PER is the wrong stat to judge Exum. What makes him a great fit for the Jazz is his defense. His potential reminds me of Conley, who took a while to become solid in this league.
Today ESPN released their win total prediction for all 30 teams. It lists (in order from most to least projected wins) Golden State, San Antonio, Utah, clippers, rockets, and thunder all as winning more games than us this season. According to this list Utah will finish 3rd in the west with 47.6 wins. We are listed at 44.5. Somehow the higher "ranked" Grizzlies are predicted to win 39.4 games which falls short of the Denver Niggets' 40.4. TLDR- ESPN is full of Utah Jazz **** riders who will do whatever they can to cover their bases and save face. Even if it means going back and editing their draft board 2 years later.
I agree we could some consilidation trading but I think both Ezeli and Turner are excellent players. Great Defenders, extremely smart (basketball-wise and otgerwise) and very team players. I agree we may be too deep and leave too much of our talent on the bench but also that we have an aboundance of talented players, most of them just entering their prime
Rodney Hood is gonna be a star this year, he's gonna breakout and actually already did. He was the biggest reason they started to win more games after the all star break. Exum I was very impressed with at the McDonalds game, suggested we should trade Aldridge for a pick and select him, was ridiculed for this back then. He did disappoint his rookie year but so did CJ and many great players, Since then he was injured for very long. He's far from a sure thing to live up to his billing but it still could happen
But UTA didn't win more games after the all star break. Their record before the break was 26-26. After the break, they were 14-16. And, Hood's number after the all star break were down slightly from before the break. Rodney Hood 2015-16: Pre-All Star Break: 31.4 MPG, .423 FG%, .361 3FG%, .879 FT%, .549 TS%, 14.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.6 APG Post-All Star Break, 33.4 MPG, .414 FG%, .354 3FG%, .814 FT%, .530 TS%, 13.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 APG After the break his shooting percentages were down across the board, in spite of playing 2 more MP, his scoring average dropped, but his RG and APG were up ever so slightly. I see nothing in those numbers that says star or breakout. To me, they look like below average numbers for an NBA starter. For comparison, here's C.J.'s post all star numbers: C.J. McCollum 2015-16: Post-All Star Break, 34.3 MPG, .459 FG%, .471 3FG%, .875 FT%, .569 TS%, 21.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 4.3 APG One of those players is a breakout star. The other, not so much. I'm not labeling Exum a bust, at least not yet. I'm just saying I don't expect a 21-year old who flat out sucked as a rookie to come back from a major knee injury and make a significant positive impact this season. He's still very, very young and has plenty of time to improve, but this will be a development year for Exum. He may show flashes of greatness, but he will also struggle mighty at times, like he did his rookie year. All these predictions are about the 2016-17 season and I would be shocked if Exum, after his awful rookie year and his subsequent injury, has a breakout season in 2016-17. Of course, that's why UTA gave up a lottery pick to get George Hill. After missing the playoffs six years in a row, they are hungry to make the post season and they know Exum isn't ready to be the starting PG on a Western Conference playoff team. The trade for George Hill was UTA flat out admitting Exum may be their PG of the future, but he's not ready to be their PG of the present. BNM
I agree in principle. Exum's strength is his defensive potential, which is not adequately captured by PER. However, in today's NBA, to be a staring PG (at least a good one), you also need to be able to score, shoot the 3 and run an offense. And, those things are captured in PER and as a rookie, Exum was historically bad in those areas. He's very young and still has a lot of time to improve but that's my point, he needs to improve a LOT in order to make an overall positive impact on his team's record. I mean look at Ricky Rubio. He's another PG with good length that defends his position well. He is also an elite level distributor, something Exum decidedly isn't at this point. Yet, Rubio struggles in the NBA because he can't shoot worth a shit. Opposing defenses know Rubio can't shoot. He's so bad that under Adleman he was benched in the 4th quarter of any game that was close to winnable. You just can't put the ball in the hands of a guy who isn't a scoring threat with the game on the line. Opposing defenses back off, play the passing lanes, clamp down on everyone else and dare Rubio to shoot. Rubio = excellent defender + elite passer + horrible shooter = marginal NBA starting PG So far... Exum = excellent defender + horrible passer + horrible shooter He needs to improve significantly to be even below average, and since these predictions are for the 2016-17 season, I don't see the 21-year old Exum making that leap this year after coming back from a serious knee injury. Will he be better this year than he was as a rookie? Hopefully, for his sake. It would be hard to be worse. BNM
This guy has us 4th in our division and 9th in the conference. Which I guess means he has OKC, Utah, and Minnesota all making the playoffs? http://hoopshype.com/2016/09/24/nba-season-preview-portland-trail-blazers/
Relax, man, THIS IS PORTLAND (300-style) - we'll have 3 or 4 guys injured all season We've already got some...
wow, just wow. We fall out of the playoffs? Weird. We're a LOT less dependent on Lillard than OKC is with Westbrick.
Sports are no different from clothing or music; there are fashionable and unfashionable teams. I doubt Portland will ever be a fashionable team; at most, the Blazers get "grunge" respect. That team Out There in the Northwest where it rains. So the Jazz are flavor of the year? BFG. I don't worry about fashion in clothing and I sure as fuck don't worry about fashion in NBA teams. Just win, baby.
Its tough to admit. But, lots of crow going on in here. If we make a couple little roster adjustments I think we can be right back in the thick of things next year.
My favorite part about this thread is the celebs in Blazers gear!!! But yeah. Looks like most were wrong about Utah. They seemed to have put the pieces together pretty well.
