Season of the tank!-2013-14 regular season

[Xiao Yao You]

Australian phenom Dante Exum has decided to declare for the 2014 NBA draft, his family and agent told ESPN.com on Tuesday. Exum has agreed to hire agent Rob Pelinka and Brandon Rosenthal of Landmark Sports Agency. Pelinka's clients include Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Andre Iguodala and Andre Drummond. ESPN.com

"We are excited to be working with Landmark Sports," Cecil, Desiree and Dante Exum said in a statement to ESPN. "Our family felt The Landmark Team represented our style and manner of treating people, and in doing businesses. We also all shared a common commitment to achieving excellence in all things. The fit is just great and we are really pleased to now begin the work." Exum and his family met eight different agents in Melbourne over the past month and narrowed their decision to Pelinka on Tuesday morning. ESPN.com

Jared Zwerling: I spoke with Dante Exum's father this morning. Dante will enter the NBA draft, choosing agent Rob Pelinka. @chadfordinsider also reported. Twitter @JaredZwerling

Ford currently has Exum rated as the No. 1 point on his 2014 Draft Big Board. Teams projected to be in the 2014 draft lottery that could target Exum include Boston, Orlando, Sacramento, LA Lakers and Charlotte. ESPN.com

At 6'6" I'm guessing any team that has him at the top of their board when it's their pick will take him including the Jazz who are now tied with the Lakers for the 6th worst record. Time for a trade to get back in tank mode?

[Xiao Yao You]

http://basketball.realgm.com/article...Losing-Horford

[QUOTE]Millsap had anticipated a prosperous collaboration with Horford, a cleverly run offense by Teague

[Xiao Yao You]

The Jazz are 15-15 over their last 30 games. This is not something I thought this team would accomplish this season.

I'm guessing the front office didn't either or they might have tried to compete.

[QUOTE] It is an impressive accomplishment to all involved. The players have played hard all year and never felt sorry for themselves for being undermanned. The coaches have never let them play the game in any fashion other than the correct way. These are important things to the culture of this franchise. It is a developmental year and we are seeing all the development plus the ability to win games. The Jazz are 13-8 when playing with their regular starting lineup.

Without Cousins and with Landry really limited, the Jazz dominated the inside game. Favors, Marvin and Jeremy all had double-doubles, and Kanter dominated the second quarter with another strong outing.

Favors dropped 17-12 with nothing alarmingly spectacular. He is averaging 14 and 10 in the month of January. That is a considerable jump for Favors from last season. I can

[Xiao Yao You]

Last year, Enes Kanter did most of his damage against second-team big men as a bench player and then struggled this year when confronted with playing in the starting lineup against first-team bigs.

He was averaging like 14 a game as a starter!

[QUOTE]Tyrone Corbin has done a nice job staggering Kanter

[Xiao Yao You]

Evans has already toppled his career high with 607 minutes played. His previous high came as a rookie when he logged 463 minutes.

And he was hurt to start the year. I think the new guy might challenge him for his spot. He could be a bit cheaper option going forward if he can show he's comparable. Jeremy will be due a raise after next year. His current contract looks like a good signing finally.

[QUOTE]Accordingly, Evans

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[QUOTE]Before the season started, members of Jazz management repeated again and again one of the primary measures of team success this year

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[QUOTE]Malcolm Thomas went through his first practice with the Jazz on Sunday after being claimed off waivers, and the 25-year-old power forward says he has a long way to go in understanding his new team

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Burke seems likely claim a second straight Western Conference Rookie of the Month award, an honor McLemore earned for November.

Burke is averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 assists and 3 rebounds in 33 minutes a game during January.

McLemore is putting up 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds.

Oklahoma City's Steven Adams is averaging 3.5 points and 5 rebounds in 14 minutes a night. Lakers forward Ryan Kelly is averaging 8.7 and 3.6.
Nevertheless, Burke says he isn't focused on stats.

"Not really. You know when you can be a little bit more aggressive, or when you need to get others involved," he said. "Coach just tells me to continue to make plays for the team, continue to get the ball into the paint, and when the opportunity for me to score is there, to take it. I am just going to continue to do what

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Thomas will have to overcome a curse, based on his jersey number. Ever since the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City, players wearing No. 22 have experienced all kinds of problems, generally resulting in short stints with the team.

Thomas wore No. 22 in a brief stint with Golden State last season. He wore No. 4 at San Diego State and No. 24 in San Antonio. But the Jazz have retired No. 4 for Adrian Dantley, and Paul Millsap

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Trey Burke was inserted into the starting lineup after 14 games, just one game after Marvin Williams replaced Enes Kanter as the starting power forward and since those changes have been made, the Jazz have been a much improved team since having won 14 of 30 games.

