Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 143-105 loss to the Houston Rockets from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Washington wins, Jazz lose
The Jazz did pulled out what they needed to with some truly abysmal defensive basketball that I can’t recommend anyone else watch.
Another team did not: the surprisingly feisty Washington Wizards, who beat the Sacramento Kings by a 116-111 score on the night. As a result, the reverse standings stand as follows:
This doesn’t impact the Cooper Flagg race at all — the top three teams all have identical odds at the top four places. But what it does impact is what happens if the Jazz lose the lottery: if they stand alone at No. 1, the lowest they can draft is No. 5. If, on the other hand, they were to tie for that top spot, or even fall to No. 2, they would have a 10% or 20% chance at the No. 6 pick, respectively.
Now, look, either the No. 5 or No. 6 spot would be disappointing after all of this horrific losing. In general, Cooper Flagg is the clear No. 1, Dylan Harper the clear No. 2, Ace Bailey and VJ Edgecombe likely No. 3 and No. 4 in some order, and then No. 5 is a tossup: Jeremiah Fears, Tre Johnson, Kasparas Jakucionas, Khaman Maluach all among reasonable options.
But giving yourself the ability to choose among that group is pretty important, I think. There are some people, for example, that think Johnson or Maluach should be in that top group too. At this point, I think I disagree, but I need to watch more of their games to be sure.
For the first time in Utah, the Jazz look very likely to finish the season as the worst team in basketball. The roster desperately needs the league-granted rewards from their bad play.
2. The Rockets showing a path for a young team
The gap in age between the Jazz and the Rockets isn’t all that big, actually.
If you compare who got minutes for the Jazz vs. Rockets tonight, it’s about 23 months: the Jazz’s weighted average age is 22.5, while the Rockets’ was 24.4. (If you compare just starting lineups, the gap shrinks to about 19 months.)
On one hand, that could give Jazz fans hope: could this Jazz team be closer to competition than we think? After all, the Rockets were awful two years ago, too, and are less than two years younger.
On the other hand, the Rockets were able to escape their bottom-of-the-west fate because of three straight years of 23 wins or fewer that got them the roster they have now. Jalen Green and Keyonte George are pretty similar archetypes of players… but Green got picked No. 2 and George No. 16 because the league generally agreed Green had higher potential, which he’s showing some of now. Jabari Smith Jr. is sort of an advanced version of Kyle Filipowski… and he was selected No. 3 overall while Filipowski was selected No. 32.
Perhaps Isaiah Collier can be a floor-bound version of Amen Thompson with his vision? Except, well, athleticism is kind of critical to the whole Thompson experience, especially on the defensive end. And it’s hard to know where the Jazz’s next All-Star could come from, but it probably won’t look like Alperen Sengun.
In other words: the Jazz likely need a few more years at the bottom to accumulate the top-tier talent, not just the future role-playing talent they currently have. There are other ways to get there! But perhaps the most likely is to stay at the bottom for a while, accumulate some blue-chippers, and come back up when you have them, just as the Rockets and Thunder have done.
(This, also, is why the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons were such a waste: the team intended to get good talent in the draft, but couldn’t follow through on their own desire to rebuild. We’re finally here now, but those two years were badly planned.)
3. Jazz GM Justin Zanik on Collier and Filipowski
Jazz general manager Justin Zanik spent about seven minutes on the broadcast for tonight’s game, on the one year anniversary of his kidney transplant after being diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease.
He’s feeling much better now, which is great to hear, with much higher energy levels. I think the overall lesson of his story is clear: if you feel weird, get checked out!
He did answer two questions about basketball, though: one on Isaiah Collier and one on Kyle Filipowski. Here’s what he said about Collier:
“I think the pace and speed that he plays with forces the other guys to run with him, and he’s such a willing passer, it’s a natural leadership position on the team. That’ll be something he’ll grow. And one of the best things about Isaiah is he knows what’s going on in the game almost at all times — especially for a young player at 20 years old. So time and score, two for one, who’s hot, who needs the ball.
“Obviously, this summer is huge for him, and a bunch of our young players are gonna be spending a lot of time here in Salt Lake City. I think a lot of them will play in our summer league in Utah in July. It’s a huge developmental season, just much like it was, you know, for Keyonte and Bryce and Taylor last year, those three will also be here a lot, and Walker, especially, that set of guys.”
First of all, it’s newsworthy that Salt Lake City Summer League is returning, as that had been somewhat in question with renovations going on at the Delta Center this year. We’ll see where it’s played.
Then, here’s Zanik on Filipowski:
“Yeah, I think really knows how to play. He’s got a very good basketball IQ. He’s had two things that he’s had to transition to that I think he’s handled about as well as you can in a rookie year: (first), as you said, the speed and strength in the game. And second, you know, as much as he’s gotten a chance to play and earn that time of being that utility big — you know, at Duke, they played every possession through him — now it’s (only) some possessions which he obviously, strongly can do.
“So he’s adjusting to that, adjusting to playing four and five, and it’s really giving him some on court experience and direct experience of what he needs to work on this summer, especially with his body, obviously, Will and him have done a great job in a short period of time with the release and the shooting’s made a jump up. And I think he can take another leap.”
Interesting that Zanik thinks Filipowski can become an even better shooter, as 38% from three is pretty darn good as is. But if he diversifies his shot portfolio, it could become an even stronger weapon.
Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.