Tony Jones, one of the Tribune’s Utah Jazz beat reporters, will answer questions submitted on Twitter each week in his Jazz mailbag. Here are this week’s questions and answers.



#TonyTalks Seems unusual for a player to be so openly discussed as tradable by the Jazz. Am I off on that assessment? Or is this a result of Hood himself saying he wants out. Was the booing a factor? — BHodges🎙 (@LifeOnaPlate) January 22, 2018

This analysis would be spot-on in a normal season. The Jazz usually are great at keeping their business out of the limelight and the media. They are one of the best teams in the league at that.

This season is rare. Rodney Hood and Derrick Favors both are free agents this summer, and after the Gordon Hayward conclusion, one could make the logical assumption that the Jazz would rather make a trade than lose a key piece for nothing, especially if those pieces aren’t in the long-term plans. Favors certainly isn’t. Hood began the season as a future piece, but Donovan Mitchell’s rise — they play the same position — compromised that. Hood being on the block has more to do with the fact that he’s a sixth man with the Jazz going forward and probably would be a starter on many other teams. Are you going to pay your sixth man $18 million? That’s what Hood could be offered. So it makes sense financially if the Jazz are able to secure the right deal. Be sure that the Jazz won’t give away Hood. After all, they have team control in restricted free agency.

aside from Chicago which teams are frequently coming up that are talking to the jazz? #TonyTalks — Lauri Bird (@pickuphoop) January 22, 2018

Chicago’s come up because the Jazz and the Bulls had discussions revolving around Nikola Mirotic. Most of the league is talking to each other around this time. Things will flesh out a little more as we get to the final week of the deadline.

With the solid young core the Jazz have in Rudy and Mitchell, do you think are they better off trying to trade for a 3rd star, see what’s in free agency or tanking for the draft. #TonyTalks — Steven Newbold (@sknewbie) January 22, 2018

The Jazz don’t tank. They are dead set against that. Trading for a star means trading a star, which is robbing Peter to pay Paul. So don’t count on that, either. They are 19-28 this season and headed toward a top-10 draft pick if things don’t improve soon. And there’s a decent chance the Jazz can be players this summer on the free agent market. They will be one of the only teams with money to spend — most of the league is expected to be at or over the salary cap — and there are a number of enticing free agents who will be out there. I don’t think this will be a difficult rebuild for the Jazz. More like a hiccup.

Has Donovan met, exceeded, or fallen short (dare I say?!) of Jazz front office’s expectations? #tonytalks How is Tony Bradley developing? — Trent Tueller (@TrentTueller) January 22, 2018

Donovan Mitchell has exceeded expectations. For example, they didn’t realize he would be this adept at playing point guard so early in his career. They knew he had the potential to be dynamic defensively. But they didn’t realize he would be so far along offensively. Tony Bradley is developing. He’s still a ways away from being able to help the Jazz. At the same time, he’s young and he has a lot of time.

@tribjazz Dante is heading into free agency this year. Is there any other interest for him around the league, or does the Jazz get a potential high level player, at a very good contract, a Jae Crowder type of contract? #tonytalks — Blurbman (@blurbman) January 22, 2018

I don’t think it really matters if there’s a lot of interest around the league for Dante Exum because the Jazz almost certainly are going to keep him. He’s solidly in the long-term plans for this franchise. Let’s put it this way: The Jazz think Exum’s injury has hurt the team almost as much as Rudy Gobert’s injury.

Donovan's game has shifted to being a facilitator since Rudy's return. Do you think this is due to the way that defenses have been guarding him or a shift in Donovan's mindset? #TonyTalks — Ryan Dangerfield (@ryandanger26) January 22, 2018

It’s the way defenses have been guarding him. Take Monday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks for example. When Donovan Mitchell executes a pick-and-roll with Rudy Gobert, the Hawks took whoever was guarding Ricky Rubio and whoever was guarding Derrick Favors and planted them in the lane. So even if Mitchell got past his primary defender, there were two other guys in the lane to greet him, forcing him to kick the ball to Rubio or Favors. The Hawks guarded Mitchell the best I’ve seen a team guard him all season. They clogged the middle and made life difficult on him. The Jazz have to get more shooting onto the roster to prevent this.

@tribjazz what year has had the best and worst locker rooms since you’ve been covering the team #tonytalks — Maren Baumgartner (@Mare_Bear_Baum) January 22, 2018

The Jazz have always had great locker rooms, even in the down years that I’ve covered the team. The current locker room is a frustrated one, but it’s not at all fractured.

#TonyTalks If Udoh got 30 min a game (here, elsewhere, wherever), where do you think he ranks in end-of-year voting? DPOY candidate/winner? All-Defensive 1st team, 2nd team? Thanks Tony! — Jake Sperling (@Jake_Sperling) January 22, 2018

I truly think Ekpe Udoh could make a run at All-Defense. He’s almost as good a defender as Rudy Gobert, which is saying something. He’s Utah’s best big man at hedging and guarding perimeter players. He’s a spectacular rim protecter. He’s a great communicator. If he were even half as good offensively, he’d be a real impact player in this league. As is, he’s a solid backup.

@tribjazz what are key things for the Jazz to look for in the chemistry between Rudy and Mitchell #TonyTalks — Adam Fisch (@adamthecashew) January 22, 2018