It has been relatively quiet in Salt Lake City this offseason, as the Utah Jazz have made merely a trickle of moves. However, the 2015 NBA draft was fairly successful for Utah, but during free agency, they hardly lifted a finger.
Trey Lyles, the 12th overall pick, was a superb selection for the Jazz. He has good size and strength and has tremendous potential to become something special in this league. Lyles is a fundamentally sound stretch four who also possesses high IQ for the game.
During the Las Vegas Summer League, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per outing. It’s going to be tough for Lyles to obtain minutes in Utah’s rotation behind Derrick Favors and Trevor Booker, so the 19-year old will have to work extra hard during his rookie campaign to solidify a large role.
Easing into the free agency period, the Jazz was tentative to make any moves. In fact, for a while, they laid low and didn’t look to bring in any new faces. However, they eventually re-signed Joe Ingles and signed Raul Neto, the 2013 47th overall pick whose draft rights were traded to the Jazz by the Atlanta Hawks.
Retaining Ingles was a clever move since the Australian swingman found some success as the starting small forward for Utah. His numbers did not show it, but the 27-year old was a key component to the team’s late season outburst due to his unselfish attitude and high basketball IQ.
Neto, meanwhile, may promptly earn a huge role off the bench since Dante Exum will be out for the entire year with a torn ACL.
Making his NBA debut with the Jazz this season will be German big man Tibor Pleiss, the 2010 31st overall pick. Over the years, Pleiss’ draft rights have been bouncing around the league, ultimately landing in Utah.
Now, the 7-foot-2 center is ready to begin his NBA journey, and he could perhaps become a solid backup to Rudy Gobert. Pleiss was last spotted playing in Spain for FC Barcelona, averaging 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per contest.
To complete the roster, Utah most recently signed Treveon Graham to a make good deal. Graham played for the San Antonio Spurs during the Las Vegas Summer League and averaged 7.9 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Putting things into perspective, it was an extremely silent offseason for the Utah Jazz. There is no censuring them for not making many moves this summer since last season’s team showed promise after the All-Star break. But if we are arbitrating their offseason, it has not been too stimulating.
Off-Season Grade: C-