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Get to Know New Maverick Jeremy Evans

By Jay Knodell

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Jeremy Evans Q&A with Spencer Wixom of Purple and Blues

The Dallas Mavericks came to terms with athletic forward Jeremy Evans recently to add to their front court depth behind Dirk Nowitzki and DeAndre Jordan, but other than winning the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest Grant has flown relatively under the radar his five seasons with the Utah Jazz.

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Evans hasn’t had a whole lot of time to show his stuff while playing behind some talented big men in the Utah rotation over the years, so we asked Spencer Wixom of Purple and Blues to give us some insight into what the Mavericks are getting.

Enjoy.

1. What should fans expect from the new Mav?

An all around, fantastic guy. One of the easiest people you will find to cheer for. This year, knowing he likely wasn’t coming back to the Jazz, he still spent the entire summer touring the state to give free basketball clinics to the youth basketball program called Jr. Jazz. Evans plays hard, runs the floor, and has a decent mid range shot. Connects on a huge amounts of alley-oops. Those pre game lay up lines will turn into dunk contests with him and Jordan.

2. He has struggled to crack the Utah rotation during most of his five year career. Is it mostly due to fit? Players ahead of him (Favors, Gobert, Kanter, Millsap, Jefferson) during the years? Or has he just not been good enough to justify brining in?

I love Jeremy, but he’s just not much more than a small rotation player. The Jazz do have a lot more depth at the big man position that people think, so that did play into it some. However, he’s a tweener. He’s too small to guard most fours and not a good enough of a shooter to play small forwards. He’s a great guy to play solid minutes when someone is injured though.

3. Despite the lack of minutes and role, has he shown improvement during his career? What’s holding him back from a bigger role?

Yes, he has. He showed much more range on this jumper last year. For him to be solid, he really need to be able to space the floor with the 3. Because he isn’t big enough to post anyone up, you need him to hit that shot. He started hitting a good amount of long twos last year, and I think he can extend it to the three. To be honest, Ty Corbin, the previous coach of the jazz, did not do anything to help him develop. He made strides with Quin Snyder who encouraged him to shoot. I imagine Coach Carlisle will find a way to use him and make him succeed. He’s a good transition player, I can see them using him when they want to run.

4. Comparisons to Brandan Wright and Al-Farouq Aminu have been made already. Do you see him best as a pick-n-roll threat as a roll man, a utility defender and rebounder as Aminu, or is neither comparison accurate?

Honestly, both those players are more talented than Evans. This is evidenced by the contracts all three signed. The biggest issue is his size, he is stuck as a tweener. Both Aminu and Wright have the size to play their appropriate issues. As far as his skill set goes though, he does play similar to Wright. He crashes the basket, catches alley-oops, finishes strong, and is good weak side shot blocker.

5. Do you believe Rick Carlisle could get something out of Evans that we have yet to see or have we seen the best of him already?

Yes, he started to play better with a better coach in Quin Snyder. I think you will see Carlisle sub him in to counter small ball lineups. He cannot guard someone like LaMarcus Aldridge, but when I team goes small at the four with a player like Jae Crowder, he should match up fine. I think Carlisle will try and push the pace when he is in. The Jazz couldn’t do that last year because of the youth and inexperience of the roster. I also think Coach Carlisle will be continue to encourage him to shoot the three, and that will be a huge improvement for him.

6. Did Utah fans have a specific nickname for him that Mavs fans should be aware of?

Not that I recall. However, something fans should know is that he is an amazing artist. You can see two of his art works below. He is also a huge FIFA fan.

Spencer Wixon Bio: Spencer Wixom is a writer for Purple and Blues. He’s been a Jazz fan since birth. Spencer works in commercial real estate and is also a huge Seahawks fan.

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