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Monday 6 June 2022 07:07, UK
Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder has stepped down after a successful eight-season spell in charge of the franchise – but he could be far from the final departure.
Utah's franchise player Donovan Mitchell has been left "surprised and disappointed" by his departure and ESPN is reporting that he is "unsettled, unnerved and wondering what it means for the franchise's future."
Two-time All-Star Mitchell is reportedly understanding of Snyder's decision to leave but his relationship with the now-departed coach was a key reason the 25-year-old decided to sign a five-year maximum contract in 2020.
Snyder guided the Utah Jazz to six consecutive playoff appearances, was an NBA coach of the year finalist just last season and won nearly 60 per cent of his games with the franchise.
But he has decided that was enough and perhaps it is the right time to leave as there have been indications the current roster construction has perhaps reached its ceiling, with the team never getting past the second round of the playoffs in Snyder's tenure.
He released a statement through the team, part of it simply saying "it is time."
"At the core, and what drives me every day is our players and their passion for the game, their desire to constantly work to improve and their dedication to the team and the Jazz," Snyder said.
"I strongly feel they need a new voice to continue to evolve. That's it. No philosophical differences, no other reason. After eight years, I just feel it is time to move onward. I needed to take time to detach after the season and make sure this was the right decision."
Mitchell offered effusive praise for Snyder after Utah's first-round elimination to the Dallas Mavericks this postseason.
"Love Quin. I love Quin. Love Quin," Mitchell said. "He's a guy that gave me an opportunity when I first got here and trusted in me, believed in me. He's a guy that I think has had so much talked about and he's been headstrong, he's been steady with it throughout the year."
"I loved my time with Quin," Jazz center Rudy Gobert said when this season ended. "There's always going to be talk about a lot of things, especially when you have disappointing endings like we had this season."
Indeed, the coaching change could be the first step in an offseason of major change for the Jazz.
Gobert is owed $85m over the next two years, plus holds a $46.6m player option for the 2025-26 season. Mitchell is owed $67.5m for the next two seasons, followed by a $37m player option. The pair's relationship has been strained at times, going back to at least the start of the pandemic, when Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive for Covid-19 and Mitchell tested positive a day later.
Many experts have also questioned whether a dynamic scorer like Mitchell and Gobert, a dominant defender but limited offensive player, can be the sort of one-two punch that leads a championship team.
Both will have suitors if the Jazz choose to make them available on the trade market – and it is not outside the realm of possibility that either or both players might ask for a move as well.
"There are things that could change," Mitchell acknowledged when the season ended. "I'm not ready to discuss that, to be honest with you right now. Mentally, I'm just not in that headspace to be completely honest with you. I'm really not. For me, this sucks."
The first key change has come with the fact that Snyder has now left.
He went 372-264 with the Jazz, his winning percentage of .585 ranking as 18th-best among NBA coaches who have worked for a period of that length. He's also one of only two coaches to have a winning record with the Jazz, with the late, great Jerry Sloan being the other.
His decision means the Jazz will now have a fourth coach in the span of 33 years when next season begins. Sloan was followed by Tyrone Corbin, who was followed by Snyder.
"Quin Snyder has embodied what Jazz basketball is for the last eight years," Jazz owner Ryan Smith said. "The tireless work ethic and attention to detail Quin displayed each day is a testament to the professional he is. I have nothing but admiration for Quin and respect his decision."
The Jazz had the best record in the NBA last season, but couldn't get past the Western Conference Semi-finals – part of a run where the team has dropped five of its last six playoff series.
And this season simply collapsed: Utah looked the part of a title contender for some of the season, getting off to a 7-1 start and standing at 26-9 when the calendar flipped to 2022. It all changed somewhere along the way; the Jazz had three separate losing streaks of at least four games, and in games played after January 1 wound up going only 25-28.
The first-round elimination continued a troubling trend in Utah of regular-season success never translating to the playoffs. The Jazz were 21-30 in postseason games under Snyder, losing in the first round three times and losing in the second round in their other three playoff appearances during his tenure.
Utah becomes the second team in the league with a current coaching opening, Charlotte being the other. And that makes Snyder's immediate future unclear.
He was mentioned as a possible candidates for some jobs that were open – the Los Angeles Lakers, for example, a position that wound up going to longtime assistant Darvin Ham. Snyder has even been considered a potential future candidate for a job that hasn't been open for more than a quarter of a century, that being in the one in San Antonio held by NBA wins leader Gregg Popovich.
Snyder's record in Utah was good and he has respect around the league. He won't rush into a decision, that is for sure, and it's going to be fascinating to see where Snyder ends up next.
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