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SALT LAKE CITY — On the day the Utah Jazz held their annual scrimmage, here are some of the other things that happened around the team.
Time to move on from G-Time
On Thursday, Quin Snyder wasn't a huge fan of some of the questions directed his way about whether or not he had a rough summer due to the departure of his best offensive player, Gordon Hayward.
"It's not melancholy like someone died. It's basketball. I said it last summer and I'll say it again: to look backward is a disservice to our guys — I meant it then," Snyder said.
"It wasn't a sad summer, I'm excited about the guys we have," he continued. "We drafted Donovan Mitchell this summer, we traded for Rubio, and that's where my focus is."
That wasn't strong enough, though. When another reporter asked a question about Hayward later on in the scrum, Snyder said, "Are you serious? Let's just talk about something else. I didn't read Gordon's letter, but from what I was told, Gordon was really positive about the Jazz. That's how I feel about Gordon.
"I'm really surprised we're talking about this on the third day of practice." Clearly, Snyder moved on long ago.
Nike and Jazz products
Nike is the new NBA athletic equipment provider, and they opened up their store Friday with each of the 30 NBA teams. It's not yet a huge array of equipment, with just 6 different Jazz items on display at the Nike store and 12 at the NBA store.
The best thing on display was these cool Jazz Converse shoes, but A) they're $250, and B) they sold out nearly immediately!
I'm told that the selection and supply will continue to increase throughout the season.
Tryouts Saturday
Hey, want to be a professional basketball player? Well, you probably can't be, but if you're somehow good enough, your chance is Saturday morning, when the Salt Lake City Stars will hold open tryouts from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Believe it or not, NBA players have been found this way. Jonathon Simmons, who just signed a 3-year, $20 million contract with the Orlando Magic, was discovered by the Spurs organization in Austin, Texas, during their tryout. David Nwaba played 20 minutes per game late in the season for the Lakers last year, and now plays for the Bulls. It's happened before!
Scrimmage trades
While the teams during Friday afternoon's scrimmage may have been set from the start, that doesn't mean there wasn't some mid-game trading. Joe Johnson was one player who moved between teams during the scrimmage going from the Blue to the Gray team after the first quarter.
Afterwards, I asked Johnson about how it felt to be traded in the middle of the game.
“Listen, man, that’s the story of my life,” he said.
Johnson's been traded three times in his NBA career, including famously during his rookie season by Boston.
