2020-21 Regular season- The tax team

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https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/uta...-matthew-hurt/

Utah Jazz: 4 reasons to eye Duke basketball draft prospect Matthew Hurt

you already answered the question as to why not to draft him. Duke. No thanks!

It’s safe to say no Blue Devil faces have been duds in Salt Lake City. Carlos Boozer. Rodney Hood. Grayson Allen. Quin Snyder.

Maybe not duds but certainly not favorites of anyone but Snyder and that's where the problem lies

Regardless of the Duke problem they should be looking at pg first then probably a wing or maybe a forward

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https://fansided.com/2021/04/29/utah...oint-shooters/

And, somewhat amazingly, the Jazz 3-point percentage may even be dragged down below their true average by some unlikely cold shooting lately. Jordan Clarkson is second on the team in 3-point attempts at 8.7 per game but he’s made just 34.7 percent on the season. Through the end of February, Clarkson was hitting 37.1 percent of his 3s. Since then, he’s made just 31.4 percent.

but keep shooting!

You need good shooters to be a good shooting team but the Jazz roster is among the league-leader in roster continuity — the percent of minutes played by players who were also on the team last season. However, the Jazz have dramatically reworked their offensive style this season, changing more than all but a handful of other teams. The biggest changes have been with a lot more movement of players and the ball, pushing the pace, making quicker decisions and taking open shots when they present themselves.

it's not a lot different really. The big difference is defensively especially Conley

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Justin Kubatko: Counting last night’s 49-point win by the Jazz and 44-point win by the Sixers, there have been six games decided by 40 or more points this month. That’s the most such games in a calendar month in NBA history, surpassing the five 40-point blowouts in April 1994 and Nov. 2019.
– via Twitter jkubatko

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The Jump: Importance of top seed in the West? “It’s tough not to look at the standings at this point of the year. We want to be healthy going into our playoff appearance” – @Mike Conley #NBA #NBATwitter #TheJump #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/FD8bMhc4yo
– via Twitter NBATheJump



The Jump: On his health: “I feel very confident. With my hamstring injury at the beginning of the year, it was more precautionary. It’s not as bad as people think it is” – @Mike Conley #NBA #NBATwitter #TheJump #TakeNote
– via Twitter NBATheJump

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Sarah Todd: Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell are out tomorrow and Royce O’Neale questionable with right wrist soreness. – via Twitter NBASarah

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Gerald Bourguet: Jae Crowder (right ankle sprain) is still questionable for tomorrow against the Jazz. Dario Saric (left ankle) has been upgraded to probable
– via Twitter GeraldBourguet

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https://kslsports.com/458448/ranking...raft-position/

Brantley has been with the Jazz for the last two seasons on a two-way contract but has shown enough in glimpses to likely earn a full-time NBA contract next season.

the fact that he didn't after being all gleague is amazing while Hughes got 2 years guaranteed. Still don't get that one? I'm guessing if not for the Trump virus with a Summer League he would have been somewhere else. Had to settle on another two way here

To this point in his career, it’s safe to say Niang is one of the 15 best players ever drafted with the 50th overall pick. The Iowa State product ranks 12th in games played, 13th in win shares, 14th in points per game, and second in three-point shooting percentage.
Surprisingly, of the 34 players drafted with the 50th pick who have appeared in the NBA, five are still active, though only James Ennis has appeared in more career games. On his current trajectory, Niang will easily become one of the 10 best players ever drafted with the 50th overall pick and could rise even higher depending on his development.
For now, Niang ranks among the top 22 percent of players drafted with the 50th overall pick.

