Utah Jazz Downbeat #2067: Who wins, 2008 or 2017 Jazz?

Let’s look at this Utah Jazz team, what stands ahead of them, and a quick look at the past too! NBA Free Agency, the NBA Draft, and of course the NBA Playoffs are on tap. Let’s dig in!

This is it, ladies and gentlemen! The Utah Jazz can clinch their first division title since 2007-2008 tonight if UTA wins, and OKC loses. The Oklahoma City Thunder have won the division five times in the last six seasons.

The last Jazz team, that ‘07-08 team, was peak D-Will era. So the question is, obviously, would this year’s team beat that year’s team?

Team Breakdown:

AllThatAmar

Offense vs. Defense. That Jazz team did take care of business on the glass and forced a lot of turn overs (hello AK and Ronnie B). This team is much more plodding, and (not shown) rarely scored in transition. A big plus for this 2016-2017 team? The ability to play defense without fouling.

Starters:

• PG: Deron Williams vs. George Hill
• SG: Ronnie Brewer vs. Rodney Hood
• SF: Andrei Kirilenko vs. Gordon Hayward
• PF: Carlos Boozer vs. Derrick Favors
• C: Mehmet Okur vs. Rudy Gobert

Rudy is amazing right now, but Boozer and Memo both step out from 20 feet and farther in pick and pops and face ups. That is going to be an adjustment. Brewer and Kirilenko can’t stretch the defense though. But that Flex offense really allowed them to be dangerous moving without the ball. Sloan had everyone moving. Snyder has the ball moving. Two different styles for sure.

Rotation:

• PG: Ronnie Price vs. Dante Exum
• SG: Kyle Korver vs. Joe Ingles
• SF: Matt Harpring vs. Joe Johnson
• PF: Paul Millsap vs. Boris Diaw
• C: Jarron Collins vs. Jeff Withey

This is actually pretty damn fun. Harpring was a perfect fit for the offense, but couldn’t defend anyone. A young Millsap was a beast. And Korver was such a dead-eye, even AFTER the Gordan Giricek trade (which was this season). On the other side of the ball, you have Ingles who is really great at shooting from deep as well, but also plays defense. Withey rarely played this season, but there’s so much versatility with these next five guys.

Deep Bench:

• PG: Jason Hart vs. Raul Neto
• SG: Morris Almond vs. Shelvin Mack (not a SG, but whatever)
• SF: C.J. Miles vs. Alec Burks (not a SF, but whatever)
• PF: Vacant vs. Joel Bolomboy
• C: Kyrylo Fesenko vs. Trey Lyles (not a C, but PF)

Hard not to love what you’re seeing from Neto and Mack in limited minutes this season. Lyles has been a downer, but Bolomboy is such a hard worker.

Head Coach: Jerry Sloan vs. Quin Snyder

I think Sloan was without peer when it came to game to game adjustments. I think Snyder is a better teacher. They coached in different eras, and clearly have different game plans.

My Take:

Peak Andrei Kirilenko really gives Gordon Hayward fits. Mehmet Okur out there on an island for all those high pick and rolls limits his defensive capability for sure. Rudy can roll all day long, and get fouled as a result. D-Will’s club will get easy baskets, but will have to work to either win or beat themselves.

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#Stayward is getting national attention in the 24 hour sports news cycle. But Gordon Hayward isn’t the only Jazzman entering Free Agency this year. Another? Joe Ingles. And he had this to say:

In other news, is Ingles the Brewer to Hayward’s Williams? Don’t split ‘em up or cause the star to become all pouty?

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Back before the Jazz were in the playoffs, or even in Utah, there was this team:

This is great, as they had to show a pre-Jazz, Atlanta Hawks version of Pete Maravich here. #ThoseSocksTho

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Oh yeah, speaking of free agency, some guys gonna get paaaaaiidddd:

So what does this look like for the Utah Jazz?

Basketball-Insiders.com , AllThatAmar

So that’s about $35 million for Hayward, Hill, and Ingles. Also note, that becomes only $26 million if we’re keeping both Diaw and Neto. Furthermore, the Utah Jazz have two first round draft picks this year, so that would be another $3 million (rounding up) on the books if Dennis Lindsey decides to keep both.

Hayward, especially if he is going to be All-NBA this year, is getting a max. So you can work backwards from there.

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... or you can look forward to the future of the Utah Jazz - Gobert and Exum. Behold:

This part we knew. Without Rudy this team doesn’t look so hot.

This is something some of the ‘haters’ don’t know about.

It’s a small sample size for just the last two months, but it’s very positive. You know, if you actually look at the numbers.

Love it!