#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Digiskunk: Greetings everybody, and welcome to Utah Jazz Media Day 2019, the only press conference in SLOE where day-drinking is not only tolerated, but eagerly encouraged. Now before I get into the logistics of our operation here, allow me to run you through what we were able to achieve last season in our limited capacity.

Last season was yet another milestone for us, as we were coming off of a forgettable 16‒66 record the year prior and we eager to see what this talented young core was capable of. Our core players—namely Robert Neeley, James Gebhart, and Joseph Kight—continued to develop at a productive rate, and that was reflected in their statistics. James Gebhart was a joy to watch on the basketball court; he brought much-needed defense to the team and was able to space the floor, allowing more room for inside-oriented players, such as Robert Neeley and Joseph Kight, to operate. Despite our developmental progress, our young core was unable to win many games—we managed to win only 13 games last season (lucky number!)—setting us up for yet another top pick in the PBSL draft.

The draft proved to be more frustrating than exciting, however, as we were unable to draft our targeted prospect Damion Williams. Instead, we settled with J.R. Johnson, a pass-first point guard whose penchant for malt liquor and loose women often got him into trouble at Houston. His personality should be a perfect fit for the locker room and should prove to be the deciding factor behind his success here in Utah, as we are all about feelin' good all the time.



Now, let's discuss what we were able to achieve during the offseason as well as our immediate plans for the future. During the offseason, we felt that it was time to "switch gears" and take the rebuilding process to the next level. This process included acquiring starting-level talent in hopes that their leadership rubs off on the younger players. We signed former super-forward Josh Smith to a 1-year, $20,000,000 contract. This contract is ideal for us, as it'll be an expiring contract and will leave us with plenty of money for the future. He'll be the perfect weapon coming off the bench and his style of play is essential for what we're trying to build here in Utah. After free agency, we still had some glaring holes in our roster so we claimed Boyd Cox off waivers. He's expected to start for us, with Josh Smith coming off the bench. Furthermore, we acquired three additional players—Nate Robinson, Chase Budinger, and Gerald Green—to provide some valuable minutes off the bench. This gives us the bench we were desperately lacking last season.

If last season was relaxed for the Utah Jazz, expect us to make some strides this season as we hope to turn some corners and make some major impressions in the league. We still aren't expected to contend for a title—or perhaps even the playoffs for that matter—but expect us to be grinding out some big wins this season.

I'll now be taking questions from the press!

You have an extremely young roster and with almost essentially all rookie contract guys and Josh Smith, you've tiered it in a way to not have all targets come off the books all at once. Will you be looking to add more veteran talent throughout the course of the season or package some of the young talent to really bring in a top 10 player?

Do the recent rule changes in PBSL alter your rebuild plans in any way?

NickMalone77 wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:39 pm You have an extremely young roster and with almost essentially all rookie contract guys and Josh Smith, you've tiered it in a way to not have all targets come off the books all at once. Will you be looking to add more veteran talent throughout the course of the season or package some of the young talent to really bring in a top 10 player?

We may attempt to add some vet minimums if necessary, but right now we should be set. If we get an offer for Josh Smith or for some of our bench players, we'll greatly consider it, but as for right now we're quite content with our mix of young prospects and veterans. It adds depth and makes us better while also giving us some trade bargaining chips (primarily older players, such as Smith, Robinson, etc) for the immediate future.

garbageman wrote: Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:50 pm Do the recent rule changes in PBSL alter your rebuild plans in any way?

Oh, most definitely. Even dating back to last season, free rookie training allowed us to speed up our rebuilding process. But now that player insurance has been revamped and is limited to only 3 players (and for free), we have to take a long look at our franchise and determine which players will be essential heading forward. Unfortunately for us, we could only protect Kight, Gebhart, and J.R. Johnson (our newest rookie), which lead to Robert Neeley and John Hagerman being exposed (and hit) during training camp. But that's alright — that's just part of the ebb & flow of the game!

Do you think J.R. Johnson will be frustrated living in Utah, where malt liquor and loose women can be hard to come by? Will that frustration be a good thing or a bad thing for his game?