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SALT LAKE CITY — The first ripple in the Utah Jazz youth movement has been made with Al Jefferson parting ways with the Jazz and signing a 3-year $41 million contract with the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Jefferson signing has multiple side effects for the Jazz collectively and for Big Al and coach Tyrone Corbin individually. The Jazz will need a new number one option for their offense. Corbin will be forced to change his style without Jefferson around. The legacies of Jefferson and Corbin will no longer be tied to the other.
Allow me to wax nostalgic about Big Al for a moment.
Jefferson gained a bad reputation with the fans. Some of it was rightfully deserved and some unmerited. He was in no ways a great defender, which has lead to the idea that he was somehow lazy and didn't care.
This simply couldn't be further from the truth. As a writer who got to go into the locker room after every home win and loss for the past two years it is clear that Big Al cared a lot about his team. He said some things that rubbed people the wrong way, such as "the Spurs couldn't be beat" and saying his team should be proud after losing in Oklahoma City last year. People wondered if he actually cared about winning.
He did.
On nights where there were heart-breaking losses he was visibly upset. He is an amazingly funny person who seemed to be too happy sometimes. However, when the Jazz lost a game they shouldn't have lost Jefferson would sit forlorn, but would still take time to talk to the media.
Fans would probably have a different opinion of Al if they were able to see what reporters could see. He is a big kid who loved everyone. He would joke with everyone; his jokes about Enes Kanter's outfit of the day were priceless. He and Paul Millsap bantering was often comedy gold. The conversation would range from who had better hair to making fun of different players in the locker room.
Off the court, he really cared about what people thought about him and wanted to make people happy. He was thoughtful and honest. He was a person that I would be proud to have my kids look up to.
On the court, he was the Jazz's number one option on offense for two years and some change. He is the only offense Corbin has ever known as a head coach. He was consistent with a very inconsistent roster. In three years he missed five games.
The Jazz will have a hard time replacing his offense. Last year there were fans constantly wondering why Jefferson couldn't (or wouldn't) play defense and why Corbin played him. Why didn't more fans ask why no one else could be a consistent offensive threat?
Jefferson ramped up as the Jazz needed him. In April he scored 21.5 points per game and shot 56.7 percent from the field.
Paul Millsap was the number two option, but he seemed to wear down and often looked like he wasn't trying by the end of the season. Millsap averaged 16.5 points per game in March, but only 11.8 in April.
To be fair, this could be just a matter of Millsap taking a backseat to Jefferson or Corbin just calling Jefferson's number. There are multiple explanations for Millsap's decline, but when Al needed to be Big Al, he was.
He could be accused of stalling the progression of the younger players if it wasn't for the fact that he took Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors under his wing. Jefferson took the two players who were going to replace him and taught them everything he could. Seeing him beam with pride when Kanter would show off his upside was incredible.
He didn't have to teach and train, but he did because he's a great teammate. Karl Malone is going to get a lot of credit for whatever progression Favors and Kanter will make this year. However, Jefferson should get some credit for mentoring, too.
Jefferson was the best player Ty Corbin has had in his head coaching career — sans a week of D-Will. It really wasn't even close. He led the team in points and rebounds for essentially his whole Jazz career. Corbin adjusted his offense to help and tried to adjust his defense to hide Big Al.
Now that they are separated, it will define each of their careers. Jefferson is only 28, but he has been in the league for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, his legacy so far is being the best player on bad teams while putting up big stats.
Jefferson's signing with the Bobcats won't change that unless he can change the culture. He becomes the Bobcats best player, by a wider margin than ever with the Jazz. Kemba Walker is a very good point guard and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a good piece, but Charlotte's roster is mostly devoid of top-tier talent.
Can he help his teammates get better? Could he become a true leader or maybe morph his game to become a second option? There is a good chance that no coach except Corbin, will be as willing to let him do what he does best — hold the ball and make buckets.
Corbin on the other hand, has the chance to show whether or not he can coach. He is entering the last year of his deal and now has the freedom to do something different. With Jefferson commanding the team's top salary and undeniably owning the low block, it would have been hard to run the Jazz offense any other way.
This year, Corbin can look to open up the offense. The Jazz were notorious for being and inside-out team. Now Corbin can succeed or fail with Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks or Trey Burke as the leader of his offense.
Essentially, all excuses for Corbin now go out the window. If he wins 30 games it will probably be more impressive than the team's playoff run last year. Some fans won't like it, but if the Jazz are in contention for the Playoffs, Corbin could be a Coach of the Year candidate.
This is the time for Corbin to show why the Jazz organization has faith in him. He doesn't have the Big Al crutch to lean on anymore. His offense will need to be fluid and creative. He might run more pick-and-roll and his defense might revert back to something that makes sense.
Combined, Corbin and Jefferson proved they are a good pairing. The team wasn't great around them, but performed admirably.
Now that they are apart their legacies will be defined, for better or worse.
