Better team this season= Utah Jazz or Sacramento Kings?

[jbk1234]

Denver Nuggets will be better than both.

[Cappy_Smurf]

Utah's defense was best in the league by a long shot for the second half of the season last year. Seems like that is being overlooked here by a lot of posters. Not only will Utah be better than the kings, they will shock some people by being better than some other teams that are assumed to be better.

[Winsome Gerbil]

3 reasons I have been picking the Kings in this matchup all summer long:

1) Boogie. the Kings have the best player, by a lot. They have the superstar to anchor them. The Jazz are always going to be scrambling for offense because they don't.

2) the Exum injury. As soon as it happened I went uh oh. I think people are badly underestimating how much that may have damaged the Jazz. Burke is both terrible, and a terrible fit for the personality they established last year with Exum at the helm. And I'm mildly shocked they never did make a move over the summer for veteran reinforcements.

3) Experience. Nobody talks about this, probably because Sacto hasn't been in the playoffs forever either, but they imported all kinds of winners and playoff experienced guys and multiple guys who have actually won titles. Not to mention the 1000 win coach who rarely misses the playoffs. The Jazz did none of that. They are sticking with building up the young core. And that's cool for the future. But right now you are asking a group of very young players, with a young coach, with almost no collective playoff experience at all to make the Western Conference playoffs, and to do it without their pg too. Ouch. It even reaches the level of the coaches, with Snyder with 0 playoffs under his belt, and Karl with 22 playoffs and 185 playoff games under his.

Just going down the Jazz's likely Top 10 players, here's the experience:

Gobert: Age 23; Yrs 2; PO games: 0
Burke: Age 22; Yrs 2; PO games: 0
Favors: Age 24; Yrs 5; PO games: 4
Hayward: Age 25; Yrs 5; PO games: 4
Burks: Age 24; Yrs 4; PO games: 4
Hood: Age 23; Yrs 1; PO games: 0
Booker: Age 27; Yrs 5; PO games: 9
Milsap: Age 28; Yrs 1; PO games: 0
Ingles: Age 28; Yrs 1; PO games: 0
Lyles: Age 19; Yrs 0; PO games: 0
Exum (hurt): Age 20; Yrs 1; PO games: 0
----------------------------------
When your top 11 players have a TOTAL of 21 playoff games between them...

Now compare that to Sacramento's acqusitions this summer:
Rondo 94 PO games, 1 title
Belinelli 48 PO games, 1 title
Koufos 37 PO games
Butler 65 PO games, 1 title
--------------------------------
244 PO games


I just look at that, and I think one of those teams made the sorts of moves you have to make to punch through. To vet up and stiffen the spines of the young guys, guys who have been there and won. And the other team is still developing kids and hoping.

[Ruckusmh]

Cousins
Hayward
Favors
Gobert
Gay
Burks
Hood

[gustofwind]

I'd say the Jazz. Cousins is the best player, but Jazz have the 3 next best players out of both of them and have proven something at the end of last season already.


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But let's say Cousins/Gobert & Haywood/Gay are very roughly on the same plane as the two best players on either team. Favors is a better third player than any King, I'll grant you that. But the Kings have the next 5-6 best players. Koufos, Belinelli, Collison are prove veterans, and WCS and McLemore bring youth and athleticism. Rondo is big question mark, but he's still a better point guard than anyone the Jazz have. It's true Exum could be good in the future, but he's not likely to make a huge difference next year, is he?

I completely disagree that the kings that the kings have the next 5-6 best players. In fact I like Burks more than any other player on the kings and Hood is not far behind. I also think Quin Snyder is going to go big a lot this season with a lineup of Burks, Hood, Hayward, Favors and Gobert. That is a lineup that I think will wreak havoc at both ends of the court. The jazz depth is definitely an issue because they have so many unproven players but so far in 2 preseason games I really like what I have seen from Pleiss, Trey Lyles and Raul Neto. What we really need though is for Trey Burke and Booker to give us some consistent play. If that happens then I think this jazz team could make some real noise in the west.

