Happy Birthday Alec Burks!

Today is the birthday of Utah Jazz starting shooting guard Alec Burks. I love this guy, and his NBA ready skill as a former #12 pick. Historically, it's the guys who can step on the floor and excel at something that stick in this league -- and Alec has been hard to handle for defenders. He can create his own shot, penetrate with or without the assistance of a pick. And more than anything else, he's excellent around the basket, often finishing impossible layups or getting to the line. He's more than just a slasher though, as he finished last season with a 38% three point percentage, the only guys who finished with a better number were Elliot Williams, Steve Novak, and Jeremy Evans -- and their combined 45 three pointers attempted were less than Alec's injured limited 68.

And I guess that's the main point. He only played in 27 games last season -- and they were when the team was losing a lot. We didn't get to see him make that big improvement DURING the season that every other player on the roster had. There has been a significant out of sight / out of mind with him as the team had to try out and audition a billion wing players over the course of the season -- Toure' Murry, Patrick Christopher, Elliot Williams, Ian Clark, Chris Johnson, Elijah Millsap, and the also injury reduced Rodney Hood.

Hood appears to be the main competitor for Burks' starting spot this upcoming 2015 - 2016 season. He's a tall three point maker who has great court vision and is able to drive, create his own shot, and find others in scoring position. Should he be the starter? Should Alec lose his starting spot due to injury? Are people forgetting that they both have lots of upside remaining and it's win-win for the Jazz? (Right now Rodney is 22.8 years old, and Alec is 24.0 -- actual age difference is 458 days, or only 1.2 years.) If I was the boss, I'd bring BOTH of them off the bench, and start Eli as that "non-shooting, three and D" player who only plays like 20 mpg.

Anyway, that's a discussion for another day. Today Alec is ONLY 24! Happy birthday Alec!

TRIVIA: Which wing players have a higher career PPG average than him, in a Jazz uniform?