NBA Countdown: No. 13 Utah Jazz

[duncan228]

NBA Countdown: No. 13 Utah Jazz
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By Tim Buckley
Sporting News Yearbooks

It was supposed to be a wild, wacky summer for the Utah Jazz.

Instead, it was a dud, with the only suspense being whether they'd deal two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer. That hasn't happened, so we'll have to wait and see whether Utah tries to recoup something for the 2010 unrestricted free agent before February's trade deadline.

The team stayed in house with its transactions, as starting center Mehmet Okur opted in for the final season of his contract, and then signed a two-year extension. Backup shooting guard Kyle Korver picked up his own option for the last season on his current deal too, while No. 3 point guard Ronnie Price was re-signed.

That left the Jazz only to match Portland's offer sheet to backup power forward Paul Millsap, although they waited until nearly the last minute. Millsap was signed to a four-year, $32 million deal that was frontloaded with $10.3 million due by the end of July.

"What we felt was, he's worth it," Utah general manager Kevin O'Connor said. "And he's somebody who's played through some injuries; we've appreciated that. So, we're happy he's back."

It was a no-brainer decision for the Jazz, who see Millsap as their starting power forward of the future. Millsap averaged 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season, but increased that to 16.0 points and 10.3 boards as a starter in the 45 games Boozer missed because of a quadriceps injury and arthroscopic knee surgery.

Coach Jerry Sloan recently indicated that Boozer still could remain the starter, with Millsap coming off the bench, though the decision isn't final. And while Millsap might be a key player for the team's future, he hasn't forgotten whose team it is-for now, Utah's hopes belong to Deron Williams.

Even though long-distance shooter and one-time All-Star Okur is now 30, the rest of the team is young, and O'Connor likes the idea of building the franchise around the 25-year-old Williams.

The general manager says his team's nucleus will be Williams, Millsap, shooting guard Ronnie Brewer and small forward C.J. Miles, who were all younger than 25 last season.

"So I think we can get better from within," O'Connor said. "I think our players can be better this year than they were last year. That's what we hope happens."

The shooting-guard position should stay the same with Brewer, whose outside shooting gets little respect, and Korver, a streaky 3-point specialist coming off minor offseason surgery to repair wrist damage that hampered his shot last season.

Miles started all season at small forward but lost that job in the playoffs. He also will miss the first few weeks of this season after having thumb surgery. Andrei Kirilenko, whose spark was needed off a thin bench last year, is one of the candidates to replace Miles in the starting lineup.

Up front, youngsters Kyrylo Fesenko, who exercised his contract option, and Kosta Koufos will again play behind Okur. It remains to be seen, though, if those two can add toughness-one item on a long list the Jazz feel they need.

"We'd love to have some length and some more athleticism," O'Connor said. "And we'd love to have a little bit more shooting. But so would everybody."

Fast Facts
2008-09 record: 48-34
Last playoff: 2009 (lost in conference quarterfinal)
Coach: Jerry Sloan

Burning question
Will Carlos Boozer be a distraction?

It was a mild surprise that the Jazz opted not to trade Boozer this summer, though they could trade him sometime in the near future. But if they trade him, it will be for basketball reasons, not just to dump him. With his injuries and the frosty relationship with coach Jerry Sloan, Boozer has been a distraction for the last few years. The team has managed to get around those issues and still earn a solid spot in the postseason.
- Sean Deveney

View from the other bench
(an opponent breaks down the Jazz)

"Utah is a talented team, can score the basketball, (but) has had problems playing defense and keeping people from scoring. …

"They have a potential All-Pro in Deron Williams, who I think is one of the best point guards in the NBA. (Williams is) strong and has become a very, very good shooter since leaving Illinois. (He) looks to get teammates involved before he gets shots, though. …

"(Ronnie) Brewer, an athletic (shooting guard) who is a streak shooter, is more of a midrange (shooter) and an at-the-basket shooter than a 3-point shooter. (He is) a good baseline player (and) a good defender, especially off the ball. …

"(Mehmet) Okur is one of the best-shooting big men in the league from 3-point range, a very good pick-and-pop player who needs to work on his post-up moves. …

"(The) general weakness for Utah is one-on-one defense and outside shooting, and they're not a long team or an athletic team."

Rookie to watch: G Eric Maynor
The former Virginia Commonwealth star will battle combo guard Ronnie Price to back up Deron Williams at the point, but won't play more than eight to 10 minutes a game even if he wins out.

Inside the numbers

134: Games Carlos Boozer has missed because of various injuries in five seasons in Utah.

3: Players (Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver) who decided to forgo free agency and remain with the Jazz despite options to skip the final year of their contracts.

.921: NBA-best winning percentage Utah had when holding opponents to less than 100 points in 2008-09, winning 35 of those 38 contests.

Additions: None
Subtractions: G Morris Almond (Orlando), C Jarron Collins (Portland), G Brevin Knight (free agent)

[Girasuck]

Here's some more info from what I've seen so far...

Boozer - He's saying and doing everything he should, which is to just shut his damn mouth and go out and play. His offensive game has never been a question and by the looks of it he hasn't lost anything on that end. Still it's the same old Boozer on the defensive end. Doesn't rotate, can't stay in front of his man, weaker power forwards abuse him. The question with him is how long will he remain in Utah. It's no secret that the Jazz FO doesn't like to make mid-season trades unless the player has problems with Sloan so who knows if Boozer will be dealt. With the NY pick next summer I could see the Jazz keeping Boozer all year and just letting him walk. They'll get salary cap relief, plug Millsap into the starting spot, and try to fill the backup through the draft or a veteran signing.

