This off-season the Jazz, like many other good (but not great) NBA teams face a dilemma. How can they improve when they don’t have the salary cap room to sign an impact player? The Jazz have most of their salary cap room tied up in Deron Williams, the NBA’s top point guard, and an assortment of role players such as Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur. All three of those players are good, but are they the kind of players who can lead a team to an NBA title? Most observers of the NBA would say no. With the likely departure of Carlos Boozer, the Jazz are in a position where they are forced to insert Millsap, previously a bench player, into the starting lineup.

To make matters worse, the Jazz entered this season holding the New York Knicks’ first round draft pick which was projected to be a top-3 pick. Unfortunately, however, the Knicks slightly out-performed their expectations and the Jazz are left holding the 9th pick in the draft. The pick, while useful, will probably not propel the Jazz to the top of the western conference. With that in mind, how can the Jazz elevate their talent level to be able to compete with the Lakers?

In all honesty, the only real way for the Jazz to improve would come from either a lucky draft pick or from a trade. While the Jazz are set at point guard for the foreseeable future, they need to add a scoring threat at shooting guard, along with a shot-blocking presence on defense. Unfotunately, these players do not come cheaply, and it will take either good luck or a skillful trade in order to acquire a player who can raise the Jazz from the level of a perennial 4th or 5th seed, to the kind of team that can consistently challenge the NBA’s elite.

The Utah Jazz finally got some good news about an injured player.

Well, “good” might be pushing it. But for the shorthanded Jazz, even the slightest bit of optimism was a welcome change as Utah tried to piece together another lineup to face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

Forward Andrei Kirilenko said Wednesday that there was a slight chance he could return from a nagging calf injury in time to join the Jazz if the series goes six or seven games — a much bigger possibility after Utah’s 114-111 win at Denver evened the series 1-1 on Monday night.

“It’s probably highly unlikely, but maybe,” said Kirilenko, who received a dose of platelet-rich plasma therapy to his strained left calf Monday. The injury caused him to miss 15 of Utah’s final 17 games in the regular season and flared up each time Kirilenko thought he was close to returning.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Andrei Kirilenko will miss the Jazz’s preseason games Thursday and Saturday while traveling to Russia to attend to a family matter, the team said Wednesday.

Kirilenko is expected to rejoin the Jazz for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles. The matter is not health-related and Kirilenko’s absence is excused.

With Kirilenko out, the Jazz could have greater opportunity to experiment with playing Paul Millsap at small forward.

Kirilenko came off the bench in the Jazz’s two most recent preseason games, with Ronnie Brewer and rookie Wesley Matthews starting at the two wing spots.

Click here to read the full article – By Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Jazz Sports Memorabilia
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