Guards Wesley Matthews and Sundaita Gaines both were undrafted last June but they have both helped the Jazz this season. Matthews has played in 56 games (22 starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 21.8 minutes, 8.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He is back into the starting lineup at shooting guard for the Jazz after the trade of Ronnie Brewer. Gaines has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Jazz and he is averaging 7.8 minutes, 3.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Gaines will be most remembered for hitting a game winning shot against the Cavaliers in Salt Lake City as time expired.

The Jazz have traded 24-year old shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to the Grizzlies for a lottery protected first round pick in 2011. Brewer played in 53 games (all starts) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He finishes his career with the Jazz having played in 266 games (223 starts) in which he averaged 26.4 minutes, 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. This trade looks money driven and for that reason I don’t like it. The Jazz are hot right now and they didn’t need to subtract a starting player from the team.

C.J. Miles was a starting player last season for the Jazz. But this year he is coming off the bench for the Jazz for the most part but the numbers are still the same. Miles has played in 32 games (10 starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 19.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. I think this is about the ceiling for Miles at least as long as the Jazz have other options on the offense.

The Utah Jazz are playing some great basketball the past month and are climbing up the ladder in the Western Conference standings because of it.  Going into last night’s game, the Jazz had won 9 straight games and have gone 14-2 since January 6th.  It’s not like the Jazz have been playing cupcake teams either, since 10 of those 14 wins have come against teams with a record better than .500.  They are currently 32-19, which puts them only 2.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets who are currently at the two spot in the Western Conference.  The Los Angeles Lakers are still playing great basketball as well, and sit atop the Western Conference at 41-13.  That puts the Jazz 7.5 games behind the Lakers, but if they keep playing at the rate they have been over the past month they could challenge the Lakers.  They did have their chance last night against a Kobe-less Lakers team, but Pau Gasol had a monster night and led the Lakers to a 15 point win.  Still, the Jazz have been playing great team basketball and have been bringing a strong effort on defense every night.  Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Andre Kirilenko have all been playing some great basketball, along with some role-players like Paul Milsap, Ronnie Brewer, and Wesley Mathews.  The Jazz could be a very dangerous team in the West during the playoffs.

Mehmet Okur’s numbers are down a little bit this season but I think it is because Carlos Boozer has been healthy most of the year and he’s getting the ball a lot more than last season. Okur has played in 45 games (all starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 29.1 minutes, 12.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Okur is still shooting well from long range hitting 39.4% on his three point attempts which is outstanding for a center.