Not enough praise for the Jazz Management

[Twin Towers]

It is interesting seeing so many people either bashing the front office for the Kanter trade/situation or talking about how its better then losing him for nothing.

I think the front office needs to be praised for their work. How often do teams get 3 legit big guys who show they are starting caliber players while also still showing potential.
Big guys bust all the time and don't pan out as teams hope for.
Not many teams have had to worry about having too many talented big guys.

We traded Deron Williams for Favors, Kanter, and a draft pick that help us get Trey.
We traded cash and a 2nd round draft pick for Gobert.

We drafted/traded for Favors, Hayward, Jeremy Evans, Kanter, Burks, Trey, Neto, Exum, Hood.
The majority of these guys were 19-21 when drafted. These young players all seem to be panning out so far.

I was frustrated for years over keeping the Boozer, Okur starting front court together when everyone saw the writing on the wall in the playoffs, and how we couldn't protect the hoop. Along with keeping Corbin all those years and not developing the talent.

BUT right now I haven never been this excited ever. The front office and the coaching staff are all on the same page. We have players that you can see who are growing together and building chemistry. Its like watching a puzzle come together.
I don't like to make predictions how how good we can be, but I just enjoy watching this hustle defense and intensity while seeing unselfish offensive basketball. Something that is lacking in the NBA.
Thank you to the Millers for being patient and willing to actually rebuild rather then settle for low playoff spots.
And thank you to KOC, DL for putting the pieces together. KOC deserves some credit for being humble enough to step aside.
And thank you Snyder for actually COACHING the players to become more.
We still have a long way to go but just as a pure basketball fan......The Jazz are a fun team to watch.

Best defensive front court in the league. Favors and Gobert. No easy shots for the next decade.

 

[zman1527]

Agree completely. It always seemed to me that the old jazz management usually over-rated their own talent level. Sloan was great at getting the most out of guys in the regular season, but when teams step it up the PO, they could not match because the fundamental talent was not there.

Kanter was kind of the same kind of guy as Booz-memo or even Al-Sap, all offense and no D. Our front office seemed to think that we could really challenge with Booz-memo, but it never really looked that way to me. You cannot win a ring with bad interior D. It is great to see the DL-QS realize that, see it in Kanter, and act on it. Kudos. Disappointed that Kanter was not worth more, but it is what it is.

 

[The Midnight]

Cue GVC's "Dennis Lindsey ain't all that" comment.

 

[Siro]

We drafted/traded for Favors, Hayward, Jeremy Evans, Kanter, Burks, Trey, Neto, Exum, Hood.
The majority of these guys were 19-21 when drafted. These young players all seem to be panning out so far.

Are they? Evans is an end of the bench kind of guy. Burke sucks. Neto is utterly irrelevant. We haven't seen anything from Exum or Hood. And Kanter....

The only ones who "panned out" are Hayward and Favors. And maybe Burks.

I agree with your overall point about the FO doing well. But I'm honestly baffled at your assessment of the players.

 

[fishonjazz]

Are they? Evans is an end of the bench kind of guy. Burke sucks. Neto is utterly irrelevant. We haven't seen anything from Exum or Hood. And Kanter....

The only ones who "panned out" are Hayward and Favors. And maybe Burks.

I agree with your overall point about the FO doing well. But I'm honestly baffled at your assessment of the players.

True, although I would say Evans has panned out too. 2nd round picks don't usually stay in the league for very long. And he won the dunk contest

 

[Twin Towers]

Are they? Evans is an end of the bench kind of guy. Burke sucks. Neto is utterly irrelevant. We haven't seen anything from Exum or Hood. And Kanter....

The only ones who "panned out" are Hayward and Favors. And maybe Burks.

I agree with your overall point about the FO doing well. But I'm honestly baffled at your assessment of the players.

I can see how you would disagree. If someone can be a rotation player I classify them as panning out.
So many busts in the last 5 years that I think most of them have panned out.
Maybe a bad use of the word.
And Neto and Exum I really like. It's for sure wait and see still

 

[kabenac]

I remember back in 09-10 when the Lakers crushed us in the playoffs because we had inferior big men who sucked on defense. Now we're solid at the 4 & 5. Finding good PF & C combos is very tough to do and we've done it.

And the beauty about Hayward is he can play 2 or 3 so we can draft accordingly. If we sign a guy like Matthews we're going to be solid. I don't think we can land Butler but best case scenario would be Leonard as he's a great defender & leader. Max Leonard out!

 

[freakazoid]

We've made some mistakes, but overall Jazz fans should be happy. There's still some work to be done, but anyone who wishes we still had AlSap instead of Favbert is certifiable. Love the direction this team is headed.

 

[Batman]

Are they? Evans is an end of the bench kind of guy. Burke sucks. Neto is utterly irrelevant. We haven't seen anything from Exum or Hood. And Kanter....

The only ones who "panned out" are Hayward and Favors. And maybe Burks.

I agree with your overall point about the FO doing well. But I'm honestly baffled at your assessment of the players.

You forgot to include Gobert genius. Looks like he sort of panning out seeing he's the best rim protector in the NBA.

