Is it the NBA Trade Deadline yet?

Quite a bit of Jazz-related news has come up over the weekend.

Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood have been the center of attention for the past couple weeks. Rumors seemed to suggest that Derrick was unwilling to re-sign with the Jazz, and he put a quick statement to stomp that out.

I think Derrick is certainly willing to sign an extension, but he and the Jazz might be a bit far apart in the negotiating side of things. This might not even be about the money, but about his future role, and how the Jazz envision his fit with the team’s personnel.

If the trade deadline comes and goes, and Derrick remains on the team, I will be happy to have him here. Same goes for Rodney Hood. Rodney and Derrick have been some of my favorite players in the entire league for the past few years. If a move is made concerning either of them, I think it is more about team fit rather than the skill of the player. Favors is a starting center in this league, and if he follows the Paul Millsap route, he may yet be an all-star, especially in the east. I don’t think anybody doubts Derrick’s skills, it’s simply the fact that the twin tower strategy doesn’t win you as many games as it used to. I don’t think Derrick wants to come off the bench, nor should he, and that is probably the reason that this arrangement just wouldn’t work. Hopefully there is no ill will on either sides, it’s just how the dice rolled.

While no player on this roster can be free of criticism, Rodney has put up a very respectable year so far. Let’s play a game of player A vs player B for just a moment.

One of these is Rodney’s per game stat lines, and the other is a former player’s stat line in his fourth year, soon before breaking out and putting up all-star numbers in the seasons afterward. OK, you might find it fairly obvious that player A is Gordon Hayward and player B is Rodney Hood. Here is one more stat, though. Rodney puts up these numbers while playing 8.1 less minutes per game (36.4 mpg vs 28.3 mpg). Granted, Rodney doesn’t get as many assists, and his rebounding isn’t quite as good as Hayward’s—though it is still respectable considering they play a different positions. However, I am firmly in the camp that still believes Rodney could be an all-star one day.

I guess, all I’m trying to say here is that I appreciate what Rodney and Derrick have done for Utah, and I sure hope that we fans will give them some good Utah hospitality, whether they are on their way out, or remain with the team.

I found some interesting statistics on Twitter. According to this first one, Joe Ingles is apparently the most efficient 3 point shooter off the dribble in the league.

This graph graphs how many 3’s a team shoots per game, contrasted with their FG% at the rim:

While of course it would be great to increase our Rim%, it is also interesting that we are one of the closest teams to the Warriors in this way of measuring the offense. I think Q does a good job of managing and balancing our offense and found this chart interesting.

Not many people have talked about Dante Exum over the past couple years, so it was interesting to hear what this YouTuber had to say about the whole thing.

Freak accidents have really been the bane of the Jazz over the past few years. Here’s to health and future injury prevention allowing Dante to become the starting point guard of the future for the Jazz.

If there is one thing that sets Rudy Gobert apart from other NBA players, it is definitely his 8’0” wingspan mindset. (OK, his wingspan helps too.) Rudy has to be one of the most fearless and hard-working players in this league. Here is his advice to players trying to improve their game:

Donovan Mitchell seems to be Rudy’s padawan when it comes to the mental aspect of the game.

He certainly is not a player to be “scared to go get it”.

Utah Jazz Gaming hosted another NBA 2k event, and it looks like they had a pretty good turnout.

ESports may still be young, but I think in the near future as it becomes more and more organized, we could see this seed sprout into something big. Props to the Jazz for investing time and energy into this fun fan interaction.