post draft off season part II-bring on the roster moves!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/30/22...-sunday-school

“I’m very proud of our staff that does a really good job of making sure that we have as much intel and information,” Zanik said. “We’ve had an opportunity to closely follow that from some personal ties, not necessarily to Jared, but to the (Baylor) program. That gives you a lot more confidence in the information you’re seeing and taking in.”

i.e. the Wizard Lindsey

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/30/22602453/nba-offseason-central-utah-jazz-mike-conley-jared-butler

Speaking of Conley and free agency, NBA reporter Marc Stein reported Friday that the Jazz are preparing to offer him a 3-year, $75 million deal next week.

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/30/22...-the-nba-draft

Hollinger was downright excited about the pick, writing, “Yes!!! Great pick for Utah ... at this point in the draft the risk of a player failing due to lack of talent far exceeds any risk of him failing due to injury. Butler gives the Jazz a high-level combo guard who can play next to Donovan Mitchell or Mike Conley, and could be good enough to play rotation minutes right away.”

there's no reason to expect him to be ready to play right away. COTY might play him like he has other rookies but he won't be ready. No one has been yet

“Didn’t think the NCAA tournament’s most outstanding player would slide that far into the second round. ... Still, his college resume speaks for itself: third-team All-American in 2020 and a consensus first-team All-American in 2021 as he led the Bears to a national championship.”

Trey Burke had quite the resume too

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/30/22...a-city-thunder

Favors’ production dropped off big time, however, and the Jazz’s Achilles’ heel during their second-round playoff exit against the LA Clippers (Favors played the best he had all season in the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies) was that they had no options to go small at center to match the Clippers.

they had several options. Just didn't have a coach willing to try any other options. He still has a job!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/30/22...k-in-nba-draft

Originally Butler had committed to play at Alabama, but was granted a release from his letter of intent and accepted a scholarship from Baylor — a spot that was coincidentally opened by the sudden retirement of Jake Lindsey, the son of former Jazz vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey.

interesting

Despite the fact that Butler doesn’t have the greatest wingspan (6-foot-4), it hasn’t held him back on the defensive end. He’s incredibly active with his hands, averaging two steals per game in his junior season, plus a ton of deflections.

obviously Lindsey isn't any charge anymore. The obsession over length may be over in Utah finally

Even if we assume that all is not finalized until Aug. 6, which is when all free agents and signings can be made official, it should mean that Butler will be available to play in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, which begins on Aug. 8.

that sucks

[Xiao Yao You]

https://saltcityhoops.com/follow-the...money-tracker/

Utah: The Jazz are $13M or so under the tax without even accounting for Conley, so it will likely be just the TMLE for them. (They also have TPEs, the largest of which they just created in the Derrick Favors deal. But it’s unlikely they use them since the whole point there was to avoid a massive tax bill.)

hopefully the main point was to get better. Favors sucked

The Knicks can maybe offer something close. They were a No. 4 seed last season and figure to bring back most of their core, including All-Star Julius Randle. Of the major cap space teams, they’re the closest to being able to call themselves a contender, but even a Conley addition probably doesn’t move them into the East’s top tier. The Spurs just missed the playoffs and the Thunder will be in rebuilding mode.

Conley might move NY up in the mix for homecourt in first round

Then there are the seven teams who could create room for an 8-figure offer to Conley, but only with sacrifices elsewhere on the roster. Are the Bulls contenders if they add Conley but lose all of Markkanen, Satoransky and Young? What about New Orleans without Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart? Phoenix if the replace Chris Paul with Conley? Toronto is entering a rebuild, and Charlotte can only get to the low teens in cap space.

NO, Phoenix and Charlotte could all be interesting with Conley

The teams to watch in this group are probably Dallas and Miami. With superstar Luka Doncic, the Mavs can likely still be competitive even if Hardaway gets away, and the Heat could still get into Mike’s price range by letting Dragic and Iguodala walk, but keeping the Nunn/Robinson duo. Both teams could theoretically make Conley a $20M-plus offer and promise him a more-or-less competitive situation.

they'd be good fits

Bottom line: the Jazz have the advantage here. They need to show Conley the love and make their best pitch. If they make him feel wanted and present him with a respectable offer, nobody can offer the combination of money and competitiveness that Utah can.

hard to imagine him leaving if they pay more and give more years and even then...