Kanter the Scapegoat

It was, and has been, easy to put a lot of blame on Enes for the Jazz's horrific start. Afterall, his defense was pretty bad at times and the team looked like a wreck defensively. It was obvious to almost everybody that all the Jazz needed was a little more space offensively, which Marvin Williams could give them, in order to be successful.

The problem with this theory is that there is literally no way to test it. When the Jazz were 1-14 and the laughingstock of the NBA, the team made 3 rather significant changes. One was to replace Kanter with Williams. The second change was making Trey Burke the starting point guard and relegating John Lucas III to the bench. The third change came a couple of games later when the Jazz stopped putting Derrick Favors 20 feet from the basket on pick and roll defense and let him sag in the paint and defend the rim.

Evans also got healthy. Garrett took most of Lucas' minutes(not a big difference there actually).

There is no question that all three of these changes helped the Jazz be a more competitive team. The problem is that we have no real way of knowing which one helped more, since all were made at the same time. What if Trey Burke was 90% of the reason for the improvement and the defensive change accounted for the other 10% and leaving Kanter in the starting lineup would have caused essentially the same improvement in the team? It's certainly plausible. That's the problem with adding three variables to an equation. You might ascribe significance to an insignificant change, or not appreciate another change as much as you should.

What Happened?

Looking back at the pros and cons, I think we can evaluate which of them happened and which did not. The Jazz got a chance to see how Kanter and Favors played together and it is obvious that they need to improve, probably both through personal improvement and coaching scheme. Again, there is no way to tell if Kanter and Favors could have made improvements together with a little more time, a better defensive scheme and a competent point guard.

Kanter did put up numbers despite the team's poor performance. Kanter averaged 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and shot 50% from the field in the first 14 games all against starter-level players. One of the theories of Kanter's poor season is that he couldn't handle the jump from playing bench players to starters. While this may be true to a degree, it can't be overlooked that offensively, Kanter's numbers have been very similar as a starter opposed to a being a bench player.

What I think unquestionably happened is that Enes Kanter lost his confidence when he was benched. I mentioned Kanter's numbers in the first 14 games: 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 50% from the field in 32 minutes per game. In the next 17 games Kanter played 21 minutes per game and put up 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds on only 42.6% shooting. Luckily Kanter has been able to find his confidence and is putting up 13.3 points, 7 rebounds in 22 minutes per night while shooting 55.8% from the field the last 12 contests. But in short, I think it's hard to argue that benching Enes Kanter is what helped him find his game again. The exact opposite may be true.

So What?

At this point, you probably haven't changed your mind on how you feel about management's handling of Kanter's role and minutes. But I haven't even addressed what the biggest problem is with the Jazz benching and limiting Kanter. The development of Enes Kanter has been all fine and dandy if the Jazz have an unlimited amount of time to figure out if he can work well with Derrick Favors. The problem is that the Jazz are running out of time to figure that out. Next offseason the Jazz will be able to negotiate a contract extension with Kanter. If they don't know what kind of player he is and how he fits with the other future pieces, they will be uninformed in how much to offer him.

As they were with Favors and to a lesser degree with Hayward. That's part of the deal the way the CBA is set up to pay young guys.

On top of that, any team will be able to make him an offer and try to steal him away in the summer of 2015. As of today, the Jazz are going to be very ill prepared for both of the next two off seasons regarding any decisions with Kanter.

Kanter is going to get a hefty offer in 2015

If you look at the players that Enes Kanter's numbers have been most comparable with, they all received large second contracts, other than Milicic.

Darko got paid pretty well too on a few contracts!

Again, even with Kanter's small downturn in production this season, the list of big men who put up equal to or better than 11 and 7 in 20 mpg at the age of 21 or younger is 17 players long including Kanter. Twelve of those players received the equivalent of a maximum contract extension after their rookie contracts. The others (Nene, Eddy Curry, Shawn Kemp, Brad Daugherty) either got large paychecks, or played in an area with strict salary caps.

It would certainly make for a healthy debate and I would love for people to show me where I might be wrong about this, but historically, I can't see Kanter making less than $10 million a year on his next contract.

I'd guess between 12-15.

In 2015, Kevin Love will be the big free agent available, most likely, and if teams that need a rebounding and scoring big man miss out on Love, you better believe they will offer Kanter money. Lots of it. Big men get paid in the NBA and skilled big men, get PAID.

To see how valuable young, big men, even big men who don't get a lot of playing time are, let's look back at the summer of 2004. There was a backup center who had just finished a season averaging 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 22 minutes per game on 53% true shooting percentage (Kanter's career TS% is 55). The Jazz offered this player a six year, $50 million deal, which is equivalent to a 4 year, $48 million deal today. That player's name was Mehmet Okur.

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And he's a lot better player than Okur ever was already. He's started to show a sweeping hook lately that he definitely didn't learn from Big Al!

