This summer I felt like I was before I got hurt on that December day two years ago. I felt more explosive, more like myself. – Alec Burks
SALT LAKE CITY — In all the talk about this year’s Utah Jazz team, you hear a lot about Rodney Hood taking on more of the scoring load this year, how Derrick Favors might bounce back from his injuries, can Joe Ingles take another big step this year as a starter, will Joe Johnson get more opportunities to take over games with Gordon Hayward gone, whether Dante Exum is going to finally live up to his potential, how Thabo Sefolosha's defense will help the Jazz, and what kind of impact Donovan Mitchell will have in his rookie season.
Missing in all the chatter is any mention of Alec Burks.
Remember him?
Burks is a six-year veteran who was once the team’s second-leading scorer when he was a regular, but one who’s sort of been lost in the shuffle since playing less than half of the Jazz's games the past three seasons due to injuries.
Burks’ name has hardly come up during the first week of practice and when coach Quin Snyder was asked about him Thursday, he didn’t have much to say about what Burks' role on the team would be this season.
“He needs to keep competing and playing like a lot of our wings,” Snyder said. “It’s hard to say anything about guys’ roles. We don’t go into the season and say ‘this is a guy’s role.’ I want him to be Alec, to keep playing and be healthy. It’s good to see him out there playing.”
At the start of training camp, Burks proclaimed himself healthy and back to his old self.
“This summer I felt like I was before I got hurt on that December day two years ago,” he said. “I felt more explosive, more like myself. As you could tell, last year I wasn’t myself athletically, I wasn’t at all.”
“That December day” was Dec. 26, 2015, when Burks was fouled hard by the Clippers’ Paul Pierce while driving to the hoop. He ended up with a broken leg and other complications that ended up taking some 18 months to solve. But his injury problems began even before then.
Burks had finally worked his way into the Jazz's starting lineup in his fourth season in the NBA when his season was abruptly cut short by a shoulder injury in late December of 2014 after he started the first 27 games of the season. Then came the injury against the Clippers, which he tried to come back from late in the 2015-16 season and then kept him out the majority of last season.
He sat out until January, but when he returned he was just a shadow of himself as he averaged just 6.7 points in 15 minutes per game. He never left the bench in six regular-season games and never made an appearance in Utah’s 11 playoff games.
Over the summer, Burks worked hard to get his game back in shape and felt he succeeded. He played in pickup games in Southern California with NBA stars such as Paul George and James Harden and felt he fit right in.
“It was a lot of great players out there and that was a time when I really felt like myself,” Burks said. “I got to play a lot of pickup against some good players and held my own like I knew I could. It was a good summer.”
His teammates have taken notice. When Hood was asked if there were any surprises in the early workouts with his teammates, the first person he mentioned was Burks.
“I think Alec Burks has really gotten back healthy,” he said. “It’s good to see him playing explosive and getting to the rim.”
Burks has always been a man of few words ever since he joined the Jazz in 2011 after being picked 12th overall in the NBA Draft, but he’s not afraid to speak his mind. When asked if he has to earn his way back into a prominent role on the team, he said, “I ain’t thinking like that.”
The 26-year-old, who averaged 13.8 ppg over three seasons from 2013-16, believes he can he can be someone who can help pick up the scoring slack left by the departure of Gordon Hayward.
“I came into the league a scorer,” he said. “I’ve been doing that besides the years I’ve been hurt. Even before the years I was hurt I was still scoring at a high rate, so I think I can help the team with that.”
What could keep him from playing a lot of minutes is his defense as the Jazz have added two wing players known for their defense, veteran Thabo Sefolosha and rookie Donovan Mitchell.
Snyder didn’t exactly gush about Burks’ defense when asked, saying, “He’s defending . . . he’s working on it, focused on it, the way he’s been.”
As for Burks, he’s ready to get rolling.
“It was a great summer for me and I’m ready for the season to start.”