[Xiao Yao You]

h

George Hill, 0.3 WAR

Point, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? This is probably only realistic if Hill is ready to enter the “deep reserve” phase of his career — and if there are no bad feeling from the way his earlier Utah stint ended.

deep reserve? He should be their first guard. Was a great fit

JaMychal Green, 0.0 WAR

Big, Declined $7.6M option

Logical Jazz Target? Green is mostly a big, but he shoots and he has spent enough time guarding marquee wings that he should probably be on the list now that he has opted out.

should have been high on their list a few times now

JaVale McGee, 0.0 WAR

Big, UFA, $4.2M last year

Logical Jazz Target? Another traditional center who the Jazz may consider now that Favors is gone. He’s good at shutting down isos, but otherwise is not a real defensive presence.

low IQ headcase and the Jazz? No thanks!

Austin Rivers, 0.0 WAR

Point, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? Despite lighting the Jazz up in MSG, he’s a fairly average shooter overall. I could see Utah looking into this if a too-good-to-be-true Clarkson trade opportunity presented itself, but outside of that I don’t see where Rivers fills a need. He’s not really a Conley clone.

ANY Clarkson deal would be too good to be true. Take Rivers over him anyday

Frank Ntilikina, 0.0 WAR

Point, RFA, $6.2M last year
Logical Jazz Target? Ntilikina just put up his best shooting season (48% from three, albeit on a small sample), but overall New York appears to finally be moving on mentally from the former lottery pick.

good defender. Might be someone to look at on the cheap

Terence Davis, 0.0 WAR

Wing, RFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? He’s small (6’4″) but he’s an OK shooter and he has had success guarding guys who try to score with the ball in their hands. Overall D stats don’t love him, but there could be some potential there.

nothing wrong with potential

Trey Lyles, 0.0 WAR

Big, UFA, $5.5M last year
Logical Jazz Target? Lyles didn’t jive with certain other personnel during his brief Jazz career — including bristling at Snyder’s thorough practices — so this might be a non-starter.

too bad. He had potential as well

Juwan Morgan, 0.0 WAR

Big, RFA, Minimum last year
Logical Jazz Target? The Jazz still like the idea of Morgan, but it probably wasn’t a great sign when they signed Ersan Ilyasova in a move that pushed the combo big further down the depth chart.

Ersan was a great move as was Morgan. Keeping COTY isn't

Ersan Ilyasova, 0.0 WAR

Big, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? It seems kind of odd that they brought the veteran in while touting his playoff experience but then practically never used him. We’ll see if the Jazz are simply read to move on from that experiment.

I'd bring him back. He was one of their best players. Maybe COTY would play him after a training camp

Zach Collins, N/A (did not play)

Big, RFA, $5.4M last year
Logical Jazz Target? It sounds as though Portland may not extend a QO to Collins, a skilled big who has some defensive skills. Just not sure he fits Utah’s need.

a skilled big with defensive skills certainly fits other than the coach maybe not playing him

Moritz Wagner, -0.3 WAR

Big, UFA, Minimum last year
Logical Jazz Target? The German has the mobility to do OK on play types where he’s asked to stop the ball. He has played 84% of his career minutes at the 5, so he just got a lot more interesting in a Jazz context after the Favors deal.

sounds like a possible fit

Mike Scott, -0.5 WAR

Big, UFA, $5.0M last year
Logical Jazz Target? The Regional Manager is more of a disruptor on defense than a pure stopper, but he does have a big body and some outside ability.

possible fit

Garrett Temple, -1.6 WAR

Guard, UFA, $4.8M last year
Logical Jazz Target? Temple is tough and plays solid defense, although there might be some in his price range who do that and are also slightly more impactful on offense.

played for COTY

[Xiao Yao You]

ttps://saltcityhoops.com/2021-free-agent-tracker-with-notes-on-jazz-fit-for-every-fa/

Logical Jazz Target? You never say “never” because of the sheer talent level here, but Utah’s Quin Snyder has made it clear he wants outside shooting on the wings.

Your best player is Gobert. It was obvious back at the end of Hayward's last year that you needed to surround him with shooters. The fact that they wasted two more years with Rubio and Favors in the corner was a joke!

