Clearly he wants to play and have a larger role. He's been the utmost professional; I'm actually really proud of how he's handled the situation. And we're not a malicious group — that's just not in our DNA. Quin (Snyder) and the staff treated him well. – Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey, on Trey Burke
SALT LAKE CITY — Almost three years have passed since the Utah Jazz pulled off what looked like a shrewd draft-day deal to land Michigan point guard Trey Burke, the 2013 College Basketball Player of the Year.
At the time, it appeared the promising 6-foot-1 playmaker would be Utah's point guard of the future.
But now, nearly three years later, it seems that Burke has strictly become the team's point guard of the past.
After all, the Jazz are counting on Dante' Exum to return healthy and strong from the ACL injury that sidelined him all of last season. Shelvin Mack, acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks last February, has shown he can run the show, too. And Raul Neto, who started 53 games as a rookie last season, also returns.
So where does that leave Burke? On the outside looking in, most likely, a forgotten man in head coach Quin Snyder's rotation.
And unless something changes, Burke could very well be headed outa here before the 2016-17 season starts.
"We'll visit with Trey individually," Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said of the delicate situation during the team's annual locker-cleanout day last month. "There's no question he improved. I think (assistant coach) Igor (Kokoskov) and Trey did some really unique work.
"He's under contract," Lindsey said of Burke. "Clearly he wants to play and have a larger role. He's been the utmost professional; I'm actually really proud of how he's handled the situation. And we're not a malicious group — that's just not in our DNA. Quin and the staff treated him well.
"Quin even noted to me … that this process is going to allow (Burke) to move forward, and I truly believe that. And we'll see if that's here or somewhere else, but certainly we want to visit with him. We'll keep the nature of that conversation quite private."
Indeed, to Burke's credit, Snyder often raved about how well his former starter had handled his disappointing demotion and diminished playing time.
And though he was obviously not happy with his reduced role on the team, Burke felt like he strived to do the best he could.
"Obviously once the rotation changed, I think I actually handled it pretty well personally," he said. "I don't want to be the one that judges that, but personally I think I did pretty well, staying locked in and basically rooting for the team and just basically going out there and doing what I did when my number was called.
"I don't think it went wrong anywhere, honestly. I just think it was a decision (Snyder) made and, you know, me and coach, we always talked and he always told me why he did certain things. Me, I didn't really understand it, but it was just something that he wanted to do, it was a route that he took.
"So for me, I just wanted to make sure I was staying professional, staying mature," Burke said. "It was a position that I had never been in personally. So at first, I didn't really know how to go about it. But I knew that everything is temporary and my time is going to come again eventually, so I just continued to work hard every day and handle the things I could control."
Things have never gone too smoothly for Burke, who was the No. 9 selection in the 2013 NBA draft, since he came to Utah after the Jazz traded two first-round draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves to get him.
After suffering a broken right index finger during the preseason of his rookie season, Burke missed Utah's first 12 games — a 1-11 start — before returning to the court in late November. He wound up starting in his last 68 games that season, averaging 12.8 points, 5.7 assists and 3 rebounds per game.
In his second season, he started 41 of Utah's first 42 games but, with the team sputtering to a 14-28 record at that juncture, Snyder made a bold move and inserted Exum, then a rookie point guard, into the starting lineup for Game 43.
The Jazz won that game at Milwaukee, and Exum remained in the starting lineup the rest of the way, although most nights Burke actually played more minutes than Exum did.
Burke started just two more times in his sophomore season, those coming on nights when Gordon Hayward was out with an injury, and the Jazz won 24 of their final 40 games. Burke did not play in five of Utah's final seven games and finished the season with averages of 12.8 points, 4.3 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game.
When Exum suffered his season-ending torn ACL last August, many people assumed Burke would likely resume his former role as the Jazz starting point guard. Instead, Neto, who was still an untested rookie, became the starter, with Burke coming in off the bench.
And when the Jazz made a late-February trade with Atlanta to acquire Mack, Burke's fate in Utah may have been sealed. Over the final 27 games of last season, Burke's playing time steadily decreased. With Mack in the starting lineup and Neto serving as his primary backup, Burke was eventually buried on the end of the bench by the end of the season. He played sparingly down the stretch, sitting out 14 of Utah's final 21 games.
"We really talked about a lot of it just throughout the season," Burke said of his discussions with Snyder. "He basically was saying he felt like with Shelvin Mack coming in and that being one of his guys, and obviously Shelvin had to go through some of the things that I had to go through this year (in Atlanta).
"Shelvin came in and he had a really good game … and from there on, he told me that he was giving him an opportunity. That was pretty much what he shared with me.
