In October of 2022, I wrote a Journal column declaring that the Utah Jazz needed to trade their last two veteran pieces, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson, and go into all-out “tank mode” in order to improve their chances to get the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft — and a shot at Victor Wembanyama, considered one of the best draft prospects ever.
A month later, with the Jazz clinging firmly to both Clarkson and Conley, as well as the best record in the NBA’s Western Conference, I wrote another column eating crow.
Well, I’m back now, two years later, to regurgitate that crow.
The Jazz, the closest professional sports team to Southeastern Idaho and a team that many locals have grown up following, are now firmly stuck in NBA limbo and the rest of the league is trying to take advantage. The one truly valuable player Utah still possess after two years of tearing down the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert-Mike Conley playoff contender, is forward Lauri Markkanen. A one-time all-star, Markkanen has blossomed into the prototype NBA “stretch four” since the Jazz acquired him from Cleveland in the Mitchell deal two years ago.
With the few top-tier free agents already off the market in the first week of “open season” in the NBA, suddenly all the would-be title contenders are eyeballing Markkanen, the Finnish 7-footer who averaged 23.0 points and 8.0 rebounds a game, and hit almost 40% of his 3-pointers last season.
The Jazz, meanwhile, two years removed from stripping the franchise of most of its veteran talent, are coming off back-to-back 12th-place finishes in the Western Conference. They look no closer to being a contender to even get in the playoffs, much less compete for an NBA title than they did when this whole process started.
So now they have to make a decision — extend Markkanen to a long-term contract, while still trying to figure out how to put enough talent around him to make the team competitive. Or, dump Markkanen for another raft of draft picks and restart the rebuilding process yet again.
When the Jazz initiated this rebuild, I was all in myself. It was becoming apparent that, as good as the Mitchell-Gobert-Conley team was during the regular season, they were not good enough to make deep runs in the playoffs. Jazz President Danny Ainge, who helped construct the current version of the Boston Celtics, who just won the NBA championship, did it largely through trading veteran stars who were at the end of their run, and collecting draft picks that he turned into future stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
He’s tried the same approach in Utah, collecting a raft of draft picks that includes six first or second-rounders over the past two drafts. He’s also added some good, young talent as part of the Mitchell and Gobert deals, including Markkanen, guard Collin Sexton and big man Walker Kessler. But the chemistry under new, young coach Will Hardy, has been awful.
The Jazz don’t have any problem scoring points — they finished ninth in the league in scoring last season, averaging over 115 points a contest. But they were 28th out of 30 teams in defense, giving up a whopping 120.5 points a contest.
Of the six players the Jazz have drafted over the last two years, meanwhile, none appear to be budding super stars. “Developmental” seems to be the common description applied to Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh, and Taylor Hendricks, last year’s rookies. And this year’s draft class yielded Cody Williams, a wing player who weighs 175 pounds and averaged 10 points a game at Colorado last year; Isaiah Collier, a point guard who struggled with injury and turnovers in his one season at USC; and Kyle Filipowski, a 7-footer who, ironically, might be the most ready to produce of the three, even though his stock fell to the second round of the draft.
I’m not saying that any — or all — of those six players might not develop into productive NBA players in the next few years. But I think it’s safe to say none of them are going to provide the Jazz with the lift they need to make the playoffs next year.
The rest of the NBA knows that and teams like Golden State, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers, who see themselves as one Lauri Markkanen away from becoming contenders again, are constructing offers to try to pry the Jazz star away. But what can they offer Utah and still remain contenders but more draft picks? And assuming that Markkanen does significantly improve those teams, where will those draft picks land?
As for the Jazz, well the next two drafts, according to “the experts,” anyway, supposedly contain potential superstar talent, including highly-touted Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9-inch forward who is the only high school player selected to the U.S. Olympic team. But draft lotteries have not been kind to the Jazz over the years, and there is no guarantee that even if the Jazz trade Markkanen and go “full tank” again, that they’ll wind up with a top-5 draft pick.
I stopped following the Jazz with much enthusiasm last year, after they traded off another set of decent veterans at the trade deadline, including Kelly Olynyk and Simone Fontecchio. The demise of the Rocky Mountain Sports Network meant I wasn’t getting their broadcasts through my cable system anymore. I did sign up for their streaming package, but frankly by mid-season, I just couldn’t take watching them give up 140 points a night to the best NBA teams.
It’s apparent the Jazz aren’t going to be adding significant veteran talent this offseason to make a Markkanen-led team competitive, and if they trade their one true star, they’ll be an even less compelling attraction. There are no easy answers for Ainge and his front office compatriots. Or for us local Jazz fans.
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