This piece from Wendell Maxey reiterates a lot of what we've discussed here about Enes Kanter and that is we're going to have to be patient with him. His assistant coach for the Turkey national team didn't think it was the right idea to head to the NBA right away,
"All the coaching staff and people around basketball think that it is too early for him to go there (to the NBA)," said Nihat Izic, an assistant head coach of the Turkey National Team told Beyond the Beat.
"He has the chance to play in the Euro League and then after that, when you feel you are ready, then you go to the NBA. He decided to go, and I'm not sure who gave him that advice. I don't want to go there."
Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie had a good list of players that should take their game overseas. Kanter falls into that same category. He needs to play against professional-level opponents and develop his game. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about him signing with a team shortly after Eurobasket is over.
So while I'll continue to preach patience with him, he's still the #3 pick in the draft. There are high expectations with that pick. He's not a mid to late first-rounder that can be written off. The Jazz need him to become a great player. Right now though, he's as potential as potential can be. That of course means time, time that we'll probably spend wincing at every mistake and overreacting to everything he does good and bad.
Some noteworthy lockout articles:
How Small-Market Owners Can Win The NBA Lockout - Tom Ziller
Here's the twist: even if the owners are tightly committed to making the players squeal through November and December ... those big money owners are still going to want to find a way to end this lockout before ending this season. Jerry Buss can count the number of remaining opening nights he'll have Kobe Bryant for on one hand; Arison can do the same for the LeBron-Wade duo. Dolan's shareholders just spent $850 million to rebuild Madison Square Garden. Mark Cuban finally has a championship to defend. Mikhail Prokhorov has one year to convince his superstar to stay (and help recruit a second superstar). Jerry Reinsdorf finally has a true heir to Jordan. The time is now for these owners, for their teams.
But the other 20 or so owners, many content to wait it out? Now they have the leverage. Now they have the hurting players and the high-revenue owners begging for resolution. For once, the little guys -- and I use that term as loosely as metaphorically possible -- have all the power.
Scott Schroader Takes Rick Reilly To Task
And apparently that's why NBA players shouldn't seek decent paying jobs in Europe: The countries they border are traditionally war-torn, women wear burkas and Eric Devendorf hated it because he couldn't watch American television without a Slingbox while seeing women dress in their culture's traditional clothing.
Our next Jazz player that shows up on ESPN's player rankings is rookie Alec Burks at #340
Alec Burks
Utah Jazz | G | Age: 20 | Stats
@simonchun: Alec Burks is a solid SG prospect with athleticism and skill, but to Jazz fans he'll likely be remembered for "not being Jimmer" #NBArank
While there's a contingent of fans that may see Jimmer as the one that got away, Burks could become something special.
So who is your guess for the next Jazz player from the previous season to show up on the list? I would have to assume Kanter given that he's a rookie as well. After that? Here would be my guesses based on how I think the ESPN panelists would score them :
Evans
Elson
Burks
Fesenko
Bell
Kanter (I'm guessing Kanter goes higher based on potential.)
Hayward (Still might not have the recognition)
Okur
Miles
Harris
Kirilenko
Favors
Jefferson
Millsap
That's how I think they'll come out according to ESPN. We'll have the annual Who Gets Cut? starting up in a bit where you'll be able to weigh in and vote on your order.
AK talks about Dirk Nowitzki and playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv
Wednesday trivia: From 1977 to 2002, the Jazz have had at least one All-star play with the exception of two seasons. Which two seasons did not feature a Jazz player as an All-star (excluding 1999 because there was no All-star game)?
Answer after the jump