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I am guessing Butler was cut because he didn’t come to camp in shape or improved his game at all.

I'm surprised. Butler looked pretty good after camp and he fit the role of a developmental player who could pay dividends down the road if he pans out. If not then he helps the tank. Maybe his agent lined up a better a situation for him and preferred the Jazz waive him? Just a speculation based on nothing.

Surprised about Johnson too.

I was assuming these guys would be cut. With maybe the exception of Gay instead of Butler.

I assume Ainge is hoping Conley, Clarkson, Gay can have halfway decent seasons and be trade pieces come trade deadline.

If Gay isn't traded, we should have cut him and kept Butler. Seeing as how much Gay makes compared to Butler this isn't surprising.

I would have waived Dok instead of Butler.

I know we can't conclude much from a few pre-season games, but on the positive side, Butler had the highest PIE and highest ast/36min in the Jazz pre-season at 16.4 and 8.7ast respectively. Butler also shot 50% from three, scoring a reasonable 23 total points on 20 fga. The Jazz were zero plus minus with Butler on the floor, while many other Jazz players racked up big negative plus minus totals.

I liked Butler, and hope he gets another opportunity to work his way up to NBA backup point guard. Maybe he can play overseas and then come back to the NBA?

NAW is in one heck of a shooting slump. We've heard rumuors that he is playing well in practice, but he only managed to make one basket during the pre-season, going 1-14.

Crunch 99 wrote:NAW is in one heck of a shooting slump. We've heard rumuors that he is playing well in practice, but he only managed to make one basket during the pre-season, going 1-14.

Interestingly to me, I've thought NAW has looked pretty good all pre-season, without realizing the poor shooting. I feel like he has the potential to be the playmaker off the bench, since that's not really Sexton's strength. Watching him, he seems to be looking to make the right pass/play and defending decently. Also, throw-back to short shorts! lol

Crunch 99 wrote:NAW is in one heck of a shooting slump. We've heard rumuors that he is playing well in practice, but he only managed to make one basket during the pre-season, going 1-14.

He could be a good roleplayer in this league if he could only shoot. How many times have we heard that over the years though.

zero24gravity wrote:

Crunch 99 wrote:NAW is in one heck of a shooting slump. We've heard rumuors that he is playing well in practice, but he only managed to make one basket during the pre-season, going 1-14.

Interestingly to me, I've thought NAW has looked pretty good all pre-season, without realizing the poor shooting. I feel like he has the potential to be the playmaker off the bench, since that's not really Sexton's strength. Watching him, he seems to be looking to make the right pass/play and defending decently. Also, throw-back to short shorts! lol

I've never seen him made a shot in a Jazz uniform (okay, I probably have, but....). I like the way he moves with the ball, but at a certain point you need to find a way to score to be an NBA player. Vanderbilt has offensive rebounds - that's enough - NAW has nothing.

Also RE: Butler. I loved him in the draft, but he looks so much smaller in the NBA and I think that lack of size, combined with the slow shot release really hurt him on the court. He's going to be a decent backup somewhere at some point, but I agree with Locke that having Gay's salary for matching purposes, either this year or next, is more valuable than Butler - who is worth a second at best. Yes, Gay is negative value, but he lets us aggregate for a trade that could bring us more than what Butler can, and that has value.