Okay, let us start with the basics. The draft. Two rounds, 30 picks per round (1 per team, before trades). The Jazz, as we know, have a 1st rounder that belongs to Minnesota, and might have a 1st rounder from Golden State, depending how the lottery works out for them (for more on the lottery and how it works, I direct you to my post from last year, when the Jazz were much more involved in the lottery).

So, excluding that slight chance of hope that Kevin O'Connor is given yet another first rounder to work with (we know how he feels about youngsters in relation to winning), the Jazz are left with a measly 2nd round pick this year - #47 overall. That is a mid-2nd round pick. By that point, all the highly regarded players will be gone. Most of the "maybe he's got a chance to stick" players will be gone as well. So you're left trying to find a diamond in the haystack, or a needle in an ocean, or something like that. Whatever it is, it is NOT pretty.

Since we've got time since the draft, why not look back at how the 47th pick has played out since Kevin O'Connor took over as the Jazz GM? (That was a rhetorical question.) Of course, this has very little impact on this draft (read: none) - every draft class has variable strengths/weaknesses, and some draft classes just suck, but it's still fun to look at (at least for me). As you will see, there aren't very many "hits" at this pick, but still, there is reason for hope. I will also look at whom the Jazz drafted that year, and any other "notable" players taken AFTER #47.

Also, its weird to note, but in terms of "I've heard of this guy" (which generally means he's done something in the NBA), the late-40's pick you want to have is #49 (at least between 2000 and 2008). I cannot explain that. (Or maybe I just recognize too many random, obscure names.) This doesn't mean that #49 is full of All-Star picks, of course - just that you might recognize the names. Which is more than can be said for a lot of the #47 picks. (And despite what it may seem like, I'm not hating on KOC's drafting. I've done that before, and I'll do it again probably, but this is not the time or the place.)

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Well, its that time of year. The NBA draft is quickly approaching. And in this time of non-stop mock drafts (and man are there a ton of them out there), I will throw out my own. Of course, its no fun in reading yet another mock draft like that. Especially from someone that knows nothing about what teams are thinking. So, instead (for fun), I will mock the draft in a different way. By literally mocking it. What fun is it predicting where players will end up? If you're going to be wrong - might as well be wrong in style. Right?

And yes, I spent way too long on this. But I figure maybe everyone can use a quick break from all the actual draft "news" and rumors floating around out there. (And yes, "quick" is not really what it is ... after all, it is 32 picks. With semi-sensible explanations.) Don't worry, there are some basketball players included. But also movie characters and book characters and politicians and ... objects. And other people too. (No musicians though, because I'm not up-to-date on the music world.)

Yes, I was very much bored. I found it entertaining, at least. You're entitled to your own opinions - but I've told you what its about. If you don't want to read it, don't worry - no one will make you.

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After looking at pick #14 yesterday, it is time to move on to pick #13. Before we do that, a moment of silence as yet another top prospect has decided to pull out of the NBA draft. Adiós, Terrence Jones (H/T bucimislover).

...

Okay, now onto the pick. Pick number 13 is held by the Phoenix Suns at this point this year. Having been in the lottery picks since 1995, when the Raptors and Grizzlies joined the league, the pick has seen its fair share of stories. Trades, a sure-fire Hall of Famer, playoffs, and on and on. This will be Phoenix's first time having the #13 (unless the lottery changes things up) - though they did come close to having the pick in 2005. The pick, originally belonging to Cleveland, was sent to the Suns in a 3-team trade in 1997. In the 2004 expansion draft, the Suns traded that pick to the Bobcats - in return, the Bobcats agreed to select Jahidi White. A year later, in the lottery process, that pick ended up becoming pick #13 - and was eventually turned into Sean May.

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This is, quite simply, for those of you that are still curious/confused about the whole ping-pong ball aspect to the lottery. I've attempted to explain the whole thing using numbers, words and a random number generator.

I've explained, in a previous post, how the Jazz have 75 combinations for them (through the #6 pick; #12 has a some as well) when the lottery process starts. A fair second question, and one I didn't really hit on, is "how do the combinations work?" How do the 75 combinations magically (we hope) land us a top-3 pick? I'll try to explain more about the actual aspects of it all here.

If you're interested, I hope this helps. And if there are any more questions, just ask.

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Well, I've looked at what the lottery is. And I've looked at the potential lottery prospects (at least based on the thoughts of many right now). I've got an in-depth look of the lottery system itself that I'll be posting as a fanpost in the very near future (this fanpost is, more or less, a 1700 word email... about the lottery).