DWill - So far he's playing more of a Stockton type PG. Distributing and getting teammates involved more that looking to score on his own. I think we're a better team when DWill has fewer points and more assists. Should have another solid year.

AK - Definitely has added weight. He looks 10x better than he did at the end of last season. His jump shot still doesn't though.

Okur - The Big Slow is still the same. An average low post defender one-on-one but doesn't rotate worth .

Brewer - Looks to be more passive this preseason. Last year he took it to teams. This year he looks like he'd rather be somewhere else. Not seeing the fire from him like last preseason.

Millsap - If Boozer was gone Millsap would be a lock for the all-star game. He's bigger, stronger, and much faster than last year. He's worked on basically every aspect of his game. He has the potential once Boozer is gone to be a 20/10 guy. Sloan will play him a ton of minutes this season, even a bunch at the 3 while Miles is out with his injury.

Other notes...Ronnie Price has been impressive. He'll see an increase in minutes this year and don't be shocked if he see's time at the 2. Eric Maynor is going to be a special player. He has amazing PG skills and I have no doubt he'll be a stud player for years to come...probably not in a Jazz uniform though. Korver has shown more leadership, and more confidence in his shot. Koufos is still a mess on the court. Dude needs to chill out and just play the game. So much potential but he looks clueless on the court. Suton is horrible.

Unless we make a trade and get some defensive help back for Boozer, I see us no better than the 5th seed in the West.

[duncan228]

The Baseline Sees All: Utah Jazz
SportingNews

Elsewhere in our web of basketball knowledge, you'll find comprehensive team previews by experts intimately acquainted with what makes these NBA teams tick, where they've been, and what might be next for them. So why another set of previews? Because sometimes, it's worth listening to your crazy uncle about that broken leg before you take a second trip to the doctor's office.

When I say that the Utah Jazz are in a weird place, I mean "place" in the way it gets delivered in the middle of a breakup conversation. True, they are sandwiched right between the powerhouses of the West and its more nebulous squads, and they have shown themselves dangerous in the playoffs the last couple years, if ultimately overmatched. But, strangely for a team whose coach is synonymous with no-nonsense hind-kickin', the Jazz are in an introspective mode this season.

While Jerry Sloan still hasn't won that Coach of the Year award, he is now a Hall of Famer. And with that ying, the yang: Carlos Boozer is back with an uncertain future, and Paul Millsap, the team's power forward of the future, may yet end up coming off the bench. To say nothing of the fact that the roster's got its share of younger players who need to turn vet soon. Consider this a transition year and believe in addition by subtraction.

At least Deron Williams's star will continue to rise like nobody's business. He's reaching that point—at the risk of offending some strict Jazz ideologues—where the rep gets bigger regardless of whether or not the team spends a year sorting out its inner business.

Most Likely Breakout: Ronnie Brewer isn't exactly wallowing in his own muck. He averaged more than 13 ppg last season and racked up steals at a crazy rate. However, if he can get a little more consistent, he adds an ingredient to this Jazz potpourri that, strictly speaking, they really could use. Brewer is strong and extremely athletic—in short, the kind of impact player on the wing that the Jazz's peculiar preferences (and those of free agents, to be fair) have for a while kept them from acquiring.

Brewer could be an aggressive defender, a scorer not wholly reliant on Williams and a just plain exciting finisher to spark the team. If Millsap is indeed going to part of the team's new master plan, then Brewer is the perfect sidekick. The best part: mixing up Brewer, three-point ace Kyle Korver and the eternally beguiling Andrei Kirilenko really is about options, not the kind of conflict Millsap/Boozer could set up in the team's internal logic. Besides, Brewer has been getting minutes—he and those around team just need to make a point of bringing his game to the forefront.

(Or, if that doesn't work for you, plug in C.J. Miles for Brewer, and I'll still pretty much stand by it word-by-word.)

Most Likely Letdown: Maybe this is the part where I show my age, like when I lost interest in the NFL once Tomlinson started to fall off (I know, Adrian Peterson will set me free). But I continue to be flustered by Kirilenko's plummet from truly singular basketball griffin to funny, skinny Russian guy who has never forgiven the team for building him up, then bring him back down to Earth. Kirilenko was once the uncontested superstar, and what a player he was, as versatile a forward as you'll ever see. Then came Williams and Boozer, AK's emotions got the best of him, and he seems to have both knuckled under and died a little inside.

While he's still known to put up good games, he's no longer the eighth wonder he once was. And despite persistent rumors that he's headed somewhere new, that contract of his pretty much forces the Jazz to make the best of having a potentially great player limited by a complex combination of self, others and environment. Which isn't to say that Kirilenko doesn't still help out, but the old mastermind ain't coming back, at least not under these cir stances. I guess it's cool that he's stopped being so actively disgruntled, but his resignation marks the tragic loss of what could've been.

Blog superstar: I would pay all the money in my possession to see a recreation of Fishing with John starring Sloan and Gregg Popovich.

Signature game: The Jazz and Rockets have had a strange, twisted rivalry over the years, one where the Rockets supposedly battle against their capacity to choke and the Jazz surprise everyone with their resourcefulness. This year, I'd say they're just about even. No, really. Watch them on Mar. 4, the first of three meetings this season, and witness the evolution of one of those off-the-beaten-path rivalries that this league could use more of.

Why else you should care: Because at this point, the Jazz are no longer strictly Sloan-ball. Internal conundrums aside, this team is, in its own quiet way, pushing toward the future, and nurturing at least one of the league's most scintillating young stars. We might be on the verge of one of those spells where the Jazz put Utah on the national map. Really, is there any pro franchise that can so totally affect the way outsiders see a city or state?