The Utah Jazz are heading into the 2013 season with high expectations after coming close to making the playoffs last year and despite losing Al Jefferson to the Bobcats and Paul Millsap to the Hawks in free agency, the team is excited about Derrick Favors and what rookie Trey Burke bring to the roster.
The team has made a number of small moves this offseason, including signing John Lucas III and summer league star Ian Clark and that should help shore up the bench as the franchise tries to rebound from last year. Jefferson and Millsap were the two biggest names to leave the team and Jefferson signed with the Bobcats surprisingly after the franchise won just 28 games over the past two seasons. The team also may add more players in Gary Neal, DeJuan Blair, Drew Gooden or Mo Williams as free agents.
Burke struggled a bit in summer league play, but Derrick favors said that he isn't worried about the young star from Michigan and he sees him as someone that can help the team going forward. Burke struggled with missing 18 of 19 3-point attempts and only shot 24 percent in his first four games during the summer league, but towards the end he improved and the team hopes he can take that into the season.
The Jazz signed Ian Clark out of the summer league after he played very well in Orlando and Las Vegas and despite interest from the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers, he signed with Utah. Clark played with Miami and Golden State in the summer leagues and he said that the Jazz gave him a chance to compete for minutes in the rotation right away. Clark signed a two year deal and he joins John Lucas, who averaged 5.3 points and 1.7 assists in 13.1 minutes in a career-high 63 games last season for the Raptors. Clark was excellent in college last season at Belmont, winning Ohio Valley Conference player of the year while averaging 18.2 points and shooting 45.9 percent on 3-pointers.
Jefferson officially signed with Bobcats after they released Tyrus Thomas and the team brought him in after ranking 24th in the league in scoring from inside the paint and they feel the free agent can greatly improve the team in that area. Jefferson has been compared to Dwight Howard in some of his skills and he averaged 17 points and six rebounds over the past six seasons, making him and Howard the only ones to do that. The signing was one of the biggest for the Bobcats in franchise history and this came as they are trying to work out a deal with Gerald Henderson.
The Bobcats drafted Cody Zeller to give them even more depth inside and Jefferson said he was excited to sign with Charlotte despite the issues with winning and he hopes his move can change that. Jefferson led the Jazz in scoring while averaging 18.5 points per game and was tops over the past three seasons and now the team will have to replace his production of 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 blocks in 221 games. Derrick Favors is expected to step up along with Enes Kanter and the Jazz feel that they has a solid core coming back next season along with Burke.
