The Off-Season Thread

[nuraman00]

The best FA trading team, in terms of what they wanted, and they got, I would put Utah in top 5, next to Houston. Dallas definitely didn't get anything they wanted, and would probably be dead last on my list. Mark Cuban hasn't done good at all.

There's no acceptable reason, IMO, not only for the Jazz not to pursue Josh Smith or Andre Iguodala, but also for the Jazz not to actually sign them. Especially since they had room after letting Millsap and Jefferson go.

Outside of Larry Sanders and Zach Randolph, neither of whom are wing players, the FA class of 2014 isn't as good. This was the year good FAs were available, and getting a good player locked up now would have been better than renting cap space for GSW's future draft picks. Iguodala and Josh Smith are most likely going to be better than any player selected from GSW's 2014 or 2017 draft pick.

 

[nuraman00]

Excerpt from what I wrote last night, from an email to BlueMoon_76:

Oh, I omitted one part of my email, but I figure I should repost it here now anyways, as sackataters might be interested.

++++++++++++++++

I bought the Blue Moon Summer Variety Pack. It has 5 different flavors.


* Blue Moon Agave Nectar: I didn't like it. It's thick and kind of bland.

* Blue Moon Blackberry Tart: Blackberry is too faint.

* Blue Moon Rounder: I like it. It tastes similar to regular Blue Moon, but a little less creamy, and maybe a thicker head? Good though.

* Blue Moon Short Straw: I've never tasted another beer like it. A red ale with a hint of strawberry? I like it.

I guess I didn't like the ones I tried on Monday, but the ones on Tuesday were good, haha.

++++++++++++++++++

BlueMoon_76's response:

I agree in the Blue Moons but I like that they are expanding flavors.

 

[nuraman00]

Valanciunas was the summer league All-Star. Kanter/Favors/Hayward weren't mentioned.

Maybe because this was about Vegas Summer League?

Daily Dime - ESPN

If someone can find a Daily Dime for the Rocky Mountain Revue, can they please post it?

Ok, the Jazz were in the Orlando Summer League, and Trey Burke was the only noteworthy player on their team.

NBA -- 2013 Orlando Summer League Rosters - ESPN

Can someone post a overall recap of how Orlando Summer league went, and who won awards (even if it wasn't any Jazz players)?

 

[MHSL82]

Utah Jazz sign free agent John Lucas III

The Utah Jazz have signed free-agent guard John Lucas III, who played last season with the Toronto Raptors.

The 5-foot-11 guard averaged 5.3 points and 1.7 assists in 13.1 minutes in a career-high 63 games last season, his fifth in the NBA.

Lucas, who has also played in Houston and Chicago, has career averages of 5.1 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 11.8 minutes.

He is the son of former NBA coach and player John Lucas Jr., the No. 1 pick in the 1976 NBA draft.

 

[nuraman00]

Utah Jazz sign free agent John Lucas III

The Utah Jazz have signed free-agent guard John Lucas III, who played last season with the Toronto Raptors.

The 5-foot-11 guard averaged 5.3 points and 1.7 assists in 13.1 minutes in a career-high 63 games last season, his fifth in the NBA.

Lucas, who has also played in Houston and Chicago, has career averages of 5.1 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 11.8 minutes.

He is the son of former NBA coach and player John Lucas Jr., the No. 1 pick in the 1976 NBA draft.

Have you seen him play before?

 

[cjets2]

Orlando Summer League: Final Judgments - ESPN

Here is a list I found though no Jazz players were on it...

 

[anonymoussource]

Jazz sign Ian Clark

This guy TORE UP the summer league. While I realize that the Summer league is not the grandest indication of success, it was encouraging to see how he rose up and looked like he was in a different league than the other players out there.

Check out his championship game performance, of which he was named MVP --- [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUgPD88FRVQ]2013 Summer League Championship Game MVP: Ian Clark - YouTube[/ame]

This move was from out of nowhere, and Lindsay continues to impress me. Clark was undrafted out of Belmont, but Sports Illustrated was impressed with him before the draft enough to declare him the "best shooter in the draft".
If a guy can shoot like this, there is most likely room for him on an NBA roster.

 

[nuraman00]

This guy TORE UP the summer league. While I realize that the Summer league is not the grandest indication of success, it was encouraging to see how he rose up and looked like he was in a different league than the other players out there.

