Utah Jazz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Vaccines, Ball, Trade Candidates, Defenders, All-Star Voting

February 5th, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In an effort to alleviate players’ – and some coaches’ – fears and skepticism about receiving COVID-19 vaccines, the NBA is arranging mandatory meetings over the next two weeks between its top medical expert and all 30 teams, Sam Amick, Joe Vardon and David Aldridge of The Athletic report. Teams felt there was a need to provide information and insight on this issue to its players.

The NBA wants everyone associated with the game — players, coaches, referees and chief front office personnel — to get the shots, not only for safety reasons but also as part of a national volunteering-public relations campaign.

We have more from around the basketball world:

LaMelo Ball ranks as the leading candidate for the Rookie of the Year award, according to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. The Hornets guard ranks first in assists and steals, second in rebounding and third in scoring among all rookies despite coming off the bench in all but two games. Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton sits in second place for Wasserman, who ranks the rookies from 10-1.
With Wizards guard Bradley Beal apparently off the market, there won’t be another blockbuster trade this season to rival the James Harden deal, Tim Bontemps of ESPN opines. Some of the players who could be moved by March’s trade deadline are Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick, P.J. Tucker, George Hill, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon, though Hill and Gordon are currently injured.
Rudy Gobert‘s contract with the Jazz is a rare case in which a defensive stalwart is compensated like a elite scorer, Aldridge notes in a separate Athletic story. Aldridge takes a closer look at why top defenders are generally not as valued as scorers.
Kevin Durant has received the most All-Star votes in the early returns, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Beal is the top vote-getter among Eastern Conference guards. LeBron James has the most votes among Western Conference forwards and Stephen Curry leads all Western Conference guards by a wide margin.

Gobert Talks Hot Start, Mitchell

February 3rd, 2021 at 9:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert recently sat down for an extensive interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, addressing the Jazz’s hot start to the 2020/21 season, his relationship with All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, his relationship with former Jazz star center Mark Eaton, and a host of other topics. Utah, currently the No. 1 seed in the West, is 9-1 in its last 10 contests and 16-5 overall. “We all realize that winning a championship would be something that’s never been done before in this franchise, so we all realize that if we all give a little more of ourselves to the team and we all sacrifice a little more, we have a chance to hopefully be in a position to accomplish that,” Gobert said.

G League Assignments: Pokusevski, Oturu, Magnay, Azubuike, Forrest

February 2nd, 2021 at 7:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder rookie big man Aleksej Pokusevski has averaged 17.4 minutes per game in 17 appearances but he’s headed to Orlando to join the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The 17th overall pick, who played 20 minutes in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, is shooting just 24.7% from the field and the team wants him to develop his offensive game.

Guard Ty Jerome and two-way players Moses Brown and Josh Hall are also going to Orlando. “A lot of time and effort has gone into deciding who to send and when to send them,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We felt like sending the four of them together, all for different reasons developmentally, was the best decision.”

We have more G League transactions from Western Conference clubs:

The Clippers assigned rookie big man Daniel Oturu to the Agua Caliente Clippers, according the RealGM transactions log. Oturu has appeared in 10 NBA games this season but has only averaged 4.2 MPG. He’s only gotten on the court once since January 22 and the organization wants Oturu to get some extended playing time during the bubble season in Orlando.
The Pelicans have transferred two-way player Will Magnay to the Erie BayHawks, the Pelicans’ PR department tweets. The 22-year-old rookie power forward out of Tulsa, who played in Australia last season, has not appeared in a game this season.
The Jazz duo of rookie center Udoka Azubuike and Trent Forrest are joining the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League team tweets. Azubuike, the team’s first-round pick out of Kansas, has made 12 limited appearances this season. Forrest, an undrafted guard out of Florida State, has played in two NBA games.

Pistons Expected To Resume Schedule On Tuesday

February 2nd, 2021 at 8:06am CST by Luke Adams

Following a postponement on Monday night, the Pistons are expected to avoid further schedule disruptions this week, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Monday night’s game between the Pistons and Nuggets was postponed due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as a Detroit player reportedly returned a positive or inconclusive COVID-19 test, resulting in retesting and a contact tracing investigation.

However, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link), the test in question was determined to be a false positive. Edwards and Wojnarowski both indicate that the Pistons were en route to Salt Lake City late on Monday night and anticipate being able to play Tuesday’s game against the Jazz.

When a Grizzlies player recorded a confirmed positive test two weeks ago, the team had its next five games postponed out of an abundance of caution. It’s safe to assume a similar fate could have befallen the Pistons if Monday’s result had been a confirmed positive test rather than a false positive.

