[druneave3Participant]

 He dropped 51 lbs. Utah has gotta move Al Jefferson and let the young guys play.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/01/jazzs-kanter-dropped-51-pounds-when-he-stopped-eating-everything/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

They have some solid bigs, they have to find out what works and make trades to fill where they are weak.. Not necessarily move al Jefferson but they got to unload some of those big boys for some talent.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 I’m confuse he stopped eatting everything in sight, then the guy tweeted everything he was eatting. 50 lb is a crazy amount of weight that he loss.

 

[PyronParticipant]

 You’re confused because it says those tweets are from Kanter’s old diet…

[river09Participant]

 50lbs?? That’s ridiculous.. Not to mentions it sounds incredibly unhealthy.. 

[CodySLCParticipant]

He’s beyond healthy.

http://saltcityhoops.com/2012/08/enes-kanter-is-officially-not-fat/enes-kanter-workout-02/

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Did I miss. omething because I dun ever remenber Kanter being fat. At the combine he weighed in at 260 w/ 5% body fat which is perfect measurements for. a 6’11 center. When did he get fat and balloon up to 290?

And they say he is now 241 lbs which seems crazy for one he plays center so why would he wanna be that skinny? And two muscle weighs more then fat and Kanter looks like Drago right now. There is no way he only weiggs 240.

I always thought Favors best position is center and he played it well in the playoffs so maybe the Jazz plan on Kanter being there future PF and Favors playing C. On offense Kanters game is better suited at PF then Favors.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 My god 50 pounds in one offseason? What did he do swallow a tapeworm?

[Awesome-O-420Participant]

 Agree, the Jazz need to move Big Al. The guy shoots 20 shots to get 20 points. It isn’t horrible but with the rest of the league playing much more effeciently, and with Big Al’s inability to get to the free thrown line, compounded with his inability to play defense the Jazz must trade him ASAP. The Jazz rarely get lottery picks, and they can’t risk screwing things up by not developing their young talent. No team with Big Al as their feature player is going to win a championship the Jazz are risking nothing by going young. 

If it turns out that Favors and Kanter don’t develop the way the Jazz hope they do, then fine at least they can move on sooner rather than later – but by delaying the inevitable the Jazz may miss the oppurtunity to develop the young talent they have, and risk loosing them in free agency when they decide to leave Utah to get playing time elsewhere.

Kanters edge last season appeared to be his big body. Hopefully he’s gained some increased leaping ability with the lost weight cause he didn’t have much before and being lighter isn’t going to help him eat space like he did last season. 

 

I’m hopeful though, he seems smart and with the lost weight he should be quicker and more agile. Even if he’s not as strong as he was last season, he was still considerably stronger than many of the other centers he went against so he still should be this season as well.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

"The guy shoots 20 shots to get 20 points. It isn’t horrible but with the rest of the league playing much more effeciently, and with Big Al’s inability to get to the free thrown line, compounded with his inability to play defense the Jazz must trade him ASAP."

So let me get this straight, in the same league where Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap carried the pitiful Utah Jazz cast to the playoffs in the West he needs to be moved so that they can be more efficient? What kind of basketball universe are you living in? 

Where is my Red Foreman clip?

Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter aren’t good yet. They have potential and moments, but on the team with Devin Harris, Gordon Hayward, and Raja Bell they would have had the Jazz in the celler. Playing less prominent role on playoff teams didn’t hurt the development of Rajon Rondo, George Hill, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Hedo Turkoglu, Joe Johnson, Jermaine O’Neal, Al Harrington, Paul Millsap, Luis Scola, or Andrew Bynum. Steve Nash was sitting behind Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd, and didn’t become an established starter until he was 26. If you play with a winning team, you are exposed to the habits, work ethic, and behavior of winning teams. If a guy is on a loser, it is just fantasy numbers and thinking they are close.

