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Who is Worth Keeping on the End of Bench?

Saint Cy of JFC

Saint Cy of JFC

Well-Known Member
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Forrest: Absolutely love him. He's a jump shot from being a very good backup. Absolutely keep him and I would give him a guaranteed contract.

Oni: Love his tools, but I don't think he has the confidence to make it in the NBA. Would like to be wrong and I still think he could turn it around, but I'm not holding my breath. Would probably cut him since he got 1.7 million next season.

Thomas: Jazzfanz whipping boy, but I do think he is worth keeping. He's a player with a rare skill that could potentially be elite once he learns to get himself open in the offense. Guarantee his contract for the upcoming season.

Brantley: I'm still kind of surprised he hasnt gotten more minutes. He had the really good game vs OKC (barely an NBA team, but still) then after that he never really got a chance in non-garbage time minutes. I kind of get it because whenever I watch him he seems kind of out of place, but unlike Oni he actually has a level of assertiveness to his game. Don't sign. Use spot for new players.

Morgan: Once upon a time I was super high on him, but like Brantley, he can never actually get minutes. I like his game theoretically, but I think he might just be the combo of too small and too unathletic to be an impact player. Cut him.

Udoka: Not really a question what's going to happen with him, but just wanted to talk about him. I'm probably unreasonably excited about his potential. If he can learn from Gobert he can be a special defensive player and he has more potential to exploit small ball on the offensive end, though he probably will be more easily exploited by small ball on the defensive end. Still, it will be fun to watch someone with rim breaking potential dunk the ball. He's obviously guaranteed already, so he's probably staying unless he's used in a trade (wouldn't shock me).

Hughes: The mystery man of the bench. Ankle injuries kind of hampered his ability to make an impression early and it set him back. He easily has the most talent of this group. He's a guy I'm really crossing my fingers on becoming an impact player as soon as next year. Guarantee that contract (I think it already is)

Review:

Cut: Oni, Brantley, and Morgan

Bring Back: Hughes, Udoka, Forrest, and Thomas
 
Hughes led the team in turnovers by a lot. For whatever that's worth.

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N O N E.

Only guy I would like to see more though is Juwan Morgan who showed us some flashes of playing small ball five. If there's one guy who I wish Quin could have played against the Clippers that is him. He actually did pretty well in that regular season game versus the Mavs
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
He played 64 minutes of garbage time. IT's worth absolutely nothing.
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In his limited minutes he did in fact turn it over a lot though.
Brantley also rarely player and didn't turn it over as much as Hughes. Just something that happened. Did he have turnover issues in college? Was he turning it over a lot in practice? What's his basketball iq like? Seems like there would be a reason that Hughes was always the last guy quin would play, maybe it's related to turnovers

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fishonjazz said:
In his limited minutes he did in fact turn it over a lot though.
Brantley also rarely player and didn't turn it over as much as Hughes. Just something that happened. Did he have turnover issues in college? Was he turning it over a lot in practice? What's his basketball iq like? Seems like there would be a reason that Hughes was always the last guy quin would play, maybe it's related to turnovers

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Because he had a bad ankle injury to start training camp that hampered him through the G-League mini season.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
Forrest: Absolutely love him. He's a jump shot from being a very good backup. Absolutely keep him and I would give him a guaranteed contract.

Oni: Love his tools, but I don't think he has the confidence to make it in the NBA. Would like to be wrong and I still think he could turn it around, but I'm not holding my breath. Would probably cut him since he got 1.7 million next season.

Thomas: Jazzfanz whipping boy, but I do think he is worth keeping. He's a player with a rare skill that could potentially be elite once he learns to get himself open in the offense. Guarantee his contract for the upcoming season.

Brantley: I'm still kind of surprised he hasnt gotten more minutes. He had the really good game vs OKC (barely an NBA team, but still) then after that he never really got a chance in non-garbage time minutes. I kind of get it because whenever I watch him he seems kind of out of place, but unlike Oni he actually has a level of assertiveness to his game. Don't sign. Use spot for new players.

Morgan: Once upon a time I was super high on him, but like Brantley, he can never actually get minutes. I like his game theoretically, but I think he might just be the combo of too small and too unathletic to be an impact player. Cut him.

Udoka: Not really a question what's going to happen with him, but just wanted to talk about him. I'm probably unreasonably excited about his potential. If he can learn from Gobert he can be a special defensive player and he has more potential to exploit small ball on the offensive end, though he probably will be more easily exploited by small ball on the defensive end. Still, it will be fun to watch someone with rim breaking potential dunk the ball. He's obviously guaranteed already, so he's probably staying unless he's used in a trade (wouldn't shock me).

Hughes: The mystery man of the bench. Ankle injuries kind of hampered his ability to make an impression early and it set him back. He easily has the most talent of this group. He's a guy I'm really crossing my fingers on becoming an impact player as soon as next year. Guarantee that contract (I think it already is)

Review:

Cut: Oni, Brantley, and Morgan

Bring Back: Hughes, Udoka, Forrest, and Thomas
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I would cut Thomas too. Hughes Udoka and Forrest I would keep. If they let Niang go then I would keep Brantley. I would try to trade Favors Not easy I know but I would and then give Udoka his back up minutes.
 
The only two I would keep are Brantley and Forrest. Oni is DL's pet so he gets to stay on the island. Hughes was gawd awful in GLeague. Dok should be included in a trade for someone. The bench save for Clarkson was mostly awful.
 
I would honestly cut everyone except for Doke and Hughes.

You can make a case for keeping Forrest, so DL probably will. DL will keep Oni. DL will probably guarantee Matt Thomas, but shouldn’t.

Morgan and Brantley will not be back, IMO.
 
