u/ClutchOlday

The NBA fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 because they thought they were tanking by not playing the top players in the fourth quarter of a couple of games even though they played the first 3 quarters, the Jazz had several youngsters they were developing, and won one of the games.

But they won't penalize the Wizards even after one of their players actually admitted to tanking to get the first draft pick.

Hopefully having another Aussie on the team is good luck

Some takeaways from Will Hardy:

• Hardy doesn't think JJJ is a five but JJJ can play some five and can give the Jazz a different look at center.
• Hardy might play a lineup based on matchups. If something doesn't work, the coaches will try something different.
• About DP, Hardy might take a couple of weeks into the season and then compare stats on how players are doing. I take this to mean that DP might not be a starter when the season opens. But Hardy wants DP not to care about starting and just focus on being the best player he can be.

From Jake and Ben:

• The Lakers took Walker because they promised Luka a center and Walker and Duren were the best available.
• The Jazz were willing to go way higher than 32M to re-sign Walker.

Seems Walker's post claiming that he's always wanted to be in Utah was just smoke.

Bill Russell at PF is intriguing. I would replace Nikola Jokic with Wilt Chamberlain at center though. And maybe Larry Bird instead of LeBron. That would have been a fantastic starting five.

>George’s base salary for the first season of the extension (2027-28) is roughly $28.7 million.

>George also has about $500,000 in incentives each season. The incentives are primarily based on playoff wins and availability. For example, George would earn $100,000 for playing 65 of 82 games and another $100,000 bonus for each playoff series the Jazz win.

>He’ll also get a small bonus for team defense while he’s on the court. In total, George has five different $100,000 bonuses per season.

10 assists with 4 steals is awesome.

>When working with salary matching rules, a $14.7 million deal is a lot more useful than two $6 million ones. Because of this trade, the Jazz will have the option of pairing Green with a single other small salary to bring back $26 to 30 million.

Jusuf Nurkic already looks like he's moving much better after season-ending surgery to his septum that was giving him breathing and sleeping problems. Plus an offseason improving his conditioning for the FIBA qualifiers and upcoming NBA season.

That is a confident shooter (AJ Green, not Kuminga). He doesn't do much of anything else but he might be someone who can help chip away at leads in limited minutes. Not a lot of better ways to use a future second round pick.

The Jazz stealing Jaxson Hayes from the Lakers was sneaky good.

Ambidextrous, ball handling, shooting touch, hook shot, soft touch around the basket.

We're really fortunate to have JJJ on this team. He and Lauri are going to be a great one-two punch with lots of scorers and slashers around them when they're double-teamed.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbraO-Ug-We/?igsh=MnNjNnFpbWJqazBh

Was the Carlos Boozer signing still the biggest one to date in terms of a young stud joining the Jazz as a free agent?

Some big names have played for the Jazz in the past -- Pete Maravich, Spencer Haywood, Adrian Dantley, Darryl Dawkins, Kelly Tripucka, Bernard King, Joe Johnson, Tom Chambers, Danny Manning, Al Jefferson, Rudy Gay, Ricky Rubio, Mike Conley, Derek Fisher, Kyle Korver, Tom Gugliotta, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills-- but most of them have been in trades and after they've reached their peak. Truck Robinson was probably the only other notable free agent signing in franchise history and he only played 125 games for the then New Orleans Jazz.