 

[Awesome-O-420Participant]

 You don’t watch Jazz basketball – then again if you’re not in Utah nobody does. That said Big Al will give up 20+ points a night. Lineups without Al were usually around a 10 pt differential. I’m sorry that I hate watching Al caught flat footed in the paint while guards fly by him and bigs abuse him. Big Al has had big numbers everywhere he’s been and it hasn’t translated to wins. If you’re argument is simply, the Jazz got to the playoffs last year, then forget it. Your argument is, the Jazz edged out a few horrible teams to make it to the playoffs…Lets actually look at those teams. New Orleans, Sacremento, GS, Minnesota, Portland and Phoenix. At least 4 of those teams are young and which young team wasn’t hurt by a lockout. The sun set in Phoenix 2 years ago and Houston is somewhere around average. Jazz fans by and large are not fans of Al Jefferson. Cause we watch the games and because we have an offense predicated on good passing in the post we cringe watching Al hold the ball for 5+ seconds while the entire team STOPS cutting and watches Al. (UCLA offense) 

 

Congrats, the Jazz beat young, inexperienced, and average teams to barely edge them out for the 8th spot. You’re point is noted. Rajon Rondo played his rookie season and started his 2nd season – so that’s not applicable here. Tony Parker started his rookie year and George Hill started getting almost 30 mins a game after his rookie year. I’m not going to address Paul Millsap cause you clearly don’t watch Jazz basketball cause he actually did have a big role his rookie year. Your post has been dishonest in the examples you provided thus far and lacking substance so I’ve already wasted too much time replying to you. 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

You are all over the map, and mostly wrong about everywhere you go.

Utah was 36-30 last year, and was young still young! Kanter (19), Favors (20), Burks (20), Evans (24), Miles (24), Carroll (25), and their elder statesmen were Howard (32), Harris (29), Jefferson (27), and Millsap (27). Earl Watson and Josh Howard were the only two players over 30 to play so much as 900 minutes last year. Tinsley and Howard were the only two over 29 to step on the floor in the Spurs series. If you think young teams were hurt by the lockout, then the Jazz were hurt too. They were younger than the Hornets and Blazers, and difference between teams like the Jazz and Blazers and those other teams was having the good sense to add veterans to add a level of experience and professionalism to the locker room.

You are inventing issues with Jefferson because you don’t like him. Nothing screams out mindless rant like ‘your don’t watch Jazz basketball.’ "You don’t know my team, I know my team!" I am not calling Al Jefferson the greatest player in the NBA, and I am not interested in defending him as a complete player. I am calling him the best player on the Jazz, and one who at this point in time is clearly better than both Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Nobody seems to be able to explain with any degree of detail to me how exactly playing competitive basketball and making the playoffs by using Jefferson and Millsap hurts their young players, or that giving more minutes to Favors and Kanter (which will lead to more losing) ultimately helps their development and the development of the other young players on the Jazz?

Also, I didn’t say the listed guys didn’t play. They didn’t the prominent roles they grew into. Rajon Rondo was treated with kid gloves by Boston, and did not emerge from the backseat of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen until about 2010. If you remember correctly, they were shopping him for the draft rights to Tyreke Evans because he didn’t like taking the back seat. Tony Parker was splitting minutes with Antonio Daniels as a rookie. George Hill saw his role increase temporarily in his second year because Tony Parker was hurt, and the team eventually moved him because Tony Parker is better and signed an extension so he wasn’t going anywhere. Paul Millsap played 18 minutes per game as a rookie and 20 in his second year. Last year having not played regular competitive basketball in two years, Enes Kanter played 13 per game. In what was his second season, Derrick Favors played 21 minutes. If Millsap had a "big role" then what is the problem with Favors and Kanter staying in their current roles for another year?

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

Thats 10 out of 20 fg… Thats 50%… Haha Big Al shot 49% in the regular season and upped it to 52 in the playoffs.. Not to mention he shoots 50% for his career, That’s pretty solid. He just needs to stop eluding contact and he’d be easily a 25+ppg.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 Did you even watch any jazz games? Jefferson was one of the most efficient players in the league. He also set the nba record for lowest turnover % at 4%

[druneave3Participant]

