Continuing the short series looking at the recently departed. Part 1 was Jarron Collins. This is now part 2...
Morris Almond
08-09 stats: 25 GP (1 GS), 10.2 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, 40.7 FG%, 80.8 FT%, 29.4 3-PT%
Jazz career: 34 GP (1 GS), 8.6 mpg, 3.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.1 bpg, 38.5 FG%, 78.1 FT%, 28.6 3-PT%
Jazz Career: Morris Almond was a 1st round pick for the Jazz in 2007 (#25 overall). At the time, the Jazz were desperate for wing-help along-side Ronnie Brewer/CJ Miles/Gordon Giricek, and Almond was considered the best pure shooter (Arron Afflalo & Alando Tucker were also available at the wing spots). Unfortunately for Almond, he got stuck... Brewer exploded the year Almond got drafted, and after that season, CJ Miles got a new contract. Throw in that Almond never impressed Sloan, and his Jazz career was over before it started. There were complaints about his defense, and he occasionally seemed like a black-hole offensively, which never sits well with Sloan. The Jazz didn't pick up his option before this past season, and that was that. He spent most of his 2 Jazz seasons in the D-League, though he did impress a bit when he got the chance last season. His 3-point% is really telling though... the Jazz were hoping for something more than a 29% shooter from downtown when they drafted him.
The Good: He spent the past 2 seasons wowing fans in the D-League all over the place. He had a couple 50+ point games and was always a scoring threat. While it never carried over to the NBA, fans of the Flash got to see plenty of great performances from Mo Nuts. Meanwhile, I don't know if this is the reason or not, but it seemed that his drafting coincided perfectly with a solid couple of seasons from Ronnie Brewer, which is never bad. He's not the shooter Almond was in college, but he's become a huge asset to this offense. Did Almond's drafting cause that? We may never know, but we'll take it. While it is unfortunate that Almond's career didn't take off here, in the end, it's about the Jazz, and Brewer's waking up on offense was huge for the team.
The Bad: The biggest issue, according to Jerry Sloan, was his defense... something that prematurely ended his Jazz career. He had been a scorer in college, but couldn't stick with his guy in limited NBA chances. There was also the 3-point shooting. When you draft a guy to be a long-range threat and he shoots 29% from downtown (limited time or not), something is wrong. He can't shoot. He's a blackhole offensively. He struggles defensively. Sloan has no patience for guys like that, and now he no longer has to worry about this particular player. He just didn't fit in... something you'd have hoped they would've seen BEFORE they drafted him.
The Outcome: Sure, it was just the 25th pick in the 1st round... in other words, you don't expect much. Still, the team was close that year, and there was hope that his shooting would help them. Well, those hopes were dashed fairly quickly. The pick was a huge letdown... strong words for the #25 pick, sure, but when you come to Utah, you're going to have high hopes pinned on you from the get-go. It's your job to work at it and live up to those expectations... something Morris Almond just could not do. I don't know if the blame goes on him for not working harder or Sloan for not giving him more time or falls in between, but either way, it was a failed experiment. He spent the last year playing to impress other teams.
The Replacements: In terms of the D-League, I'm not sure. Wes Matthews maybe? On the roster though, his presence will be missed a bit early on, with CJ & Korver both out. Ronnie P. & Deron could both see some time at the 2-guard behind Brewer, and Wes Matthews could potentially see some action as well. In terms of solid 3-point shooting (assuming Almond was going to get there at some point), the Jazz only have Okur & maybe Deron & Matthews right now. This is where the loss of Korver/CJ/Almond hurts... a lot harder to spread the floor when Booze is down low and you've got a bunch of slashers/cutters around him. Hopefully someone will step up (and by that, I'm looking completely at Matthews & Miles).
His Future: He went to camp with the Knicks... and got cut. He tried the preseason thing with the Magic... and got cut. What's next? I don't know. Maybe he tries overseas. Maybe he goes back to the D-League to try and develop the rest of his game. If his touch comes back, he's got NBA range and all that. But he needs to work on other facets of his game if he wants to stick in the league. Maybe not to the levels Jerry Sloan expected of him, but somewhere above where he is now. It'll be interesting to see how he goes about things now, and if another team is willing to give him a shot at this point.
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