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NBA Free Agency 2016: Ray Allen and loud noises! Also a Summer League rundown - Downbeat #1947

A second downbeat today because you guys deserve it!

By AllThatAmar
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Utah Jazz are great. And so are Utah Jazz fans. So here's a second Downbeat today. We go a little deeper into the Summer League performance of our players, check out who is who on the TV broadcasts, identify which of our players are single and ready to mingle, and more! Oh, also there's a hired gun out there for a team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs. Could the Jazz be that team?

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Here are some awesome pics from last night's broadcast. Yes, this is Jerry Sloan and crew. And yes, it's awesome.

As great as that shot is, I'm partial to this one of former SLC Dunker Alec Lam!

I really do like this one of two Jazz employees from two very different spectra (age, education, upbringing, analytics vs. eye-ball test, etc) working together to make the team I root for the best it can be. It's a special moment in time for this franchise.

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We forgot to mention this earlier, but Utah Jazz point guard George Hill is getting married! And he looks SO excited about it!

DB 1947 - George Hill Engagement

First, congrats to George and Sam! Seems like Utah, the place for families, could be an NBA destination after all! Also, this is hilarious and true.

Social media is tough sometimes. Anyway, someone needs to make a spreadsheet about all of this. So I did. Because I'm just that great of a fan.

Player Age Spouse Children
1 George Hill 30 Engaged Yes
2 Joe Johnson 35 Engaged Yes
3 Gordon Hayward 26 Married One + One on the way
4 Derrick Favors 24 Live-In Twins
5 Rudy Gobert 24 No No
6 Dante Exum 20 No No
7 Alec Burks 24 No No
8 Rodney Hood 23 TBD Yes
9 Boris Diaw 34 Dates ???
10 Jeff Withey 26 On the market No
11 Shelvin Mack 26 ??? ???
12 Chris Johnson 26 ??? ???
13 Joe Ingles 28 Married Twins on the way
14 Trey Lyles 20 Girlfriend No
15 Tibor Pleiss 26 Girlfriend No
16 Raul Neto 24 No HE IS A CHILD, DIANA!

We're not a gossip site, so I am 100% certain a lot of this is wrong. Also, for the single ladies out there, a lot of these guys are off the market.

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So, did you hear the "big, if true" news? Two time NBA Champion shooting guard Ray Allen may be ready to come back to the league after sitting out the last two seasons. You may remember him from his Seattle Supersonics days, or his dominant play as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks early on in his career; however, his marksmanship was really exhibited for the whole world to see with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat:


According to ESPN (and others) his camp is looking at possibly suiting up for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, or San Antonio Spurs. Clearly he's looking at another possible championship -- and that's his prerogative.

He's always been one of my most favorite players, except when setting our Jazz defenders on fire, and the team still does have $10 million dollars in cap space, but that would just be silly to imagine him picking our squad to join. The bigger barrier to him joining the team, beyond the fact that I don't think our guys are going to the NBA Finals this year, would be that he may be too good to wear the #34 for the Jazz. No disrespect to John Block, Otto Moore, Ira Terrell, Bryon Russell, Chris Morris, Scott Padgett, or C.J. Miles, but I don't think Ray wants to wear that uniform after you guys have had your way with it.

Bad jokes aside, I do like B-Russ, Morris, and MasFresco. But I like Ray Allen more. And if he does come back, I really hope it's not with the Spurs, Clippers, or Warriors. We don't need stronger contenders out West. Thank you.

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There will be no Utah Summer League games today, as it's an off-day for the four teams participating (Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and hosts Utah Jazz). It is an ideal time, then, to continue looking at what we've seen so far from our crew. In the previous downbeat we looked at Olivier Hanlan, Aaron Craft, Marcus Paige, and Tyrone Wallace. Today? The rest.