Check out his championship game performance, of which he was named MVP --- 2013 Summer League Championship Game MVP: Ian Clark - YouTube

This move was from out of nowhere, and Lindsay continues to impress me. Clark was undrafted out of Belmont, but Sports Illustrated was impressed with him before the draft enough to declare him the "best shooter in the draft".
If a guy can shoot like this, there is most likely room for him on an NBA roster.

Thanks.

 

[nuraman00]

Orlando Summer League: Final Judgments - ESPN

Here is a list I found though no Jazz players were on it...

Thanks. Still a good read to see what's going on with other players, you never know where they will be in the future.

 

[anonymoussource]

Thanks.

Yep!

My feeling is that this was a low cost move...if he doesn't pan out, we aren't losing much. On the other hand, he could be high reward..

 

[nuraman00]

Yep!

My feeling is that this was a low cost move...if he doesn't pan out, we aren't losing much. On the other hand, he could be high reward..

And then he'll sign with another team in the offseason.

You have to find the perfect timing to lock these guys up in 2-3 year deals on the cheap.

It doesn't matter if someone's high reward NOW, because they have a lot of areas to address. Once they reach a certain level of team success, then it means more to find these bargains. Then you're just adding the finishing touches.

Right now, if he's high reward, then it's going to cost a lot to keep him, and that will just be spending to fix one hole to cover up another.

And I don't even think shooting is that much of a need.

Remember when Dorrell Wright had that one good year for the Warriors? They actually retained him, but it didn't matter, because they had so many other holes.

 

[nuraman00]

So if he has a good preseason, either they lock him up to a team friendly 2 year deal, they sign him to a 1 year deal, with the expectation that he'll probably move on in a year.

 

[nuraman00]

I just think right now, you worry about starters, not a 3rd stringer being better than expected.

 

[nuraman00]

This guy TORE UP the summer league. While I realize that the Summer league is not the grandest indication of success, it was encouraging to see how he rose up and looked like he was in a different league than the other players out there.

Check out his championship game performance, of which he was named MVP --- 2013 Summer League Championship Game MVP: Ian Clark - YouTube

This move was from out of nowhere, and Lindsay continues to impress me. Clark was undrafted out of Belmont, but Sports Illustrated was impressed with him before the draft enough to declare him the "best shooter in the draft".
If a guy can shoot like this, there is most likely room for him on an NBA roster.

He was on Jim Rome's radio show this morning. Said he signed a 2 year deal. I like that a lot more, it's better for the team.

 

[cjets2]

This guy TORE UP the summer league. While I realize that the Summer league is not the grandest indication of success, it was encouraging to see how he rose up and looked like he was in a different league than the other players out there.

Check out his championship game performance, of which he was named MVP --- 2013 Summer League Championship Game MVP: Ian Clark - YouTube

This move was from out of nowhere, and Lindsay continues to impress me. Clark was undrafted out of Belmont, but Sports Illustrated was impressed with him before the draft enough to declare him the "best shooter in the draft".
If a guy can shoot like this, there is most likely room for him on an NBA roster.

I love love love this signing!!! Chad Ford in pre-draft has his pros:
Excellent shooter
Excellent efficency scorer
Excellent Defender
Cons:
Size

He is only 6'2" as a SG, so hopefully he can either improve his ball skills or play when Burks is in and Burks can play PG, but guard the SG.

Regardless, he is a low cost player than hopefully can be our next Wes Mathews find.

 

[Sackataters]

I like the signing too. Who will emerge out of all this youngblood? I still can't believe our starting lineup could be Kanter, Favors, Burke, and Hayward. Think Burks automatically gets the nod? Think our bigs can stay out of foul trouble? I think Hayward can help Trey through the transition to the NBA. Lets hope he doesn't rifle a pass at his face, like when Deron initiated Gordie. (That move was one of the biggest all time ass hole things I've ever seen, by the way).

 

[nuraman00]

Nice team-friendly contract.

