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SALT LAKE CITY — Thursday, at least, brought some clarity.
The Utah Jazz are officially rebuilding.
By trading Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland, Utah announced its intentions to start from scratch. In the span of two months, the Jazz went from having two All-Star players in their prime to having a war chest of future assets instead.
Good decision? Time will tell.
Here's a look at the decision to remake the roster and what to look for in the next few seasons
Why did the Jazz do all this?
It's simple, really: management's belief in the team dried up.
It didn't matter that the Jazz won more games than any other Western Conference team since trading for Mitchell on draft night in 2017, or that it had the longest playoff streak in the conference, or that the team had the best regular season record in 2020-21.
Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik looked at the playoff failures (Utah never made it past the second round with Gobert and Mitchell), the aging roster, and the growing schism between the two All-Stars and knew change was needed.
In the NBA, mediocrity is feared more than just about anything; the Jazz — with a team full of declining veterans — were slowly sliding into that territory. They were good, just not great. And a path to a title was getting harder and harder to envision.
So Ainge had a few options.
- Choose one of Gobert or Mitchell and retool the roster around them.
- Trade both and play the lottery odds.
He chose Door No. 2.
That means after years of the playoffs — Utah hasn't missed the postseason since 2016 — and trying to contend, the Jazz will likely be a lottery team. In fact, that's their hope. The best way for a small market team to accumulate talent is through the draft, and the Jazz now have a lot of chances to do just that.
Utah started the summer low on assets and high on salary; it's the exact opposite now.
The Jazz got good players back in return for both Gobert and MItchell, but Ainge made it clear he valued unprotected first-round picks more than anything.
Currently, Utah has 15 first-round picks over the next seven drafts. It's those picks the team is hopeful will turn into the future cornerstones of the franchise.
What are the picks?
Here's the complete list of the first-round picks Utah owns through 2029:
- 2023: Jazz, Timberwolves, worst pick of Rockets/Nets/Sixers
- 2024: None*
- 2025: Jazz, Wolves, Cavs
- 2026: Pick swap with Cavs and Wolves (essentially Utah will get the best pick of the three teams)
- 2027: Jazz, Wolves, Cavs
- 2028: Pick swap with Cavs
- 2029: Jazz, Cavs, Wolves (top 5 protected)
*The pick Utah traded to get off of Derrick Favors' deal is top 10 protected.
The Jazz probably aren't done collecting, either. Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley will also likely be moved to further usher in the rebuild.
Betting that Minnesota and Cleveland will be bad isn't the worst idea, considering both have historically struggled to field a consistent winner. Yet, it's not a sure thing any of those picks will even end up being lottery selections.
The Wolves and Cavs have young exciting cores that may keep them in contention all the way through 2029. Cleveland is stacked with three All-Stars (Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and now Mitchell) and a potential All-NBA center in Evan Mobley. Minnesota, meanwhile, added Rudy Gobert to a team that already had Karl-Anthony Towns and emerging star Anthony Edwards.
Still, it's the NBA and things can change quickly. Who would have thought the Jazz would be blowing their team up with a soon-to-be 26-year-old Mitchell locked up for three more years? Maybe things don't work out as planned in Minnesota with the front-court duo of Towns and Gobert, and Mitchell might leave Cleveland after his contract expires.
But as of now the Jazz may have to count on their own team to generate the high draft picks the organization desires. At least until 2027 or 2029.
So who should fans pay attention to this season?
Even with the whole want-to-be-bad thing, this season won't be a complete throwaway. After the trades, the Jazz now have two 2022 first-round selections (Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji) on the team and a point guard (Collin Sexton) that just got a four-year deal, so there are some guys fans can be excited about this season.
Sexton averaged 24.3 points and 4.4 assists in 2020-21 (he missed all but 11 games last season due to a torn meniscus). He's a reliable shooter and a decent playmaker. In some ways, he's a lite version of Mitchell; and if his knee doesn't give him any issues, he's a solid value at $18 million per year.
Agbaji averaged 18.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and was named the NCAA Tournament's most outstanding player after leading the Kansas Jayhawks to a title. The 6-foot-5 swingman shot 40% from 3-point range in his final year at Kansas. Sometimes the best route is to get as many wings who can shoot as possible and see what happens; Agbaji is a good start to that.
Kessler was one of the best rim protectors the college game has ever seen. He's also got a goofy personality (by his own admission) that should help endear him to Jazz fans.
Other young guys:
- Lauri Markkanen has averaged 15.4 points in his career and just turned 25 in May. ESPN reported the Jazz see the former Arizona Wildcat as part of the rebuild.
- Simone Fontecchio, 26, comes to Utah after being one of the best wings in Europe over the last few seasons.
- Leandro Bolmaro will be 22 when the season begins. The 2020 first-round pick by MInnesota played in 35 games for the Timberwolves last season.
- Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Talen Horton-Tucker and returning players Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jared Butler and Udoka Azubuike could also prove to be part of Utah's long-term plans, too.
How long will the rebuild take?
That's to be determined.
If the Jazz can land Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Hendersen (the top two prospects for the 2023 draft) and they are as good as billed, then there's a light at the end of the tunnel — almost immediately. Regardless, though, fans are likely looking at multiple seasons of watching a lottery-bound team.
In his career as an executive, Ainge is collecting or contending. He and the Jazz are in collecting mode for the foreseeable future.
