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Utah Jazz players have a busy summer, first big off the bench, and Andrei's gotta gun - The Downbeat #1711

It's the weekend, but that doesn't mean Jazz news isn't still happening!

By AllThatAmar
Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

It's Saturday and there's isn't a lot of Utah Jazz news right now. No problem. Let's check out a quick rundown on what our players are up to right now, from active to the super inactive. Also, today we throw out a little feeler about who should be the first bigman off the bench -- Trey or Trev? Of course, we'll get into this debate all season long. And most importantly, we get a chance to go down memory lane, take a look at Andrei Kirilenko, remember some of his career, and check out what he has been up to. All this, and more for today's Downbeat!

So, obviously, the big news story is that Andrei Kirilenko, former Utah Jazz All-Star, went back to his hometown and received a gift from a local business. Of course, Andrei's hometown is Izhevsk, and the major local business there appears to be the primary Kalashnikov factory for the Soviet Union Russian arms forces. So, yeah, AK-47 finally got his own AK-47.

Awesome. Lots of people have gotten this story already but failed to mention that Andrei selected #47 when joining the Jazz because Jarron Collins suggested that pairing. Originally Andrei had wore only #13, and in fact, had done so for the Utah Jazz in summer league.

Andrei Kirilenko 13

(Source: One of my old hard drives from the early 2000s)

Of course, Mark Jackson and Mehmet Okur would end up wearing that number, preventing Andrei from having the opportunity. But overall Andrei has had a busy summer. He retired from international play, and possibly club / pro league play as well. He seems to be lobbying for a position as the President of Russia's Basketball Federation (the Steve Nash role for Team Canada, by the way). And he's also going out doing his charity work and camp work.

DB 1711 - Andrei Instagram

Way to go Andrei. You were always such multi-use weapon what could be effective from a variety of ranges and terrains, even though at times it wasn't the most accurate weapon out there.

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We'll always have this great win though . . .

DB 1711 - Andrei Instagram 2

. . . it would have been interesting to see how the Jazz would have done with a teen Andrei running with John Stockton and Karl Malone in the NBA Finals (Drafted in '99, didn't come to the NBA until '02). Would those last few first round exits by our legends have been prevented if Andrei came over sooner? Would a rookie Andrei help them get past the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2nd round in 2000, and position them for a chance to go to another NBA Finals? We'll never know.

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Breaking out of all the nostalgia, let's take a look at what's happening around Jazz-land with our current guys.

Point Guards: Dante Exum (SwishDx) is getting hyped for Black Ops III, Trey Burke and Raul Neto are both in Salt Lake City and putting in work. Second round draft pick Olivier Hanlan is going to be playing basketball next season in Lithuania. No news on what Bryce Cotton is up to.

Wings: Gordon Hayward is still fighting that uphill battle against a newborn and trying to make Team USA. Alec Burks feels 100%. Rodney Hood is on a lot of peoples' lists to blow up. Elijah Millsap and Chris Johnson have been recently joined in the "on the roster but with a non-guaranteed contract" club with the signing of Treveon Graham, the 21 year old VCU player. Joe Ingles' kids are going to be super athletes.

Bigmen: Derrick Favors has been out doing the rounds in Salt Lake City making kids happy, Rudy Gobert is destroying fools in limited minutes in pre EuroBasket 2015 games, Trey Lyles and Trevor Booker are off the radar, but Notre Dame is still hyping up Jack Cooley. Sadly, for Cooley, he may not have a spot of the roster next season because Tibor Pleiss is throwing it down on the regular. (Thanks to Magnus for the link) Your best guess as to what's up with Grant Jerrett is as good as mine.

I like our bigman rotation for this upcoming season, but for reals, I love this big swag from Mark Eaton:

DB 1711 - Mark Eaton

So, I guess I just brought this back around to nostalgia again . . .

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The Utah Jazz are holding an open house! WOO!

Thanks to Spencer Campbell for this story.

Dude. Free hot dogs. This seems to be the currency the Jazz run on. Still though, go. Buy tickets! Enjoy an awesome team!

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From what little you've seen of Trevor Booker (1564 minutes last season in the NBA), and even less of Trey Lyles (145.1 minutes over 6 summer league games) . . . who should be the 3rd big next season? Both aren't exactly perfect fits. Lyles has superior court vision, length, size, and upside. Booker is a veteran energy guy who is dedicated to expanding his range. Both are not defenders. Both aren't natural scorers. Both aren't a perfect compliment to what Rudy or Derrick need.

Booker is in a contract year, and probably wants to play a lot -- and has the option of bolting to a new team next summer. Lyles is a lotto pick who the Jazz can keep on the team for a number of seasons.

So who do you pick? (And no, Andrei Kirilenko isn't an option...)

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