 

[cjets2]

I like the signing too. Who will emerge out of all this youngblood? I still can't believe our starting lineup could be Kanter, Favors, Burke, and Hayward. Think Burks automatically gets the nod? Think our bigs can stay out of foul trouble? I think Hayward can help Trey through the transition to the NBA. Lets hope he doesn't rifle a pass at his face, like when Deron initiated Gordie. (That move was one of the biggest all time ass hole things I've ever seen, by the way).

Good question they almost have to don't they? I guess unless Brandon Rush comes back from his ACL injury looking really good. Then they could try the Burks at backup PG and Clark SG and not play Lucas III? Probably not just a dream. The other situation is we could start Hayward at SG and Williams at SF when he is back and healthy.

 

[Smity13]

And just maybe we will get a little luck and Clark and Burk will give us a year like Lillard did for Portland last year! Only hoping, but they will need time on the court and that is something the Utah Jazz has never really done with any first year player.

 

[MHSL82]

Andrei Kirilenko defends decision

Andrei Kirilenko says he can't control any of the conspiracy theories about him signing with the Brooklyn Nets for less money.

Kirilenko opted out of the final year of his contract worth $10.2 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves this offseason in hopes of landing a multiyear deal elsewhere. But with his market dwindling, the Russian native wound up signing a two-year contract with the Nets for the taxpayer mini midlevel exception -- starting at $3.18 million. The deal includes a player option for the second year.

Given the $7 million disparity in annual salary, many rival executives reportedly wondered whether Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov brokered some sort of side deal with Kirilenko to make up the difference. Prokhorov owned CSKA Moscow when Kirilenko played there, and the two became close.

"As I said, those type of rumors, I can't control," Kirilenko said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. "I guess it comes from the history of Russia and the KGB. I don't know what that is, what it makes people think. It makes it a little funny, but if it looks funny in those situations, what can I do?"

Kirilenko said he chose to come to the Nets because he's 32 years old and it's "time to take a shot at a title."

"I think we've got everything you need to reach that goal. I'm very happy to be in New York, and I'm looking forward to start the season," he said.

Kirilenko explained his decision to opt out.

"I opted my deal not because I wanted to sign with the Nets," he said. "At that time I was feeling I wanted to be in Minnesota for a long time, but as you know they had some changes in Minnesota, and I'm very respectful for Flip Saunders, and I respect his decision, but he decided not to want to sign me for a long time. I can't do anything with that, and that opened up all my options. I started looking at other teams and comparing situations with other teams."

Kirilenko doesn't have any regrets about opting out, even though he lost a lot of money. He says several teams were interested in him, but the Nets were the best fit.

Kirilenko is glad to play for Prokhorov's team once again.

"When he got the team, I was very happy that finally a Russian owner has team in the NBA," Kirilenko said. "I think it's a great platform for the NBA people, scouts and media looking for the Russian players, if they have the material to be in the NBA."

Kirilenko is excited to re-unite with ex-Utah Jazz teammate Deron Williams.

"Coming back to play with Deron is great. I'm expecting a great time. We had a great time back in Utah. My wife, my kids are great friends with Deron's, so they're going to have a great time. We have great chemistry, so we can use that together."

Kirilenko, a versatile player who can guard and play multiple positions, said he was concerned about his role on the team at first, but coach Jason Kidd helped ease them.

"I think having eight or 10 people who can really play on the highest level and give those minutes between each other, it's a great privilege," he said. "Not a lot of teams have that kind of depth; usually you have two or three superstars making the max, and the rest of the guys are helping them. Here, you can really have about seven or eight guys who play on the highest level possible and start in any lineup in the NBA."

Asked about where the Nets stack up in the Eastern Conference, Kirilenko said, "I'm not worried about how we're going to compete against Miami, how we're going to compete against Indiana. I bet we're going to compete.

"It's going to be a lot with how we quickly we can find the chemistry inside the team -- not only in the locker room -- because I'm not worried about the locker room; we've got great guys. I'm worried about on the floor, how quickly can we start understanding each other. So far we have guys -- I played with Deron, I know what he's doing; Paul Pierce played with KG [Kevin Garnett], he knows what he's doing – but how quick we can connect with each other and how fast we can adjust."

Kirilenko says he's comfortable coming off the bench.

"I don't have problem to come off the bench," he said. "I never have an issue. In Utah, we always talked with Jerry Sloan about that. It's never been an issue, as long as you're playing 25 to 30 minutes a game."