Also the one thing that separates the jazz from the kings in my opinion is that the jazz have a clear identity as a defensive team while the kings do not have an identity as this point. That can be established relatively quickly though and they have hands down the best player between the 2 teams.

That's cool. You're entitled to that position. Out of curiosity are you a Jazz fan?

We'll have to see.

[Slava]

Hayward is pretty damn good, so is favors and Burks has shown some me nice game so far in preseason. If Burke can make his open shots I'd take the Jazz here. They could do with a veteran pg though. Even Dre Miller could have made a big difference to their playoff chances but I still think Phoenix and New Orleans take the last two open spots.

[NBAfan3024]

I like Utah here but either I would like to see make it..will try and watch both quite alot this year

[Goner]

But let's say Cousins/Gobert & Haywood/Gay are very roughly on the same plane as the two best players on either team. Favors is a better third player than any King, I'll grant you that. But the Kings have the next 5-6 best players. Koufos, Belinelli, Collison are prove veterans, and WCS and McLemore bring youth and athleticism. Rondo is big question mark, but he's still a better point guard than anyone the Jazz have. It's true Exum could be good in the future, but he's not likely to make a huge difference next year, is he?

I completely disagree that the kings that the kings have the next 5-6 best players. In fact I like Burks more than any other player on the kings and Hood is not far behind. I also think Quin Snyder is going to go big a lot this season with a lineup of Burks, Hood, Hayward, Favors and Gobert. That is a lineup that I think will wreak havoc at both ends of the court. The jazz depth is definitely an issue because they have so many unproven players but so far in 2 preseason games I really like what I have seen from Pleiss, Trey Lyles and Raul Neto. What we really need though is for Trey Burke and Booker to give us some consistent play. If that happens then I think this jazz team could make some real noise in the west.

Also the one thing that separates the jazz from the kings in my opinion is that the jazz have a clear identity as a defensive team while the kings do not have an identity as this point. That can be established relatively quickly though and they have hands down the best player between the 2 teams.

That's cool. You're entitled to that position. Out of curiosity are you a Jazz fan?

We'll have to see.

I'd take Burks and Hood over any Kings players not named Boogie and Gay without even a semblance of a second thought. Look at my team tags.

[RollingWave]

I think most people simply trust the Jazz organization a lot more. and they have a real sample size where they were very very good.

It wouldn't shock me if the Kings were better, they have the best player, they have a HOF coach, they have real talent around boogie, but when you been this much of a mess for this long, it's going to take a lot for everyone to start believing.

[DreDay]

I'd say the Jazz. Cousins is the best player, but Jazz have the 3 next best players out of both of them and have proven something at the end of last season already.


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But let's say Cousins/Gobert & Haywood/Gay are very roughly on the same plane as the two best players on either team. Favors is a better third player than any King, I'll grant you that. But the Kings have the next 5-6 best players. Koufos, Belinelli, Collison are prove veterans, and WCS and McLemore bring youth and athleticism. Rondo is big question mark, but he's still a better point guard than anyone the Jazz have. It's true Exum could be good in the future, but he's not likely to make a huge difference next year, is he?

I like Collison and Belli a fair bit, but I'm not a fan at all of Koufos or Rondo. To me, Booker/Hood/Burks are nice depth pieces as well, so I don't believe the Jazz are too far behind in that department.

Most importantly to me though is those pieces bar Burks have shown the ability to play at a high level last season post all-star break. Unlike the Kings they should be elite at one end of the floor, which elevates them in my opinion. Exum is a loss for sure but he was a replacement level player last year so the Jazz shouldn't fall off dramatically. It's by far their weakest position though, and if they upgraded it this offseason this question would be lopsided to the Jazz IMO.


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[Teen Girl Squad]

Even ignoring the personality issues/organizational dysfunction, I'd go with the Jazz. They have shown the capability of doing something at a very high level for a good stretch of time (great defensive team for the latter half of last year) and can build on that. Outside of Cousins putting up bulk stats, the Kings haven't show the ability to do anything particularly well.

