RealGM

PG Mo Williams (30), Earl watson (10), Tinsley (8); possibly Burks, Hayward
SG Hayward (15), Burks (15), Raja bell (8) Murphy (2); possibly Mo Williams
SF Marvin Williams (25), Hayward (15), Carroll (8); possibly Millsap, Bell, Murphy, Evans
PF Millsap (25), Favors (20) Jeremy evans (3); possibly Carroll, Marvin Williams, Kanter, al Jefferson
C Al Jefferson (30), Kanter (15), Favors (3) ; possibly Millsap

All players listed above are already signed for the next season, with the exception of Murphy (draft pick) and Carroll (qualifying offer). Overall, no superstars, but a deep, good roster.
That means 14 players..... nba minimum is 13,(Utah usually starts the season with 13).

Who's the odd man out?

We can "amnesty" Bell, Sap (not likely), Jefferson (not likely), but Utah usually don't pay players for nothing...
Anyway, amnesting Bell is an option (if someone pick up him, pays at least half of his 3,48 mill salary).

Or we can trade Bell for one other player (maybe adding the residual TPE, quite 3 mill).

Other players we can trade are Jefferson or Millsap.

My take:

PG Mo (32) / Watson (16) / Tinsley
SG Hayward (32) / Burks (24) / Bell
SF Marv (30) / Carroll (10) / Murphy
PF Favors (24) / Millsap (30), Evans
C Jefferson (32) / Kanter (10)

Burks and Millsap will get off the bench first and will bring great offense compared to last season's rather anemic second unit. Watson-Burks-Carroll-Millsap-Kanter. Good mix of offense and defense there.

Favors will start, but Millsap will still get his minutes. Personally, I don't have a problem with that. Though Favors will again get fewer minutes, he'll instead get the chance to face stiffer competition. If he gains strides in his game, his minutes will follow. MIllsap, on a contract year, will only accept a bench job if he gets extended before the season, imo. Otherwise, I believe he'll demand minutes eventhough he doesn't seem to be the pouty type.

Kanter will see limited minutes again. Evans will see the floor in blowouts. Tinsley gets the 12th man role. Bell will look smart in his suits. And Murphy crashes the D-League.

The Jazz will amnesty Bell next week when they can. So no need to put Bell in the equation. Also no need to put Murphy there. If he plays, it will be in the D league. And we dont need to spread the minutes accross all twelve players. I think it looks more like this:

PG: Mo (25), Watson (23), Tinsley (only in garbage and injuries)
SG: Hayward (22), Burks (18), Mo (8), Murphy (D Leaguer most the year)
SF: Marvin (28), Hayward (10), Sap (10), Carroll (only in garbage and injuries)
PF: Favors (26), Sap (22), Evans (only in garbage and injuries)
C: Al (33), Favors (5), Kanter (10)

Nine man rotation with Tinsley, Carroll and Evans at the end of the bench and Murphy in the D league. Only thing that changes is if Ty wants to go with a 10 man rotation and gives Carroll 10 minutes from someone like Hayward or Marvin Williams.

I heard rumors about Bell being amnestied. I imagine the Jazz exhaust other possibilities first, but don't be surprised if they do it, despite all this "we don't pay players to leave" rhetoric. The amnesty option is a tool, and one that can only be used once on the players in place when the new CBA was negotiated.

I'm also not ruling out a Jefferson or Millsap trade. There's still a crapload of time to pull it off, and you know KOC is at least actively exploring scenarios.

I think Millsap or Jefferson won't be traded until after the moratorium has passed and all the other deals are settled.

I could be wrong about this, but a lot of these "signings" and "trades" are only commitments as this point right? Nothing can actually be done until July 11th? So possibly Raja is already part of a package included in one of the Williams trades.

You guys need to make Hayward the primary ball handler he really impressed me the time i've seen him.

If Murphy is as good a shooter as advertised, he may stick around here in SLC, I wouldn't pencil him into the D-League quite yet.

B-easy wrote:You guys need to make Hayward the primary ball handler he really impressed me the time i've seen him.

He's a decent playmaker for a SF, but his handles are not good enough to be the primary guy like a PG.
When people attack his dribble he always picks it up, backs out to pass it or turns it over.

