As part of a series of articles produced exclusively for Sky Sports by NBA superfans, we look at the state of play for every franchise ahead of the season starting on Tuesday night; watch Boston Celtics host Philadelphia 76ers from 12.30am and LA Lakers visit Golden State Warriors at 3am
Tuesday 18 October 2022 08:15, UK
Jazz superfan Andy Williams assesses the 2021-22 season for his team, and then casts an eye ahead to the 2022-23 campaign for Utah.
As part of my job, I was sent to Salt Lake City for a conference and realised I'd be right next to Vivint Smart Home Arena. I knew very little about basketball but thought that I'm in a new city and know very few people so why not take in a game: Celtics @ Jazz, 26th February 2020. Gordon Hayward was back at the Vivint and was continuously booed every time he handled the ball. The atmosphere, speed and pace of the game was astounding.
Despite a 114-103 loss, I'd found a new love. Luckily there was another game two days later whilst I was still in town - and this time we won. On returning home, I devoured anything I could. It was only a few weeks later that the league shut down.
You can find me on Twitter, @andywilliams250 and my podcast on @frametoframepod.
During those first in-person games, I was taken with how good numbers '45' and '00' were (Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson). The more I studied the game, the more I realised how Mike Conley made the team tick and what a defensive beast Rudy Gobert was. From a heart standpoint though, I will always love Joe Ingles. What he did in the community, how he speaks, how he plays: Ingles is the epitome of the player on your team you love but if he is on another, you hate him. It's such a shame he now plays for the Bucks!
In the 2021-22 season, the Jazz suffered from heightened expectations. After finishing last season with the best record in the NBA, to then be utterly defensively exposed by the Clippers in the second round of the playoffs was disappointing to say the least. Taking a reading of the last five seasons, the Jazz have finished fifth three times, sixth and first once. As a franchise, the Jazz seemed to have figured something out in the truncated Covid-impacted season that led to a final standing at the top of the Western Conference.
This led the Jazz and Jazz Nation into the 2021-22 season with hopeful expectations. Going into the new year with a 26-9 record – including a Christmas Day victory over the Dallas Mavericks – Jazz fans were rightly looking at the ceiling. Then, the wheels came off, as Rudy Gobert was sidelined with an injury and then caught Covid. A 4-12 record in January was a particular disappointment – and the month bordered on disastrous when you factor in losing Joe Ingles to an awful ACL injury, and so the scars from the playoffs reappeared. Ending the season with another fifth seeding (now the fourth time in six years) showed where that roster of players were. It was especially frustrating to lose in the first round to a Mavericks team that were without Luka Doncic for the first three games. There was time for a change.
All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were clearly a step above the rest of the roster – watching Donovan grow as a player is always a pleasure. 2021's Sixth Man of the Year, Jordan Clarkson was a fantastic scorer from the bench and during the regular season, Mike Conley made the Jazz's offense tick.
Moving into this offseason, something had to change. Head coach Quin Snyder departed after eight seasons with the franchise, there was an immediate coach search – settling on first time NBA head coach Will Hardy. The question was then whether a new coach would be enough change to run the roster back.
Signing undrafted players is always risky but when you have no draft picks available and struggle to attract top talent via free agency, it's the only card the front office had to play.
Allowing Danuel House Jr., Juancho Hernangomez and Eric Paschall to leave via free agency was a strange move to me. House and Paschall brought clear energy off the bench (a tell-tale sign of the issues of last season was exactly how clear the energy they brought was by comparison to the rest of the team) and Juancho (as well as being Bo Cruz in the excellent Adam Sandler film, Hustle) brought size in a position we're lacking. I was hoping these decisions were made with a plan in mind, but it looks like Danny Ainge did have something up his sleeve with two huge blockbuster trades.
Trading Royce O'Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a first round pick was the first move the front office made, a signal of intention of looking to the future.
But then came Minnesota.
When you get offered five first-round picks, a pick swap, the draft rights to 2022's first round pick and four players, it's a hard offer to dispute. Even for a three-time Defensive Player Of The Year. Rudy Gobert's impact for the Utah Jazz cannot be overstated. His defensive prowess is easy to see, however, what often gets missed is that Gobert was the most impactful player on the floor and was the most efficient player in the NBA that averaged over 15 points per game last season. His loss to the Jazz will be immeasurable. I honestly expect to see #27 hanging in the rafters in the future. There has only been one other time in history that the Utah Jazz had two All-stars and that was the team who came up against Jordan's Bulls and The Last Dance. We know how that ended.
After trading one of your two all stars from your small market team, it's natural that the other would be explored. Heading into this off season, the two biggest names in the NBA that would likely be available were Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert (until Kevin Durant disrupted the process). After much media interest in discussions between the Jazz and the Knicks, it came to pass that Cleveland put together a package for three first round picks, two pick swaps, the rights to the number 14 pick in the 2022 draft (guard Ochai Agbaji) and Collin Sexton (via sign-and-trade) and Lauri Markkanen to acquire MItchell.
After a fantastic summer in EuroBasket, Markkanen is looking like the Jazz's number one scoring option moving into the season whilst Collin Sexton is a viable option for the future returning after a potentially career-altering injury.
Mitchell will be a huge loss though. He was a fantastic ambassador for the Jazz both on and off the floor. He bridged the franchise at a time when the fanbase was reeling from the loss of Gordon Hayward and he also used his platform to draw attention to inequalities and was a real ambassador in the face of social hardships many people face within Utah. A leader in all senses of the word, he can leave Salt Lake City with his head held high and with an excitement for how he can fit with the potential of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen at the Cavaliers.
For this upcoming season, the Utah Jazz have set expectations down through the floor, basement and foundations beneath – a personal wish is that in the final game of the season it's down to the Lakers and Jazz for the final spot in the play-in and the Jazz take it. I also think that Will Hardy will emerge as a solid, if unspectacular coaching choice – he cannot really be judged until year two or three. Everything he has said thus far has been about getting the group together, knowing them as people and creating a team unit. This was something that was not always evident during last season.
There is no doubt however, that the spectre of the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades and what the Jazz got for the pair, hang over this year's offseason.
Coach Will Hardy has possibly the toughest job he will ever face in his NBA career in knitting together a brand new roster. Seeing the gains the players make over the course of the season will be key – how many assists did Sexton take? How does Walker Kessler rim protect? etc. With GMs feeling the Jazz are tied fourth for the best home court advantage, you can be sure that whilst the franchise is in transition, the Vivint will remain a tough place to visit.