The lottery is rapidly approaching - halftime of a game on May 17th. There will be plenty of looks at the prospects that are distancing themselves from the rest as the draft approaches and as the withdrawal deadline passes. I don't want to bore you with that right now. (Plus, I still can't get the numbers thing to work.) So in the time until then, why not look at the history of the lottery - at least the picks the Jazz could find themselves looking at when May 17th is over.

Starting at the bottom, we have pick #14 - a pick the Jazz are all too familiar with. This year, the pick is owned by the Houston Rockets ... ironically (okay, its probably not very ironic) they held the #14 pick last year too and ended up with Patrick Patterson. While ironic may be the wrong word, you will see quickly that the #14 pick isn't always the best one to have (no matter what you're looking for).

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First of all, thank you to @dianaallen, who's questions about my post yesterday (and the lottery in general) pretty much helped me explain it to myself (and her). Yes, it took a 1700 word email, but I got it. The ping pong balls, and the combinations, and all that jazz - I'm confused no longer. At least I don't think I am. (By the way, I only wrote out like 100 combinations and not a full 1001, but man - that's a lot of numbers.)

Anyhow, one day closer to the lottery. So now the question (for a day) turns to the Jazz. Greg Miller has, it seems, said that the Jazz will be looking to get bigger and improve the shooting (via moni's blog). I'm kinda worried he didn't state defense, but maybe size and shooting will help that? (Okay, maybe not the shooting, but the size?)

So with two picks, both of which happen to be in the lottery, what options do the Jazz have to do this? I was going to have a more number-strong post, but then I ran into a problem - like when 5 different sites gave me 3 different numbers for the number of games Ronnie Price played in college. So instead, I'll just stick with the basics for now and see if I can come up with something. Otherwise I'll just have a random post where I'll be throwing a bunch of Amar's numbers at you and be like "see, good!" and "no, this be bad".

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Well, the season is over. The playoffs aren't, but given that our Jazz aren't playing, who really cares? What does that leave for us less-than-fortunate fans? The draft. And, for the second straight year, the involves paying attention to the mystical beast known as the lottery. Back when Stockton-to-Malone left the Jazz, we visited the lottery three straight seasons. And by "we visited the lottery," I mean that Kevin O'Connor got to take a trip out of Utah and smile on national TV. Now, here we stand years later, taking our second straight trip back to the lottery. Last year, we went thanks to Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks. This year, its a thank you to both to the Nets and our own incompetence. So, well, we might as well enjoy this time. Other fans have the playoffs and David Stern's face; we have the lottery and Kevin O'Connor's. Who wins?

So, what exactly is this lottery? I read a short story once…

No no no. That is a good, albeit not-so-happy, story. This is something different. Generally not-so-happy for us (more on that on a later date), but there is a small chance. Actually, if you think about it, the short story could describe it pretty well - though not exactly as painful. And a chance does exist - just ask the Orlando Magic from the early '90s.

The lottery is pretty much David Stern and co. wasting some perfectly good ping-pong balls. They are all numbered, one through fourteen. Four balls randomly are pulled out of a machine, giving you four numbers. Four balls, out of fourteen … there's a lot of different combinations. Order doesn't matter, so 1-2-3-4 is the same as 3-4-1-2, and so on. That brings the number of combinations down a bit - to 1001. Of these 1001, one combination (11-12-13-14) has not been assigned to a team. The others are assigned to teams based on season ending record. The Pesky Timberwolves, via having the worst record in the league, have 250 of the 1000 combinations assigned to them. The Cavs are next, with 199 combinations. And so on down the list - the Jazz come in 6th (75 combinations) and 12th (7 combinations). The 6th pick is interesting - it was decided by a coin flip. The flip was won by the Kings, giving them 76 combinations; it went to flip because the Kings and Nets tied for the 5th worst record. Normally, 88 combinations go to the 5th worst team and 63 to the 6th worst. So the two teams finishing at 24-58 already gave the Jazz a slight boost, giving us 12 more combinations than we'd have otherwise had with the pick.

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I'm going to assume that none of you have been living under a rock for the past week or so. So you know that Deron Williams is currently a Net, and Derrick Favors and Devin Harris are your newest Jazz-men. I'm not here to break down those guys - Amar has already looked at the mystery that is Derrick Favors if you're interested.