Danny Green, 4.6 WAR

Wing, UFA, $15.4M last year

Logical Jazz Target? Green is the best name that popped when we went searching for guys with outside shooting, on-ball guarding skills and overall defensive impact. But for all those reasons, he might be too good for the taxpayer MLE.

might take less to go for another ring but has that chance in Philly

Nicolas Batum, 4.3 WAR

Wing, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? Batum had a nice bounceback year as a shooter and overall impact guy, but he isn’t great when asked to guard the guy with the ball in his hands (like on isos or P&R).

not ideal but at the 4 where he would mostly play he might be fine

Logical Jazz Target? Payne is a great catch-and-shoot guy and a solid defender, but it feels a bit like the Jazz filled that rotation spot (a third PG who can play off the ball some) on draft night.

filled with a non Duke rookie?

Bobby Portis, 3.2 WAR
Big, $3.8M PO
Logical Jazz Target? A 3-and-D *big* who can shoot from deep and guard the ball, he makes some sense as Derrick Favors’ replacement, especially if the Jazz think he can guard bigger wings on a full-time basis.

Lindsey liked him. Zanik? don't need him to guard wings. Need him to allow O'Neale to concentrate on wings instead of rebounding

Nerlens Noel, 3.2 WAR

Big, UFA, $5M last year

Logical Jazz Target? Noel actually does a lot of things well that the Jazz need from their backup bigs, so I would imagine he’s somewhere on their list now that they moved Favors.

could have had him for half of what Favors got

Evan Fournier, 2.7 WAR

Wing, UFA, $17.5M last year

Logical Jazz Target? If Fournier would consider exception money, this could be a good fit: he is close to Gobert personally, he’s only 28, and he’s a good shooter with some defensive experience against bigger wings (he’s 6’7″).

he'd have to accept coming off the bench and possibly not even playing much

Richaun Holmes, 2.7 WAR

Big, UFA, $5.0 last year
Logical Jazz Target? The Jazz have seen Holmes at his best. He’s a non-shooting big, but he’s energetic and has his moments defensively.

he's getting paid

Alec Burks, 2.4 WAR

Wing, UFA, $6M last year

Logical Jazz Target? Hey, weirder things have happened than a reunion with the 6-foot-5 guard. He just had one of his better defensive seasons, and he’s been cleaning up his shot profile to a degree, too. But the Jared Butler selection on draft night makes this less likely.

COTY prefers Clarkson

Reggie Bullock, 2.4 WAR

Wing, UFA, $4.2M last year

Logical Jazz Target? If I were going to poach a bench guard from MSG, I’d look here before Burks. Bullock has more defensive chops and is better at the catch-and-shoot threes Utah lives on, even if he doesn’t have the same creation ability.

might be gettable with NY looking elsewhere possibly

Daniel Theis, 1.9 WAR

Big, UFA, $5.0 last year

Logical Jazz Target? Theis is taking (not necessarily making) more threes, which makes him marginally interesting as a Favors replacement.

like him

Alex Caruso, 1.6 WAR

Guard, UFA, $2.8M last year
Logical Jazz Target? If Caruso were two inches taller, he might be my favorite target for Utah; he shoots, he’s athletic, he is a hound on defense — but at his size, he only really makes sense if another Jazz guard is on the move somewhere else.

rather have him than Clarkson anyday

Rudy Gay, 1.6 WAR

Wing, UFA, $14.5M last year

Logical Jazz Target? There just aren’t that many guys who are 6-foot-8 and have good shooting numbers AND on-ball defensive outcomes. So I think Gay has to be under consideration, even at 35.

should be a top target

Georges Niang, 1.4 WAR

Wing, UFA, Minimum last year
Logical Jazz Target? Certain fans are determined to upgrade these particular 16 minutes a night, but Niang was actually very solid this season! Sure, he struggled in the postseason, but he played his role within the system really well — on both ends.

one of their few guys that defended. I'd guess someone will pay him and he's gone

Raul Neto, 1.1 WAR

Point, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? The former Jazzman just had his best pro season yet, but if Conley re-ups, the Jazz already have as many as four rotation-quality guards under 6’5″.

and he wasn't appreciated first time around. He'd be desperate to come back here or stupid

Robin Lopez, 0.8 WAR

Big, UFA, $7.3M last year

Logical Jazz Target? Lopez would be an ideal Gobert backup. But he may prefer to sign with someone who has more than 16 minutes available for him..

didn't play much more than that last year on a bad team. Like him

Trevor Ariza, 0.5 WAR

Wing, UFA, $12.8M last year
Logical Jazz Target? Ariza’s WAR (and counting stats) would look better if he had played a whole season, but he can still knock down shots and slow down on-ball scorers. He’s 36, but there appears to be something left in the tank.

