All four of the 2021/22 Conference Finalists — the Warriors, Mavericks, Celtics and Heat — proved how far the Jazz are from contending for a championship, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News opines.
Todd notes that head coach Quin Snyder, whose status remains uncertain for next season, said Utah was very close to competing at the highest level at his end-of-season press conference.
“This year, I thought that our record didn’t necessarily reflect what we could do in the playoffs. I felt like we were this close to having a spark and kicking it in and finding that unity, that extra secret sauce, and taking off. And obviously that didn’t happen,” Snyder said, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Todd disagrees. Even assuming the Jazz had advanced past Dallas in the first round (they lost in six games), Todd is doubtful the Jazz would have been able to take the Suns to seven games in the second round, as Dallas was able to do.
She also doesn’t think the Jazz would have fared any better than the Mavs did against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, if they’d gotten past Phoenix.
Ultimately, the Todd believes the flawed roster was too much to overcome, and Utah’s front office will have a tough job improving it this summer.
Here’s more from Utah:
- As our JD Shaw previously reported, the Jazz held a free agent mini-camp on Tuesday featuring a couple of G League standouts. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune provides (via Twitter) the full list of 18 participants, many of whom have NBA experience: Tyler Johnson, Wes Iwundu, Patrick McCaw, Allen Crabbe, Alize Johnson, Chris Silva, Louis King, T.J. Leaf, Deividas Sirvydis, Aaron Henry, Carlik Jones, Derrick Alston, Isaiah Miller, Jared Wilson-Frame, Kevon Harris, and Tyrique Jones.
- The Jazz don’t control a pick in the upcoming draft at the moment, but they’re still working out 12 prospects on Thursday, according to Larsen (Twitter links). The first group features Texas Tech’s Adonis Arms, Mississippi State’s Iverson Molinar, St. John’s swingman Julian Champagnie, Kentucky’s Kellan Grady, Arkansas’ Stanley Umude, and Loyola Chicago’s Lucas Williamson. The second group will be Michigan’s Eli Brooks, Illinois’ Austin Hutcherson, Charlie Moore and Kameron McGusty of Miami (FL), Bowling Green’s Daeqwon Plowden, and Georgia Tech’s Jordan Usher. Champagnie and Molinar are Nos. 75 and No. 83 on ESPN’s big board, respectively.
- After working out for the Wizards earlier today, Illinois center Kofi Cockburn told reporters that he has a workout lined up with the Jazz as well (Twitter link via Josh Robbins of The Athletic). He’s No. 85 on ESPN’s board.
Jazz plan to trade role starters
Do Lakers and Knicks pursue them?
Let’s get real, do not spend too much time on top 10 young stars
Cockburn might just be the most unfortunate name in the NBA, if not sports.
“Actually, the Jazz suck” is not journalism
Clicks>Journalism. Since the 90s or so.
We will see if Ainge can do another rebuild. I think they should. Take the Best offer for Gorbet, Mitchell, Bojo and Conley. See if OKC will take Mitchell and get some of their picks. They can flip Mitchel for Barrett since the Knicks are Probably stupid enough to do that. Toronto wants Gobert they have some good young Talent. It is time.
I totally agree with you. They’ve given this a shot for a couple of years. It’s not working and there’s Rumblings in the locker room.
Mitchell has to be traded now. 100% absolutely. He already has one foot out the door and the other foot on a banana peel.
Gobert you hold unless someone comes calling. That contract will be tough to move but there’s talk some teams are interested. But don’t give him away.
If they start the rebuild now, it may not take that long. Ainge would like to start over. They can get multiple #1 picks, Barrett, Mitchell and young guard from the Knicks easy…. Ainge definitely wants to start over… Will see how Wade feels… Wade will influence this… they can get a haul for Mitchell, Gobert, Clarkson, Even Royce Oneal… clean house… hire a young fresh coach… Coach Snyder wants to leave anyway…
Actually the Jazz beat the Warriors 3-1 including a 26 point blowout in the season series. They went 1-3 against the Suns but all games were within 8 points.
Regular season Championship. Mission accomplished, Rings sized and mailed out.