 

[fishonjazz]

We've made some mistakes, but overall Jazz fans should be happy. There's still some work to be done, but anyone who wishes we still had AlSap instead of Favbert is certifiable. Love the direction this team is headed.

Love it

 

[MT Steve]

You forgot to include Gobert genius. Looks like he sort of panning out seeing he's the best rim protector in the NBA.

I believe he was responding directly to this sentence from the OP, "We drafted/traded for Favors, Hayward, Jeremy Evans, Kanter, Burks, Trey, Neto, Exum, Hood.", and left out Gobert because OP didn't mention him in that sentence.

 

[Stifle Tower]

You forgot to include Gobert genius. Looks like he sort of panning out seeing he's the best rim protector in the NBA.

LOL. I was just going to say that.
As TT said, any time a player drafted outside the lottery or maybe even outside the top-8 or so becomes a rotation player, I'd say they panned out. And if a 2nd-rounder or undrafted player is on the team for even a full year or two, you've beat the league average.

Players who have exceeded expectations: Favors, Hayward, Gobert
Secondary players who have exceeded expectations: Booker, Ingles, E. Millsap (this year), Evans (career-wise)
Players who have met expectations: Burks
TBD: Burke, Exum, Hood. Yes, I'd say even Trey has shown flashes, including the last game vs. Portland. Can't judge Hood yet; he's been hurt. And Exum? C'mon, we all knew when he was drafted he was 2-3 years away at the EARLIEST.

Put Burke in the below expectation category if you must. Add Kanter based on the fact he was a #3 pick. But overall, I'd say the Jazz have made some pretty decent picks and FA acquisitions.

 

[b_line]

We've made some mistakes, but overall Jazz fans should be happy. There's still some work to be done, but anyone who wishes we still had AlSap instead of Favbert is certifiable. Love the direction this team is headed.

Favbert. Lol.

 

[Siro]

You forgot to include Gobert genius. Looks like he sort of panning out seeing he's the best rim protector in the NBA.

I was responding to the list of players Twin Tower provided.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

LOL. I was just going to say that.
As TT said, any time a player drafted outside the lottery or maybe even outside the top-8 or so becomes a rotation player, I'd say they panned out. And if a 2nd-rounder or undrafted player is on the team for even a full year or two, you've beat the league average.

Players who have exceeded expectations: Favors, Hayward, Gobert
Secondary players who have exceeded expectations: Booker, Ingles, E. Millsap (this year), Evans (career-wise)
Players who have met expectations: Burks
TBD: Burke, Exum, Hood. Yes, I'd say even Trey has shown flashes, including the last game vs. Portland. Can't judge Hood yet; he's been hurt. And Exum? C'mon, we all knew when he was drafted he was 2-3 years away at the EARLIEST.

Put Burke in the below expectation category if you must. Add Kanter based on the fact he was a #3 pick. But overall, I'd say the Jazz have made some pretty decent picks and FA acquisitions.

Favors was a #3 pick, he's not exceeding expectations.

It's not like we drafted Booker or Millsap.

If you really want to put Evans on the list just because he's not out of the league, fine. But he has zero impact in the NBA and will have no relevance to our (hopefully) future success. So it's still lame to put him on the list rather than just ignore him altogether.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Favors was a #3 pick, he's not exceeding expectations.

It's not like we drafted Booker or Millsap.

If you really want to put Evans on the list just because he's not out of the league, fine. But he has zero impact in the NBA and will have no relevance to our (hopefully) future success. So it's still lame to put him on the list rather than just ignore him altogether.

Ok, fair enough. Drop Favors to "meets expectations" and cross Evans off the list if you want to ignore him. But last season Evans was actual in the rotation, playing 18 mins/per and averaging 6 pts.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

I think its interesting to see how very few Jazz fans are not upset with the Jazz management and actually praising them. I have no choice but to assume that you weren't around to see the Larry H. Miller days. There is a reason why I can't praise the Jazz management. Before passing judgment, let me explain. When the Utah Jazz arrived to Utah it was a temporary location for the team as it was supposed to be sold to either Minnesota, Las Vegas or Oakland. Larry Miller bought 50% of the team in 1985. In 1986 the sale to Minnesota was almost finalized and the team would move to Minnesota by the start of the 1987 season. It was obvious when Larry purchased the Jazz that the community in Utah had no interest in buying tickets to see the Utah Jazz play. The Jazz were televised on KXIV and you could see the empty chairs in the stands. Larry Miller told the marketing manager to go out on the streets and give away Jazz tickets for free.
The stands eventually started getting filled and if you were watching on TV you would think the Jazz were selling tickets. The ratings on KXIV started to show outstanding results because of every seat in the house being filled in the old Salt Palace.
When the sale to Minnesota was about to be completed, Larry bought the remaining 50% of the team that he didn't own to keep the Jazz in Utah. During this time he had drafted John Stockton and Karl Malone. Karl was a 2nd round pick and just like today, most 2nd rounders didn't amount to anything.
With a team that now had attracted interest from the community, there was a new problem. KXIV tv station was going to take Jazz games off the air because of a few years of low ratings. Thats when Larry Miller bought the tv station and within a couple years renamed it KJZZ. This way he could televise Jazz games. In 1991 he built a state of the art arena, Delta Center. We know it today as the Energy Solutions Arena.
In 1994 the Jazz trade Jeff Malone, 1994 1st round pick for Jeff Hornacek, Sean Green and a 2nd round draft pick. The Jazz would continue to make good decisions with trades adding pieces to the team with a winning record and without the luxury of any top draft picks. The Jazz made the playoffs every year from 1983-2002.

