Utah Jazz – Page 88 – Syndication Server

2020 aggregate NBA mock draft 4.0: Evaluating the rising upperclassmen

Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA Draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.

Somehow already past the midpoint of the college basketball season, the 2020 NBA draft is starting to shape up with far more clear rankings.

As always, we examine the most trusted analysts to give us the best idea of a consensus for what the upcoming draft class will look like in June. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from experts at ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic and USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.

The top four players (Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman and Cole Anthony) have remained the exact same despite none of the latter three players being active for various different reasons.

Meanwhile, Iowa State sophomore point guard Tyrese Haliburton entered the Top 5 and replaced 19-year-old Israeli prospect Deni Avdija – who has not seen much playing time in the Euroleague.

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Included below are brief scouting reports for senior guards who have improved their draft stock the most since our last update. These players listed are all four-year NCAA players who could be ready to make the jump to the NBA like Josh Hart and Malcolm Brogdon did in their respective classes.

MARKUS HOWARD, MARQUETTE

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 46

One of the most important things to know about Marquette senior Markus Howard is that despite the fact he has four years of collegiate experience, he is just 20 years old. Few teams operate their offense through one player quite like Golden Eagles do with Howard, who has taken 42.5 percent of their total field goal attempts. Fortunately, the guard brags one of the most efficient and prolific jump shots among all NCAA players. Howard operates well when he is shooting off the catch and off the dribble, which will make him a good fit for almost any offense in the NBA. He is currently averaging 28.4 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent on three-pointers. Similarly, no guard in college has been fouled more often than Howard has thus far. He should be a lock win Big East Player of the Year and should be a strong contender for the National Player of the Year, too. As a pro, he can likely become a spark-plug scoring option off the bench. His draft stock has improved from No. 68 up to No. 46 month-over-month.

PAYTON PRITCHARD, OREGON

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 47

Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard was a Top-50 recruit coming into the Pac-12 back in 2016. He attended West Linn High School, where he was able to lead his squad to four consecutive state titles. That accomplishment was an especially impressive feat considering the program had only won the OSAA Boys Basketball Championship once before and it was way back in 1997. He has since played for the Ducks in the Final Four (2017) and also won MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament last season. He is currently averaging 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists with 1.7 steals per game. His assist rate (32.7 percent) is Top 20 among seniors and he has connected on 40.7 percent of his three-pointers. Now more than halfway through the season, he is the heavy favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year and could be a sleeper for National Player of the Year as well. He has leaped from No. 96 in December all the way to No. 47 now in January.

SKYLAR MAYS, LSU

Aggregate Mock Draft Rank: 57

During his senior year of high school, Skylar Mays was actually teammates with Howard at Findlay Prep. Also on the roster was 2019 first-rounder PJ Washington and Toronto Raptors two-way wing Oshae Brissett. For what it is worth, their roster also had current college basketball standouts Tristan Clark (Baylor) and Lamine Diane (CSUN). Their team has already sent tons of prospects into the NBA and Mays could very well be the next in line. He is a potential 3-and-D threat, averaging 1.4 three-pointers and 2.1 steals per game for the LSU Tigers as an NCAA senior. Meanwhile, LSU’s adjusted offensive rating (116.6) ranks Top 5 in college basketball. Along with Reggie Perry (Mississippi State) as well as Kerry Blackshear Jr. (Florida), Mays has a strong candidacy to win SEC Player of the Year. He has jumped from No. 90 last month to No. 57 this month.

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Preview: Jazz visiting in search of season sweep vs. Dubs

The third-place Utah Jazz visit the last-place Warriors as they try for a season sweep of an injury-hobbled Golden State in their home arena.

The 10-35 Golden State Warriors take on the 30-13 Utah Jazz on Wednesday, January 22 at 7pm PT at Chase Center as the Jazz try to sweep the Warriors for the season after having won their last three meetings.

The third-place Jazz are trying to make up for a rough start to the season they were anticipated to be among the West’s title contenders, and are looking more the part of late having won their last two games and nine of their last 10 contests.

The Warriors have had an especially rough stretch of late, with an inverted nine of their last 10 games a loss, not that anyone is surprised given the state of the team in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s absence.

Forward Draymond Green (illness), forward Kevon Looney (abdomen), wing Glenn Robinson III (ankle) and shooting guard Jacob Evans all may miss the match with the Jazz as well.

GAME DAY pic.twitter.com/QYNRZwFZOG

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 22, 2020

Utah will be entirely healthy unless they choose to rest center Rudy Gobert, who rolled his ankle against the Indiana Pacers Jan. 20.

With Utah the clearly superior team in terms of health and available talent, the path to victory for the league-worst Warriors is mostly luck, and a little disrespect from their opponent and a dash of Alec Burks revenge game.

