Chris
Well-Known Member
Full disclosure: I have been on both sides of the Trey Burke spectrum: keep him at least until the trade deadline and see what he can do this season (if only to increase his value) and trade him for a bag of balls. So I realize that I've waffled and I probably will continue to do so. But for now, I would like to make a case for keeping him at least until this season's trade deadline. By that point, we will have seen if what I'm about to describe will have worked.
There's no doubt that Trey has his notable deficiencies...so far. But I look at him and I see a kid who will be entering his third year in the league and will start the year as a 22-year old. Far from a finished product by any stretch. In his rookie year, he was thrust into a starting role on a team that was basically trying to tank with a terrible coach in Ty Corbin.
Right after that season, the team drafts his replacement...a kid with all-star upside, according to some. In his sophomore year, he has the right coach, but is constantly looking over his shoulder to see when his starting job is going to be taken from him. And then it happens. And he doesn't complain. The team signs another up-and-coming point guard who's a fan favorite at the end of the season. Then the team drafts another point guard and brings over another point guard that they stashed a few years back.
I think it's important to point out that the more recent moves regarding Neto, Hanlan, and Cotton don't really have much to do with why Burke can't finish at the rim, or why he shot so poorly, in an apples-to-apples comparison with his own rookie season. But perhaps the rise of Dante had something to do with that.
See, I think Trey is a cerebral player. I think many in the NBA are, but this is especially the case for Trey. It's the reason he's known for turning it on toward the end of games. I'm not saying I like players that can subconsciously choose to play well, because I usually don't. (The argument here being: why not choose to play that well all the time?) But perhaps the Jazz know that Trey operates this way and can excel, given the proper motivation. Perhaps that's precisely why they've brought along the most recent PGs behind him: to get the best out of him -- this offseason, and during this coming season. To really see what he can do when he's fighting for his life.
If Trey is working as hard as seems to be the case, and if he's focused on improving the numerous broken parts of his game...if he's motivated the way he needs to be, then I think he can be a valuable contributor off the bench in the second PG slot, and not as much of a liability as he's been thus far. For example, if he just became more of a distributor and could consistently hit from outside, that would be a vast improvement.
And there's no reason the Jazz can't do this; Hanlan could end up being cut or stashed and Neto could well end up playing in Idaho for the season to work on some of his fundamentals. Then you'd have Exum, Burke, Cotton, which would give Trey a legitimate 'put up or shut up' amount of time on the floor to prove his worth. This would give Trey some breathing room, but he would still hear the footsteps that he'll need to hear if he doesn't continue to outwork everyone else.
We'll see if this works. Some players, you need to light a fire under, and keep it perpetually lit. I believe Trey needs to have confidence and swagger to play well; he needs to feel like he's earning his minutes because he's out-performing others who want those same minutes. Let's see what happens now that the Jazz seem to have done exactly that. I hope it works for him, because I certainly don't envy the situation he's been in since coming into the league.
There's no doubt that Trey has his notable deficiencies...so far. But I look at him and I see a kid who will be entering his third year in the league and will start the year as a 22-year old. Far from a finished product by any stretch. In his rookie year, he was thrust into a starting role on a team that was basically trying to tank with a terrible coach in Ty Corbin.
Right after that season, the team drafts his replacement...a kid with all-star upside, according to some. In his sophomore year, he has the right coach, but is constantly looking over his shoulder to see when his starting job is going to be taken from him. And then it happens. And he doesn't complain. The team signs another up-and-coming point guard who's a fan favorite at the end of the season. Then the team drafts another point guard and brings over another point guard that they stashed a few years back.
I think it's important to point out that the more recent moves regarding Neto, Hanlan, and Cotton don't really have much to do with why Burke can't finish at the rim, or why he shot so poorly, in an apples-to-apples comparison with his own rookie season. But perhaps the rise of Dante had something to do with that.
See, I think Trey is a cerebral player. I think many in the NBA are, but this is especially the case for Trey. It's the reason he's known for turning it on toward the end of games. I'm not saying I like players that can subconsciously choose to play well, because I usually don't. (The argument here being: why not choose to play that well all the time?) But perhaps the Jazz know that Trey operates this way and can excel, given the proper motivation. Perhaps that's precisely why they've brought along the most recent PGs behind him: to get the best out of him -- this offseason, and during this coming season. To really see what he can do when he's fighting for his life.
If Trey is working as hard as seems to be the case, and if he's focused on improving the numerous broken parts of his game...if he's motivated the way he needs to be, then I think he can be a valuable contributor off the bench in the second PG slot, and not as much of a liability as he's been thus far. For example, if he just became more of a distributor and could consistently hit from outside, that would be a vast improvement.
And there's no reason the Jazz can't do this; Hanlan could end up being cut or stashed and Neto could well end up playing in Idaho for the season to work on some of his fundamentals. Then you'd have Exum, Burke, Cotton, which would give Trey a legitimate 'put up or shut up' amount of time on the floor to prove his worth. This would give Trey some breathing room, but he would still hear the footsteps that he'll need to hear if he doesn't continue to outwork everyone else.
We'll see if this works. Some players, you need to light a fire under, and keep it perpetually lit. I believe Trey needs to have confidence and swagger to play well; he needs to feel like he's earning his minutes because he's out-performing others who want those same minutes. Let's see what happens now that the Jazz seem to have done exactly that. I hope it works for him, because I certainly don't envy the situation he's been in since coming into the league.