I will include my $0.02 though - because I feel like it. No, I don't like how the Deron era ended. Unnecessary (maybe?) rumors of backstabbing, questions about his future here, and on and on. That said, if Kevin O'Connor and Greg Miller (or whomever was involved in the decision) figured that Deron was not going to resign with the team, then its better to trade him now than to go through a Carmelo Anthony type of situation - which seemed to impact the Nuggets on the court even while the team tried their hardest to please him. As for our return - I've always liked Devin Harris (I wanted the Jazz to draft him out of college in 2004, but sadly he went too early and we ended up with Kris Humphries, Kirk Snyder and a pick from Dallas that was eventually used in the trade that net us Deron Williams). Hopefully he's able to excel here. As for Derrick Favors - I was one of us SLC Dunkers that would've loved to see the Jazz somehow land him in the draft this year. Of course, things didn't work out and we ended up with Gordon Hayward, while the Nets kept shopping Favors. And in the end, that allowed us to snag him as well - and all the potential that he comes with.

But I digress - that's not what this post is about, despite what it may seem like. Instead, I will look at the rest of the haul the Jazz got in the trade - two first round draft picks. (Yes, yes, I know O'Connor's first round drafting has been questionable at best, but it is still my favorite time of the year.) The first pick is an unprotected first-rounder from the Nets for this season. The second is a lottery protected pick from the Warriors (which the Nets got for trading Marcus Williams).

So, looking to the draft (admittedly, I'm behind - I didn't think the Jazz would have a pick this season).

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The sky is falling! The end is coming! Everyone head to your underground shelter cuz the apocalypse is coming! (It won't save you, but at least you can pretend it will.) Okay, its not that bad. More like... the Jazz suck! We're going to go 0-82 AND lose the lottery! We're going to miss the playoffs! Everyone is going to get traded! We messed up this offseason!

To which the simple reply is ... "Calm down!" We've played 2 games. Out of 82. That's just over 2% of the season. Sure, the team has looked pathetic at times (most of the time?) and been blown out in 2 games and never yet lead in the short season. But honestly... its been 2 games. We lost a huge part of our offense this offseason, and replacing them isn't very easy. Especially considering the 5 starters never once played together in the preseason (at least, I don't think they did).

But that's beside the point. I'm here to overreact. And overreact in style. In other words, ignore the last paragraph. I never said that and you never read that. Why? Simple. Because we're 0-2 and in danger of missing the playoffs. Our coach might quit midseason to go coach a group of tractors, our star player might demand a trade to Turkey to play with Allen Iverson and we might miss out on the playoffs because our team will be engulfed by the biggest black hole we've seen in a while (well, at least since Okur). And yes, I had to make some of these up on the spot... some I've seen/heard from others, some I haven't. But still.

Hopefully this doesn't have to become a repeating thing (like the Downbeat).

Overreaction #1: "They suck! They're going to miss the playoffs! They went undefeated in the preseason, what's wrong with our team?!"

Championed By: Fans who were too close to the cliff to start the season.

Reality: Its been 2 games. 2. Against 2 fairly good teams. We've got 6 new players; 3 of whom will be playing big minutes. In addition to the 6 guys we lost (3 of whom actually played), we're short another starter due to injury. The preseason is just that... the preseason. The starters didn't play together once. The shots aren't currently falling... as they start to fall, the Jazz will start to win. And as they start to win, the team will gain momentum and the wins will come in quick succession. Two games is too early to decide whether or not your team will make the playoffs or not, so don't even try. The team will gel and things will quickly get better. It might take a couple games, but they'll get there. And a note: we were never going to go 82-0. Just saying.

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Well, I'll give optimism a fair shot. There were definitely improvements from the Denver game to the Suns game. It wasn't as big of a blowout, for example. And Deron and Jefferson finally seemed to wake up late. And other minute things. Like the Nuggets though, the Suns rolled From opening tip to final buzzer, they had the lead (the Jazz have yet to lead this season). The Suns started early (jumping ahead 12-3) and went from there. Whenever the Jazz cut the lead to around 9 (give or take a couple), the Suns answered with a couple of treys and by draining jumpers. The Jazz, in true Jazz fashion, then promptly answered by putting up, and bricking, jumper after jumper. (Or, even better... airballing jumpers.)

Plus side... there weren't as many FTs this time around. That said, the Jazz were cold from downtown (3-13) while the Suns were feeling it (10-26). Fesenko only played 6 minutes, Evans didn't play (for some unknown reason), and the team looked pretty bad. That said... the booing was probably a bit much. Even though the team looked lethargic (at best), its only 2 games, and half of the team wasn't here last year. (To play devil's advocate... they could still look like they at least cared a little bit).

