The J-Notes
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Are the Utah Jazz Meeting Expectations?

By Caleb Manser

Feb 4, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3), forward Gordon Hayward (20) and forward Joe Ingles (2) celebrate after basket in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz defeated the Charlotte Hornets 105-98. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 4, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3), forward Gordon Hayward (20) and forward Joe Ingles (2) celebrate after basket in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz defeated the Charlotte Hornets 105-98. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Utah Jazz Gordon Hayward All-Star
Feb 18, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Western Conference forward Gordon Hayward (20) of the Utah Jazz during the NBA All-Star Practice at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Awards and Recognition

Guessing All-Star selections and end of season awards are some of the more fun predictions to make preseason, and this year some Jazz members got some love.

Gordon Hayward was named an All-Star, the first one in six years for the Jazz since Deron Williams in 2011. With Kevin Durant’s injury there could potentially be a spot for Hayward on 3rd-Team All-NBA, which would also be the first time Utah had an All-NBA selection since Deron Williams made 2nd Team All-NBA in 2009-10.

Rudy Gobert is the linchpin to the third best defense in the league, and should get some serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year, and I will frankly be disappointed if he doesn’t place top 3 in voting. If Gobert gets voted on the All-Defensive team, it will be the first selection for the Jazz since Andrei Kirilenko in 2005-06.

While many expect Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers to run away with Executive of the Year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dennis Lindsey garner a few votes for that award. After all, his colleagues did show the Jazz some love in the Annual GM Survey last October, tying for second place in “Which team made the best moves this offseason?” and getting first place in “Who was the most underrated player acquisition?”.

Other than that, I can’t see any notable end of season hardware landing with a Jazzman, but they believe if they are successful as a team first, the individual accolades will come.

So with this analysis I declare there is no need to panic, and no need to over-celebrate. The Jazz are who we thought they would be, a solid 50-win team that is one tier below true title contention.

If they want to get to title contention they need to add a little more talent and consistency to put them over the top, and that could potentially come with the development of Hood, Exum, and Lyles. Do you agree or disagree with me? Feel free to speak in the comments section or get me on twitter @CjChaze.

*(Unless otherwise noted, all stats from basketball-reference.com, NBA.com and ESPN.com)

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