Still not sure who the Jazz are
The Utah Jazz are over halfway through the season. With the allstar break coming up and the trade deadline shortly thereafter, a lot of people are expecting the Jazz to make a trade. The problem is that it’s hard to say who the Jazz are at this point in the season. They’ve shown glimpses of potential, won some tough games against a few good teams, but they’ve also lost, at home, to some bad teams, and tend to give away big leads and lose close games. With a good portion of their team on expiring contracts, the Jazz could lose of lot of players to the free agent market next summer, and people seem to think the Jazz will want to make a trade so they don’t lose the players without getting something in return. I’m of the believe, and maybe wrongly so, that even if they don’t make a trade, the salary cap space alone is an asset, so losing some of these players to the market isn’t such a bad thing.
I would like to see the Jazz let Al Jefferson and/or Paul Millsap go, either via trades or the free agent market next summer. I like Jefferson’s offense this season (he seems to have stepped it up, especially with mid-range jumpers), but his defense is still atrocious and he’ll never improve if he hasn’t already. Millsap has, in my opinion, always been a bit overrated as an undersized power forward. This season he seems somewhat disinterested and hasn’t been too effective, aside from a few nice games here and there. I would love to see playing time opened up for the younger guys, Favors and Kanter, who have been improving throughout the season despite limited playing time. If they lose some offense and miss out of the playoffs this year, I would be fine with that if it means acquiring some younger players and building for a better future.
I hate to say it as a Jazz fan, but this team is not going to compete for a championship with these guys. We know who Jefferson and Millsap are, and they’d be great if they didn’t come with such a high price tag. We don’t know who Favors and Kanter are yet, and I think it would be a good idea to find out, sooner rather then later.