The Jazz are improving, methinks

Robyn asked me why I was posting World Cup shots when this blog is supposed to be all about her and the baby, or at least about the family. Well, since I'm the one doing all the posting, for now at least, I'm gonna post what I find interesting. And at the moment, the Jazz making off-season moves is what I find interesting.


The first major move the Jazz made waas to send draft-day bust #6 Kris Humphries along with last year's 2nd round pick Robert Whaley to Toronto for one Rafael Araujo, the same that played at BYU and made the Cougars a decent basketball team for a couple years. I like this move because the Jazz have lacked toughness in the middle for a long time, and I think "Hafa" (so called because R's in Portugese sound like H's... and he's from Brazil) will bring a little grit, if not much skill, to the center position. He's not afraid to get in there and bang with the big boys. I see him getting 10-20 minutes a game, unless he does something amazing to impress Mr. Sloan.


The next decent move they made was to resign free agent swingman Matt Harpring to a 4 year, reportedly $25-million contract. It's a little much for Matt, but they learned their lesson from letting Raja Bell go last year and watching him absolutely TEAR IT UP in Phoenix this last year. Good move.

The last great move the Jazz have made, so far, is to send free agent backup point guard Keith McLeod (you remember him, the guy that tried to shop the minimum-NBA-wage last year to see if he could get a better offer... and couldn't... and still ended up starting half the season at the point for Utah...), Andre Owens (Mr. Bench Warmer who ended up injured for most of the season) and Devon Brown to Golden State for Derrick Fisher. Fisher is a sharp 3-point shooter who can back up Deron Williams at the point and also play some 2 guard when the Jazz go small. Williams is no slouch in the shooting department, hitting over 40% of his 3-pointers last year, and no the Jazz won't lose that touch when D-Will goes to the bench. Fisher shot almost 40% from behind the arc last year, showing that he, too, will be able to provide a spark from long range.

My prediction: If the Jazz make no further moves and Boozer plays as well as he can, I say the Jazz win 53 games this year and make a second-round exit in the playoffs.