It was one of the truly epic fire sales in NBA history. After making the playoffs in six straight seasons, Utah Jazz management decided to change directions. And change they did, like Dominic Toretto hanging a 180 on a freeway.
First, Utah traded star guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The return was stunning. First-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, and swap of first-round picks in 2026 and 2028 and forward Lauri Markkanen, wing Ochai Agbaji and guard Collin Sexton – all former first-round picks.
In his first big move as GM Danny Ainge, clearly etched his name on the franchise. A few months later, he stamped his name on it.
The Jazz sent one of the league’s elite defenders, 7-foot-3 shot-blocker Rudy Gobert, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for unprotected first-round picks in 2023, 2025, and 2027, and a top-five protected pick in 2029 and Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverly, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro and the T-Wolves first pick in the 2022 draft – Walker Kessler.
For those of you scoring at home, the Jazz added six, 1st-round picks.
Oh yes, longtime coach Quin Snyder resigned after the 2021-22 season. Utah gave 34-year-old Will Hardy his first head coaching job – at any level.
Quick recap: lose your coach, leader scorer, and defensive force. It’s a wonder Jazz management didn’t make it official and hang out a sign reading: Renovation Underway.
Hardy and his boys didn’t get the memo. They got off to a 10-3 start and were 12-10 as of this writing, good for 8th place in the Western Conference, ahead of the defending champion Warriors and Luka Doncic-led Mavs.
BetBasics.com isn’t exactly going out on a limit to dub Utah the early surprise of the NBA. The Jazz simply took stock of themselves during camp and preseason. They came to a different conclusion than outsiders and experts.
“We just kind of looked around and said we’re not anything what they say we are,” veteran guard Mike Conley told the media. “We have too many good players to tank. We knew from Day 1. This wasn’t a rebuild. We told ourselves that we aren’t that bad, and the guys locked in on that. We had a collective belief system and we knew we had a chance to have a good start.”
They did. Once +25000 to win the NBA Finals, the Jazz are now +20,000. Still long odds, you say? Correct. One media outlet just gave the Jazz an 88.7-percent chance of making the playoffs.
If you’re still leery about the Jazz, you might feel a little better about Markkanen’s chances of winning most improved player. The 7-foot stretch forward/center averaged 14.8 points on 44-percent shooting last season in Cleveland.
He’s at 21.7 points scoring on 52.1-percent shooting this season. He’s also averaging 8.4 rebounds. All those numbers are better than his career averages.
“I don’t know what the ceiling for Lauri Markkanen is,” Hardy told reporters. “But, I’m certain we haven’t seen it yet.”
Maybe the same can be said of the Jazz.