Utah Jazz: Backup Point Guard Carousel

The Utah Jazz remain winless. Being the worst offensive team in the league certainly contributes to that winless streak, the terrible point guard play has contributed to being the worst offensive team in the league and Jamaal Tinsley has definitely contributed to the terrible point guard play. It looks as though the Jazz front office had seen enough, as they waived Tinsley Tuesday afternoon.

Jamaal was an emergency signing by Utah, as they only had two point guards on the roster before the season started. After Trey Burke broke his finger, the Jazz needed to fill a hole. Tinsley was seemingly the best way to fill that hole, as he had played under Tyrone Corbin for two seasons and was a free agent who wouldn’t command a high salary. Though for someone who was brought in to fill a Trey Burke-sized hole, Tinsley’s game was very leaky since his return to the Jazz.

Over eight games, Jamaal averaged an unfortunate 1.1 points per game on 20 percent shooting (6.7 percent from 3). Though Utah didn’t expect much scoring from Jamaal,  it was very evident he just didn’t have what it takes to keep defenses honest.

Burke may be out for another several weeks, which leaves Utah in need of yet another stop-gap. It seems as if they have their eyes on Diante Garrett, who has bounced around the NBA, the D-League and Europe for the last few years. It’s unlikely that Utah would have officially let Tinsley go, had they not felt comfortable with another option.

With very limited NBA experience, it’s hard to know what Garrett might provide. However, until Trey Burke returns, Utah will have no choice but to give him a shot. After all, it can’t get much worse for Utah right now.  The Jazz and Garrett alike will hope that his D-League numbers from last season will translate in some way to NBA success. In eight D-league games last season, Garrett averaged about 17 points, seven assists and 1.5 steals per game on 50 percent shooting.

Utah has been the worst shooting team in the league so far, have the worst offensive rating and have scored the fewest points per game. Considering the Jazz’s shooting woes, all it may take for Garrett to find a place on the roster is to knock down a few shots. Even if he struggles a bit at first, if he shoots 39 percent from the field he would be better than all Utah’s backcourt players have been thus far with the exception of Gordon Hayward (who is shooting around 46 percent).

If anything, the news out of Salt Lake City highlights how desperate Utah is for decent play.

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