Assuming everyone on the roster tests negative again today, the Pistons should be given the go-ahead to play the Jazz on Tuesday, with contests against the Suns on Friday and the Lakers on Saturday to follow.

Ingles Jokes About Jazz's "Unsalvageable" Roster

January 28th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Jazz on a 10-game winning streak, forward Joe Ingles told reporters on Wednesday that the team is “just a really fun group to play with,” tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “There’s no egos involved,” Ingles said, adding, “It’s not as unsalvageable as some people think.” His last comment is a tongue-in-cheek reference to an Athletic report from last April in which a source suggested the relationship between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert didn’t appear “salvageable.”

Jazz Announce G League Roster

January 27th, 2021 at 7:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz‘s G League affiliate (the Salt Lake City Stars) officially announced its roster for the upcoming season, while the Thunder‘s affiliate (the Oklahoma City Blue) named Bradford Burgess an assistant coach. The Stars’ roster includes Yogi Ferrell, who will be an affiliate player for the Jazz after a brief stint with the Cavaliers earlier this month.

Donovan Mitchell In Concussion Protocol, Won’t Play Wednesday

January 27th, 2021 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol and won’t be available to play on Wednesday night vs. Dallas, the team announced today.

Mitchell, who logged 34 minutes in a win over the Knicks on Tuesday night, didn’t leave the game early and the Jazz say it’s not immediately clear when he sustained the injury. He first experienced possible concussion symptoms on Wednesday morning, per team officials.

Mitchell’s availability for Friday’s rematch vs. the Mavericks, as well as subsequent contests, will be determined by how he progresses through the concussion protocol.

In the short term, the Jazz will be tasked with finding a way to replace Mitchell’s offensive production — he’s the team’s leading scorer this season with 23.4 PPG in 17 games. Utah figures to lean a little more on Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson, with backup guards Miye Oni and Shaquille Harrison among the candidates to see additional minutes as well.

Clarkson Making Case For Sixth Man

January 26th, 2021 at 5:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Year-to-year continuity appears to be rewarding the Jazz early on in the 2020/21 season, according to Ariel Pacheco of Basketball Insiders.

Led by All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, the Jazz have benefited from an improved defense and long-range marksmanship. The club ranks in the top ten in both offensive and defensive rating, Pacheco notes. Mitchell, too, appears to have developed his ball-handling abilities.

After signing a four-year deal in the offseason with Utah, Jazz reserve guard Jordan Clarkson is making an early case for the Sixth Man of the Year award honors with his inspired play of late, per Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “Definitely it was one of my goals going into this year, to go get that and play that role,” Clarkson says.

Mitchell Is Giving Jazz Star Power It Needs

January 23rd, 2021 at 3:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While Donovan Mitchell has received some criticism for his lack of impact on the defensive end, he’s living up to his bill as the Jazz‘s franchise player, Tony Jones of The Athletic argues. There’s little doubt that Mitchell is capable of being the No. 1 offensive option on a title team, Jones asserts. Mitchell, who signed a max extension in November, is averaging career highs in points (24.3), assists (4.9) and 3-point shooting (40.8%).

Nearly Half Of NBA’s Teams Have Open Roster Spots

January 20th, 2021 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

After the NBA’s transactions wire remained relatively quiet for the first few weeks of the 2020/21 season, teams have begun making moves with a little more frequency as of late.

While one recent transaction – the four-team trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn – was clearly a higher-impact move than the rest, a number of clubs have made smaller changes to their rosters by waiving players this week. The Raptors and Wizards cut big men Alex Len and Anzejs Pasecniks from their 15-man rosters, while the Sixers opened up a two-way slot by releasing Dakota Mathias.

As a result, there are now 12 teams across the NBA that have at least one open 15-man roster spot. One of those teams – the Trail Blazers – also has an open two-way contract slot, as do two others, leaving just 16 clubs who are carrying the maximum of 17 players.

With so many clubs facing roster shortages recently and the NBA and NBPA discussing the possibility of adding a third two-way slot to rosters for the rest of the season, it’s a little surprising that more teams aren’t making use of all 17 available spots, but it will likely just be a matter of time before those many of those openings get filled.

Here’s the current breakdown of teams with open roster spots:

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Brooklyn Nets
- Note: The Nets have three open roster spots and will need to fill at least two of them within two weeks of completing the Harden trade.
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Milwaukee Bucks *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers