Jeff Hanisch – USA Today Sports Images
Heading into this summer, no one really knew the course that the Utah Jazz were going to take heading into the 2013-2014 NBA season. However, with their choice to not re-sign Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, their intentions became pretty clear that they were going to be somewhat rebuilding. That became even clearer when they took on the contracts of Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush and Andris Biedrins from the Golden State Warriors.
Most of this season is going to be about the Jazz developing their young players. It’s going to be interesting to see how young players like Trey Burke, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert fare in important roles this season. However, with a lot of young talent in their frontcourt, that will likely leave the newly acquired Biedrins riding the pine.
Biedrins was once a semi-competent big man for Golden State. In the 2008-2009 season, Biedrins averaged a solid 11.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on 57.8 percent shooting. However, he declined greatly after that season, basically hitting rock-bottom last year. In 53 games he averaged just 0.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 9.3 minutes per game while shooting just 47.6 percent from the floor.
Many people have speculated what caused Biedrins’ rapid decline from being an effective player, some thinking it was injuries and some thinking it was a lack of confidence developed from his poor free-throw shooting. Whatever the case, though, he’s no longer really worth giving consistent minutes to, even for a rebuilding team like the Jazz. Ultimately, Biedrins is going to be getting well acquainted with the assistant coaches in Utah this year while in his seat on the bench.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
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