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Well, that was ugly. And I'm not even talking about a pitching duel gone bad. The Jazz came out to open the season and laid an absolute egg in their season opener. The fact it was in Denver against a hated rival makes it that much worse. Credit the Nuggets, of course... they came out with passion and fire and just rolled. None of which is true of the Jazz. (By the way... 84 FTs? That's almost 2 FTs/minute. No NBA game needs that. If the NBA is serious about listening to fans... as they claim with their new "everything is a tech" rule, maybe they need to cut down on the pathetic foul calls.)

That's not to say there weren't highlights for the Jazz. Of course there were. They were just few in number, and were overshadowed by the blowout loss and the bad performance in pretty much every area.

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Finally! After living under a boulder for a while (though it was a nice boulder, so at least I have that), I figure no better time to wake up than now. I mean, this is what we've all been waiting for, right? Rangers. Giants. Cliff Lee. Tim Lincecum. The World Series!!! Oops, sorry. Wrong sport.

Jazz. Nuggets. After opening the season and the playoffs against each other last season, it only makes sense that they'd start this season against each other as well. I mean, familiarity breeds contempt, right? Wait... that can't be good. Not with any sort of contempt automatically leading to 2 T's, a $1 million fine, and mandatory 24/7 coverage of the Miami Heat. Oh well, it is what it is. Two teams that pretty much hate each other (I don't actually know this for a fact) will face off again.

There have been changes on both sides. The Nuggets brought in Shelden Williams and Al Harrington, and lost ... um, no one of importance. And Hit-N-Run is still around, which may or may not be good, depending on his attitude. The Jazz, meanwhile, shifted half their team to Chicago. I mean, we always used to say that while the Jazz struggled for playoff position in the West, they'd be top 3 in the East. Now they get to prove it. Boozer, Brewer & Korver are over in Chicago... and only 2 of them are currently injured. Meanwhile, the Jazz brought back an old friend, added a replacement for someone gone, and drafted people and what-not. The Nuggets also welcome back George Karl, who missed the playoffs last year due to personal health issues. But, all things aside, they're still the team you know. The Nuggets. The Thuggets. _enver. Call them whatever you want, they're the opponents tonight. And you hate them, just like they hate you.

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By now, everyone and their great-grandmother has heard of this rumored deal. While the pieces are being altered or fought or whatever, it seems like the Jazz would be giving up Andrei Kirilenko (and draft picks?) for Boris Diaw.

Everyone and their aforementioned great-grandmother seems to hate this deal. My thoughts on this can be found on my twitter feed for the past day pretty much. That said, there must be some positives to the deal, right? Otherwise the Jazz wouldn't even think about accepting it. So what are these positives that all the fans seem to be glossing over?

Oh, and the "AK has a bloated contract" and the "AK cries when he doesn't get playing time" BS needs to stop. This bloated contract expires at the end of the season, and would be a huge trade-chip if the Jazz were to keep him around; either for future picks or for a more productive player with too much money on his contract. Three years ago, yeah that was a reason to deal him. Now? Not so much. ... As for the crying, its been a couple of seasons. Get over it. Both sides have moved on; hating him for that is just pathetic.

Enough about AK though... this post is about Boris Diaw. Mostly.

(Obviously, this deal hasn't happened yet... but just in case, we should know what we're looking at.)

1- Carmelo Anthony will no longer be in the Northwest Division

Lets be honest. Carmelo Anthony scares us. Just remember the playoffs last year, when he got to the line 75 times/game against the Jazz. We struggle stopping him. By helping in sending him out of the Northwest, the Jazz guarantee that he won't be competing against them for the much-wanted division title. In return, they'll get a top-3 rookie in Derrick Favors and Andrei Kirilenko... who is perfectly capable of stopping himself. And since the Jazz often rely on shooting unnecessary jumpers, they don't even have to worry about AK blocking their lay-ups. Huge win right there!

2- Carmelo Anthony will no longer be in the Western Conference

Even better! He won't even be competing with the Jazz for a playoff spot. And since we can't stop him, that's all wonderful. And if you are going to foul him like mad, its better at only 2 games/season instead of 4 games/season as it has been since he entered the league. Lets be honest, what scares you more? Competing against a Carmelo Anthony-"led" team, knowing full well that he can score at will (until his constant pushing-off gets him 6 fouls), or competing against a team featuring Andrei Kirilenko, knowing full well that he can... block shots er... launch ugly jumpers? Not even close. Fear the 'Melo.

