Morris

Almond

It’s nice to see Evans stretch his legs out during the twilight of his career like this. Chances are, he won’t be seeing many lines like this in his future. Morris Almond scored five points with five steals, Shelvin Mack scored six points with seven assists, James Singleton put up four points, eight boards, and three assists, and Nene added 15 points with seven boards, three assists, and two blocks to round out the bench effort.

Almond was a 2007 first-round pick of the Jazz that flamed out after just two seasons in the league. He’ll provide depth on the wing with Roger Mason (finger) done for the season.

Almond finished last season with the Wizards, but he’ll head overseas for a larger role in Serbia.

Almond was signed in mid-April to provide depth down the stretch, but he’s not worried about what he can’t control. “I played hard when I was out there, and things will sort themselves out this summer, but like I said, I was just glad to be part of it at the end,” he said. Almond is also expected to play for Washington’s summer league team, where he’ll get a chance to make his case for a roster spot next season.

Giricek is still under contract to the Jazz for one more season at $4 million and Jazz VP of basketball operations, Kevin O’Connor, says a buyout is unlikely. But the team is likely looking to trade the disgruntled player, who also happens to be the team’s most experienced shooting guard. “Never confident of anything,” O’Connor said when asked if Giricek would be with the team to start the season. “Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got traded, so can anybody get traded? Yeah.” If Giricek doesn’t return, the Jazz’s two options at shooting guard are rookie Morris Almond and unproven Ronnie Brewer. O’Connor says that the Jazz may finish games without a shooting guard on the court, playing Matt Harpring and Andrei Kirilenko together instead. Of course, Harpring’s knees have to be healthy for that plan to work.

Brewer is in serious competition for the starting SG job with Morris Almond (who had 10 points and five boards) and Gordan Giricek. A couple more big games from Brewer would likely win him the job, so keep your eye on him the rest of the preseason.

He sunk 6-of-14, but missed badly with 5.9 seconds to play and a chance to sink the winning shot. Almond came in with the label of a shooter, and he lived up to it, taking four shots in the first four minutes. He also showed some post skills and the ability to slash to the basket.

Almond has been touted by RotoWorld as the best shooter in the draft and stands a good chance to see solid minutes at shooting guard for the Jazz. Feel free to use a late pick on him in your draft, especially if you find yourself in need of threes. He even has a shot at starting at shooting guard over Gordan Giricek in Utah, although that may be a long shot.

Morris Almond of Rice could be that man, but there’s a good chance he’ll be gone by the time pick 25 rolls around. Other options for Utah include Italian Marco Belinelli, Vanderbilt’s Derrick Byars, Alando Tucker of Wisconsin and USC’s Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young, although it would be surprising to see either of that pair fall this far.

Almond may be the best pure shooter in the draft and the Jazz were looking for someone to give them an outside presence. With Gordan Giricek reportedly on the outs in Utah, Almond could see plenty of action next season. While he’s not draftable for fantasy teams, he might be a guy owners desperate for threes pick up off the wire at some point during the season.