The Jazz are calling 27-year old center Al Jefferson a game time decision tonight due to a bad ankle. It has been bothering him for a while now and the Jazz might be smart to give him some time off to heal up a little bit. Jefferson has played in 16 games (all starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 33.0 minutes, 17.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. If Jefferson can’t go tonight, look for Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter to split time at center. Favors has played in 18 games (5 starts) for the Jazz so far this year and he is averaging 20.9 minutes, 7.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Rookie Enes Kanter has also been solid so far this year for the Jazz as he has played in 19 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 14.4 minutes, 5.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. The Jazz feel that they will be o.k. if Jefferson has to miss a little bit of time to get healthy as Favors and Kanter are playing pretty well so far this year.

The Jazz have dealt 32-year old center Mehmet Okur to the New Jersey Nets for a future 2nd round pick and a trade exception.  Okur played in only 13 games (0 starts) last year for the Jazz and he averaged 12.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He played in 474 games (404 starts) in his seven years with the Jazz and he averaged 31.7 minutes, 15.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  Okur finishes his career #4 in three pointers made with 517 in Jazz’ history.  He is also #9 in rebounds (3,599), #9 in blocked shots (346) and #9 in points (7,255) in Jazz’ history.  The Jazz did Okur a favor as he was going to be sitting behind Al Jefferson and rookie Enes Kanter in 2011-12.

The Utah Jazz have picked up 24-year old SG/SF C.J. Miles’ 2011-12 option valued at $3.7 million bucks.  Miles played in 78 games (19 starts) for the Jazz last year and he averaged 25.2 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  Miles has now played in 333 games (145 starts) in his first six years with the Jazz and he is averaging 19.1 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  This was a smart move for the Jazz as it will allow them to break in rookie Alec Burks slowly if needed.

The Jazz took 19-year old, 6’6″, 195 pound shooting guard Alec Burks with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft last night.  Burks played in 38 games for Colorado last year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He played in 68 games in his two years in college and he averaged 30.9 minutes, 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Shooting guard has been a Black Hole offensively for the Jazz for quite some time and they are hoping that Burks is the right guy to make them forget all about that.

The Utah Jazz took 19-year old, 6’10″, 255 pound center Enes Kanter with the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Kanter sat out last season at Kentucky because he was ruled inelgible due to making $33,000 bucks in Turkey the year before.  Kanter last played back in 2008-09 in Turkey.  He played in 9 games that year and he averaged 10.9 minutes, 2.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  Kanter is a big time talent and the Jazz couldn’t pass him up.  He will give Al Jefferson a break whenever he needs one in 2011-12, but the Jazz are hoping that he will be their starting center in the near future.

The Utah Jazz are likely going to pare the payroll down and let 5 free agents walk this summer.  The Utah Jazz have a team option for the 2011-12 season and I look for them to pick it up.  SF Andrei Kirilenko will be allowed to leave as the Jazz won’t want to pay him the big bucks anymore.  Centers Francisco Elson and Kyrylo Fesenko will both be allowed to leave town.  PGs Ronnie Price and Earl Watson will also likely leave Salt Lake City.  I see the Jazz trying to get into almost a full rebuilding mode starting in 2011-12.

The Utah Jazz have decided to let 25-year old guard Kyle Weaver’s 10-day contract expire instead of re-signing him for the last two games of the year.  Weaver played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Jazz this year and he averaged 13.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.  But, Weaver only shot 36% (9 of 25) from the floor for the Jazz and that was just not good enough to get the job done.  The Jazz won’t miss him the last two games.

24-year old center Kyrylo Fesenko is done for the season due to a fractured right hand.  Fesenko played in 53 games (1 start) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He has now played in 132 games (7 starts) in his first four years with the Jazz and he has averaged 8.3 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  I think that Fesenko has played his last game for the Jazz as he can become a free agent at the end of the year.

The Utah Jazz have signed 25-year old guard Kyle Weaver.  Weaver played in his first game for the Jazz last night in which he played 10 minutes and had 2 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists.  Weaver played in 68 games (19 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  This was a nice signing for the Jazz as Weaver should be able to help them off the bench the last couple weeks of the year.

The Jazz have decided to shut down 31-year old center Mehmet Okur due to back and leg injuries.  Okur played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Jazz this year and he averaged 12.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He only shot 35.5% from the floor and 31.3% from three point range as he never appeared to be anywhere near 100% for the Jazz.  They aren’t going to the playoffs anyway so it made sense to shut him down.