should be on their list

Abdel Nader, 0.5 WAR

Wing, UFA, Minimum last year
Logical Jazz Target? Nader is actually pretty legit defensively and is a good knockdown threat from the corners. He makes some sense for Utah, and could come relatively cheap.

no one will be cheap because of the tax

Kent Bazemore, 0.3 WAR

Wing, UFA, Minimum last year

Logical Jazz Target? Bazemore’s defense has slipped a little, but he can still shoot. He’s 32, and small for a wing, but frankly, GSW played better when he started usurping more of Kelly Oubre’s minutes.

sounds like an option

Sterling Brown, 0.3 WAR
Wing, UFA, Minimum last year
Logical Jazz Target? Brown is an improving shooter and an accomplished defender. He should very much be on the radar, although I’d be more interested if he were a little bit bigger than 6’5″.

length?

[Xiao Yao You]

Adam Zagoria: Former @SetonHallMBB big man Romaro Gill is playing summer league with the Lakers, per source
– via Twitter AdamZagoria

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat...derrick-favors

So in the last 2 years, the Utah Jazz have burned their only remaining significant free agent possibility by using the ENTIRE MLE on a center, right after using a 1st round pick to draft a center, to then use multiple 2nd round picks to get rid of 2 centers, to then a year later use a 1st round pick to get rid of the center they just signed.

the worst part is that they needed a starting 4 not a backup 5 and still are in the same situation!

Now, hindsight is always 20/20. But last year in particular was a fire-able offense. This is what they could have come away with instead:

Pick #27: Desmond Bane

Pick #38: I’m assuming would still have been used to trade Bradley

Use the some or all of the MLE on: Dario Saric, Jakob Poelel, JaMychal Green, Aron Baynes, Chris Boucher, Kris Dunn, Nerlens Noel, Garrett Temple, Bobby Portis, Wesley Matthews, etc.

still the same coach is the problem

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/nba-draft/20...-2-future-2nds

I guess the Jazz have determined that they don’t need a true PF on the team. Posted by Fesenko for President on Jul 29, 2021 | 10:18 PM

guess not if COTY won't play them anyway

[Xiao Yao You]

https://sircharlesincharge.com/2021/...ves-west-suns/

Mike Conley went down with an injury and missed the majority of the second round of the playoffs. This left the Jazz with only six reliable players – Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, and Jordan Clarkson– and it showed. In a Game 1 win, the rest of their players outside of their core six were a -16 in just under 36 minutes. This means, the Jazz were 16 points worse with these players in. In another win in Game 2, -4 in 10 less minutes. After losing the next two in LA, their reliance on their core six showed as the rest of the team played under 20 minutes combined in Game 5 and were a -19. The fatigue of so many minutes clearly set in for the core group when the Jazz blew a 25 point lead in Game 6.

Clarkson is reliable? Ingles hasn't been in the playoffs and Mitchell isn't defensively.

Worryingly, the Jazz had the same problem last year. They were forced to start oft-used Juwan Morgan, who had only played 134 career minutes up to that point, in a PLAYOFF game because Bogdanovic was out.

Morgan is good. Too bad he didn't play this year. They might be champs

Plain and simple, the rest of the bench is just simply not ready to produce in the playoffs. The Jazz employs multiple former second-round picks at the end of their bench who average under ten minutes a game in the regular season and aren’t useful in playoff runs. The Jazz needs to replace a couple of these guys for veterans who can help them win now.

we don't know if they are good enough since COTY didn't put them in the game

[Xiao Yao You]

Adrian Wojnarowski: Milwaukee Bucks F Bobby Portis is declining his $3.8M player option and will become a free agent, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @Priority Sports tells ESPN.

– via Twitter wojespn




Bobby Marks: Portis has non-bird rights in Milwaukee The most Milwaukee can offer is: 1. $4.3M (non-bird rights- 120% off his 2020-21 $) 2. $5.9M tax ML
– via Twitter BobbyMarks42

Zanik like him or just the Wizard? Might not matter because of COTY

[El Kabong]

Not giving the QO to Juwan Morgan. Trying to save a bit more $ from the sounds of it.

[Xiao Yao You]

Not giving the QO to Juwan Morgan. Trying to save a bit more $ from the sounds of it.

COTY won't play him anyway. Might as well let him go. He's good