FanPost

Fanpost downbeat - The "Someone temper my expectations!" edition



So I have always thought of myself as an optimist. I understand the pessimistic "worst case scenario" and acknowledge that there is a real possibility of said scenario coming into a hellish fruition. I understand the realist's angle of accepting things as they literally are. But I like to focus the majority of my attention and thoughts from the optimists perspective. Mostly because it is fun and it gets me psyched for the future. So i'm going to start my whole shpeal on why i am downright giddy about this team's future.

What is a greater asset then a good basketball player? A YOUNG and good basketball player. Why does being young give a player more value? Because potential. Because upside. Because when you are young you are undeveloped, unrealized and time is still on your side. When I think of all-star potential there are a lot of guys that come to mind. G-time, Faves and Stifle are already close to reaching that brink but I can see very bright futures for Burks, Hood and Exum as well. What if Lyles becomes a swiss army knife like Hayward or AK? Could he become an all-star in the right setting? Sure. What if Tibor ends up being a rudy-lite defensive presence but also has a dirk-esque (not because they're both from Duetschland) touch from outside? Could he possibly break an all-star team out in the leastern conference? Why not? Sure I may be reaching a little with guys that have never played in an NBA game before but the potential is THERE. Tibor shot 66 of 90 from deep in jazz workouts while connecting on 85% of his free throws overseas. That touch sounds like it's softer then a babies powdered bottom. Lyles plays with a fluidity and smoothness that is hard to find in dudes that are as big as him. He has also already displayed a great IQ for a 19 year old.

So what are you saying kbazl? We are going to have 8 all-stars on our team? No, not exactly. There are not enough possessions in one game for all those guys to put up all-star #'s. And these players will all hit their peaks at different times. What I am saying is look at it from a "best case scenario" angle. We have Quin, P3 and the entire Jazz organization squeezing every last drop of potential out of these guys and what you get is a STACKED young team that is long, athletic, unselfish and has defensive instincts. You have a Tiborasuarus on the bench that has clearly shown he needs more time but how can you play him over the Gobert? How do you choose Rodney over Burks if both are whiz-bangers? Best case scenario would be the Jazz having an excess of talent kind of like OKC when they had Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden. An excess of talent similar to the Champs GSW. A roster where you usually have the matchup advantage at every position night in and night out. Naturally with this much talent on the squad there will be some ego issues because there is not enough minutes or cap space to go around. Personally I wouldn't want to give up anybody on our roster if this was the case. Unfortunately that isn't very realistic. That is because you will have guys on your bench that KNOW they can be all-stars elsewhere. Ideally you would want them all to put their ego's aside and buy into the team as a whole with a championship in mind but you may have guys that want out or aren't willing to resign at a discount. This is where we go from "Asset accumulation" mode to "cashing in those paychecks" mode.

Other teams will come crawling for our young lads. Oh, you want our 7'3" German monster? He's got quite the hefty price tag but he is worth every penny. Our Australian-Tasmanian devil is off limits unless you have 3 first rounders and a guy named LIllard. What if Anthony Davis gets fed up with N'Orleans? What is the asking price going to be for him? Cheap young talent with lots of picks. Things the Jazz have plenty of. I haven't even mentioned our other guys on the squad. What if lilsap can up his 3p% to 36%? Well, then you have Tony Allen with a 3 point shot. What if Neto can become a crafty, speedy playmaker with an average 3p%? Trevor Booker can and probably will get better along with Jingles and Burke.

Basically I think Dennis Lindsay is a warlock of sorts. He has brought in some great, young, talented players and then filled out his staff with masterful player development coaches with a state of the art training facility. That is a recipe for success in my eyes. Let's just hope that everything goes right.

All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.