[janmagn]

I'd take Jazz. I love defensive centers, and Favors is poor man's Cousins. Hayward is excellent scorer and a willing passer. Losing Exum is hard, but if Raul Neto is what's expected, it won't hurt too much. Also have to throw in Rondo's personality.

Lähetetty minun LG-H440n laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[Winsome Gerbil]

I'd take Jazz. I love defensive centers, and Favors is poor man's Cousins. Hayward is excellent scorer and a willing passer. Losing Exum is hard, but if Raul Neto is what's expected, it won't hurt too much. Also have to throw in Rondo's personality.

Lähetetty minun LG-H440n laitteesta Tapatalkilla

If Favors is a poor man's Cousins then Cauley-Stein is a poor man's Gobert.

[janmagn]

I'd take Jazz. I love defensive centers, and Favors is poor man's Cousins. Hayward is excellent scorer and a willing passer. Losing Exum is hard, but if Raul Neto is what's expected, it won't hurt too much. Also have to throw in Rondo's personality.

Lähetetty minun LG-H440n laitteesta Tapatalkilla

If Favors is a poor man's Cousins then Cauley-Stein is a poor man's Gobert.

True. But we haven't seen WCS in the NBA yet so he might come better than Gobert or be the next JaVale McGee.

Lähetetty minun LG-H440n laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[stitches]

Kings players have more experience but lets not quote playoff experience as the reason they'd do better in... the regular season. Experience can only take you so far. Rondo's playoff experience and titles won't change the fact that he's been net negative for his teams every single season since 2012. Caron Butler? Are you serious? Is Caron's Butler's experience at 35 going to make the Kings a playoff team? How many minutes is he going to play? Koufos is a nice addition, but he's a career backup with about as many minute as Trevor Booker in two more years than him in the league and now he's going to be asked to start supposedly. Are we sure he's going to excel in that role(BTW I have to say I did love him as a backup and I think he was one of the better backups in the league)?

My opinion, biased as it may be, is that the Jazz have much larger margin for error. They have much higher floor(assuming normal health for both teams). The Jazz have an identity and they have pieces that fit in very specific and complimentary way, they know how they can be good already. That's not the case with the Kings, they still need to find the way, still need to find their identity. There are so many ways in which the **** can hit the fan with the Kings. There are too many 'if's for them jump over. Chances are they going to get tripped somewhere. With that said... having a top 10 level talent(which I think Cousins is) does give them a good chance to be good. If everything clicks the right way they can be the great surprise this season. I do think Pels, Kings, Suns and Jazz are the teams that will be in contention for the final 2 spots and I wouldn't be shocked if any two of them make it, but if I had to bet money on it, I wouldn't do it on the Kings(simply too much uncertainty).

[Viper1500]

Both starting lineups are sexy, SAC has a deeper bench no doubt.. It'll be close, real close

[stitches]

BTW, something to keep in mind - the Jazz have the assets and cap space to improve and Dennis Lindsey has already stated at media day that the PG production needs to improve this year and if it doesn't they have 7M capspace and picks and assets they can trade to address any need they have before the trade deadline. To me his statement sounded a bit like an urge and final vote of confidence to Trey Burke. It sounds like their patience with Burke is at its end and they might be willing to address the PG position post-December if that position is holding the team down.

[emi_b7]

I think the Kings have the higher ceiling for next season, but I think the Jazz will be better most likely.
With that said, I hate Trey Burke on that team (well, on any team), If they had a legit PG they would be a lock for the Playoffs IMO. And by legit I don't mean a star, just someone who can either shoot, defend or pass at a good level and not kill you at neither end of the court would do. Burke can't do any of those things.

[ppproniplayboy]

Cousins
Hayward
Favors
Gobert
Gay
Burks
Hood

gay at least above gobert (for now), and darren collison and rondo above burks

[NBAfan3024]

Excited to see how gobert continues to improve


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