2013-2014 Finish: 13-69

Season Highlight

Not a lot of highlights to choose from for a 13 win team, bad enough for last place in the league. I guess there are two that stand out. The first was the Derrick Rose trade, which saw Merencio, a long time NBA Bulls fan, bring in his favourite player. The particulars will be discussed later, but it’s always a nice morale boost to have your favourite guy on your roster. The second was the number one overall pick, which stayed in Utah due to them having the most ping pong balls in the lottery. And this was the perfect draft class for which to have it.

Season Lowlight

13 wins. This Jazz team struggled badly on the court, in fact they haven’t won more than 30 games since their last playoff appearance in 2011. 2014 was no exception, sporting an all rookie starting backcourt of Victor Oladipo and C.J. McCollum, the fans of this team were always in for some short term pain, for hopefully long term gain. Let’s hope there is enough of them left when Merencio finally gets this ship turned around.

Best Trade

The Atlanta Hawks send Draymond Green to the Golden State Warriors. The Atlanta Hawks sendDerek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed and Derrick Rose to the Utah Jazz. The Golden State Warriors send Luol Deng to the Atlanta Hawks. The Golden State Warriors send Ray McCallum to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz send Michael Beasley, Patrick Beverley and Kent Bazemore to the Atlanta Hawks. The Utah Jazz send Nene Hilario and Alonzo Gee to the Golden State Warriors.

The Utah Jazz send a 2nd-Rounder (Den) and 2nd-Rounder (Por) to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Atlanta Hawks trade -6 GM points.The Golden State Warriors receive 13 GM points. The Utah Jazz trade -7 GM points.

Mentioned earlier, Merencio would have been jumping for joy when this complicated trade finally had approval from all sides. When you break it down, Derrick Rose and change for Nene, Alonzo Gee and a couple of late 2nd rounders is good business, if Derrick’s knees don’t break down again. But for an MVP calibre talent, you take that risk everytime.

Worst Trade

The Chicago Bulls send Adam Hanga to the Utah Jazz.

The Chicago Bulls receive 3 GM points. The Utah Jazz trade -3 GM points.

There were a few other trades completed this season by the Jazz, but most wore pretty decent or barely worth mentioning, I guess of that bunch this is the worst. Because I have no idea who Adam Hanga is.

 

Other Notable Trades

The Oklahoma City Thunder send Chuck Hayes and C.J. McCollum to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz send Dennis Schroeder, Alex Abrines, Isaiah Canaan and Nate Wolters to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder trade -9 GM points.The Utah Jazz receive 9 GM points.

This deal seems pretty even as of right now, it boils down to McCollum for Dennis Schroeder and Nate Wolters, which seems a fairly even swap based on current output.

The Utah Jazz send Steve Nash to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send Steve Blake to the Boston Celtics. The Washington Wizards send Doron Lamb and Viacheslav Kravtsovto the Utah Jazz.

The Boston Celtics use their trade exception over $ 4,000,000.

The Utah Jazz receive 23 GM points. The Washington Wizards trade -23 GM points.

Nash for 23 GM points, a pretty good haul for a guy who’s body appears to have failed him.

The Indiana Pacers send Jose Barea and Tony Mitchell to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz send Nando De Colo and Luigi Datome to the Indiana Pacers.

A nice little deal, bringing in Jose Barea who is added to a nice mix of options at point guard.

Best FA Signing

Peyton Siva- No big name free agents arrived in Salt Lake, Siva at least netted the Jazz 7 gm points at season’s end.

Worst FA Signing

Matt Bonner- Almost 4 million dollars for a guy who was never really going to play much seemed like a lot, his 3 points per game through 26 games was probably not enough.

Star

C.J. McCollum- Thrown the keys to the team as a rookie after an injury interrupted start, McCollum shone on the big stage, averaging 17 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds per game. While he may be coming off the bench next season, or even trade bait, McCollum was clearly the star of the show this season.

Surprise

Glen Davis- Big Baby had a career best season in 2014, starting in 70 games, by far the most in his 8 year career, averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds per game. He should remain in Utah next season, to try and carry an undermanned front line.

Goat

Doron Lamb- The 31st pick in the 2012 draft, it hasn’t yet clicked for Lamb, who through 53 games last season shot a dismal 30%, 13% and 66%, that’s nowhere near good enough for an undersized wing.

Draft Report Card

Andrew Wiggins- As soon as Utah secured the number one pick, it seemed a sure thing that this pick would be used on the extremely athletic Canadian out of Kansas.

Wiggins is a once in generation, Lebron James sort of talent, and that kind of tag brings high expectations. He joins a loaded backcourt with McCollum, Rose and Oladipo, and may start his career at small forward.

Jarnell Stokes- The first player taken in the second round, Stokes is a young power forward out of Tennessee.

Merencio prides himself on his scouting, so i’m sure Stokes has impressed him with his Defensive and rebounding prowess. Let’s see how it translates at NLL level.

 Looking to the Future

The Jazz through some good drafting and trading have built a potential laden roster, with a tremendous backcourt. Derrick Rose, Victor Oladipo, C.J. McCollum and Andrew Wiggins will share time in the backcourt, with Wiggins also likely to play a lot of small forward. Where the team falls short is it’s frontcourt, with really only Glen Davis able to provide some meaningful NLL minutes. I think a trade of one of the aforementioned backcourt talents for a big man would go a long way in improving the balance of this roster, and hopefully propel this team above that 30 win mark.

Upcoming Free Agents

Seth Curry- Younger brother of NLL superstar Steph Curry, it would be nice to see Seth a regular in the NLL, I think Utah would like to keep him on.

Grant Jerrett- One of the few big men on this roster, there isn’t a lot of competition for spots, but I doubt this guy remains regardless.

Doron Lamb- Goat, Lamb, whatever animal, he may be given another chance to show something as he’s still young.

Richard Jefferson- The veteran played some meaningful minutes for the Jazz last season, but will likely continue his career elsewhere.

Charlie Villanueva- An overpaid, underachiever for a long time, Villa’s contract is finally up, and I doubt he remains in Utah.