Kanter's Trade Value

If you are familiar with any of my tweets or opinions (I don't expect you to be), then you may know that I don't think Kanter's fit with Favors and the Jazz moving forward is good enough to justify the millions of dollars he will be offered in restricted free agency. In fact, I have gone as far as to say that Enes Kanter will not play out his next contract in a Jazz uniform.

Very possible. I'd guess by the trading deadline next year he could very well be gone unless they think him and Favors can start together. They also could get another big in the draft next year not to mention Gobert and possibly Tomic.

Let's just pretend that the Jazz decide in the next 18 months that Enes Kanter cannot play effectively alongside Derrick Favors. The Jazz's two options then become to either have Kanter or Favors be the 3rd big, or else to trade one of them. And let's pretend further that Kanter is in line for a 4 year, $40 million deal and that the Jazz prefer to keep Favors over Kanter.

Everything points that way. They keep talking D so unless Kanter steps up his D they will keep Favors. Favors has looked like a better fit playing Jazz pick and roll basketball with Burke as well.

The biggest problem that the Jazz have created for themselves is that they have severely damaged the product of Enes Kanter and he may be their best trade chip in the next 6 months. Kanter has gone from a player who can put up 14 and 7, to a bench player who is only getting 22 minutes and putting up 11 and 4. He hasn't really changed as a player, but he looks like a worse player to the general public. Admit it. You have wondered to yourself the last month or so, if Enes Kanter is any good.

No I haven't. I've thought since his rookie year he could be better than Favors and he continues to show me that.

You've bought into the fact that he was the reason for the Jazz being so poor to start the season. Don't get me wrong. Enes Kanter has a long way to go and a lot of work to do to improve his game, but he's better than what he has received from Coach Corbin and the Jazz this year. And they are only shooting themselves in the foot.

One of the players that Enes Kanter is often compared to production-wise was traded after his 3rd season for a 10 time all-star in 2007. Here are that players' numbers:

Are these numbers those of a much better player at the age of 21 or 22 than Enes Kanter is now? Not at all. This is Al Jefferson. Al Jefferson was the center piece in a trade for Kevin Garnett along with Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, and a protected 2009 draft pick (Wayne Ellington).

At worst, the Jazz should be holding onto a talented, young prospect who is one of the best trade chips in a potential deal this summer. Right now, we have fans questioning if he will ever be a starter. He's 21.

He's better than Al. He's a starter. Only question is if him and Favors make sense next to each other for big minutes.

The Coup De Grace

I have no problem with Enes Kanter getting benched. It's over and what is done was done. I understand the need to teach players and let them regather their games. I do have an issue with blaming Kanter with the Jazz's early problems and attributing his comeback to his benching. They just don't add up. On top of that, he started the year injured. He's a young player who needs time and he's very productive. This last couple weeks of play should not be a surprise.

But it's time to start featuring Kanter again. Start him or not, he needs 30+ minutes and he needs to play a lot with Derrick Favors. The coaches need to take the onus of making it work. That's their job.

WIns and Losses don't matter this season. I'm not sure Ty Corbin got the memo. And really fixing the offense shouldn't be a priority either. It's not on the list of important things Dennis Lindsey has ever mentioned. And Marvin WIlliams hasn't been very good for the last 20 games or so.

Now there's a surprise!

In fact over the last 20 games the pairing of Favors and Kanter has thoroughly outperformed the duo of Favors and Marvin Williams. Favors and Williams have been outscored by more than 6 points per 48 minutes while grabbing only 74% of available defensive rebounds the last 20 games. Kanter and Favors are outscored by only 5 points per 48 minutes the last 20 games and have grabbed nearly 79% of available defensive rebounds. They are improving.

It's time, coach Corbin. No more, "We'll see if we can get them together more" or "that's something we are thinking about." It's not rocket science. Just make it happen. Let Kanter spread the floor. Let him shoot three pointers. Do what you have to do. It's the right thing for the franchise. There is no reason to keep Kanter where he is right now. Not one good reason.

He hasn't shown the 3 yet. I'm guessing he will eventually. The problem is he's so good in the post how much do you want him out there? Okur sucked in the post.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Sacramento head coach Mike Malone knows it, too:

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[QUOTE]Favors isn

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Is Jimmer a good fit for the Jazz?
1. Yes, sign him already
2. No, and let's stop with the Jimmer rumors
3. Maybe
4. Jimmer who?

He'd be a big upgrade over what they have. Could start Burks though they might not want Hayward having to match-up defensively with the best wing on the other team if Jefferson is benched.

[El Kabong]

I'd buy Jimmer if the price was right, which would be about 5c at the moment.

Unless you do a deal that gives Sac some cap relief and they use Jimmer to even out the deal. Either Williams or Rush.