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Well, week 1 is in the books. Okay, not completely... but it is for the MWC. Which means its time to look back and at the action and see where the MWC sits. The game recaps themselves sit on the front page; no need for me to go over them in much detail again.

The conference, as a whole, went 3-3 against the "BCS" teams and 3-0 against FCS teams (always good to see). Included in that 3-3 is the beating of 2 ranked teams (as opposed to 2 losses versus ranked teams) and the beating of a team containing a guy who is considered by some as the "best QB in college football" and the #1 pick in next year's NFL draft. If you'll remember, Sam Bradford was in the same position last year... his team got beat by BYU, and he got injured (though he still went #1). Maybe Jake Locker should consider himself lucky... he's still good to go for the next game.

So, on to the power rankings. Please note: I don't care what was thought of the teams beforehand. Quite simply, its "who did you beat" and "how did you beat them". Its very early in the season, so teams with more wins will tend to be higher up in the ranking. Performance matters. Also note, it has nothing to do with how I think they'll finish the season, or even how they'll do next week. For example, me putting BYU ahead of Air Force has nothing to do with how I think their match-up will play out next week.

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Breaking news from Marc Stein (on Twitter)

Just filed to ESPN.com: Raja Bell will not be meeting with Kobe Bryant after all ... because Bell has been snapped up Utah

Stein later says the deal offered by the Jazz was for 3 years and worth nearly $10 million. Which makes him cheaper than Matthews, Morrow and pretty much everyone else that has signed this off-season (except maybe Tony Allen).

Bell... we've all seen him before. And many were sad when he jumped to Phoenix after his first go-around here ended. He's coming off of a wrist injury that limited him to 6 games last season. If he's over that, though, he brings his career 41% from downtown shooting mark and some veteran defense (and the clear ability to frustrate Kobe Bryant... or clothesline him if need be). He's played for Sloan before, so that's going to help both sides... he knows what Sloan expects.

Better or worse than Matthews? That's to be seen. They're both solid jump-shooters, they both play good D on the perimeter. Bell is much cheaper though, and has proven his worth in the league (for those that think that's important). This does mean, of course, that the offer to Matthews will not be matched. We'll have to see what happens over there now... Matthews just got stuck behind a bunch of wings.

For now, we've got Bell. With a Fesenko signing likely coming, is that the off-season. What does everyone think of the team? And who goes to the bench? CJ? AK? Or Bell, who's primarily been a starter since he left Utah?

Yeah, its me again. So expect a lot of words and very few numbers. Because that's how I roll. I did throw in a picture at the beginning so you know what the post is about...

In the past couple of days, Carlos Boozer talk has been all over this blog (and many other places). For good reason of course, considering that the Carlos Boozer Era has come to an end in Utah, as he heads over to Chicago. In return, the Jazz are getting a super big trade exception (irrelevant, but I wonder if the Jazz tried to get like Taj Gibson or James Johnson or someone in return?).

Back to the blog, there are those that think we'll see a huge drop-off with him gone (I think they're over-exaggerating the drop-off we'll see). There are those that think it's not much of a loss at all (I think they're too confident in our current big-man rotation). There was a statistical breakdown to show us that the drop-off between Boozer and Sap shouldn't be too bad (its the rest of the rotation that worries me). There's been talk of the trade exception and what we can do with it. There was a look at the positions of need now, with the off-season under ways and guys getting signed. There were looks to the (near) future. There was a look to what Boozer was taking with him, and even glimpses back at the Boozer era. It's all been said, in recent days no less.

My view on Boozer has probably been made clear on this blog, many times over. A quick re-hash... I'm sick of the status quo. And Boozer's injuries. And his lack of defense. That said... No, losing Boozer doesn't make us a better team. But we've also seen that with the Boozer/Okur front-court, it'd take a lot of luck to get past the 2nd round of the playoffs. While making the playoffs is great, its a disappointment to see the team fall short every year. I know what it feels like to root for a team that never wins, but thinking the Jazz are going to fall to that level is just absurd. The goal is to win a championship, not lose in the 2nd round every year. Sure, you might have a losing season or 2. But if it helps you get the piece you need to win it all (Spurs with Duncan, Celtics with the players to trade for Garnett, etc), then its not so bad. I'm not saying the Jazz should intentionally tank, but should the worst case scenario play out, the Jazz could still make it work. I don't see that happening, of course. We'll still be competitive.

Could Boozer have helped with this championship goal? Undoubtedly. So why let him go?