Just playing, in all seriousness that’s where it starts. You have to win in the regular-season if you want any chance of winning in the postseason. Logical first pill to climb.
But when it comes to wins in the regular season vs Championship contenders who sit players or are disinterested often, when the said team has been BOUNCED, I wouldn’t really mention those accomplishments with much authority.
I know wins in the regular season don’t mean as much as they do in the post-season but even seasoned veteran teams tend to play with more interest in statement games. There’s no way the Warriors, Grizz, Suns and Jazz treated games against each other during the 2022 regular season as just another game.
Too true, too true… UTA was annihilated by DAL (Luka missing 3 games) they would have been swept by PHO & destroyed by GSW!
Good that the better team DAL went through so we could enjoy the better team & specially the better player for longer in the playoffs!
Fire Sale? I mean I know what pieces I’d want for the Sixers, which make sense for the Knicks, Hawks, and several other teams. They wont be short on supply for offers.
Won’t win if you can’t shoot the ball, weak under pressure, other than that they had a ‘good shot’ :) at it.
More than likely they’ll try more of the same next year since their ‘trade chips’ seriously lack in value to pull off any significant moves, but hey – prove me wrong.
Time to man-up boys! (looking at you Mr. Gobert).
You should be looking at Mr Mitchell as a matter of fact!
Hopefully Sarah Todd retires from writing after this article. Terrible terrible terrible.
What worked for the Jazz? Team defense, and moving the ball around, getting the extra pass that provides for a more open 3 or an easy layup.
What doesn’t work? Not getting the passing game going and resorting to one on one play. That type play works when it is rare, and a surprise.
Mitchell taking over the ball was the team’s downfall against Dallas. They KNEW what the Jazz were going to do and they caved in on the drives to the basket.
If Mitchell can’t deviate from the mistakes of last season, then he’s the problem.
Gobert less so. If you get rid of the rim protector, then your whole defensive system changes.
And make no mistake, I LOVE Donovan Mitchell! But facts are facts.
Boston has really opened many eyes on how to build a team in today’s NBA. The Jazz aren’t close to that level of commitment from everyone. Plus, a lack of athleticism and size made the defense too inconsistent.
Donovan, to me, seemed like he was already done early in the series. Dallas’ defense was making it too “hard” for him. I’ve never seen him not try like that. The whole New York distractions I think played a role.
The problem is the rest of the team, other than Clarkson, didn’t have that competitive fire to not quit either. They had their moments, but the Jazz seemed to be in a downward spiral even before they traded Ingles.
The Jazz could run it back if they traded for the right complimentary players. However, Snyder also seemed worn out for awhile now. His hip surgery made total sense on why he was struggling. Probably wasn’t sleeping well for months or even years. Lack of sleep makes you jittery and have heart problems. Don’t mess around with that.
I’ve been saying that if the Jazz really want a title then a true rebuild is the only way unless you’re the Lakers or Miami. There aren’t many teams that rebuild in one off-season. Most teams can only patch holes, including the Jazz.
Instead, the Jazz need a whole new identity. That starts with the coach. I love Coach Q. I just don’t think he’s what they need right now. In a perfect world, Snyder would be their development coach, one would be the offensive coordinator, one the defense, and then a chess master as the strategist for matchups both pre and in-game. Someone really good at reading people in the moment. I doubt Snyder can do that with all that painful distraction in his hip.
Plus, I think a good portion of Jazz fans are ready to enjoy what true lottery talent can bring you. Yes, we might not have an all-star in next year’s game. However, if you can get top 5 picks then they’ll at least play in the rookie game. After that, then there’s no pressure.
Thoughts?
Good post I agree with a lot of what you say. I think the Jazz current roster has run its course. Donovan Mitchell is on the first plane out of town. To tough to trade Gobert also with that contract and it would mean totally reworking the roster from scratch. Can’t do that with a playoff team and not regret it later.
So Mitchell out, keep Gobert for now and hopefully find a taker for Mike Conley also. He’s fallen off a cliff !!
But with all that said I believe one of the biggest losses is the Steady Hand and calming influence in the locker room and on the floor of Joe Ingles with his injury. I think he added a big part to their overall success.