- Yes, Donovan Mitchell had an impressive rookie campaign, but plenty of other players had solid first years before plateauing. One particularly intriguing perspective that may reassure Jazz fans that they’re not witnessing the next O.J. Mayo is teammate Thabo Sefolosha‘s. “I was a teammate with Derrick Rose when he was a rookie, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant when they were young in their first two seasons in OKC, and the talent level is right up there with those guys,” the 34-year-old told Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News.
- He may not win the Rookie of the Year award (according to our own staff) but ESPN’s Mike Schmitz believes that Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has the highest future potential of any of this year’s rookies. Co-writer Kevin Pelton placed him No. 2 behind Ben Simmons but Schmitz raved about the Louisville product’s demonstrated ability to improve upon his weaknesses.
After being passed over for the NBA Draft Combine, Shamorie Ponds of St. John’s is concentrating on team workouts to prove himself, writes Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. The sophomore guard put up a 21.6/5.0/4.7 line for the Red Storm this season, but wasn’t among the 69 players who received combine invitations.
“For sure, I was most definitely upset,” he said. “I feel I deserved it.”
Ponds worked out today for the Cavaliers and has held a session with the Nets. Cleveland GM Koby Altman spoke with all the participants after the workout, and Ponds said he received positive feedback. “[Altman] said he really likes my game a lot, he really enjoyed watching it,” Ponds added. “There was great energy after the workout.”
Ponds still has workouts remaining with the Jazz, Pistons and Lakers and wants to reschedule sessions with the Knicks and Hawks that he had to cancel because of final exams. He will use the results of those workouts to determine whether to remain in the draft, a decision that has to be made by May 30.
There are more draft-related notes to pass on:
- Today’s workout in Cleveland included three other prominent players in Auburn’s Mustapha Heron, Villanova’s Omari Spellman and USC’s De’Anthony Melton, Zagoria tweets. Heron also worked out Friday for the Nets along with Nevada’s Cody Martin, Georgia’s Kendrick Nunn, North Carolina’s Joel Berry and Stanford’s Reid Travis.
- Michigan State’s Nick Ward had sessions with the Knicks and Thunder during the week and is set to work out for the Pistons this weekend, according to Brendan F. Quinn of the Athletic (Twitter link). Eight other teams have submitted requests to see the sophomore in action.
- The Timberwolves brought in Rodney Bullock of Providence and Jalen McDaniels of San Diego State for a workout on Thursday, relays Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
- ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz take a look at the best selections for each of the lottery teams if they land in the top three.
- Paul George got nearly all A’s in his first season with the Thunder from Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. George received high marks for deportment, stamina, defense and 3-point shooting, but only a D in ball security and a C for his performance in the playoffs. George was outstanding against the Jazz in Games 1 and 5, but shot a disastrous 2-of-16 with six turnovers as OKC was eliminated in Game 6.
- The Jazz will be looking for another scorer this summer to complement Donovan Mitchell, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah could have $17MM to spend, depending on what it does with free agent Derrick Favors and the non-guaranteed contracts of Thabo Sefolosha, Ekpe Udoh and Jonas Jerebko.
- Elijah Bryant of Brigham Young, who worked out for the Jazz today, is trying to prove he can carve out a place in the NBA, relays Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Cougars’ leading scorer last season, Bryant is considered a long shot to be drafted but left school a year early because he wants to get started on a pro career at age 23. The first step is matching up with higher-regarded prospects at workouts. “So you come into a situation like that and you’re used to being the main guy on the team, but now everyone’s playing well, right?” Bryant said. “So I think being assertive and being able to communicate on this level is a different thing than being at BYU. Being able to show you’re in shape and show you can hit shots when you’re tired. Those are things that I’ve been able to show throughout this process.”
- Jazz big man Derrick Favors spoke about his time in Utah in the past tense while cleaning out his locker this week but he wasn’t necessarily shutting the door on a return this summer, Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News writes. Favors will have plenty of suitors in free agency and he is ready for the experience. “We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “There will be a lot of things to think about this summer, but I can wait for that.”
Dante Exum was drafted in 2014 as the fifth overall pick and is still a work in progress. Given that Exum missed his entire sophomore campaign with a torn ACL, he essentially lost a year-and-a-half of development. Coming off his best season as he enters restricted free agency, it would be a “major upset” if Exum does not return to Utah, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune opines.
Exum, 22, averaged a career-best 8.1 PPG and 3.1 APG for the Jazz during the season. However, he still has not developed a consistent jumper, his midrange game is virtually nonexistent, and he was dominated at times during the postseason, Jones writes. While there is more development needed, Exum and Jazz seem to have a mutual interest in him returning next season.
“In fact, it will be a major upset if Exum isn’t wearing a Jazz uniform next season,” Jones writes. “Utah covets his size and athleticism. The front office, led by general manager Dennis Lindsey, maintained through the postseason they would be patient with Exum and his development.”
Check out more Jazz notes below:
- Eight-year NBA veteran Derrick Favors will hit unrestricted free agency this summer coming off a season in which he posted solid totals of 12.3 PPG and 7.2 RPG in 77 games, Frank Urbina of HoopsHype looks at four possible destinations for Favors, including the Wizards, Bucks, Warriors, and a return to Utah.
- After the Rockets completed their postseason series win over the Jazz, James Harden spoke highly of the team and believes there are even brighter days ahead, Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News writes. “Unbelievable,” Harden said. “Especially when nobody expected them to be in the situation they’re in right now. The sky is the limit for them.”
