When you root for a team that isn\u2019t in the playoffs anymore it\u2019s very natural to reminisce on what you used to have. When you root for a team that didn\u2019t make the playoffs at all that kind of thought only comes more quickly. For about three months now I\u2019ve been coasting through this season thinking about the NBA Draft Lottery, and now that we\u2019ve secured the #2 pick in this year\u2019s draft, there\u2019s nothing more we can do except wait. Or at least that\u2019s what normal people would do.<\/p>\n
For me and my undiagnosed AuDHD my mind can only go back in time until we officially have one of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, or Cam Boozer<\/a> on our roster. Once the draft and free agency are over I\u2019ll be locked into what we can accomplish next season, but for now I\u2019m thinking about the guys who aren\u2019t here to be a part of our come up. I\u2019ve thought about it long and hard and I now have my all-time starting 5 from Utah Jazz<\/a> players who were pretty good: not Hall of Famers, not All-Stars, not even very good. Just pretty good. Be sure to tell us who you\u2019d pick in your Starting 5, but without further ado, let\u2019s go back to a simpler time.<\/p>\n If you know me as a basketball fan, you will know that my favorite archetypes of players are facilitators, and in my mind Ricky Rubio was one of the best. Sure, he never lived up to hype he had coming into the league, and he was never able to justify selecting him over Steph Curry<\/a>, but having a 12 year career when you\u2019re only true skill is slinging the rock is pretty solid. He was only in Utah for two seasons but was able to give us 12 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds a night on fairly decent shooting splits.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n He\u2019s actually the catalyst for this entire article; I was scrolling Twitter and ran across a Ricky Rubio highlight reel and I couldn\u2019t help but smile. He may have never been the point guard, but he\u2019ll always be my point guard. I couldn\u2019t tell you how sad I was to see him retire from the NBA, but they say to not cry because it\u2019s over, and to smile because it happened.<\/p>\n Shooting Guard: DeShawn Stevenson<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got a major throwback for this entry. It would be understandable if you forgot, or even didn\u2019t know at all, that Stevenson played for the Jazz. It was a different time; we just started a new millennium, a gallon of gas was around $1.50, and NBADraft.net just announced to the entire world that Stevenson\u2019s NBA comp was THE Michael Jeffrey Jordan.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say he never lived up that standard, and his three and a half season in Utah weren\u2019t any indication that he would become anything more than his 6 points per game average, but every now and then he would display something just special enough to think that he could turn things around. In his last 54 games for the Jazzmen he averaged a career high 11.4 points per game before he was traded to the Orlando Magic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure why I have such an affinity for him, really. I followed his career in Washington, I was excited to see him be a part of the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks<\/a> squad in 2011, and I was even rooting for him during his time in Ice Cube\u2019s Big 3 league. By all metrics I shouldn\u2019t care about a player with averages like his, but you can\u2019t help who you love.<\/p>\n Yes, I do mean old man Joe Johnson. I can hear a lot of people SCREAMING at me to have Andrei Kirilenko<\/a> or Joe Ingles<\/a> here, and while they were certainly great players, they were much more than just role players. I\u2019m not exactly sure what the word for a player between role player and star is, but both of them would be in that category. Some people may also be yelling at me because Iso Joe is a 7x All-Star, but when he made his way to Salt Lake City he was four years removed from All-Star status and 35 years old, so I think this selection is more than acceptable.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n To quote the late great Bill Russell: \u201cthis game has always been , and will always be, about buckets.\u201d In the case of Joe Johnson, he was able to score with the best of them. Roughly 5000 people in human history have played in the NBA and only 56 of them have ever scored more than 20,000 points; Iso Joe is one of those elite. His midrange game was always a lethal weapon for him to use, but once he got to Utah he was able to really display his post work a lot more; really a refined repertoire for someone in his position. Much like DeShawn Stevenson, I\u2019ve always loved Joe Johnson and I\u2019m happy to say that he\u2019s still killing it in the Big 3 league. Johnson is one of those players who could really hoop until he\u2019s 60, and I hope I get to witness that entire playing career.<\/p>\n This biggest knock on Derrick Favors\u2019 entire career is that he was born about 15 years too late. For his particular skillset, being a very good post player, he would have been a multi-time All-Star if he was playing in the 80\u2019s or 90\u2019s. Unfortunately for him he was drafted in the 2010 NBA Draft, and just as he was entering his prime as a player, the NBA was starting to move towards a more perimeter centric philosophy thanks to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors<\/a>. Despite the fact that he wasn\u2019t able to mold his game with the league, he was still very effective within his niche skillset.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n