2027‒2028 Utah Jazz Pre-Season Press Conference

[digiskunk]

2027‒2028 Utah Jazz Press Conference

digiskunk: Ah, another season, another press conference. As many of you know, last season didn't exactly pan out as we expected. We sought triumph, we shought glory, we sought redemption; but we came up short... In fact, we came up really, really short. Nevertheless, not all was lost: We had the opportunity to reevaluate our gameplan going forward as well as get a glimpse into the latest additions to our roster.

When we committed to our draft picks leason season, we had our expectations heading forward. I mean c'mon, which GM doesn't? We expected to see raw talent out there and that's pretty much exactly what we got. A.C. Williams, Silky Johnson, Slim Jenkins, and Joe Futrell all had good training camps coming out of preseason and they've all shown us glimpses of what they're capable of. The biggest surprise we had last season, however, was Joe Futrell. We drafted him with the #26th pick in that year's draft and he instantly took over at the power forward position. We were more than ecstatic with the contributions he made on the basketball court last year and can't wait to see what kind of numbers he puts up this season.

In regards to this year's draft, we decided to pick yet another forward, Quintin Kidd. We took a look at his skillset and thought to ourselves, This is too good to pass up. Although we already have Slim Jenkins, we felt that it couldn't hurt to invite some competition into the lineup. We also drafted our starting SG (Israel Perez's), younger brother Bill Perez at shooting guard. But unlike his older brother Israel, Bill isn't a complete useless piece of shit who's a retard on defense. So Bill automatically gets the starting role.

This upcoming season, however, will be less about experimentation and more about player development. We already have a core of prospects to work with; now it's time to develop them as PBSL players and get the best we can out of them. Now that we have an idea of what we're working with, we can take all the positives from last season and build upon them this season. Expect us to be more competitive this season, guys!

I'll now be taking questions from the press!

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: With Kidd basically projecting to be a straight-up upgrade over Jenkins, do you still view Slim as a vital piece of your core?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: How many seasons do you think it will take for this core of young players to be a playoff team?

[digiskunk]

Random Reporter: With Kidd basically projecting to be a straight-up upgrade over Jenkins, do you still view Slim as a vital piece of your core?

Very good question. When we first drafted Slim, he was supposed to be our SF of the future. But when we saw Kidd, he was too tempting to turn down. We're hoping that Jenkins can be a future spark plug off the bench for us, but ideally it would be best to give him an opportunity to shine elsewhere. We believe that both players have the opportunity to reach their potential if given the right circumstances, the right situation—and we believe that, perhaps, if Jenkins wants to shine, it should be with a team willing to commit to him as a prospect.

[digiskunk]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: How many seasons do you think it will take for this core of young players to be a playoff team?

Very good question. For us, it all amounts to how our prospects look coming out of training camp. We have a handful of prospects that we're working with, and hopefully one or two of them become perennial all-stars in the near future. ... Ultimately, it all depends on the rate of development. We're willing to make a splash—we're just biding our time.

[false9]

Can we expect you to sell off your vets?

[digiskunk]

Can we expect you to sell off your vets?

We don't really have many veterans on this team, though if given the chance, I would move the few that we do. Marqueese Chriss and Vaughn Vaccaro are both very talented forwards, but it would be difficult to find a team that would take ther respective contracts. Pedrag Saric, however, has really developed and proven that he's worthy of playing on a team, and I'd like to send him to a team that would give him a better opportunity to succeed.

[Darth Vegito]

During your last rebuild you stank it up for 4 consecutive years and then tried to contend. It's been 4 years already that you've missed the playoffs, but I must say it does not appear that you'll be ready in the near future. Is this part of the plan? And how are the fans in Utah taking this?

[digiskunk]

During your last rebuild you stank it up for 4 consecutive years and then tried to contend. It's been 4 years already that you've missed the playoffs, but I must say it does not appear that you'll be ready in the near future. Is this part of the plan? And how are the fans in Utah taking this?

Well, our first intended rebuild didn't go as planned, so we switched things up and decided to start over—so that sorta reset the clock for us. I'll admit, it's taken a little bit longer than in it has in seasons past, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't rush brilliance. All we need is a little luck coming out of TC, make a big splash in player training and free agency, and then boom—we're right back into contention. But I don't want to screw things up by rushing too quickly; that was the biggest mistake I made during this rebuild's first incarnation (with Glenn Irvine & Simon Pheonix) and I don't want to make it again. So ya long story short we're just takin things slow

[JNR]

GWR: Have you given any thought to moving Silky Johnson to shooting guard and finding a point guard who doesn't consistently dribble off of his foot?

[digiskunk]

GWR: Have you given any thought to moving Silky Johnson to shooting guard and finding a point guard who doesn't consistently dribble off of his foot?

When we first drafted Silky, we knew we were getting ourselves into quite the project. It can be hard to convert a shooting guard into a point guard, and that proved to be especially true with Silky. He never really looked comfortable out there last season, but that's to be expected when you have a rookie playing out of position. We worked on his handles a lot this off-season (post paid training) so hopefully we can see him cut down on the turnovers heading forward.

But we'll be experimenting with him in his natural position (SG) a lot this upcoming season just to see what happens/where his talents are most suitable at.

[WigNosy]

Is there any truth to the rumor you're considering demanding that the league let you relocate the team to Mexico City to improve attendance? Or do you think you can bring the fans back in Salt Lake?

[digiskunk]

Is there any truth to the rumor you're considering demanding that the league let you relocate the team to Mexico City to improve attendance? Or do you think you can bring the fans back in Salt Lake?

You can't believe everything you hear, that's for sure! We have no plans of relocating but we have big plans of winning in the near future—you can bet on that. Attendance may be low now, but soon there will be fans stabbing each other at the front gate trying to get in. All we need is a little bit of time for our prospects to grow. Silky should prove to be a fan favorite, and people are already talking about what a surprise Joe Futrell has been. This team is going places, and the fans know it.

[digiskunk]

I'll be answering more questions if anybody has any!