karl malone
Well-Known Member
Based on our recent success, unlike the last few years, competing (rather than development) will clearly be our first priority next season. After that, developing our PG of the future should be the second priority, as his long-term development is likely to be the determining factor in whether we are a playoff caliber team or championship caliber team in the future. While I personally would consider trading him (+ a reasonable asset or 2) for a potentially elite scorer such as Russell (I know, that is far from a guarantee), strictly due to fit & developmental timeline rather than long-term potential, I think QS & DL value his defense, character, & work ethic too highly to move on from him in their long-term plans before seeing exactly what they have, which could take as long as 4-5 years to happen (2-3 to be starting caliber/4-5 to be star caliber).
Question #1: How do we compete while still developing Exum?
Answer: Replace him with a starting quality player at PG & have him be the primary backup.
Hopefully this type of move wouldn't hurt his confidence (last thing we need). I doubt it would as he seems to be a high character player willing to do what is best for the team.
Question #2: Who replaces him?
Answer: Who ever the FA/trade market dictates.
Dragic & Rondo are both out of our price range. If Jackson & Knight aren't out of our price range also (which they likely are & would be matched as RFA's anyways if not) they would require too much of a financial & long-term commitment to essentially be a placeholder until Exum is ready to start (unless of course we envision one of them being a good fit alongside Dante- which I doubt due to Exum's immense potential mostly being tied to him playing the point). Beverley is a similar case as the other 2 due to the large financial commitment it would likely take to get HOU to not match (though I could be wrong as they may target an impact 1 such as the names mentioned prior- I believe they will have $ to spend, although I am admittedly unfamiliar with their current cap situation). That would leave names such as Lin, Nelson, & Cole (as well as a few other decent vets). I'm not sure Utah will elect to go with one of these guys, as I believe they will aim higher than those type of role players. This leads me to believe that they might consider going with a timeshare of Burks & Exum at PG. They could start Burks, use Hayward as the primary ballhandler, & give Exum more playing time than he would typically receive in a traditional backup role (with Burks playing at his natural 2 guard position for much of the game). This would allow them to sign a FA SG/SF to start. If this is what they decide to do, that would lead to:
Question #3: What to do with Trey Burke?
Answer: Attempt to package him & additional assets to acquire someone who could potentially project in our future starting 5 alongside Exum, Hayward, Favors, & Gobert. Due to the offensive limitations (particularly 3 pt shooting) & lack of a #1 scorer on this team, other than Russell (which is a pipedream at this point), Mario Hezonja seems to be the only other prospect in this draft that has the potential to fill both of those voids.
Question #4: Could a lineup of . . .
(Plan A)
Burks/Exum/Neto
Matthews/Burks/Hood
Hayward/Hezonja/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
or
(Plan B)
Burks/Exum/Neto
Hayward/Burks/Hood
Carroll/Hezonja/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
. . . contend for the playoffs next year & could a future lineup of . . .
Exum/Backup PG (&/or) Neto
Hezonja/Burks
Hayward/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
(+ whichever FA we signed/future draft picks)
. . . contend for a championship in the future?
Obviously there are other FA wing options out there, so maybe we go in a different direction depending on pricetags & contract lengths required to get them (Matthews, Middleton, Carroll, D.Green, etc) to sign.
So I guess the real question is: do you think a team (surrounded by the right pieces) can compete for a playoff spot, with Burks & Exum primarily running the point?
If the answer is yes, the next question would be: who are those right pieces to surround them with & how do we obtain them?
Question #1: How do we compete while still developing Exum?
Answer: Replace him with a starting quality player at PG & have him be the primary backup.
Hopefully this type of move wouldn't hurt his confidence (last thing we need). I doubt it would as he seems to be a high character player willing to do what is best for the team.
Question #2: Who replaces him?
Answer: Who ever the FA/trade market dictates.
Dragic & Rondo are both out of our price range. If Jackson & Knight aren't out of our price range also (which they likely are & would be matched as RFA's anyways if not) they would require too much of a financial & long-term commitment to essentially be a placeholder until Exum is ready to start (unless of course we envision one of them being a good fit alongside Dante- which I doubt due to Exum's immense potential mostly being tied to him playing the point). Beverley is a similar case as the other 2 due to the large financial commitment it would likely take to get HOU to not match (though I could be wrong as they may target an impact 1 such as the names mentioned prior- I believe they will have $ to spend, although I am admittedly unfamiliar with their current cap situation). That would leave names such as Lin, Nelson, & Cole (as well as a few other decent vets). I'm not sure Utah will elect to go with one of these guys, as I believe they will aim higher than those type of role players. This leads me to believe that they might consider going with a timeshare of Burks & Exum at PG. They could start Burks, use Hayward as the primary ballhandler, & give Exum more playing time than he would typically receive in a traditional backup role (with Burks playing at his natural 2 guard position for much of the game). This would allow them to sign a FA SG/SF to start. If this is what they decide to do, that would lead to:
Question #3: What to do with Trey Burke?
Answer: Attempt to package him & additional assets to acquire someone who could potentially project in our future starting 5 alongside Exum, Hayward, Favors, & Gobert. Due to the offensive limitations (particularly 3 pt shooting) & lack of a #1 scorer on this team, other than Russell (which is a pipedream at this point), Mario Hezonja seems to be the only other prospect in this draft that has the potential to fill both of those voids.
Question #4: Could a lineup of . . .
(Plan A)
Burks/Exum/Neto
Matthews/Burks/Hood
Hayward/Hezonja/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
or
(Plan B)
Burks/Exum/Neto
Hayward/Burks/Hood
Carroll/Hezonja/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
. . . contend for the playoffs next year & could a future lineup of . . .
Exum/Backup PG (&/or) Neto
Hezonja/Burks
Hayward/Hood
Favors/Booker
Gobert/Tomic (&/or) Pleiss
(+ whichever FA we signed/future draft picks)
. . . contend for a championship in the future?
Obviously there are other FA wing options out there, so maybe we go in a different direction depending on pricetags & contract lengths required to get them (Matthews, Middleton, Carroll, D.Green, etc) to sign.
So I guess the real question is: do you think a team (surrounded by the right pieces) can compete for a playoff spot, with Burks & Exum primarily running the point?
If the answer is yes, the next question would be: who are those right pieces to surround them with & how do we obtain them?
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