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Well, the summer league (Orlando-style) kicks off tomorrow. The Jazz get the first game, facing the Bobcats at 11 AM MST. Back when the RMR existed and I had my own Jazz blog (so like 2 years ago), I went team by team and mentioned the names you might've heard of and what-not. Obviously, I don't have time to do that now. (Plus, the RMR doesn't exist, so its not as cool.)

That said, the Jazz are still playing. It might be a bunch of guys that will never make the team, but whatever. Basketball is basketball (and it gets us away from the never-ending free agency rumor-mill). So, as Jazz fans, what should you be looking for? (If you're watching the games, obviously... it's only found on NBAtv or whatever its called.)

Now obviously not all the players are going to make the Jazz roster... or even an NBA squad (at least not this year). Everyone will be trying their hardest. That said, some players might deserve some extra attention, because they're more likely to be on the Jazz next year...

Before I start though, go read the Ridiculous Upside breakdown of the "other guys" (longer shots to make the roster), and no worries... I'll wait for you to get back before going on.

...

Back? Good. First, a look at the actual roster. Now on to what to look for.

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Joe Johnson. Rudy Gay. Drew Gooden. Darko Milicic. Amir Johnson. Channing Frye.

All of these guys have, at some point, been mentioned as potential targets for the Jazz this off-season. Some were realistic targets (so it seemed at the time), some were far-out dreams. All of these guys have now agreed to terms with other teams (except maybe Joe Johnson... I don't know if he's agreed or if he's still mulling it over). Joe Johnson got (has been offered) 6/119. Gay got 5/82.  Gooden got 5/32. Milicic somehow got 4/20 from the Timberwolves. Amir Johnson picked up 5/34, and Frye got himself 5/30

(I know what you guys are thinking... "this is a Jazz blog; none of these guys even met with the Jazz, let alone signed with them, so shut up!")

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Updated (9:51 PM MST): Wes Matthews news (you won't like it), in the comments

Free agency is rapidly approaching... it's less than 2.5 hours away now. Rumors are flying with no regard for human life.

LeBron James will be playing for 8 teams next season. Joe Johnson has 6 teams right now, and a max contract or 3 coming his way. Our own Carlos Boozer has a couple suitors of his own. Chris Bosh is going to be traded to 4 different teams (but not for Luol Deng), allowing Toronto to completely overhaul their roster in 1 night (early favorite seems to be Miami). Dwyane Wade is staying put, it seems. Paul Pierce opted out. David Lee could be signed and traded for a bigger name. Ray Allen is being wooed by 4 teams 3 different superstars to come play with them (for cheap). Amar'e Stoudemire looks to be leaving Phoenix. Rudy Gay might be going somewhere. Dirk Nowitzki opted out, making him a free agent. Cleveland has had 2 coaches sign contracts in the last 2 days. Someone out there thinks OJ Mayo for Jameer Nelson would be a good trade for Orlando. Richard Jefferson just ran from millions of dollars, giving the Spurs deeper pockets... and making him the anti-Korver/Boozer/Okur (from last year). Carmelo Anthony might be on the trade block. Man... even Brian Scalabrine has 2 teams chasing after him!

The Jazz have 3 FAs out there... Boozer, Wes Matthews & Kyrylo Fesenko. Also out there... ex-Jazzster Ronnie Brewer. Doubtful any of them (save for Boozer maybe) see much action in the media tonight/tomorrow. As for our Jazz, unlikely they do much of anything.

But on this, the first night & day of free agency, all eyes will be on the big names. (While you're at it, go here and make your predictions. Winners get a pat on the back from themselves.) Rumors galore... post whatever you hear (or, if you want to make something up, go for it... just let us know its made up) in the comments.

Have a field day with this... in case you haven't noticed, the "insiders" are. You know as much as the insiders. Who's going where? My sources told me Dwyane Wade to Utah was a lock. (We'll just ignore that I used a random number generator, with evens being 'yes' and odds being 'no'.)

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The draft is less than 24 hours away. Rumors are flying left, right, north, south, up, down, east, west and every direction in between. While the Jazz haven't been included in many of the rumors, there are implications that could impact the Jazz, either in the draft or later on (free agency, or the season).

I figure, instead of just filling up the FanShots with rumor after rumor, we might as well just post them all (and corresponding thoughts here). Feel free to post anything you hear (with links or something, if you can) in the comments below.

To start with, it seems like the Nets are focusing back on Derrick Favors at #3. This means no Wesley Johnson there (of course, since you can only pick 1 guy with 1 pick) and corresponds to Boozer not being an option there. Where could Boozer potentially be an option?

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