Five Bold Predictions for the Utah Jazz in 2011-2012
The 2010-2011 season was a season of turmoil for the Utah Jazz. Their Hall of Fame Coach left, their star player was traded and they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 season. Anything else you want to add?
Despite the distress Jazz fans must have felt during the year, the future remains bright. The last time the Jazz had the third pick in the draft, that pick ended up being Deron Williams and the team would make every playoffs from his sophomore year until he was traded to the New Jersey Nets.
The last time the Jazz were forced to rebuild was following the Stockon-Malone era where they were to miss the playoffs for three consecutive years.
However this time round, the rebuilding process should be nearly over as the Jazz will be looking to add to a good core of young players to ensure the fans that they would not be suffering the heartbreak of missing out on the playoffs for another year.
The Jazz Will Make the Playoffs
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The playoff drought will end at one. The Jazz showed toward the end of the season that their group of players could compete in the West, and with one or two tweaks in the roster the team should be heading toward the postseason once again.
The Jazz have a good, young core. A good draft and some offseason moves will provide them with the depth to reach the promise land of the postseason once again.
They not may competing for home court advantage by any means, but they should be able to slot in to the seven or eight seed in the conference with one or two key additions to the roster.
Andrei Kirilenko Will Remain a Utah Jazz Player
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Having Andrei Kirlenko's huge contract come off the books could really help the Jazz this offseason, and although many contenders may be clamoring for the signature of the 6'9" defensive stalwart, he has made it clear that Utah is where he wishes to stay.
Hopefully this means he will be willing to sign for significantly less money and I am of the belief that he will.
He has stuck with the Jazz through the good times and bad, and although he may never reach All-Star status again, he remains a valuable player for the franchise.
The Jazz Will Draft a Guard of the Future to Help Them Reach the Playoffs
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The Jazz obtaining the third pick of the draft due to the luck of the ping-pong balls may mean that the Jimmer may very well remain in the state of Utah.
Before the lottery I felt the Jazz would do well to draft Alec Burks with their first pick but now that the pick has been bumped up to the three spot, it may be a bit of a stretch to draft Burks with that pick.
The talent of players such as Enes Kanter cannot be ignored, so the Jazz would do well to draft the Turkish big man and hope that Fredette stays around for the 12th pick.
They could go another way by drafting a player such as Brandon Knight with their third pick, but if they were to do this it would be highly unlikely that Jimmer would also find his way to Utah.
I believe their best bet is to draft Kanter and perhaps trade away the injury prone Mehmet Okur to free up some space in the front-court rotation and thus this leaves them free to obtain an excellent outside shooter with their 12th pick.
The Jimmer was the best scorer in College Basketball and there is no reason those scoring abilities won't translate to the NBA.
Gordon Hayward Will Have a Break-out Sophomore Season
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Anyone who watched Hayward play toward the end of the season would find it hard to disagree.
Coach Sloan did not give the rookie much playing time, and when he was on the court during the first few months of the season he seemed nervous and over-excited, committing silly fouls on defense whilst often passing up the open shot.
He wasn't the same man under Coach Corbin. Given more minutes and with growing confidence Hayward showed the skills he used to lead Butler to the championship game. His signature game of the NBA season was a dominating performance against the Lakers where he forced Kobe Bryant into 6 of 18 shooting whilst making the game winning free throw and the game winning defensive possession on the other end.
Hayward is 6'8", athletic and handles the ball like a guard. He knocked down 47 percent of this three-pointers last season, and he showed us many times that hes not afraid to take it down the middle and throw it down on opposing defenders.
The kid will come into his own next season, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Tyrone Corbin Will Be a Candidate for Couch of the Year Honours
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Corbin inherited a franchise in turmoil and although it took a while for Coach Corbin to notch his first win, do not take that as an indicator of anything. He showed courage with the way he was willing to change the system, making the Jazz push the ball much more often and speeding up their play.
He also inherited a team ravaged by injuries and never really had a full team together meaningful amount of time.
Coach Corbin will get the players to work for him and he will get them to succeed. With the third and twelfth picks in the draft, he has the chance to draft players who will fit into the system he wants to create.
Perhaps he will even make a trade or two during the off-season ensuring he has a team he can work with. He will get his team to the playoffs and even if he does not win coach of the year honors, his name will certainly be in the discussion come the end of the season.