The tables have turned.

In 1999 The Jazz hire Kevin O'Connor from the 76'ers.
Since John Stockton and Karl Malone retired, KOC had said that we need to stay flexible for the future in our draft picks. Here is a list of who he drafted.

In 2009 the Jazz could have drafted these players instead of Eric Maynor
Chase Budinger, Taj Gibson, DeJuan Blair, Danny Green, Marcus Thorton and Darrin Collison were all still available when the Jazz selected Maynor.

1999 KOC drafts Scott Padgett while Manu Ginobili is still available. He also drafted Quincey Lewis that same draft while Manu Ginobili was still available.

2002 KOC drafts Curtus Borchardt instead of
Luis Scola, Nenad Krstic, John Salmons, Matt Barnes, Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozer*

2008 KOC drafts Kosta Koufos instead of
Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum, George Hill, Nikola Pekovic, DeAndre Jordan, Goran Dragic, Omar Asik and Mario Chalmers.

2004 KOC drafts Kris Humphries instead of
*Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin and Anderson Varejao were all still left on the board.

2007 KOC drafts Morris Almond instead of
Aaron Brooks, Arron Afflalo, Tiago Splitter, Carl Landry, Glen Davis, Ramon Sessions and Marc Gasol

2001 KOC drafts Raul Lopez instead of
*Jamaal Tinsley, Gerald Wallace, Samuel Dalembert, Bobby Simmons, Mehmet Okur, Gilbert Arenas and Tony Parker

What happened to KOC?? The Utah Jazz promoted him to President of Basketball Operations. He is basically the puppet master behind Dennis Lindsey's decisions.

How can you praise the Jazz management?? We have been rebuilding for the “future” since 2011. The future of 2011 was yesterday. How can you or anyone be contempt with losing?? When will you want your team to win?? There are still New York Knick fans that think there team is heading in the right direction. Will you feel this way when the Jazz are in the same situation 20 years from now?? Because 20 years of failure is starting from now, and what worse is there are “Jazz Fans” that are ok with settling for losing team. A losing teams of 4 years. Your ok with that?? Go right ahead.

 

[kyjazzfan]

Easy to pick out some mistakes... but I agree with the OP for the most part and really like what the front office is doing. I certainly wouldn't say we've hit on every pick, but the decision to resign Hayward (when most people said he wasn't worth the money) and draft Gobert have made up for a lot of misses. Also add the locking up Favors long term to the mix and we now have a nice nucleus. I also like the decision to trade Kanter, especially considering Favors and Gobert's development and the likely impact on the cap to resign him. Exum is probably the x-factor right now. If he pans out then we'll really have something to be excited about. Then when you consider our cap flexibility and I really like what the front office is doing.

 

[silesian]

You are right. Malone was a second round pick and koc is puppet master. There are a lot off uninformed opinions. But you could at least take 10 seconds to check Wikipedia.

And when your main argument involves listing players that exceeded their draft position you are ignoring how hard it is to evaluate talent and predict nba prospect 's future success. On average the jazz are drafting better now than in the past.

Finally, by going back before the DL era, you are kinda missing the point that there is excitement with the recent change in direction.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

Easy to pick out some mistakes... but I agree with the OP for the most part and really like what the front office is doing. I certainly wouldn't say we've hit on every pick, but the decision to resign Hayward (when most people said he wasn't worth the money) and draft Gobert have made up for a lot of misses. Also add the locking up Favors long term to the mix and we now have a nice nucleus. I also like the decision to trade Kanter, especially considering Favors and Gobert's development and the likely impact on the cap to resign him. Exum is probably the x-factor right now. If he pans out then we'll really have something to be excited about. Then when you consider our cap flexibility and I really like what the front office is doing.

Part of the Jazz development was acquiring good draft picks. A few years ago we drafted Kanter. Now I am not saying that we shouldn't have traded him. His trade was a must. But can you honestly tell me that you feel we got as much as we could in exchange for him??? We knew we were trading him pre Christmas. They obviously didn't shop him until the week of the trade deadline. We should have got at least one asset for him. Don't tell me that the protected 1st round pick is an asset. Or the Salary dump is an asset. We acquired our 3rd overall pick (Kanter) by losing many games the year before. Back then we were talking about our draft to help our "future". I get that picks don't always work out, but you don't trade him for nothing. You do it if you haven't done a good job of shopping him to find assets. He needed to be traded. Gobert is definitely a better Center, but you don't throw away talent for nothing because you have talent ready to replace him. You are still responsible of building.