As a luxury tax team I'm sure we are hoping we can find a diamond in the rough. That leads me to believe we will open up more end of the bench spots to have more chances of landing a cheap rotation piece.

I think we keep Udokoa, Forrest, and maybe Hughes.
 
Forrest can stay. Hughes can stay but really only because we have no idea if he is or isn't a player yet and he's cheap. Udoka is guaranteed... so he is around unless he has some trade value.

I'd cut Morgan unless Favs is moved. He's a small ball 5 that hasn't proved he can shoot. I doubt he becomes more than a minimum dude so we can clear that spot.

Oni is a keeper at the minimum imo. This was his first real playing time so he may figure it out. Its worth seeing the experiment through and giving him regular season rotation minutes to find out if he can play.

I love the idea of Brantley... I have seen some good things... things that we need. I would have loved to see us just try him in Niang's minutes for a month... lets just see whats there. I think we likely let him go and I will not be surprised to see him re-surface as a guy that we regret not giving a chance. I'd keep him if Quin told me he'd use him.

Thomas - He shot really poorly while here... I know he is a good shooter but... he is small... his shot is a little slow... and he has a flat shot for a guy that is such a good shooter. Slow, unathletic, limited, small.... yeah that's what we need in the backcourt. He can't get the shot off at all. He is a defensive liability that I can see just getting murdered. I'd pack his bags for him if the cut him... they don't have the stones to cut him though since they gave up a pick for him. This is one of DL/Zanik's dumber moves especially when you consider how much we needed another bench player.

Keep -Forrest, Hughes, Udoka, Oni
Cut - Thomas, Morgan
Maybe - Ask coach if he thinks he'd play this guy 12 minutes a night to figure it out. If he says no then let the guy walk.
 
I still think Hughes, Dok and Forrest have some potential. Everyone else can go as far as I'm concerned. There's no way DL's going o let Oni go.
 
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I think it's worth noting to start that the Jazz are going to have to have a minimum of players on the roster, so at a certain point, cutting a guy is only worth as much as the prospect being brought in.

Thomas isn't worth the jersey he wears. I'm beside myself the Jazz traded an asset for him. Because of the former, he should be cut, because of the latter, he probably won't since the Jazz are the Sunk-Cost Express.

I don't think Oni has it. Cut.

Morgan has shown the most on-court contribution of the bunch and he seems to have been the exact type of player the Jazz could've turned to in games 5 and 6 (BTW, if the Jazz just hold those leads, guess who's in the WCF?). Keep.

Actually, Forrest has probably contributed most from this bunch and is worth another year of investigation. I'm not bullish on him developing a jumper, but his form isn't broken and crazier things have happened. If Quin ever grows the stones to try specialty lineups then he still might have utility for a defensive lineup. Keep.

Brantley's on the fence for me. Depends on what the Jazz are replacing him with. Not sure his game translates to the NBA, but if it ever does it would be pretty sick.

Hughes strikes me as a rich-man's Kevin Murphy or poor-man's CJ Miles. Which is to say, not that rich. On the fence, again. Wings (especially ones that can handle the ball) come at a premium and he looks to have some potential, so that's probably enough.
 
cowhide said:
I would cut Thomas too. Hughes Udoka and Forrest I would keep. If they let Niang go then I would keep Brantley. I would try to trade Favors Not easy I know but I would and then give Udoka his back up minutes.
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That's fair, I just want to see what can become of him. It's just rare to get that level of shooter on your team.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
Forrest can stay. Hughes can stay but really only because we have no idea if he is or isn't a player yet and he's cheap. Udoka is guaranteed... so he is around unless he has some trade value.

I'd cut Morgan unless Favs is moved. He's a small ball 5 that hasn't proved he can shoot. I doubt he becomes more than a minimum dude so we can clear that spot.

Oni is a keeper at the minimum imo. This was his first real playing time so he may figure it out. Its worth seeing the experiment through and giving him regular season rotation minutes to find out if he can play.

I love the idea of Brantley... I have seen some good things... things that we need. I would have loved to see us just try him in Niang's minutes for a month... lets just see whats there. I think we likely let him go and I will not be surprised to see him re-surface as a guy that we regret not giving a chance. I'd keep him if Quin told me he'd use him.

Thomas - He shot really poorly while here... I know he is a good shooter but... he is small... his shot is a little slow... and he has a flat shot for a guy that is such a good shooter. Slow, unathletic, limited, small.... yeah that's what we need in the backcourt. He can't get the shot off at all. He is a defensive liability that I can see just getting murdered. I'd pack his bags for him if the cut him... they don't have the stones to cut him though since they gave up a pick for him. This is one of DL/Zanik's dumber moves especially when you consider how much we needed another bench player.

Keep -Forrest, Hughes, Udoka, Oni
Cut - Thomas, Morgan
Maybe - Ask coach if he thinks he'd play this guy 12 minutes a night to figure it out. If he says no then let the guy walk.
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The thing is tho you can get a minimum guy for like 800K on a non-guaranteed deal vs the 1.7 Oni is owed next season. Doent sound like a lot, but under the LT that's like a 3 million dollar difference (guesstimating)
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
The thing is tho you can get a minimum guy for like 800K on a non-guaranteed deal vs the 1.7 Oni is owed next season. Doent sound like a lot, but under the LT that's like a 3 million dollar difference (guesstimating)
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Incorrect. You can only get a $800k (I think it is basically like 900k) guy if they are drafted in the second round. Undrafted FA get a minimum of 1.7M. So if we nab a few extra picks in the 50s (milwaukee did this) then yes we can save some dough. I'd be okay with that.
 
Here are the types of players floating around that might be attractive to the Jazz: Darrun Hilliard, Jarrell Martin, Tyler Harvey, Dakari Johnson, Wayne Selden Jr., Justin Patton, Sylven Landesberg, John Mooney.
 
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