The Downbeat - 7 February 2017 - #2031 - Rhythm Edition

Micah Williams of ESPN.com had an article analyzing the Clippers very difficult February. Micah went in depth to show how the Clippers difficult February coupled with the injury to Chris Paul could have a big impact on the West’s seeding for the playoffs. The most to gain from the Clippers freefall? Utah.

Right now, the most common first-round opponent for the Clippers in a 4-5 series is the Utah Jazz. If the Clippers have home-court advantage, they'd be given a 58 percent chance of winning the series, but those odds would drop to 49 percent without home-court. Assuming they make it to a second-round series with Golden State leaves the Clippers with a less than 3 percent chance of reaching the West finals.

- How will Clips' tough month without CP3 shake up West playoff picture?, ESPN.com

The interesting thing is Micah Williams shows the toughest months for all teams and the Utah Jazz have a big window to move up pretty quick and pad their lead on the Clippers with a chance of catching up to the Houston Rockets.

Chad Ford over at ESPN.com is still mock drafting it up with Mock Draft 3.0. The Utah Jazz will be picking #23 and #30 as of right now. Seeing as the Utah Jazz don’t have any big needs and their roster is full of young talent Chad Ford has the Utah Jazz going international for both picks. WHO’S READY FOR SOME DRAFT AND STASH?

Utah is in a position to select projects who are two years away from being two years away and either plugging them into the D-League right away or letting them develop internationally. With the advent of two way contracts in the D-League next year teams will have a roster of 17 players. This should allow Utah to bring over young assets and develop them as their current salary maxed team—hello Hill, Hayward, Gobert—is able to continue to win on the court.

The Utah Jazz could also send those picks away for players who can contribute now, but it’s hard to see how they can bring in that much salary while at the same time affording George Hill and Gordon Hayward going forward.

This is your weekly “Yeah, the Jazz are THAT good.”

Relevant after last night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Utah Jazz had six steals again in a game last night and that only means one thing: