Hard to believe we're at the quarter-mark already, but this is a good chance to look back, and look ahead, and see how the team is doing.
The offseason
The Draft
We traded our 1st rounder (more on that later...). We drafted Joel Bolomboy in the second round; he's played only sparingly but has at least shown the motor that intrigued us pre-draft. If he turns out to be anything, great. We also drafted a couple of additional point guards for some reason; neither made the team.
Free agency
Our only free agency loss was Trevor Booker; I'm a fan of the guy and am glad he's getting minutes in Brooklyn that he wouldn't have gotten here, but he was hardly irreplaceable. We also cut Christapher Johnson, as expected.
Our only FA addition was Joe Johnson. I've always been a fan of Joe's as well, and the team desperately needed a "closer"...and when you're Utah, you get the well drinks instead of the top-shelf stuff. Johnson has been...fine. He'll never be the player he was, but he's shooting 44% on 3's and 90% on FTs, something your players have to be able to do in the final minutes. He's helped us weather the absences of Hayward and Burks so far.
We also extended coach Snyder, which I remain pleased with.
Since then, we have extended Rudy Gobert, which was pretty much a necessity; he is part of our present and our future. He took slightly less than his max, which is something.
Trades
We acquired George Hill in a 3-team deal with Atlanta and Indiana. Hill has been an absolute force for us and we couldn't be happier; the team is already talking extension. Good lesson for those who wonder "why trade a pick for a rental?" Because in the right situation it can make all the difference.
We traded Olivier Hanlan (and capspace) for Boris Diaw. Diaw hasn't played a whole lot, and his shooting has been unplayably awful when he has played. He was brought in for his passing and his championship cred, so hopefully he at least does a little of that. Or something.
Trey Burke was traded for a future 2nd rounder. I'm glad he's getting a shot, and I'm glad we got any positive value out of him at all.
We traded Tibor Pleiss and two second rounders for Kendall Marshall and his unguaranteed deal, which we cut. It saved us a few bucks and opened up a roster spot for Bolomboy; Pleiss is (predictably) out of the league. One of the second rounders is GSW's and practically worthless, so I'm still fine with this.
The Season
When asked pre-season about our biggest need, I said this:
loserX wrote:Needs:
Chemistry. We had a young team and brought in some good veterans, now it's up to Quin to make it all work, system-wise and minutes-wise.
Our chemistry has been fairly good under the circumstances, given the fact that we keep having to fight off the injury bug *again*.
Still we went into the season going with depth instead of stars, and it's paying off. Despite our terrible luck in the trainer's room, we are still 12-9, which is ahead of the 46-36 pace I predicted for the season. For those who care about point differential, we are currently sixth in the entire league (!). We have a winning record at home, on the road, in the division, and in the conference. We're seventh in the West but closer to 4th than to the lotto.
There is promise here; we just need to get healthy for once. THAT is our biggest need. The sooner, the better, since we need to develop the chemistry that a final roster is supposed to have.
And as I mentioned at the beginning of the season: the real work lies ahead. Gobert is locked down, but Hayward and Hill can still be UFA at year's end, with Favors/Exum/Hood hitting FA the year after that. Players will have to be evaluated, wallets will have to be emptied, choices will have to be made. Exciting but dangerous times.
Other Jazz fans, care to ring in? How do you think things are going?
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