A lot of sports writers announced the Kyle Korver trade as a savior for the Utah Jazz. The Jazz finally got a long distance threat to spread the opposing defenses. The Jazz got a missing piece of a practically complete puzzle.
And the only things given up were a protected first round draft pick and Gordan Giricek, who of late had found himself in Jerry Sloan’s doghouse. Korver is likely worth more than either of those players, at least to the Utah Jazz, and everyone knows that yet another rookie would only make the Jazz even less experienced than they already are. They got something for essentially nothing.
Right?
The Utah Jazz have officially reached the Elite of the West now.
All kneel before them!
Um, well. Not quite.
Kyle Korver is indeed an excellent three point shooter who can spread opposing defenses.
The big problem that the Jazz have been having, of late, is not that they can’t score (for which Kyle Korver could make it even easier), but that they haven’t been playing very good defense, especially on the road.
Is Kyle Korver really a cure for this?
He might play better defense than Gordan Giricek, but Gordan was not even starting. He had lost the starting spot to second year man Ronnie Brewer. Gordan was a fairly good shooter in his own right, so Kyle Korver has a bit more range, but not necessarily more scoring potential.
Will he likely ever get the start over Ronnie Brewer?
Possibly depending on what the Jazz need on the court, matchup-wise, but it is likely that Korver will continue to be a great sixth man off the bench, just as he was in Philadelphia. He’s probably not the second coming of Jeff Hornacek, but even if he was, it isn’t really a “Jeff Hornacek” that the Jazz are currently lacking.
The pieces that really needs to be solved in order for the Utah Jazz to get to the next level is a way to play better defense all around and better leadership, perhaps by young stars Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams who need to fill the leadership void left by Derek Fisher.
He doesn’t bring leadership.
He doesn’t play phenomenal defense.
He doesn’t really solve the Utah Jazz’s problems.
It’s likely that the Utah Jazz don’t really need to do anything besides age to get into the Western Conference elite. They are young and learning. Their young players ooze talent. Jerry Sloan is instilling in them the principles of playing good offense and defense.
In addition to Boozer and Williams stepping up better into their leadership roles, what the Utah Jazz really need is for Kyrylo Fesenko to suddenly gain 3 years of experience, but since that isn’t very likely, all the Jazz can really do is continue to develop their talent until they make it there.