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SALT LAKE CITY - While the Jazz have been quiet for a few weeks in their player management, their front office shift has people still talking.
With Kevin O'Connor stepping up or down depending on the point of view and Dennis Lindsey stepping in to the GM role questions about their exact roles with the organization are brought up. Is O'Connor giving up control or gaining final say, will Lindsey be able to actually make decisions or will he just work the deals that O'Connor says are good to go.
Steve Aschburner from Hangtime blogs on NBA.com looked at the overall announcement as evidence that O'connor is still running the show.
I'm not trying to change the culture.
–New Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey
"If Kevin O'Connor were giving up his general manager position with the Utah Jazz to accept a similar gig with some rival NBA franchise, to star in his own syndicated cooking show or simply to comb a beach for shells in an endless retirement, that front-office move in Salt Lake City truly would merit "Stop the presses! Extra, extra!" type of coverage," Aschburner wrote. "As it turns out, this might not even be a dog-bites-man yawner."
While it might be a little more interesting than that for Jazz fans the point is valid that there was no panic or worry, just a simple announcement.
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com wrote about whether O'Connor is stepping sideways or behind the throne so to speak rather than into the shadows.
"What is not immediately known is the role O'Connor will now play," Howard-Cooper wrote. "If he is simply removing himself from the day-to-day strains of the job -- players unhappy about minutes, agents unhappy about a client being unhappy -- but continues to have the ultimate voice on roster decisions, that's one thing. But if this is an actual stepping back to focus on other projects, or a transition into an advisory role, it is another blow to the stability of an organization that once knew consistency from the front office to the sideline."
Howard-Cooper called O'Connor the constant for the Jazz who have seen their long-time owner, coach, two Hall of Fame superstars and an All-Star point guard leave during his tenure and kept the team competitive.
And that attitude is what Lindsey wants to keep going as he takes the job of general manager.
NBCsports.com through the AP wrote, "If Dennis Lindsey was going to be an NBA general manager, the timing had to be right and the culture perfect. He found that combination with the Utah Jazz."
Lindsey has talked about his admiration for the Jazz as the model for a small-market franchise that the Spurs adopted and became a dominant team through the decade and over the past five years when Lindsey was working for them.
"I'm not trying to change the culture," Lindsey said, quoted from Jeff McDonald in Spurs Nation.
They don't want to change the culture, but need to improve and enhance what the team has going. The question will eventually come up for the Jazz on personnel decisions, who says no.
If O'Connor vetoes a trade or signing or forces anything it could be a tenuous relationship. If they end up having the relationship they have discussed about with great respect it could be beneficial for the team and each man.
