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So if you were debating which would happen first, training camp cuts or Gordon Hayward's extension, the Utah Jazz solved that riddle for us today. The answer is cuts. They reported that they have waived Brian Cook, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson, Scott Machado, and Dominic McGuire.
They have also confirmed re-signing point guard Jamaal Tinsley.
The Jazz has signed Jamaal Tinsley and waived Brian Cook, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson, Scott Machado and Dominic McGuire.
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2013
[Fixed] Jazz Signs PG Jamaal Tinsley. @jatinsley re-joins the team after having played for UTA from 2011-13. Details: http://t.co/9U0l7b8GRp
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2013
Which is great news because he, himself, tweeted this the day before:
Glad to be back in SLC won't be in attendance tonight but I assure you ill will be tuned in watching the guys battle.. #jazznation
— Jamaal Tinsley (@jatinsley) October 26, 2013
So what does our team look like now?
| Player | Pos | Depth | HT | WT | Rnd | Pk | Year | College | Age | Exp | ||||||||
| 1 | Trey Burke | PG | 1 | 6 | 0 | 190 | 1 | 9 | 2013 | Michigan | 20 | R | INJ | |||||
| 2 | Jamaal Tinsley | PG | 2 | 6 | 3 | 197 | 1 | 27 | 2001 | Iowa St | 35 | 11 | ||||||
| 3 | John Lucas III | PG | 3 | 5 | 11 | 165 | 3 | 61 | 2005 | Oklahoma St | 30 | 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Gordon Hayward | SG | SF | 1 | 6 | 8 | 215 | 1 | 9 | 2010 | Butler | 23 | 4 | |||||
| 5 | Alec Burks | SG | PG | 2 | 6 | 6 | 205 | 1 | 12 | 2011 | Colorado | 22 | 3 | |||||
| 6 | Brandon Rush | SG | SF | 3 | 6 | 6 | 210 | 1 | 13 | 2008 | Kansas | 28 | 6 | INJ | ||||
| 7 | Ian Clark | SG | PG | 4 | 6 | 3 | 175 | 3 | 61 | 2005 | Belmont | 22 | R | |||||
| 8 | Richard Jefferson | SF | SG | 1 | 6 | 7 | 230 | 1 | 13 | 2001 | Arizona | 33 | 13 | |||||
| 9 | Marvin Williams | SF | PF | 2 | 6 | 9 | 237 | 1 | 2 | 2005 | North Carolina | 27 | 9 | INJ | ||||
| 10 | Mike Harris | SF | 3 | 6 | 6 | 235 | 3 | 61 | 2005 | Rice | 30 | 2 | ||||||
| 11 | Derrick Favors | PF | C | 1 | 6 | 10 | 263 | 1 | 3 | 2010 | Georgia Tech | 22 | 4 | |||||
| 12 | Jeremy Evans | PF | SF | 2 | 6 | 9 | 194 | 2 | 55 | 2010 | Western Kentucky | 26 | 4 | INJ | ||||
| 13 | Enes Kanter | C | PF | 1 | 6 | 11 | 248 | 1 | 3 | 2011 | Turkey | 21 | 3 | |||||
| 14 | Rudy Gobert | C | 2 | 7 | 2 | 235 | 1 | 27 | 2013 | France | 21 | R | ||||||
| 15 | Andris Biedrins | C | 3 | 7 | 0 | 242 | 1 | 11 | 2004 | Latvia | 27 | 10 | ||||||
So what's the deal with Mike Harris? Why did we pick him instead of a power forward? Well, Peter reports:
Harris is on unguaranteed contract, he can be waived anytime before Jan 7 with no additional monies owed. No reason for Jazz not to keep 15.
— Peter Novak (@Peter_J_Novak) October 26, 2013
FURTHERMORE, he adds:
Jazz don't have a healthy backup PF on the roster...TAKE THAT Phoenix and Philadelphia!
— Peter Novak (@Peter_J_Novak) October 26, 2013
UTA's current lack of backup PF is even more of a reason for Corbin to continue subbing out Kanter at 6 min of 1Q/3Q and back in w/ 2nd unit
— Peter Novak (@Peter_J_Novak) October 26, 2013
Yep. We have an imbalanced roster, which is what Dennis Lindsey was trying to do earlier this year before Trey got hurt. This year is a planned demolition, because this is what happens to imbalanced rosters.
If it's built like a tank, it will likely become a tank. We hope for the best, and potential when our roster becomes healthy again, but I don't think we can continue living in denial. Wow, I started to write a downbeat and instead you got a full post out of this . . . I'll just put this as a single post because I'm sure people will have a few things to say about this. (Btw, we know a bit about imbalanced rosters because the last two seasons four of our top eight players were power forwards, Kanter and Big Al would be if they played on different teams)
Regardless of how late we have him, I am super happy to have Jamaal on the team. I wanted him on the team way back before the draft. Anyway, we are being told Harris will be the stretch four, which is exactly what you want from yout 6'6 undrafted player.
Welcome back Jamaal. You will help our team play better, but we may not win any more games because of it. Why? Because I believe that this isn't a roster built to compete. It has holes in it. And these are planned limitations. You can believe the Jazz are at some higher standard, after all, we don't pay people not to play (Luther Wright, Raja Bell), we don't play favorites (MoFo didn't have to play defense, Hayward/Burks crucified at times last year for their defense), and we are an over-all, top to bottom high character organization (Sidney Lowe is a criminal).
Go Jamaal Go! Snark aside, I think this year the front office is doing what they need to do in order to have a better future. Part of that means bringing Jamaal back in the present. I'm just not as deluded as some other fans are. We went 1-7 in the preseason, playing our starters late in games. We're going to lose games by front office design this year. Accept it.