't be there once the defenses collapse because of the lack of shooting

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Eric Woodyard: The Utah Jazz have waived center Isaac Haas.

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https://thejnotes.com/2018/10/13/uta...scoring-title/

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https://thejnotes.com/2018/10/13/uta...l-spida-shirt/

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[QUOTE]The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed guard Stephaun Branch.

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[QUOTE]Eric Woodyard: The Utah Jazz have waived guards Stephaun Branch, Isaiah Cousins and Jairus Lyles. The roster now stands at 17 players.

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The days of standing around and watching James dominate the ball are done. The Cavs will now look to play faster, as well as pass the ball more. “We have to play with pace,” coach Ty Lue said. “The style of play we want to play, I think everyone is involved that way. I think everyone has fun that way.” – via Cleveland Plain Dealer

So far, the players have bought in to what Lue and the coaching staff are selling. “T Lue has done a great job,” Hood said. “He is just asking us to be ourselves. If we all chip in and just play our game, we will be a really good team.” – via Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cavs believe they have plenty of guys who can step up on any given night. “We have a lot of guys on the team who can score,” guard Rodney Hood said. “It’s going to be different guys on different nights who put up numbers. We just have to play the game the right way.” – via Cleveland Plain Dealer

Passing more with Hood as the 2nd option?