- In a separate story, Brad Rock of The Deseret News writes about the end of Utah’s season, with Jae Crowder — who was acquired at the deadline from the Cavaliers — suggesting that this year was just the start of good things to come. “I think it’s the beginning of an era,” Crowder said.
- Brad Rock of the Deseret News writes in a separate story that the Jazz cannot stand pat this summer, arguing that the team’s ability to keep improving will be limited without a few roster changes.
- Chinese forward Abudushalamu Abudurexiti has already worked out for eight NBA teams this spring, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, who identifies the Nets, Mavericks, Lakers, Bucks, Suns, and Jazz as clubs that have taken a look at the youngster. Scotto’s piece is worth checking out in full for a closer look at the under-the-radar prospect.
A summer decision on Derrick Favors will shape the Jazz roster going forward, writes Bobby Marks of ESPN. Favors, who has spent more than seven years in Utah, will be an unrestricted free agent after earning $12MM this season. The team received offers for him at the trade deadline, according to Marks, but never came close to pulling the trigger.
Favors played 77 games this year after battling injuries the past two seasons and raised his numbers in points, rebounds and blocks. He was an effective fill-in for Rudy Gobert while the starting center missed 26 games with knee injuries.
The market may work against Favors, Marks cautions, because few teams have significant money to spend and the draft appears to be loaded with big men. He sees a compromise that would keep Favors in Utah for $45MM over three seasons with a 2020/21 player option. Marks notes that would allow the Jazz to use their full mid-level exception on another player – or players – without going over the luxury tax.
There’s more from Utah on the first day of the offseason:
- The Jazz also face decisions on three non-guaranteed contracts, Marks adds in the same story. After free agent Gordon Hayward left for Boston last summer, Utah signed three veterans — Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh — without the guarantee of a second season. Marks states that their fates will be determined by the free agency pool at their positions, the need to open roster spots and the anticipated cost of keeping Favors. Jerebko and Udoh were barely used in the playoffs, while Sefolosha missed the end of the season with a knee injury and will start next year with a five-game suspension.
- After becoming a surprising Rookie of the Year candidate, “nonstop work” is on Donovan Mitchell‘s agenda for the summer, relays Christopher Kamrani of The Salt Lake Tribune. Mitchell had his left foot in a walking boot during today’s exit interview, a result of an injury that forced him out of Tuesday’s closeout game with the Rockets. “He’s special because he has that look in him that he wants to be the best,” teammate Ricky Rubio said. “You either have it or you don’t have it. He has something. We can enjoy it.”
- The Jazz plan to use their system as a selling point to free agents this summer, according to Royce Young and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The pitch will be that players will be put into a role where they can excel, just as Joe Ingles has.
- Links to today’s exit interviews are available on the Jazz website.
Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau shook up his coaching staff Monday by cutting ties with three assistants, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reports. The most notable of the cuts is player development coach Vince Legarza, who worked closely with center Karl-Anthony Towns. Shooting coach Peter Patton and assistant video coordinator Wes Bohn are the other coaches who will not return. Towns was not given prior notice of Legarza’s departure, Krawczynski continues. Thibodeau may not replace all of those coaches since he has told some people that he’d like to downsize, Krawczynski adds.
In other notable developments around the Northwest Division:
- Jazz point guard Dante Exum has a strained left hamstring and his status for the remainder of the series against the Rockets is uncertain, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Exum underwent an MRI and further evaluation Monday after he suffered the injury in Game 4. Exum and Ricky Rubio, who also has a hamstring injury, will not play in Game 5 on Tuesday, the team tweets.
- There’s no chance guard Rodney Hood will return to the Jazz as a free agent, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Hood will be a restricted free agent if he receives a $3.47MM qualifying offer from the Cavaliers. Otherwise, he’ll be unrestricted.
- The Thunder are willing to pay the steep cost of retaining free agent Paul George, according to Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. George will likely sign a max contract in free agency this summer. The team wants to remain competitive, even if it means footing the bill for $260MM in salary and luxury-tax penalties, Dawson adds.
4:00pm: Rubio will not be available for the Jazz against the Rockets for Game 4 tonight, the Jazz announced (via Twitter).
8:52am: The Jazz are hopeful that Ricky Rubio will be back on the court for today’s Game 4 against the Rockets, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Rubio missed the first three games of the conference semifinals with a strained left hamstring he suffered nine days ago in the closeout game with the Thunder. He will get treatment on the hamstring this morning, and the Jazz will decide on his availability based on how he responds.
With Rubio sidelined, point guard duties have fallen to Donovan Mitchell, whose numbers across the board have fallen off as he tries to handle an unfamiliar role. He’s shooting just 32.2% from the field against Houston while averaging 16 points, 6.3 assists and 3.3 turnovers per game.
“We’re asking Donovan right now to be a point guard, and it’s different,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “There’s a lot of things when you take someone out of your lineup as instrumental as Ricky that you have to adjust.”
Rubio is officially listed as questionable for tonight’s contest, as is power forward Derrick Favors, who left Game 3 with a sprained left ankle. Favors has been a strong frontcourt presence in the playoffs, averaging 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per night.
- Brad Rock of The Deseret News writes that Jazz coach Quin Snyder is further cementing his case as one of the NBA’s smartest coaches as Utah spars with the Rockets in the second round of the playoffs.