 Sure he is efficient and a very good offensive player but I think he is selfish, a bit of a black hole on offense, and not a team player, and in the end doesn’t help your team win games. Thanks in most part to his lack of effort on the deffensive end of the floor that include an unwillingness to rotate and lazy slaps at the ball instead of moving his feet and getting in good defensive positioning. Very similar player to Boozer. Defense wins championships right? Kanter and Favors could be a defensive nightmare together with their size, strength, and athleticism. They can also run the floor, something that slow-footed Jefferson doesn’t. If both Kanter and Favors got more minutes I think both could put up some surprising offensive numbers as well. Their D will turn into offense and fast break with them running the floor. You don’t even need to run plays for Favors and will get points on the offensive glass, lobs, and staying around the basket. Both can step out 15ft. Wait til Hakeem comes and works with these two youngs guys who will only continue to develop. I think it is stupid to have a guy like Jefferson along with his contract when you have a bunch of young players. You don’t want young players watching Jefferson and picking up his habits. 

"Hey, it’s taken me eight years to realize that if I pass the ball outside and guys hit open shots, it helps free me up. I guess better late than never." — Al Jefferson

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

So making the playoffs with Paul Millsap, a miscast Devin Harris, Gordon Hayward, Josh Howard, Alex Burks, DeMarre Carroll, Raja Bell, C.J. Miles, and a last chance Jamaal Tinsley says he can’t help a team win? Call me crazy, but I think wins and losses are a pretty decent measure of whether a player is helping a team win. What is the difference between that Jazz team and the Bobcats, Cavs, or Kings beyond Jefferson and Millsap? And by the way, Jefferson was the only guy on the team who could score against the Spurs. The rest of the team was 95-275 (34.5 percent).

[druneave3Participant]

Your goal is to simply make the playoffs with a first round exit? That is about all you will acomplish if a guy like Al Jefferson is your number 1 option. You can take him on your team….A big No Thanks for me. 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

I never said that was the goal. You said he didn’t help a team win, which runs counter to reality. He had a bad supporting cast, and carried Utah to the playoffs. At that point and time where their young players were over their heads. How is it bad in the short or long term for Favors, Burks, Kanter, Hayward, Carroll, and Evans to get exposed to playoff basketball? This was a team that was absolutely pathetic after dealing Deron Williams, and in a clear rebuilding situation. One year later, Al Jefferson helped carry them forward. Why should he not get credit?  

[HitsterParticipant]

Both Jefferson and Millsap are in contract year so Utah are not tied down to the current front court long term. With the new trade rules, teams not in a position to make an FA signing could be looking at the likes of Jefferson and Millsap as trade targets prior to the deadline date so Utah could well get assets back in return.

Rather like a few years ago when Utah had Boozer, Millsap and Okur all coming up for renewal, they maybe cannot afford to keep them all but don’t want to lose them all. This time I’d assume they would look to keep one of Millsap or Jefferson and let the other move on or more logically get good trade value for the other.

Utah did apparently offer Millsap something like $30 million over 4 years according to reports over the summer and as he has been on the roster a long time they maybe have greater loyalty to him than Jefferson. Thus we could have Jefferson as the available player assuming they will logically keep both Favours and Kanter long term.

Regarding possible locations for Jefferson, Philly sprang to mind, pairing him with Bynum would give them a great frontcourt and Philly has cap space and could make a trade work moneywise but would not have a huge amount of assets to give up outside of their core. Houston have assets coming out of their ears and have Kevin Martin on an expiring deal so that could be another option and even Dallas might consider pairing Jefferson with Dirk and could match contracts and maybe send a pick as well.

[Captain LParticipant]

 Enes stated that he went home to Turkey for a couple of weeks and sat around watching TV and eating and got up to 293 lbs and that he lost weight by changing his diet to salads and seafood mostly and doing his workouts . One thing we don’t have to worry about with Kanter is that he will work hard and with hard work , I’m sure he’ll improve a ton, we need to remember he is still 19 yrs old.

[CodySLCParticipant]

Jefferson only got about 17 shots per game and scored just over 19ppg.

Here is a quote from John Hollinger on Big Al.

Jefferson discovered the joys of passing out of double-teams and had a career season as a result, unfathomably leading all centers in pure point rating (yes, this really happened) with the help of a historically low turnover ratio.

 

His ability to create shots without turning the ball over is truly phenomenal. Jefferson had miscues on only 4.7 percent of his possessions last season. Nobody in the history of the NBA has had a usage rate this high and turnover ratio this low. Nobody.

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