I see everyone here penciling Watson as the #2 point, I got my man Tinsley.

Gordon is actually pretty decent at ball protection, even those his handles can be a little loose. I can think of a lot of plays where it looked like nothing was developing and then he'd squeeze a sweet pass through to a big guy or cutter for an assist.

I agree with those saying Gordon doesn't have great handles (yet). Good but not great, like say, a Harden who you could leave the ball with and let him create or break down a defense.

I remember last season he said he was working on his ball handling. Maybe the FO and the coaching staff want him to handle the ball more, which would be great moving forward, imo, so Burks and Williams can concentrate on scoring.

yeah, arguably Bell won't be in the picture, and murphy will spend a lot of time in the d-league (who's our affiliate for next year?).
In terms of pure passing abilities i rank Tisnley #1 , followed by mo and Hayward.

anyway, seems a better team than last year.

Some other teams have improved, too, so i still rank us playoff bound, but with more chances to advance.

I was thinking about the big man rotation, and assuming the roster stays how it is, I'd like to see Jefferson and Favors start, with Millsap coming off the bench to replace Jefferson at the 6:00 mark. I think Jefferson plays much better when you limit him to 6 minute stretches; this allows Derrick Favors to get reliable minutes at the start of the game at PF and it gives Paul Millsap a clearly defined 6th man role, which I think is important. If you want him to come off the bench, he has to come off the bench at a regular time every game.

Kanter will fill in as needed, but I still don't see him getting more than 15 minutes a game.

Some guys are funny. They ask Kanter to make an improvement but give him less minutes than last year?How should this work? Millsap has to go to free up Minutes for Favors who should play 30 minutes and an another Defensive Big-Man (call him X) should be added on this roster, because you cant pair Kanter with Jefferson the sophomore needs Favors or another defensiv-minded Big-Man.

Jefferson 34/Kanter 14 = 48 Min C/PF
Favors 30 / Player X 15 Minutes/ Kanter or Marvin Williams 3 Minutes = 48 Min C/PF

It doesnt matter who plays C or PF but the pairing on who plays with whom is much more important.

To be honest a Jefferson and Favors Combo makes me very excited ...

Kanter at 15 minutes isn't less than last year.

Kanter and Favors will fight for more minutes... I think the FO will start with this roster, but if they prove to be reliable, Sap or Jefferson can be traded during the all star break

Now that I think the roster is set for the coming year, Here is one of my projections.

BTW I don't think Al or Sap will be traded... good players with expirings don't get traded, only bad players with expirings. Who wants a player that is going to leave after the first year. Expiring is actually a liability not a benefit in this situation.

Average minutes
PG: Mo (32), Foye, (12) Watson (2), Tinsley (2)
SG: Foye (26) Hayward (14), Burks (8,could take some of Haywards minutes depending on matchups),
SF: Marvin (28), (Hayward (5), Sap (15, match ups mainly), Carroll (only with injuries etc)
PF: Favors (31), Sap (17), Evans (only in garbage and injuries)
C: Al (30), Kanter (18)

Tough call but Sap or Hayward make for a strong bench and one of them wins 6th man of the year award.

nghedman wrote:Now that I think the roster is set for the coming year, Here is one of my projections.

BTW I don't think Al or Sap will be traded... good players with expirings don't get traded, only bad players with expirings. Who wants a player that is going to leave after the first year. Expiring is actually a liability not a benefit in this situation.

Average minutes
PG: Mo (32), Foye, (12) Watson (2), Tinsley (2)
SG: Foye (26) Hayward (14), Burks (8,could take some of Haywards minutes depending on matchups),
SF: Marvin (28), (Hayward (5), Sap (15, match ups mainly), Carroll (only with injuries etc)
PF: Favors (31), Sap (17), Evans (only in garbage and injuries)
C: Al (30), Kanter (18)

Tough call but Sap or Hayward make for a strong bench and one of them wins 6th man of the year award.

You must really like Foye...

no way Foye will play 38 minutes..... and no need to play him at the point if you already have Mo, Tisnley, Watson, and i also add burks

you have to play Burks and Kanter 20 min. no matter what.