Wednesday, June 4, 2008

A Jumpstart to the Offseason...

While the Lakers made it to the Finals rather easily (dominating the Spurs in 5 games), their success brought up the fact that the Utah Jazz may not be far off from making a Finals appearance after all. In fact, I could argue that the Jazz were a top-4 contending team this past season and gave the Lakers the best series out of anybody in the Western Conference.

In light of our contending status, perhaps the Jazz will stay status quo with little to no roster movement during the offseason. Luhm and Siler from the Salt Lake Tribune think this might be the case as they offer us their Offseason Primer. Their opinion on roster moves and trade ideas are interesting to read, and really aren't far off from the many we've discussed here on The Cowhide Globe.

One roster move that may eventually take place is the addition of a possible draft pick. The Jazz have jumpstarted the offseason rather early, by inviting a massive, 7'2" "BIG-man" to workout today. Roy Hibbert will be in Salt Lake to show off his abilities. One thing is for certain about big Roy: he's huge! The Deseret News is reporting that he'll be in town.

5 comments:

Pasty Gangsta said...

Agreed. I think the Lakers drubbing of the Spurs and soon to be (in my opinion) shellacking of the Celtics changes things a bit for the Jazz. Although the Lakers are a better team than us, we're pretty damn close. I wouldn't mind making another run with the same core unit we have now and changing things up the year after if we don't win.

Orlando said...

While I agree with your premise, I don't think your conclusion follows (take that law school!). I think the Jazz are, arguably, a top 4 team on talent. However, I don't think that means we should sit tight.

Sitting tight guarantees years of regular season acclaim followed by nice runs in the playoffs that end prematurely. The Lakers are a better team than us now, and will be for the foreseeable future. Also, the Spurs and Hornets are right there with us. However, having said that, unless Memphis has another all-star that they want to unload for nothing, I think we're screwed.

Draft Guru said...

The Lakers are most definitely better than we are. And for that reason alone, it probably means we ought to make changes.

I believe the Jazz are one of the better teams in the NBA. Though this may not be the issue. The question might be: can we improve the team through trades, FA, etc (and compete with the Lakeshow) without ruining our chances? See Dallas and Kidd trade. Sometimes trades / FA don't make us better. Infact, many opportunities out there probably make us worse...ie trading Kirilenko (who then will defend?).

Orlando said...

Right you are, Kofoed. i'm not for making any panic trades like PHX/Dallas. The Jazz should bide their time. But if the right opportunity arises for dealing Kirilenko, or Boozer, or Okur, or anyone not named Deron, we should jump.

I just want, once in my lifetime, a legitimate NBA swingman on the Jazz.

muebles madrid said...

Pretty helpful piece of writing, thanks so much for your post.