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The Downbeat #1668: The Plain Joe Offseason

The Utah Jazz are not targeting a flashy free agent and that's a good thing.

By Mychal Lowman
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Free agency is finally upon us and as expected the Jazz are going for the elite free agent targets.

While this may not sound like huge news to Jazz fans out there this is amazing news.  Most don't remember but the Jazz had a historic defense last year for the 2nd part of the season.

I had said a couple weeks ago that the Jazz wouldn't want to mess with a good thing.  They're going to think about the ramifications any change makes to the defensive side.  Why?  Because the Jazz might have a defense that borders on historic.

Yet, after the Utah Jazz traded away Enes Kanter, in other words Post All-Star Break, they had a defensive rating of 94.8 points per 100 possessions. The next closest in that time was the Memphis Grizzlies at 99.4.

To put that in perspective there have only been 11, count it, ELEVEN TEAMS in NBA history that have had a Defensive Rating of 95 or less. The most recent was the San Antonio Spurs of 2003-2004. A team that I would daresay the Jazz should try to emulate.

As we've talked before the Jazz don't need to make a huge splash in free agency.  The Jazz are following their strategy to a T.  As Jody Genessy put it today:

Or as this writer said two months ago:

So the 2014-2015 Utah Jazz were very top heavy [in talent]. But there is relief in sight. That relief is Dante Exum and Rodney Hood. Just by a quick resource analysis I can quickly debunk the asinine rumor that the Utah Jazz will draft or, worse, sign a free agent point guard. Just by using these two strategic tools it is possible to see that the Utah Jazz DO NOT WANT TO OVERSPEND ON FREE AGENTS. It goes counterintuitive to their strategies used.

As I also said the Jazz would work hard to bring Tibor Pleiss over as well.

The Jazz will go for big men. Mark it. Look at the resource analysis. Their big men are their most costly to replace players. Kevon Looney would fit a need, but the Jazz will most likely make it a priority to keep Booker and bring over Pleiss. It's expensive to sign another big man paying the market price. That's what makes the Kanter deal so smart. They got another big man under the market price while giving up a big man. The Jazz had a rising star in Rudy but they sacrificed depth when the trade was made. Bringing Tibor over will aid the Jazz when big man depth is costly and expensive.

As mad as I was over Trey Lyles, he fits a need and a cost effective need.  I was high on Looney but a degenerative hip put that dream out of reach.  Enter Trey Lyles who fits that bill and Tibor Pleiss who fits the need of 7 feet and 6 fouls.

The Jazz are doubling down on development again.  I could say I called it, but I called it.

It's the Game of Thrones way of thinking.  Sure the Jazz could go out and blow their cap space on a player who possibly could be marginally better than their current core now but will they be better than them in two years?  It's debatable.  The Jazz have doubled down on development.  Or has Robb from Game of Thrones said

If we do it your way kingslayer, you'd win. We're not doing it your way.

Dennis Lindsey has the organization sticking to its strategy hell or highwater.  And that strategy is the development of their core.  While Philadelphia has #TrustTheProcess, Utah's motto is #TrustDevelopment.

Well, the grass isn't always (Danny) Greener on the other side.

It looks like everyone's favorite shooter is off the market.  So is DeMarre Carrol.

Hate to break it to everyone but if that's the going rate on those guys, the going rate on anything better is enormous.

The fun part is the Jazz are going hard after Joe Ingles.  Joe Ingles Post-All-Star Break Numbers are fun.

Joe Ingles Post All-Star break numbers

Joe Ingles could be the next 3 and D guy to hit the open market next year to get that big fat 4 year 32 million dollar deal.  He's improving his conditioning this year and is ready for the NBA game now.  Just because the Jazz didn't sign an established 3 and D wing doesn't mean the Jazz don't have one.

You might have noticed that we here at the dunk used a lot of Jody Genessy tweets.  He's up for a mid-year review.  We all know how hard our favorite Jazz beat reporter works for the best Jazz news.  He's responsible with his reporting and has been a great mentor to many of us aspiring writers here at the Dunk.  So from all of us here at the Dunk, give Jody a raise, Deseret News.  Seriously, you don't realize what a gem you have working for you.  Pay the man.

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