Former Jazzman Jeff Hornacek is the best player ever drafted with the 46th pick, but Clarkson could see his name vaulted into the top 2-3 depending on the next five years of his career.

wish Clarkson was anything like Horny

Bogdanovic hasn’t had the overall impact of a handful of other 31st overall picks including former BYU standout Danny Ainge, current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers, or Gilbert Arenas, all of whom made at least one All-Star appearance in their careers, but he isn’t far off.

yes he is! Arenas was a superstar. Ainge was a champion

He won’t ever catch the career accomplishments of Kobe Bryant or Karl Malone, the two best players to ever be drafted 13th, and Hal Greer is a Hall of Famer, but outside of the top three, all bets are off.

Mitchell is a superstar! Why can't he be up with those guys?

Historically, there’s only one player selected with the 27th pick that has had a better career than Gobert, and that’s Hall of Famers Dennis Rodman. But, outside of Rodman’s five championships and seven rebounding titles, Gobert is likely to meet or surpass most of Rodman’s major accomplishments.

Rodman was a role player. Gobert has carried a franchise

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50157030...s-for-the-jazz

"It's been consistent for us: guys that defend find their way onto the floor and guys that don't defend, find their way off the floor," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said.

If only that was the case. Plenty of guys don't defend and they stay on the floor regardless. It's a big problem

Niang is self-aware. In college, he went through a body transformation because he realized that "they don't pay fat people to play professional sports." He went from 260 pounds to 225 and became an All-American. In his first season with the Jazz, he jokingly referred to himself as the minivan because "he needed a few laps to warm up" after nearly missing a dunk.

I'd like to see him in better shape. I think that's where he can improve most

He knew to be truly an effective defender with the Jazz he needed to be able to stay in front of guys. While Utah isn't going to ask him to defend elite wing scorers regularly, he needed to be a solid enough team defender and keep players like Moe Harkless — as seen in Wednesday's game against the Kings — from blowing by him. So, Niang started a new program with the Jazz training staff to improve his lateral quickness.

When do Clarkson, Mitchell and Bojan join the program?

"He's not playing defense because he's making shots. He's making shots because he's playing defense."

pretty sure he'd make shots regardless

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https://www.deseret.com/2021/4/30/22...s-phoenix-suns

Earlier this season, Snyder was widely seen as the heavy favorite to win it. Utah was largely expected to be a mid-tier playoff team or worse in the preseason, so the fact it had vaulted to the top of the ridiculously strong Western Conference made Snyder’s case.

He's not the one playing D. Conley and Niang are. That's the difference

Entering this season, the prevailing national narrative surrounding the Jazz was that they were a good team but probably not a great one. When they did become great, however, Snyder became a CoY candidate. As Pelton alluded to, however, the fact Utah maybe hasn’t done anything too outrageously good since the early part of the season might hurt Snyder at this point.

still hard to think of them as great

But over the last 35 games of the season, Utah went a blistering 29-6, and Snyder got second in Coach of the Year voting.

thanks yet again Rudy

(Warning: This one might hurt, Jazz fans) In 2004, Utah was supposed to be awful, but it finished 42-40 and just missed the playoffs. Many thought Jerry Sloan should have won CoY, but the Memphis Grizzlies were also supposed to be bad yet finished sixth in the West and made the playoffs, and thus Hubie Brown won CoY (Sloan was probably victim of being too consistently good over his 23 seasons with the Jazz to ever win the award).

Hubie did a great job. Sloan probably underachieved every year but that one. He had two of the greatest layers ever

It’s still very possible that Snyder wins the award. He’s actually still considered the favorite by oddsmakers. That said, the likes of Williams, Thibodeau and Rivers (in his first season with the Philadelphia 76ers) are right in the mix. As with a lot of things, the only way to try to take care of business is to win games.

Rivers?

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I would start Joe and play him 25 to 28 minutes a game


What are we, 12-2 without Mike? Use Donny more at PG and play Royce more at SG, and play Niang and Ersan more. More Brantley, Hughes, and Oni.
Also definitely sign a vet PG. TJ McConnell is an intriguing option. Neto has had a great year, just think would be a lot of capable guys who would come here for vet minimum.
Again, only if it’s apparent that we are not sure Mike will be the answer for next few years. Hamstring issues in games 6 and 7 for example. Undersized backcourt issues. Too many floaters.
Mike has been awesome all year but has had some crappy games against better competition. 5/16 against Phx, 3/12 against Portland, 2/10 against Denver, etc. What if lays an egg in some big playoff games?
I’m pretty confident he won’t. But I’m sure the team will be considering all our options.