Player Flag Pos Ht. Wt. Age G MPG PPG FG% 3PT% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PRASB
1 Olivier Hanlan CAN 1 2 6 4 186 23.4 1 24.0 11.0 66.7% 33.3% 50.0% 3.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 17.0
2 Aaron Craft USA 1 6 2 195 25.4 2 20.0 6.0 54.5% 0.0% 0.0% 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.0 10.5
3 Marcus Paige USA 1 2 6 1 175 22.8 2 19.5 7.0 35.7% 40.0% 100.0% 0.5 0.5 1.0 0.0 9.0
4 Tyrone Wallace USA 1 2 6 6 205 22.1 2 18.0 5.0 35.7% 0.0% -- 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 11.0
5 Dionte Christmas USA 2 3 6 5 205 29.8 2 21.0 11.5 52.6% 33.3% -- 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.0 15.0
6 Spencer Butterfield USA 2 6 3 205 23.7 1 23.0 8.0 42.9% 66.7% -- 6.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 15.0
7 Shonn Miller USA 2 6 7 210 22.9 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
8 J.J. O'Brien (SL) USA 3 6 7 228 24.2 2 17.5 1.5 11.1% 25.0% -- 1.5 1.5 1.0 0.0 5.5
9 Quincy Ford USA 3 2 6 8 225 23.5 2 14.0 5.0 60.0% 33.3% 100.0% 2.5 1.0 0.0 0.5 9.0
10 Shaquille McKissic USA 3 2 6 5 200 25.9 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
11 Trey Lyles CAN 4 3 6 10 234 20.7 2 31.0 19.5 34.3% 36.4% 78.6% 11.5 2.0 0.0 0.0 33.0
12 Joel Bolomboy URK 4 5 6 9 224 22.4 2 14.5 3.5 25.0% 0.0% 37.5% 3.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 7.0
13 Terry Allen USA 4 6 8 240 22.5 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
14 Tibor Pleiss GER 5 7 3 256 26.7 2 19.0 7.0 62.5% 66.7% 100.0% 4.0 1.0 1.5 0.0 13.5
15 Bangaly Fofana FRA 5 7 0 230 27.1 1 2.0 0.0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

From watching both games, two not very competitive losses, there hasn't been much to cheer for.

  • Lyles has been decisive and is playing that LeBron James / Kobe Bryant role, but Kobe back when they were getting kicked to the curb by the Suns, and LeBron back when the Cavs were just a complete mess. He's shooting the ball frequently, but not making shots consistently. Part of that is honestly the fact that you don't have to guard anyone else. Sometimes he puts his head down and fails to see passing opportunities, but again, that could be his #Mamba role. Getting a double double is nice, and he's making a bunch of threes. But since Hanlan is no longer on the team, he doesn't seem to have much chemistry with anyone else on the floor. (Both Canadians had played with one another in FIBA events growing up -- both also coming from "Not-Toronto" also helped them bond more as well. Toronto ballers have their own clique.)

He should make the All-Summer League team for Utah. I don't even know if he needs to play in Las Vegas.

  • Joel has look bad on offense. And he hasn't recorded any blocked shots either. He's missing threes, free throws, and layups. Of course, he's getting screwed by the refs so much I hope he brought enough condoms to last the entire Summer League.
  • J.J. has a much more diminished role from what he did with the Idaho Stampede because Lyles is controlling the ball. And as a potential "3 and D" guy he has not show much of either. He was more impressive a year ago, which is what we could call a regression. It's only two games, but we'll have him for only one more as he's not playing for the Jazz in Las Vegas.
  • Dionte is a hard worker, but he's also almost 30 years old and still playing in minor summer leagues. On teams that are 0-2. Spencer had a good single game on the simple boxscore, but his three turn overs (one where he just flat out couldn't handle half-hearted pressure by his single coverage defender)  has earned him the honorific title of "butterfingers". (His last name is Butterfield.) Still, he as one of the two total blocks this Jaz team has.
  • And really, that brings me to Tibor. Tibor is who we thought he was. He's big, but not strong. He has a nice touch, but only with space. He can't score in traffic or keep anyone out of it. At 7'3 he has no blocks despite playing a good amount of minutes. He has made some jumpers and got a tip-in or two. But he's not quick enough on either side of the ball. He is a professional basketball player. He just may not be an NBA player.

But this is all just my opinion, what did ESPN's Kevin Pelton (In$ider) have to say?

On Trey Lyles:

After he played a small role for the Jazz as a rookie, this summer is an opportunity for Lyles to serve as a featured scorer. The results have been mixed.

Lyles has shown the ability to make plays with the ball in his hands, knocking down a pair of pull-up 3-pointers. Overall, he has struggled with his efficiency, needing 35 shots and 14 free throw attempts to score 39 points in two games.

- Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider, 2016

On Tibor Pleiss:

A non-entity during his rookie season, Pleiss has shown some solid skill, draining a couple of 3-pointers. That's certainly impressive for a player listed at 7-foot-3. Overall, Pleiss doesn't seem to be able to bang in the paint well enough to play regular minutes in the NBA.

- Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider, 2016

I feel like that's a fair assessment from what I've seen.

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I detest the Chicago Bulls and hate Michael Jordan. As a result, given any opportunity to slightly tarnish their legacy and I take it. (Hence my appreciation for the crying MJ Meme) So there's this pick-up baller who showed up on the courts wearing full-on MJ Bulls gear.

And the internet had their way with him.

NSFW language in this next one:

How bad did it get? NBC Sports had to troll him as well.

Savage.

Also Michael Jordan sucks.

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