Utah Jazz Team Review

 

2022-23 Finish: 20-62

 

Season Highlight:

The highlight for the Jazz�s season last year probably has to be looking all the way back to the free agent day after they suffered through another losing season of tanking, but not able to lose enough games to reach the bottom. They pulled off the most miraculous heist in our leagues history when they threw caution to the wind and chucked 99 GM points on Bradley Beal, knowing full well that the Bulls could make it all for naught by using only a fraction of that to make him stay. They had discussions before the day, the Bulls GM expressly saying he would put down the points required to make a 99 point Utah bid futile, but as basically the only team with salary cap space to make this play, they decided to call the Bulls bluff and swoop. The Bulls only placed an odd sized small bid on Beal which didn�t protect from anything, and the Beal became a Jazz signing boon.

 

Season Lowlight:

The Jazz�s lowlight has to be the eventual failing of their year long pursuit to lose. They managed to win enough to not be the worst team on the standings, and then to cap that off, they didn�t get the lottery balls falling the way they wanted to land the generational consensus #1 pick, Victor Wembanyama. All that effort of planning to go into getting to the bottom, and they didn�t get the best result they were hoping for. They of course still ended up with pick 2, 3 and 7 which they used as trade assets, but #1 was the aim all along, of course.

 

Best Trade:

Jazz send: Bradley Beal, Pick 33 2023 and Portland 2026 2^nd

Jazz receive: Caris LeVert, Terrence Ross, Pick 7 2023, Lakers 2024 1^st, Phoenix 2027 1^st and Detroit 2027 1^st

 

Pretty self explanatory really. Look at that haul for Beal, after they landed him for a freebie 99 point bid. LeVert, pick 7 and 3x future 1sts, setting themselves up for what we now know was a massive offseason of change and upgrade. Beal was of course their best player, despite being held back, but he was never in the plans to win at all this season.

 

Worst Trade:

Jazz send: Caris LeVert
Jazz receive: Will Barton, Orlando 2027 2^nd and San Antonio 2027 2nd

The Jazz are notorious for getting value in trades and holding high standards and values on their players, so it�s always hard to find a bad trade for Jason. This one probably stands out to me as the worst last year, not because it�s horrible but because his other trades got good value back and this one is probably the only trade I think he lost value in. Barton was never going to fetch another asset and was waived the next day (basically), and LeVert while not a world beater is worth a lot more in my opinion than a couple of late 2nds in many years time. The JMac effect.

 

Other Notable Trades:

Jazz send: Moses Brown

Jazz receive: Portland 2026 2^nd

 

Brown was a hot name a couple of years ago but basically finally came down to little and finally only a Portland distant 2^nd is what he was worth.

 

 

 

Jazz send: Bogdan Bogdanovic
Jazz get: Patrick Beverley and Minnesota 2024 1^st

 

Pretty solid value getting a 1^st and a player than will command more assets.

 

 

 

Jazz send: Patrick Beverley
Jazz get: Danny Green, Pick 47 2023 and Phoenix 2024 2^nd

 

As said above, get PBev, move him later for more picks and another Vet.

 

 

 

Jazz send: Terrence Ross
Jazz get: Derrick Rose and Pick 57 2023

 

The continued flipping of vets with no future at the team for more assets.

 

 

 

Jazz send: Pick 39 2023

Jazz get: Indiana 2024 2^nd and Indiana 2026 2^nd

 

Push back a year to load up.

 

 

 

Free Agency:

The Jazz did all of their work through the offseason via trades now entering the free agency period as a formidable opponent set to push for top the league, let alone the West. As such, they have no players coming off contract left on the books, as they renounced them all to get the deals done. They also completely shot themselves in the foot in terms of being a free agent destination as having a horrible record from last year, coupled with one of the best spreads of top level talent in the league ruining their team leveler. Not to mention, still somehow possessing 6 1^st round picks which would be more than a good number of teams around the league. So any FA win is going to be a very targeted bid, or a very lucky no points bid by any team, buoyed by a high random factor. They need to bring in 3 more players to field a roster, so it�ll be interesting who opts to join the Jazz based on the complete disregard for FA calc!

 

Star:

The GM


(Not actually Jason)

Do you know how hard it is to pick out a star for a team that is actively trying to limit their players minutes and set line ups and game plans to work against them? Eep! So, the Jazz star last year, and through this offseason is the GM himself. Jase has steered this team exactly as he wanted for his entire time here, bringing in kids, picks, assets, increasing value and all steering to a plan to then flip it. He flipped that switch this offseason and now the team has the opposite issue, how to choose a star out of the crowd? You have got to hand it to the man in charge for getting this team to look like it does.

 

Flop:

Kai Jones

Funnily enough, it�s just as hard to pick a flop in a team that you know is not performing as they should so in the end I have gone with the man who lost his mind. He had a strong NSL/2k season last year starting nearly all games and averaging 8 points and 9 rebounds, but was out the door in the offseason trades and did next to nothing in the NBA to make him start looing like a guy worth keeping either. Then, he goes and implodes his career.

 

 

Draft Grades:

Pick 2 � Scoot Henderson

Pick 3 � Amen Thompson (for Toronto)

Pick 7 � Anthony Black (for Washington)

Pick 47 � Kobe Brown

Overall Grade: A+

Just like every year, the Jazz picked the eyes out for the draft. Pick 2 and pick 47 are the only selections made for themselves, but Scoot was probably the consensus #2 best player in the draft behind the obvious. Pick 47 saw them land the man who was picked in the 1^st round in the NBA, Kobe Brown. He�s older and low ceiling, and he�s on the Clippers so won�t ever get a look or develop, but for now he looks like a rock solid guy and maybe if he can get out of LA he�ll have a career.

If you then want to analyze the other guys they drafted but had traded, Thompson is a big PG and will be a great 2k guy and Black, likewise, so those would have been worthy selections too.

 

The Future:

The future is RIGHT DAMN NOW in Utah now! From Franz Wagner, Jaden Ivey, Josh Giddey and Devin Vassell, with umpteen 1sts and top 1sts this year, to Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Dejounte Murray and then keeping the best kids in Giddey and Wagner, with great looking kids in Daniels, Jaylin Williams and bringing in Corey Kispert also�and drafting Scoot�this team is competing right now and is young enough to be there for years. Not to mention the assets to try and go that next next step if they still can�t quite get over the Portland/SA hurdle. It�s all going to come down to the coaching now. We�ve seen Jase show a knowledge of how to not get it done, but now it�s a script flip and he has to make the pieces work together to get it done. Who would bet against this man though? Not me.

C: Joel Embiid / Jaylin Williams
PF: Julius Randle / Franz Wagner / Josh Minott
SF: Josh Giddey / Sam Hauser
SG: Dejounte Murray / Corey Kispert
PG: Scoot Henderson / Dyson Daniels