Posted by SKMike on Apr 30, 2021 | 3:04 AM

start Joe and who comes off the bench? Mitchell at pg sucks. More Hughes based on what? Snyder doesn't like Neto. Why would he want to come back? McConell I like but he can't shoot. Conley's floarer is great especially when it could be a lob to Rudy. Thing with Conley, Ingles, O'Neale is that even on a bad shooting night they bring a lot to the table. Mitchell, Clarkson and Bojan don't. Even hurt you when their shot is falling

As good as Conley has been this season, this team does not need a player like Mike Conley. He is a traditional point guard, and the current iteration of the Jazz just doesn’t use players that way. We could put a taller, stronger, younger player in that role (for probably a lot less money) and be just as good or better. DM can get the label of "PG" if we think it is important that someone have that designation. We just need somebody who can shoot threes, and they are becoming more and more common.

Posted by Kira Argonova on Apr 30, 2021 | 6:18 AM

hard to imagine getting better. He's been one of the best players in the league. How do you replace that unless Mitchell suddenly becomes the player he's hyped to be which I don't see

Finally, the Jazz could decide to draft a PG or pick someone up from the G-League to develop the next PG. But experience with O’Neale, Niang, and others show that takes time. Meanwhile, Gobert continues to age and Mitchell is playing through his contract and may look elsewhere if the Jazz are not competing at a high level. Any development plan needs to be time sensitive. Even the GOAT (John Stockton) played sparingly off the bench for a couple of years before he was ready to take over for Ricky Green. Plus the fact that the Jazz are not likely to get someone like that drafting #30 in this year’s draft. So they are at least a year away from figuring out who that developing superstar is going to be.
Personally, I expect the Jazz like the "bird in the hand" choice and will try to re-sign Conley. This is Conley’s last chance at a payday. He knows that. The Jazz know that. Every GM in the league knows that. All it takes is one GM to make a ridiculous offer and Conley would have a very difficult decision to make.

Posted by jmnunes5 on Apr 30, 2021 | 8:03 AM

O'Neale didn't take long. Stockton was great immediately. The Jazz just weren't smart enough to realize it. Should have traded Green and started John

The ultra big lineup looked really good.


Jingles at PG.

Posted by Kira Argonova on Apr 30, 2021 | 9:48 AM

yeah who would thought that having a PF could make a difference?

Not that the Jazz tall squad is full of people with guard-like skills but, relying primarily on passing and shooting combined with active defense and rebounding, they sure put SAC at a disadvantage on both ends of the court the other night. However, a depleted SAC squad may not have provided a valid assessment.

Posted by jmnunes5 on Apr 30, 2021 | 10:14 AM

Ersan, Morgan and Brantley should be in the mix. They won't be. COTY

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https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat...threes-minivan

It’s time that everyone start to recognize the weapon that George Niang really is, and the impact that he can have on any given night. Come playoff time, if he can keep up this defensive intensity, he’s going to come in and make some big plays for the Jazz, I can feel it. And when he does, it’s gonna be awesome.

doubt he sees the floor much. More Mitchell, Carkson and Bojan!

When the opposing defenses leave Royce open to double team on Mitchell he has to make them pay. If he doesn’t Niang is certainly a go-to option for Quin that will not hesitate to take those shots.
Also, as many have already mentioned, his on-ball defense has been very good this year!
So Niang could definitely find himself in the rotation in the playoffs (remember his our 9th player) and maybe even spell in for Clarkson when his shot is not falling.

