A little early but . . . NBADraft.net's 2010 Top 10

This is really premature, but as Jazz fans, we all know why we should be keeping an eye on this . . . Well, here is nbadraft.net's mock draft for 2010:

1. John Wall, 6'4 PG
2. Ricky Rubio, 6'4, PG
3. Xavier Henry, 6'6, SG
4. Jrue Holiday, 6'4, PG/SG
5. Derrick Favors, 6'9, PF
6. Gani Lawal, 6'9, PF
7. Austin Daye, 6'10, SF
8. Donatas Motiejunas, 7'1, PF
9. Davin Ebanks, 6'8, SF
10. Scotty Hopson, 6'6, SG

I'm pretty sure that David Stern would do whatever it takes to make sure that we don't get Ricky Rubio, even though he's a dead ringer for a former Jazz player that we may all know . . . Who knows if any of those 10 guys will be true Lotto picks (i.e. the top 14 picked each year), or even if the Knicks will be in the lotto by then? (Thanks, guys . . . ) Even more surprising would be to guess what the Jazz would need in 2010.

There's just so much up in the air that will "eventually" sort itself out after next off-season. (God willing) So it'll be much easier to forecast a drafting direction for future years after that's all taken care of. I do know that if Price and Knight get short contracts from the Jazz this following off-season that the Jazz may be in need of a PG to help Deron out time to time.

By 2010 if our shooting guard situation still necessitates the drafting of young SGs then our current crop of 3 young guys (CJ, Ronnie B and Mobe) must not have panned out. Even more startling would be if one of our three recent centers all end up as duds (Fesenko, Koufos and Tomic). I'm guessing we'll either be on the look out for a PF -- we can't honestly expect to have Boozer, Okur, Kirilenko and Millsap all on the roster by then, and will need to reload at the 4 for sure.

Though . . . it would be fun to see Ricky as a rookie playing with our 2nd unit throwing oops to Andrei, and making crazy passes to Korver . . .

Face of the Franchi$e

While this post may be slightly late, it's getting here just in time -- similar to Deron Williams' signing with the Utah Jazz. (Which he did at 4 pm Eastern Time, on July 18th, 2008)

Photographed by Tom Smart, Deseret News

Deron Williams stands to become a very rich man in his time playing for the Jazz. His new contract extension follows the script for franchise players on other teams (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, etc); Deron's being identical in some primary terms to the deal that Chris Paul received. It runs for three years, plus a 4th year as a player's option for the max.

"Williams said he talked to Carmelo Anthony (four years plus an option) and LeBron James (three years plus an option) about their extensions and went back and forth before going with his gut feeling for the three-year deal plus an option," (Siler, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2008).

Understandably, the end of the 3rd year will coincide with the the end of Deron's 7th year in the league. At this stage of seniority he is eligible for a raise that would be worth 30% of the total NBA Salary cap at that point in time -- as opposed to what he's currently earning, somewhere between 20 and 25 %. How much money are we talking here? Next season (2008-2009) is the last year of his original Rookie deal, after that it balloons up significantly:

2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13
$5,069,449	$13,758,000	$15,202,590	$16,647,180	$18,091,770

This data is an approximation derived from massive sleuth work from the good people at ShamSports.com, and while not being 100% accurate, probably a lot more accurate than Diebold machines. The last season (2012-2013) is a player's option that Deron will probably opt out on for, potentially, his last really large contract in his career. As it currently stands, Deron will never be the top earning player on the Jazz until 2012-2013, as Andrei is another max player who will earn a whopping $17,823,000 in 2010-2011, and Carlos Boozer and/or Mehmet Okur will probably rake in the most in 2011-2012.

Not only is Deron finally being paid his value, but the franchise is bound to acquiesce with his roster demands. This issue seems obvious, especially since the Jazz Brass is giving him free reign to assist and influence how things are run in this organization:

"Williams trusts O'Connor to keep surrounding him with talent, and he's also willing to play point guard on and off the floor - whether that means persuading forward Carlos Boozer to stay beyond next season, advising O'Connor about players around the league when asked and helping to attract free agents," (Kragthorpe, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2008).

