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Three Thoughts on Jazz’s 81-80 Summer Championship victory over the Salt Lake Tribune Jazz Dallas Mavericks beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. A truly authentic summer league experience
There is nothing like the summer league.
As noted in our last three-way team, sometimes the basketball just isn’t that great. And that was certainly the case tonight, albeit to a lesser extent. Missed free throws, missed box outs, goofy turnovers and bad fouls ended up being the cause of much of what happened tonight.
But this time, at least the mistakes served to make it an entertaining game. In particular, a lot happened at the end of this one:
• The Jazz had a seven-point lead with 2:20 remaining, which they quickly exploded by dropping a 10-0 run.
• Elijah Hughes had a tough three to tie the game with less than five seconds left.
• In overtime, the Mavs took a four-point lead but then blocked a shot on Hughes’ three-point attempt that was called a foul. In an endless stop they finally decided to dismiss the coach’s challenge, but I don’t know … to me it felt like a clean block.
• Hughes made the first two free throws, missed the third, Azubuike got the rebound and a dunk with a chance to take the lead with a free throw, which he missed. The Mavs missed that free throw… then quickly spat it out with a turnover 1.1 seconds later.
• The Jazz had a chance to win the game there, but Forrest missed (and possibly fouled) an opportunity to win the game. Azubuike got the rebound with 1 second left and maybe the chance to do a prayer, but passed it instead.
• But Dok’s biggest game was winning a jump ball, giving Jazz a chance to win the game. They did, when Forrest drove and was fouled.
• Forrest missed the first free throw, putting pressure on the second, which he easily swept aside. A wave of Damian Lillard-esque to the Dallas bench ensued. Creepy.
The summer league isn’t always pretty. It’s always wacky.
2. Trent Forrest contract
Speaking of Forrest, he was once again arguably the best Jazz player in the game, with 16 points and nine assists that kept the Jazz afloat. In fact, Forrest was so important to the Jazz’s offense that the Mavs began to trick him out of screens, rather than playing him deep and daring him to shoot, as most teams do.
Earlier today, Forrest signed a two-way contract with the team that will keep him in Utah for a second season.
It wasn’t a sure thing – I thought Forrest had played well enough that an NBA team could consider using a 15th place finish on him. But it looks like his agency looked around the league and couldn’t find this offer, and decided their best outcome was to stay on Jazz with a two-way contract.
It makes sense. Forrest has clearly made progress in a Jazz uniform so far, and he has one of the NBA’s most treasured things to him here: a star player who believes in himself. Donovan Mitchell has clearly taken a liking to Forrest and his work ethic, and having it from a developmental perspective can be invaluable. It doesn’t hurt from a job security point of view either.
For Jazz, signing Forrest into a bilateral deal means they’ll have control over him all next year. Even if another team changed their mind and decided to give him a full contract, they couldn’t. And he will still be eligible for restricted free agency next summer, if he continues to improve.
Good stuff all around.
3. Quin Snyder’s thoughts on his team
On the NBATV show, we got the first chance to hear Jazz head coach Quin Snyder on his thoughts on his team’s moves during the offseason. I’m going to post the entire interview with Turner’s Rebecca Haarlow.
Haarlow: Coach Mike Conley quits a three year contract with you guys and he came out and said, there’s an unfinished business: I want to win a championship with Utah. Coming out of the playoffs, obviously disappointing that you had some injuries that you were facing there. Did it help the organization turn the page, reset things to move forward?
Snyder: To a degree. I think it’s always difficult when you lose in the playoffs. And of course, we understand that someone has to do it; you know, one team this year in Milwaukee doesn’t end in a loss. But I think for our guys – yes. And I think, you know, that’s shown by what Mike said. He is such an important part of what we do. And I’m lucky we have some guys who are really fun to train.
Haarlow: You are coming out of a season where you have the best record in the NBA. You have to build on that next year. Did it make you stronger, though, going through what you did, with Donovan Mitchell not being healthy, not having Mike Conley?
Snyder: Yeah, I think, you know, you learn to win in different ways. Obviously in the end it’s so important to be healthy in the playoffs. But we have a real tight-knit group. And over the course of the year, guys, they get used to progressing, and those things are important. Fortunately, we feel like we have a strong team to be able to do this.
Haarlow: The team has deepened a bit with some of the free agency moves you’ve done. What excites you about the pieces you bring? Obviously Rudy Gay brings a tremendous amount of experience and you have Hassan Whiteside in there too.
Snyder: Yeah, well, I think with Rudy, his ability to defend on the perimeter, he can isolate himself on the post, which gives us another option offensively, especially when the game is slowing down. And, you know, he’s taken over three in the last few years. So that’s something we really want to see him do. And, you know, Hassan, the way we defend with Rudy sort of being the focal point of our defense, he’s someone who, you know, gives us another rim protector. And you already talked to Jared, we’re excited about him.
Haarlow: As if the rim isn’t tough enough against your team. Before you let go, Jared Butler, your new draft pick, obviously isn’t playing here tonight. But what excites you about him? What will he add to this organization?
Snyder: For a 20 year old, he is really mature. I think when I say that he’s been in a winning schedule, you know, an All-American first team, there’s a lot of stuff he’s done consistently. And we have the impression that he really knows how to play. It’s always nice to have someone who can knock back shots.
For me, what stood out to me the most was that Snyder started out with Gay’s ability to make an impact on the defensive end. This is something I wrote last week, and it’s interesting to hear this aspect of Gay play as the first thing that comes to Snyder’s mind.
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