Absolutely. If Stone was to sit on this core of young talent, and do nothing but desperately trade picks for decent but not great veteran players, we'll be stuck in NBA purgatory until the young players that have hit get to a point where they can leave in free agency, or have to be traded because they are a flight risk/going to be too expensive. Just look at the Thunder. I would bet that they were one of the teams last Summer talking to Brooklyn about Bridges. They probably could have given up Chet to get him, but Presti likely decided they still don't have enough young talent that has hit yet, and opted to keep with the youth project, and keep the picks. We hit on SGA, and Jdub.... lets trade our picks, and this unknown prospect now, and guarantee a playoff run. Stone needs to learn from his peers here, and not overreact to Sengun hitting. Sengun hitting is great, but you know what would make that hit turn into a suck... if you hit on Sengun, and then he leaves in 3 seasons because you never were able to put another star next to him, and you develop and lose him for nothing, and have to start the rebuild all over again.
Whether we make the play-in or not doesn't really move the needle much. It would be great to have a post-season game but I'm not going to be super upset if we just miss the playoffs. Good habits and quality development for me is what I want to see post-all star break. Can we get Amen going in a defined role? Can we keep giving Cam solid minutes? Can Tari Eason work his way back from injury? Can Jalen become a more efficient player? These are the things I'm looking for in the last 30 games. Next year will be our make or break season in terms of post-season expectations but this year we are still building foundational structure.
I fully expect GSW to go into god mode at the end of the season. Utah is the only one of these teams I could see us possibly beating.
I think they need a better back up big and more shooting and less Jalen. I'm pretty sure they aren't going to go with less Jalen and I'm not convinced they are going to give us a better back up big and more shooting either.
I just want to beat the hell out of Lebron. I hav never hated a NBA player more, although Karl Malone and Stockton are in th conversation
Jazz's next 8 games after Nets game: Knicks, Sixers, Bucks, Thunder, Suns, Warriors, Lakers, Warriors. Our schedule gets easier.
I would gladly draft the next Stockton and Malone, just wish he was nothing like Malone off the court.
Less Jalen means more shooting .... and probably a lot more Cam. I'd like a backup big or more shooting but don't want to blow the entire wad for some marginal upgrade. That Brooklyn pick is going to be 8 or better with a good chance (~25%?) at being 1-4. Can't see trading the one Rockets #1pick that is tradable in 2028. Who knows what the team looks like by then. Stone has 3 picks in the 2nd round and Jalen, Oladipo, Landale & Bullock to work with ..... what can you get for that ?? (Unless there's a real blockbuster)
I almost think they'd rather take a lottery pick than the play in .... Silver probably gives the bastards a top 4 pick.
Still don’t think we have much of a chance to make the play-in? People have radically underestimated the impact of losing Brooks, Smith, and Eason at various points. They are the faces of our defensive identity. Once our team is back, I’d bet we go on a nice run to end the season in the play-in and above .500.
Given the entire half season of evidence I would still say yes. I still think we end up around .500 (which is a massive achievement from where we were last year) and it really just depends on the Lakers, and Warriors imo. You’re kind of betting against Lebron and AD which is a debate for sure since AD is such an injury risk. I hate to sound conspiratorial too but I can totally see the Warriors getting the Scott Foster treatment the rest of the way to give them every chance at making the play in and being a Cinderella Story for the ESPN talking heads. I also did mention earlier how Jalen Green would need to be the guy who takes the offense to another level for like a 10 game stretch. Last night is really good evidence that it is the X factor in the equation. I just am not sold on his consistency but look… the last two seasons Jalen has turned it on post all star break so hopefully he proves us wrong. We’ll see. I’m still not a buying it if my money is on the line in Vegas but I’m really hoping for it. Would be a really fun Spring.
