Comments about ‘Jazz notebook: Evans may not make Jazz, but he'll make Junior Jazz trip’

"Amaechi will put on a skills clinic as part of the day's festivities."

What exactly is the skill that Amaechi has?

Kevin O'Connor ranked #2. Take that you ungrateful Jazz fans! This should be on the front page, not buried under some story about a guy who probably won't make the team.

Face it everyone, O'Connor knows more about the Jazz than you do. All the experts in the NBA think so.

The Jr. Jazz trip has become more like a goodbye tour for Jazz players. Eric Maynor went last year and didn't make it through the season as a Jazz-man. The same thing has happened to Morris Almond, Dee Brown and Scott Padgett. It would be nice if the kids that go to this event would get to see somebody that would stick around for a while.

pink slip

Good guy Jeremy. He seems like a pretty good guy. I hope that he can play and block shots in the real NBA. The more shots he blocks and the more rebounds he can snag, the better his chances of securing a spot on this team.

Props to KOC! I will admit he has made some great moves, but I still really question some of his first round draft picks.

i agree with jazzman72. and, although o'conner has made some pretty good moves recently, they come with a big price tag.

is there any way to restructure ak's contract? have him drop a few mil for the sake of bringing in some other decent backups?

I really hope Evans can work hard and improve enough to make the team. He is one of these young kids that I like to jump on his bandwagon and hope he will succeed. Evans is athletic, long, hard working, coachable, he just needs to develop an outside shot & gain weight/muscle. From what I have read he impressed the coached during SL. 6'9" 196 lbs, he needs alot of muscle and weight to play PF and he needs an outside shot and handles to play the 3. Hope he makes good.

Wonder if they pay him for this and how that works with the salary cap. Sounds almost like it's a rookie hazing: Maynor, Almond, Brown, etc.

Here's his script:

"Hi, my name is Jeremy Evans. No one really wants to do this Junior Jazz stuff, so the organization makes it mandatory for one of their draft picks.

No, you don't have to memorize my name. Given recent history, there's a 90% chance I won't even be on the team more than a year (if that).

How many of you know what a Hilltopper is?

How many of you have actually seen a black person - other than on TV?

Skills? Sorry, unless you can jump out of the gym, I really can't teach you much. Most of you can probably shoot better than me already.

So work hard, practice 3 hours every day, and you too might, just might, make it to a minor school in a tiny town - much like the one you live in now."

NBA contracts can not be restructured, AFAIK.

I hope the Jazz give Evans a chance, nothing but scraps left anyway.

Why dish out the scrubs to the kids? Where are all the million dollar babies? Give the kids a real treat like Deron (or Washington or Milsap). Kids will travel from all over to see them play at ESA, paying their salaries. Why can they not reciprocate and visit all of the kids throughout the state?

This is actually good news for Jazz fans. I have a hard time believing that the Jazz would send a player that they didn’t think would make the roster on a 3 week road trip promoting the Jazz. From a PR perspective if Evans doesn’t make the team the Jazz would end up looking extremely foolish.

I know he’ll probably spend most the year in the D League, but I could see this kid turning into a decent role player in a year or 2.

Houdini: Hee hee great stuff 2 words better than posts with 50

Evans is a talent but a project. He needs to put on weight and strength before becomes a factor in this league.

d league exec

I'm thinking that Evans has a possible big upside as a PF who can block shots quickly and put up offensive rebounds quickly. Obviously he needs to bulk up some, but maybe not much. Speed and quickness kills.
Also, someone is going to have to be developed on the Jazz who can stay with some of the Oklahoma City players. Evans has similar dimensions to Durant, but longer wingspan. I think most importantly is he seems to have basketball sense, according to the Jazz coaches at the summer league. After the first game, he looked like he belonged. I say sign him and let him play one year of D ball with the Flash.

Amen scalman -

I TIVO-ed all the JAZZ games in Orlando and later watched them. Evans looked good - he played hard and understood his part in the game.

Both he and Hayward were as good or better than most.

I say give the kid a chance - let him play with the Flash for a year and see what he developes into.

Remember he is supposed to be playing college b-ball he is still a youngster.

Evans is 6'9" and under 200 pounds and I think he'll end up making the team and hanging around the summer league. I hope he doesn't end up never being heard of again like the whats his name from Michigan State. Good luck Evans.

Evans is a combo forward, not a center or a 2 guard. He’s probably better on offense as a 4 and better on defense at the 3. Think of him as AK with much less offensive skill.

I think the most they can expect from Evans would for him to become a defensive specialist, somebody they can throw at somebody like Durrant or Carmelo for 10 to 15 min a night.

byronbca:
I agree with you but thats exactly why we need him. We need all the tall defensive players we can get. I love when young guys like him make it their goal to be in Kobe's face as much as possible. Williams asked for tall defence! I would like to see 7fters but if this kid has the energy to do jumping jacks like they say then he could be what we need. Offence hasnt been the downfall for the last couple years... its our D come 3rd and 4th quarter.

if koc wants to prove his worthiness as no. 2 among league gm's bring back koufos and sign fes asap.