The Downbeat #1979 - Utah Jazz circle of life?

The birth of children and the birth of possible stars . . . all this in your Utah Jazz downbeat.

Joe and Renae celebrated their 1st year of marriage with twin babies. (Something is in the water in the #801, I am sure of it)

(Masha Kirilenko already printing “Who’s Joe Daddy?” t-shirts)

Looks like Joe Ingles’ last two years of being Dante Exum’s parent will come into practice this year as his own twins occupy some of his time. I don’t think that’s a bad thing if Joe is content with being the 5th wing in a sometimes 4 win rotation under Quin Snyder.

The Utah Jazz could have two of three rookies make the team this year. (Yes, it’s unlikely that both Joel Bolomboy and Marcus Paige both beat the odds.) Of course, this is just a clumsy segue towards mentioning the 2016-2017 NBA Rookie class survey:

Unfortunately, no Jazzmen made any of the a billion different mentions. Rookie of the Year appears to be a toss up between Kris Dunn (29.0%), Brandon Ingram (25.8%), and Ben Simmons (19.4%). Ingram and Dunn lead the field for best career, with Buddy Hield coming in 3rd.

The biggest draft steal went to Dejounte Murray (29th to the Spurs), which seems to be what you do with this question -- pick a Spurs player (DeJuan Blair in 2009, Kyle Naderson in 2014, etc). Curiously Jaylen Brown (#3) and Thon Maker (#10), two lotto picks, got mention here where it’s mostly late 1st rounders and 2nd rounders. The lowest picked player to crack this list was Kay Felder (54th), for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Utah’s trio of Bolomboy (#52), Paige (#55), and Tyrone Wallace (#60) all didn’t get any votes. I guess this leads us back to the era where our perpetually playoff bound team will have low impact, if any impact at all, rookies.

Click the link to see all the answers, including those to questions about who is the most athletic, best shooter, best defender, play maker, and others.

Kevin Durant (29.7%) ranks as the most favorite player in the NBA from this class, with Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook tied for second place, a distant second, at 9.4%. And most importantly, more than 40% of the rookies who took the poll mentioned that the speed or pace of the game will be their biggest obstacle to face as they transition to the NBA game.

Are you not just a basketball fan, but also an basketball player? Are you semi-pro? Do you wanna get a health plan? All your dreams could come true . . .

Honestly, I’d love to see someone make the team as a walk-on. Of course, that’s not my decision. It could be the decision of Salt Lake City Stars GM Bart Sharp. Watch this interview of him talking about the tryouts here:

Or just watch him talk about this up-coming season here:

Woo! I don’t know if I can take all the excitement of having a good NBA team and good NBA Farm team at the same time!

Former Jazzman #MoLo Mo Williams may be hanging it up, after winning a ring -- what else is there left to play for?

As Diana points out, Kevin O’Connor must be very distraught by this news.

Can we get a ruling here, teeth or no teeth?

Also, thanks Gordon Hayward for doing all these community events! He and Derrick Favors got into it. #TeamCaptains

Did John and Karl do these events together back in the day? I don’t remember if they did or not. In a way that shows us something about GH and DF. They may not be stars, but truly their warmth gives life to our team.