"We always was up front with each other," said Burke. "He always was honest with me and vice versa. I just wanted to know what it was that I was doing, and basically he was saying I was being professional, it wasn't nothing that I did for me to actually stop getting minutes. But it's all a growing process and a learning process for me. I know I plan on having a long career in this league, so for me it's just going to help me get better."
During the 2015-16 season, Burke — with a reputation as a shoot-first point guard who quite often is a poor shooter — wound up averaging 10.6 points, 2.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game, though those statistics were skewed somewhat by his lack of playing time late in the season.
Still, his field goal shooting percentages of 41.3 and 34.4 from 3-point range were actually the best of his three-year NBA career.
He feels like he's already shown what he can do, though he aims to work on some things this summer in an effort to improve his game — and his stock in the league.
"I don't think there's anything that I'm gonna try to prove," Burke said. "To me, I'm honest with myself, I know what I need to work on, so it's gonna be a summer basically just handling what I can handle on the court and off the court obviously. But on the court, working on things that I feel like are weaknesses that can become strengths.
"For me, I'm over the point of trying to prove anything to anybody. I just try to be the best version of myself I can be every day, which is by going in, staying on my same routine, staying professional, doing what I need to do to get better, and then come June, July, come August when we are back around the team, whatever happens, happens.
"I don't know what's gonna happen, to be honest," he said. "… If I'm here, great; if I'm somewhere else, it's been great. I don't really know what's gonna happen."
One of the main things Burke wants to work on is his ability to take the ball to the basket, as well as his defense.
"I think attacking the rim, just continue to attack the rim," he said of his offseason emphasis. "I think I rely on my jump shot sometimes too much and settle a lot of times. But when I'm at my best I feel like I'm getting in the paint, getting others involved, and the game obviously opens up for me.
"Another area is obviously defense. I think that's something I'm gonna attack really hard this summer. But I think a lot of that has to do with physicality as well. It's just a matter of either putting more strength on, putting more weight on.
"But these are all things that I'm evaluating right now before I do start working out again," he said. "… It's just something that I have to be honest with myself and basically work on the things I need to get better at."
Burke maintains the stance that learning to deal with difficulties will make him a better player and a better person, a la the old adage that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"I always look at adversity as a positive," he said. "You know, a lot of people can't because obviously, at that moment in time, they're going through it. For me, I knew it was going to be a positive eventually once it was all over with.
"And I've always pretty much had my back against the wall — high school, college. Going into college, people said I couldn't be this. Going into high school, the same. So for me, it's not really nothing new.
"This situation was new to me; not playing at all was new. I've never not played at all," Burke said. "But … it was a test and something I felt like I passed it, and it made me stronger mentally. So going forward, I'm going to use it to my advantage to get better this summer and we'll see what happens next year."
Burke doesn't like to dwell on the prospects of such negative things as being traded away to another team or possibly even being released by the Jazz.
"I try not to really think about that as much as possible," he said. "Me, Dennis and coach, we talk about other personal things, but just knowing that they picked up my option for next year tells me they want me here.
"I get a lot of love from the fans, obviously a lot of the fans tell me how much they want me here. So for me, it's just really about whatever happens, to be honest. I know if I do end up going somewhere, I'm going to make the most out of it.
"But if I do stay here, I'm gonna keep fighting, find a way to get on the court, find a way to stay on the court. That's just my mindset," Burke said. "But I really don't know what's gonna happen. I can't really control what's gonna happen, so I'm just gonna control what I can."
Burke said he appreciates the honesty that Snyder and the rest of the coaching staff have shown him throughout this entire process.
"A lot of the decisions that were made were from the coaching staff and probably what they felt was best for the team," he said. "… When I talked to (Snyder), I asked him what I could do to be on the floor at the end of games, to be on the floor a lot. It really wasn't personal questions about why I was playing behind X, Y, Z.
"We were pretty straight up with each other, though. That's what I respect about coach, respect about the whole staff. They never really sugarcoated it. They were straight up with me. They told me what it was from the beginning."
And Burke, who came into the league with the goal of someday becoming an All-Star, feels like he's learned a lot about life in the NBA, and life in general, over his first three years in the league.
"You know, the last three years have been trying times for me," he said. "I feel like, just understanding the game, understanding ways you can get advantages off the court, ways you can get advantages on the court. And I think I'm actually starting to get it.
"My goals still haven't changed, to be honest. They haven't came as quick as I thought they would. But when I first got in the league, I didn't know what it took, to be honest. After my sophomore year, I didn't have the answers, I didn't know the answers.
"Now I feel like I'm actually starting to understand what it really takes to get those goals that I made, because those were very high goals," Burke said. "And I know a lot of people still are looking like 'He said that.' No, I'm sticking to my goals. … I definitely remember ’em. And it's just a matter of figuring it all out, and I think these last three years have helped me figure it all out."
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com