What's new

The Non-Jazz NBA Thread in the Jazz Section

Does Oneeye post any more? A hat tip to him as he sniffed out DM's warts first. If the Jazz shipped DM and kept everyone else where would we be?
The reason Oneye soured on him wasn’t the same reasons the rest of everyone else soured on him. His was rooted more in rejection of himself for how infatuated he was with him (to a concerning hero-worship level) which was only matched by a perverse switch where Donovan simply ended up on the negative end of the split and his obsessive hatred of him was concerning because it was more like Stan driving his pregnant girlfriend off a bridge or whatever it was when he felt Eminem spurned him. Or Robert De Niro’s character in The Fan.
 
I don’t think this is a ‘hindsight is 20/20’ scenario, even if it was a narrative most Jazz fans came around to. Everyone knew about Rudy’s value and everyone knew about Quin’s mismanagement and the Donovan issues but suppressed those feelings. When we watched the same thing happen in the post season for the third year in a row, Jazz fans took that trauma and tried to deal with it by listening to Twitter and casuals and embraced movements from a new GM who lives in that world.
I will say, to our general credit, many here didn't suppress any of those feelings. We called it out. One of the few times armchair GMs were proven at least partially right.
 
The trade looks good now. Next year it may not. All it takes is a couple of injuries at the right time and we will get some more lottery picks
Does it matter anymore? They’re a contender while we’re a bottom dweller. If the wolves win the championship this year does it really matter to them what happens next year? I think one could argue that the trade is an overwhelming success for them as they’ve fielded a contender for the first time maybe ever? Not sure if you can count that one Minnesota team with Spree and Cassel as a contender as I thought most still thought the Spurs and Lakers were as good if not better. They most likely weren’t going contend with Beasley and Vando. At least with Gobert and NAW, they are in the conversation. This second round series could be dynamite.
 
Let’s not forget we were up 2-0 in the conference semifinals not that long ago. Until Minnesota gets to that point we can hold off on the victory laps.
 
Let’s not forget we were up 2-0 in the conference semifinals not that long ago. Until Minnesota gets to that point we can hold off on the victory laps.
I’ve said some pretty consistent things about the trade even last year when everyone declared it a fleece, to which I recall that season used as a victory lap. My opinion of the trade will not be affected by anything here on out. It’s more that if Minnesota gets a chip and we get a bunch of picks in the 20s, it’s further evidence why Twitter consensus is far downstream of reality.
 
Let’s not forget we were up 2-0 in the conference semifinals not that long ago. Until Minnesota gets to that point we can hold off on the victory laps.
Speaking of, we'll see how it goes, but this Cleveland collapse in Orlando is feeling a bit like that right now
 
Watching Cleveland choke this series away reminds me so much of when we choked things away against Denver in the bubble and then the clippers the following year.

Defense wins championships.

You can’t rely on your top player when he doesn’t play any defense. Orlando is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field right now.
 
I’ve said some pretty consistent things about the trade even last year when everyone declared it a fleece, to which I recall that season used as a victory lap. My opinion of the trade will not be affected by anything here on out. It’s more that if Minnesota gets a chip and we get a bunch of picks in the 20s, it’s further evidence why Twitter consensus is far downstream of reality.
You definitely did but what quantifies it as a win in your eyes? To give up 5 firsts and a swap? Conference finals? Perennial second round team?
 
You definitely did but what quantifies it as a win in your eyes? To give up 5 firsts and a swap? Conference finals? Perennial second round team?
I’m more approaching it from our end. But whether or not something is a win or not I judge by being good accurate value at the time (not perceived value). One of the best trades this franchise made was for Derek Fisher (despite how it ended the following summer). That’s another discussion for another time, though.

For me to feel the trade was worth it (I have a hard time conceptualizing it as win/loss) is if we end up in a better position (making the finals or more) more-or-less directly from a result of the value we got back in the deal.
 
One thing I can say: if Minnesota closes out Phoenix tomorrow, this puts massive pressure on Donovan that will likely cause him to force things and be a net negative for Cleveland. I would guess most would say that there’s no way he’d be that petty, but even look at what Shaq and Kobe admitted about their spite for each other and competing with each others’ success after they were broken up. The whole narrative surrounding the Jazz teams of choking and that largely being scapegoated onto Rudy, and Don being acutely aware of that narrative switching (even if it’s not, just his sensitivity toward it), is a pretty significant amount of pressure.
 
This isn’t on Donovan. Orlando is just a tough place to play playoff games. I mean I don’t think they’ve lost a home playoff game in like 5 years.

Guarantee there is a “we know what to do… “ quote coming after this one.
 
I'm still not 100% sold on Paolo, but they've got a really good team/good structure. Obviously their shooting isn't ideal, but as a young team they'll have plenty of time to get all the puzzle pieces in place. They should look into acquiring Lavine.
 
Giddey has been really good today. Not the greatest player, but he would be a great offensive fit in UTA. OKC vs ORL bidding war for Lauri?
 
Top