Posted by global_jazz_warming on Apr 29, 2021 | 3:53 PM

He won't be getting minutes over either. Wish he'd play over the guys I first mentioned though and he'd be on the team next year instead of them

I don’t think this will happen but it would not surprise me UTA trades Bojan and signs Niang to take his place. Bojan is probably still a better player but I suspect Niang’s salary next season will be at most half of Bojan’s. Even if Niang can only replace 90% of Bojan, the lower salary gives the team flexibility to bring back Conley or sign another MLE-level player. I know UTA could bring everyone back and just pay a huge tax bill but I don’t see that happening (even if UTA ends the playoffs with a W).

Posted by Palmetto Bug on Apr 29, 2021 | 5:12 PM

I'd look to move Bojan, Clarkson, Hughes and Favors(Mitchell too if it was me). Bring back Conley, Niang, Brantley, Ersan, Oni, Morgan, Thomas depending on what they have to take back for those other guys of course. Ideally you shed some money, get bigger and better, Quin proof the roster and gain some fleibility

When we win it all or if he plays well and we go the WCF finals and almost win, I can see them bringing everyone back, no matter the cost.
If we flame out in the 2nd round and don’t look that competitive, then I can see them moving on from Conley. If Niang plays well though then I can see them giving him a 3 year $27 mill type of deal, or something close to Royce money, and giving him more of a role next year.

Posted by SKMike on Apr 29, 2021 | 9:22 PM

I can see them bringing everyone back if they get swept in the first round. This is the Jazz! Conley should be back over anyone not named Rudy regardless. Niang won't get Royce money or shouldn't. A few million a year over multiple years and a bigger role elsewhere likely

Having Conley means a super small backcourt. We could potentially be better with a worse overall player, if that player was 3 and D and bigger. It would really hurt if Donovan missed time though. I doubt if anyone on the roster is a good enough 3 and D to take some of his minutes but I won’t be too concerned if Conley goes somewhere else.

Posted by oregonjazzfan on Apr 29, 2021 | 9:57 PM

I would have agreed with you a year ago. But Conley has played big this year at both ends. He's by far one of their top two players sorry to fans of their superstar. More size in the backcourt and up front would be nice. Royce going back to the 2 and 3 would give them that.

Donovan plays bigger than he actually is on offense but not defense. I guess it’s great to be so good & still have room for improvement.

Posted by PlayfasterJazz on Apr 29, 2021 | 10:37 PM

Mitchell plays small. He hates contact. He does get ome rebounds and is starting to get to the line more

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https://saltcityhoops.com/dwyane-wad...the-utah-jazz/

For a better picture, the following players are under contract after this year:
Mitchell and Gobert: 4–5 seasons
Jordan Clarkson, Royce O’Neale, and Udoka Azuibuke: 3 seasons
Bogdanovic and Derrick Favors: 2 seasons
Joe Ingles and Elijah Hughes: 1 season

Gobert, O'Neale, Udoka and Ingles are good contracts. The rest?

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https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/30/uta...ly-underrated/

The former Iowa State Cyclone has found a home in Utah, where he has proven to be a reliable spark plug off the bench. Having played in all 62 games for the Jazz this year, they will depend on his consistent shooting to help make a deep run in the postseason.

doubt he plays much

Underrated Utah Jazz player: Ersan Ilyasova

underrated by the Jazz too. I thought he should have been an option for many years now and he should be starting based on what we've seen. Sorry Bojan

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Sarah Todd: From the Jazz: number of fans at Vivint will increase to 6700 and a limited number of Courtside seats will be available for those who are fully vaccinated and pass a rapid COVID 19 test. Masks and distancing are still required at all games
– via Twitter NBASarah

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Josh Lewenberg: The Raptors are resting Kyle Lowry vs Utah tomorrow. Boucher (knee sprain), Trent (leg contusion) and Watson (knee tendinitis) remain out as well.
– via Twitter JLew1050