Three thoughts on the Jazz’s 138-113 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. An important reminder
For the first time in a long time, the Jazz organization was trying to win a game.
That’s because the Jazz own the Minnesota Timberwolves first round pick this upcoming season, and are on the fringes of making the lottery. If they did, the Jazz would add ping-pong combinations to their lottery odds, making it more likely the 2025 draft is a success.
They responded to the incentives by playing everyone who was healthy. Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, the whole gang of veterans played tonight despite four of the five being out on Tuesday. To be honest, I was excited to see a competitive game, against a Wolves team on the second night of a back to back.
And the Jazz got slaughtered, losing by 25.
Now, it’s worth noting that the starting lineup wasn’t so bad on its own. Markkanen and Sexton, for example, ended up with -1 plus-minuses on the night — the Jazz played the Wolves even when they were on the court.
But the bench was abysmal; Clarkson especially really struggled with a -31. The Jazz gave up a whopping 195 defensive rating when Drew Eubanks was on the court tonight — frankly, empty gyms have better defensive ratings than that.
I think some results against bad teams had led folks (and I’m somewhat guilty of this too) to come up with a version of Jazz optimism, that the team isn’t *that* far away from being good. That, if the players were just healthy and playing, the Jazz could be competitive. That, if they added a Cooper Flagg or a Dylan Harper to this exact mix, there might be something there.
This performance was a stark reminder that, nah, actually, the record is right — the Jazz are extremely not close. The Jazz are 3-9 when their preferred starting lineup plays, 6-28 when Lauri Markkanen plays, 8-27 when Walker Kessler plays, 8-20 when John Collins plays, 10-33 when Collin Sexton plays.
This is a very bad basketball team.
2. The fans love of Joe Ingles
The most fun part of this game came in the final moments. With the game decided a dozen minutes earlier, fans wanted to see old Jazzman Joe Ingles play. Repeated “Joe... Joe... Joe” chants came next — and finally, Ingles stood up off the bench to enter the game. (I’ll admit, when he first stood up, I kind of thought it was a prank, and Ingles was going to sit back down. It’s the kind of thing he would do.)
The next 3:51 were a whirlwind. Whenever Ingles touched the ball, Jazz fans would cheer, but they wanted more — a shot would be good, points would be ideal. But the Jazz were playing blitz pick and roll defense, and Ingles isn’t going to shoot over the blitz. Frankly, even peak Ingles isn’t getting that shot off with his lack of athleticism. In addition, the Wolves' young players who Ingles was sharing the floor with wanted to make the most of their very limited playing time.
From a basketball point of view, Ingles is washed. He’s played in 10 games this season. He has zero points on three shots. In three of the 10 games he’s played, he’s played under three seconds, basically as an inbound specialist.
From a memory point of view, though, Ingles is terrific fodder. He was part of a Jazz team that was a No. 1 seed in the NBA, a Jazz team that upset the L.A. Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in playoff series, a Jazz team that, in a lot of ways, is very different than this one. He also connected with the fans in really significant ways, from the charity work to the on-court persona.
That was my favorite part of Ingles. Discount double-checking his goofy injury headband in Memphis. Telling Jusuf Nurkic that he was going to shoot a three before he shot a three. The pick and roll pass fake that became so good that he began to fake that he was pass faking. The shot form that made no sense. Legitimately outplaying Paul George in a series. Being just an absolutely gigantic troll all career long.
I don’t expect him to be in the NBA much longer... he really can’t play anymore. It was cool for the fans to get this final chance to show what he meant to them.
“Joe’s a legend, man, always and forever,” Jordan Clarkson said. “He’s ingrained in Utah culture and Utah basketball, for sure.”
3. The proposed John Collins trade
Earlier today, I spoke to John Collins about the possibility of him being traded to the Sacramento Kings. Unusually for a trade that hasn’t been completed, we have a pretty good idea of what a deal might look like that sends Collins to Sacramento: it’d probably be Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and a first round pick.
I have to say... I think that’s a fantastic deal for Utah, if they get that. Essentially, it’d be selling high on Collins and buying really low on Huerter, who I think can be a good player again. Here’s their respective career EPM charts, from DunksAndThrees:
DunksAndThrees.com
For the two seasons prior to this one, I think Huerter was the better player — and he’s a year younger than Collins. Huerter makes less ($17.8 million for the next two years) compared to Collins ($26.5 million for the next two years). Lyles is an expiring contract making $8 million.
The big reason for the dip in Huerter’s numbers is poor shooting this year — he’s just 30% from three, which is obviously terrible for a player who gets most of his value from shooting. But we also know that shooting form is highly variable and, frankly, just random sometimes. Maybe he’s done as a player... but I’d bet against it, at age 26.
And then you also get a first round pick in that swap of talents? Sign me up.
We’ll see if the deal ends up happening in the next week — the Kings have so many moving parts to deal with first (the De’Aaron Fox situation) that I wouldn’t be surprised if their organizational priorities have changed.
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