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Following Potential 2018 Draftees

Straight up? No.

Known vs Unknown. We know O'Neale. We know his strengths and weaknesses. We know his value to the team. We know he's a good role player. We also know that he's a good locker room fit and a friend of Donovan. We don't know that any of that would be the case with the player we get at 22. Plus O'Neales contract is a bargain. 1.3 mill next year, 1.6 mill the year after that. It's basically the same price that they'd be paying the player at 22 on a rookie scale, but again we already know what we have with O'Neale.

I agree with this. Royce was a pleasant surprise among many last season. For what he gives and any potential improvement (yes, I know he's 25, don't care), #22 isn't worth him. Dude's just a generally good guy to have around.
 
As a USC alum, I'm not a Metu fan. He's an athlete and has stretch 4 potential, but he's kind of a turd. Seems to have an attitude/entitlement streak, and I don't think he'd mesh well in the locker room.
I'm not a huge fan either, but he is pretty bouncy/quick off the floor. He's kind of a 4/5 tweener. If I had confidence he could defend the periemter well, I'd be a lot higher on him as a prospect. He is also a ways from being a stretch 4. Barely shot any 3's this past year. Attitude stuff doesnt really bother me that much. It's not like the 52nd pick can hurt a lockerroom.
 
I wouldn't trade O'Neale for #22, but that's because I'm a fan and I like O'Neale.

However, if the FO wanted to trade O'Neale for #22 because they knew #21 and #22 could be packaged to trade up for somebody better, then I trust the FO.

I don't see any current realistic scenarios worth trading Mitchell, Gobert, Ingles, O'Neale, Rubio or Crowder. There might be a scenario worth trading Bradley.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to trade 21 and O’Neale to whatever team they’re targeting the move up with. Cut out the middleman and go directly to the source.
 
Wouldn’t it just be easier to trade 21 and O’Neale to whatever team they’re targeting the move up with. Cut out the middleman and go directly to the source.

Possibly, but you never know. #22 was thrown out there as an example (by BD I think), but I could see Chicago wanting O'Neale. And let's just say we are trying to trade up to #15 with Washington. I could see Washington preferring #21 and #22 over #21 and O'Neale because they have already invested so much money into Porter and Beal with Oubre waiting on a new deal.
 
The guys the Jazz should be fervently debating right now are Okobo, J. Robinson, Huerter and Troy Brown/Zhaire Smith, understanding that we'd have to trade up 5 spots to get Brown or Smith. David Locke is probably not going to talk about those guys at all. He's going to talk about other guys right below our range like Allen, Khyri Thomas, Melvin Frazier, and so on, because it's safe for him to do so.

He doesn't want to prop up a guy that we can't draft, and he doesn't want to talk down a guy that we might end up drafting. His job is to manage expectations and support the front office decisions.
 
The guys the Jazz should be fervently debating right now are Okobo, J. Robinson, Huerter and Troy Brown/Zhaire Smith, understanding that we'd have to trade up 5 spots to get Brown or Smith. David Locke is probably not going to talk about those guys at all. He's going to talk about other guys right below our range like Allen, Khyri Thomas, Melvin Frazier, and so on, because it's safe for him to do so.

He doesn't want to prop up a guy that we can't draft, and he doesn't want to talk down a guy that we might end up drafting. His job is to manage expectations and support the front office decisions.

Jerome Robinson is probably below our range too. He's probably gonna go in the 25-40 range.
 
At this point I think there's a strong argument for trading down if a team behind us in love with a prospect and wants to trade up to get him.

Someone like Khyrie Thomas, Keita Bates Diop, Jerome Robinson, Melvin Frazier, etc. will be available after #28.
 
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Jerome Robinson is probably below our range too. He's probably gonna go in the 25-40 range.

Some mocks have J. Robinson at 17 or 18. The strength of this draft in our range is really guards or wings who can play both on and off the ball and who are solid shooters.
 
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Some mocks have J. Robinson at 17 or 18.

I know but a lot of them have him in the second round too. With the guard and wing depth in this class I think it's very possible he slips. I don't think he'll go before guys like Walker, Okobo, Brown, Smith, Huerter, Divincenzo, Hutchison. He might not go before guys like Evans, Frazier, Thomas, Musa either.
 
The latest Ringer mock draft has Sacramento selecting Bagley with #2. Man, I'd hate to be a Kings fan. If they do it, this will be ridiculed as one of the worst draft decisions in the last decade or so. GM's who pass up on Doncic better make sure they have their resumes updated, although they'll probably want to leave off it the fact that they could have drafted Doncic but chose not to.

Good news for Jazz, though, as we're unlikely to have to worry about any competition from Sacramento for a few years yet.
 
Locke is not impressing me much this offseason...

Other than his Favors on/off numbers which I thought was insightful. But even then he seems reluctant to say that it actually means anything definitively.

I think people underestimate the fine line that Locke has to walk; he is, after all, employed by the Jazz. In past drafts, he's been very upfront about who he wanted, or at least who excited/intrigued him, e.g., Aaron Gordon a few years back and Lyles. It would not surprise me a bit if at time he feels the need (or is directed) to support FO decisions, or possible decisions. For example, he seems to me now to be laying the groundwork so that we are not disappointed when the FO doesn't resign Favors. But anyone who thinks that he is free always to give unvarnished opinions about players, FO, team, etc. understands little about employee-employer relationships. He should not be criticized for it, in my view, but rather lauded for how well walks the line, while giving fans very useful, insightful information about the Jazz and NBA more generally.
 
Locke is not impressing me much this offseason...

Other than his Favors on/off numbers which I thought was insightful. But even then he seems reluctant to say that it actually means anything definitively.
Even with the Favors-Gobert on off numbers he missed one of the most important contexts in this whole situation - namely - almost every single minute Gobert and Favors play together is a minute against starters, while almost every minute Gobert plays with another big/small at the 4 is played against non-starting lineup.
 
How bad do they want to get rid of Parsons? Imagine if Doncic was still there at 4...

I can’t really see any way it works for us though. Unless getting rid of that contract is worth just taking 21 and filler salaries.
 
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