"I think I can do a good job of recruiting guys . . . try to get 'em here, try to get over that stereotype that Utah's not a great place to live." (Deron Williams, via the Salt Lake Tribune, 2008)

However, the Jazz are not always in the mood to appease star players -- Utah never put out a roster full of other Duke players, or Russians or Turkish basketball talent. University of Illinois team mates on Deron's NCAA Finalist team did not last long in Utah -- Dee Brown lasted two Rocky Mountain Reviews; Roger Powell Jr. only one for the Jazz.

Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Roger Powell Jr.

That said, lately Deron has called for more defense, and for the coaches to give deserving players more time. The Jazz recently drafted Ohio State center Kosta Koufos -- a player probably known more for his ability to hit 18 foot jumpers than for being a inside defensive force. Deron suggests that:

"He just needs to rebound, and defend, and block shots. That's what we really need." (Deron Williams, via the Deseret News, 2008)

This isn't the first time Deron has been vocal about these matters -- the first big experience with this type of leadership occurred after the Jazz were defeated in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in 2006-2007. During those playoffs Deron also suggested that older players (perhaps Harpring and Kirilenko) should have played less while younger ones (Brewer and Millsap) should have been on the court for a bit more.

C.J. Miles, a noted fried of Williams, may be on his way out. To this Deron has said:

"I want him back here in the baddest way. I think he can be a great player for us if he gets the opportunity. I don't think he's ever been really given an opportunity to come in and prove himself," (Deron Williams, via the Salt Lake Tribune, 2008).

Deron has shown Utah that he takes them seriously -- he's gone on record to say that he "loves it [in Utah], and lives there full-time," (Deron Williams, via 1320 K-Fan, 2008). Now it is time for Kevin O'Connor, Jerry Sloan and the rest of the Jazz brass to show Deron that they feel the same about the new face of their franchi$e.

Bostjan Nachbar ?

I respect David Locke. He's a numbers guy, and you can really tell that he is more than just a numbers guy. He's also a Jazz fan. Mr. Locke is humble enough to admit that he's far from a professional scout (E.g. this); but he's a lot closer to the game than many of us are. If you don't know who this guy is, he's a radio personality for KFan 1320 -- a local sports talk radio station that broadcasts out of Utah, and can be heard on the web here.

With a keen eye looking towards the not-so-immediate future (of 2010), Mr. Locke postulates about the availability of Bostjan (Boki) Nachbar.

"Harpring's contract expires in 2010 when the Nets are trying to clear space it would be interesting to know if they would be willing to do a sign and trade with Nachbar." (Locke, 2008)

Honestly, Nachbar may very well be an adequate replacement for our own Matty Harpring; however, Harpring gets by with his scrappiness -- Nachbar (whom I've seen play only a few times) does not appear to have that same tenacity. We've seen relatively productive European players wilt in our system. After all, the much maligned Gordan Giricek was a guy who used to score 14 ppg, get 5 rpg, 2.5 apg and over 1 spg if given the opportunity.

As it stands, Matt Harpring (for all of his faults) is going to be making over $6 million dollars a season, for the rest of his contract. I'd love to get him off the books, though I seriously doubt that would happen. Harpring appears to be ingrained into the culture of this team, and you know that Larry H. Miller is not going to trade him and his wife (a local physician, I think OB/GYN, but I'm not a stalker or anything) out of the Utah Jazz family. I can only hope for a reduction of his minutes per game (MPG) as the Jazz front office and coaches devise a much more domestic solution to (at least) the production issues as the years go by.

At some stage our young guns will need more playing time, why not at the expense of Harpring? He should be mentoring more now, while guys like Ronnie Brewer, Morris Almond, C.J. Miles (if still on the team), Kyle Korver (younger than Harpring) get more burn. If we wanted to really go crazy, and play some European 3/4 hybrid some of Harpring's minutes -- why not Andrei Kirilenko? He can play more than 30 mpg, he's a good defender (unlike Harpring), and he's making the max. Why not play him more and watch his stats (*cough* touches *cough*) and happiness increase? Additionally, if anyone forgot, AK-47 shot 38% from three last season. Empirically, he is improving still . . . but his mpg is too low to realize it in some ways.

The last thing I want to do is add more swingmen to our team, as it stands right now our core rotation will only increase in size as our younger guys get better. I think I have to see what Locke is suggesting here; however, it's just not the way that I would go.

Boki is interesting, but I'd rather play Brewer at the three for the 5-10 mpg that Harpring will eventually lose over the next 2 seasons.