The Downbeat #1249: I Knight Thee, Sir Burks of Swaggington

Alec Burks. Alec Freaking Burks everybody.  That was amazing.  WERE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?  Seriously, this guy is putting on an absolute show.  Don't believe me?

Those are his two starts.  LOOK AT THOSE FREE THROW ATTEMPTS!  In two starts Alec Burks is averaging close to 8 attempts in each of those games.  Alec Burks put so much pressure on the defense that the person guarding him for most of that time, Randy Foye, ended up leaving the game.  Actually he didn't just leave the game, he fouled out.

Now let's get to the best part of Alec Burks' explosion.  It was against Randy Foye.  Randy Foye was brought in to foster competition at the shooting guard position.  Instead, Randy Foye became Ty Corbin's crutch at that position forcing Burks to playing in only 39 games.  Yes.  The player that just dropped 34 points on Randy Foye and forced him to foul out sat behind Randy Foye for most of the season.

Now, for those who are crying, "But Alec didn't play because of his defense!"  Alec actually contributed to 0.7 wins due to his defense in only 39 games.  Randy Foye contributed to 0.9 wins due to his defense in 82 games!  So the whole Foye's defense was better crowd, please take a seat.

What was amazing was in Alec Burks put on a show against the person that the Jazz organization preferred last year.  Say what you will about contracts this year but Randy Foye's minutes were detrimental to Alec Burks' development.  Was it Randy Foye's fault?  Not directly.  Directly it was the fault of the coaching and general management for allowing Foye to enjoy so many minutes at the expense of a player of Burks' caliber.  But indirectly, Foye was the embodiment of Burks' dog house.  Alec Burks took his dog house to the wood shed last night.  It was a work of art.

It is always amazing to see players have career games.  But to witness Alec Burks do it to the organizations' golden child of yesteryear made it all the sweeter.  Randy Foye should have to carry Alec Burks' rookie pretty princess backpack for the rest of the season.  Swag on, Burks.  Swag on.

Richard Jefferson sucked the fountain of youth dry yesterday, entered the contra code before tip-off, and most likely will be drug tested today.  He had himself a game.

If Gordon Hayward is hurt I won't flip out about Richard Jefferson going over 30 minutes.  It's out of necessity.  But imagine using Richard Jefferson's minutes to allow Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward to have 30+ minutes each game!  The efficiency.  The pressure that's put on an opposing defense.  It would be spectacular.  In the meantime, props to the BIG Double A RJ. (AARJ)

The Utah Jazz are currently 13-26 and have won 6 out of their last 10 games.  That puts the Jazz as the fourth worst team in the NBA.  The Jazz's young players are really stepping up in a big way.  The veterans for the Jazz are playing a high level, too.  This would be great if the Jazz were not hedging their bets on this year's draft class.  This is when General Management and the coaching staff are not on the same page.

Does this mean they are at odds with one another?  Of course not.  This just means that each has different objectives and there are times in which their objectives are in strict opposition to each other.  This happens in most businesses.  The NBA is no different.  Now how do the Jazz reconcile this opposition?  There are a few options.

1. Extend Tyrone Corbin's contract.  Want Ty to feel like he can play young guys without consequence to his future in Utah?  Put it in writing that he'll be there for the future.  Can't blame Ty for trying to get wins and pad his resume when he can see that without a dotted line there is no commitment to him past this season.
2. Part ways with Tyrone Corbin before the season ends.  Want to force your hand as general management and get your point across?  Part ways with your coach and let the interim know that your management objective of development and getting a high draft pick must be met.
3. Moneyball trades.  Remember that scene in Moneyball when they trade Pena?  Trade Marvin Williams.  Trade Richard Jefferson.  Trade Gordon Hayward.  Get assets in the meantime.  If the 2014 NBA Draft is as special as analysts are predicting then parts of the Jazz's core have a chance of being traded in order to gain valuable assets in this draft.
4. Phantom Injuries.  We all know Phantom Injuries are.  Players take longer than normal to return from real injuries.  The Golden State Warriors specialized in these two years ago.

The last part of the Downbeat will be a poll you can answer in the comments.  If you had to trade one member of the Jazz's young core who would it be, why, and what for?