But outside of that unlikely combination of events, the Jazz should take this game fairly easily, reflected in an average spread of +8 for the Dubs by most online sportsbooks.

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Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Wednesday’s Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.

The Utah Jazz (30-13) and Golden State Warriors (10-35) will do battle at the Chase Center in San Francisco at 10 p.m. ET. We analyze the Jazz-Warriors odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM.

Jazz at Warriors: Key injuries

Warriors

PG Stephen Curry (hand) out
SG Jacob Evans (concussion) questionable
PF Kevon Looney (abdominal) out
SF Glenn Robinson III (ankle) probable
SG Klay Thompson (knee) out

Jazz at Warriors: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Jazz 117, Warriors 102

Moneyline (ML)

The Jazz (-455) are just too expensive, as there is no way to justify risking more than four and a half times your potential investment. AVOID. There just isn’t enough value in backing Utah with a $10 bet returning a profit of only $2.20 with an outright victory. The Warriors are +340.

Line/Against the Spread (ATS)

The JAZZ (-9.5, -106) have gotten PG Mike Conley Jr. back from injury, and he has been folded into the offense nicely. They’re second in the Northwest Division and they’re running like a finely tuned machine. The Warriors (+9.5, -115) … not so much. They’re banged up, and not playing well. It’s a far cry from the better part of the last decade where they have been championship caliber.

Utah is 5-1 ATS in the past seven as a favorite, and 7-2 ATS in the past nine on the road while cashing in 16 of the past 21 overall. Golden State has been better against the number lately, but is 2-7 ATS in the past nine meetings with Utah and 1-6 ATS in the past seven in the Bay Area against the Jazz.

Over/Under (O/U)

The OVER 216.5 (-110) is the lean, although the trends are all over the board. I expect the Jazz to win this one rather handily, although it might not be until the final minute before this one inches across the line. I wouldn’t get too carried away betting the total in this one.

Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Denver has the best home-court advantage in the NBA; Brooklyn the worst

Any competitive advantage in an NBA season is important whether it is home cooking or the comfort and familiarity of your own locker room.

For this study, we subtracted the difference from the team winning percentage on the road from their winning percentage at home. This illustrates, in part, the impact of playing in their own city has had on franchises around the league. We looked at all games played since the Basketball Association of America merged with the NBA in 1946-47.

Note that all numbers included below for teams are based on their records when playing in their current cities. That means that Golden State Warriors accounts for San Francisco both now and in the 1960s (not Oakland) while the Nets are in Brooklyn (not New Jersey), the Grizzlies are in Memphis (not Vancouver), the Jazz are in Salt Lake City (not New Orleans), etc.

Overall, this research helps show how much better a team has historically played depending on the location of the game.

Perhaps the most obvious takeaway is that the two NBA cities with the highest elevations (Denver and Utah) both rank in the Top 3. In fact, the Nuggets have won nearly twice as many games when they have played at home compared to their road appearances.

Back in 2013, Neil Payne contextualized the geographical advantages for these games (via ESPN):

“One explanation for this phenomenon is that Denver and Salt Lake City are, at 5,883 feet and 4,227 feet, respectively, the two highest-altitude cities in the entire NBA by far. (Ranking third in elevation is Phoenix at a paltry 1,132 feet.) Certainly, this is a major factor – the relatively thin air at such high elevations causes the players’ bodies to have less oxygen available for circulation to their muscles, resulting in quicker fatigue. Denver and Utah players seem to acclimate to this, offering them a presumed advantage.”

The aforementioned advantage is so distinct that in 2015, the league made an effort to schedule the Nuggets as the first stop on a trip from the east or put a day of rest in between games for teams coming from the west.

Another interesting takeaway is that cities that are known for a more vibrant nightlife (Miami, Los Angeles and New York) all fall fairly low on this list. It is common to hear “Los Angeles nightlife is undefeated” or the “South Beach Flu” after the Heat or the Lakers win a game at home. But the win-loss totals indicate that visiting teams may not be as impacted as many thought.

For further proof, Sports Insights NBA expert Carl Sack told The Action Network’s Matt Moore in 2018 that his data also indicated a regression to the mean rather than anything particularly noteworthy about party cities.

One final note is that the teams that have played the fewest total games at home (Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors) fared the worst for these rankings.

These three teams rank in the Bottom 4 for home games based on sheer volume and newness in their home arenas. Whether it’s based on earning loyalty from the fans or something deeper, it was particularly interesting to see some kind of correlation even if there is no causation.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

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Indiana Pacers at Utah Jazz odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Monday’s Indiana Pacers at Utah Jazz sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.

The Indiana Pacers (28-15) and Utah Jazz (29-13) tangle at Vivant Smart Home Arena at 9 p.m. ET Monday. We analyze the Pacers-Jazz odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM.

Pacers at Jazz: Key injuries

Pacers

SG Victor Oladipo (knee) out