Danny Ainge, the CEO of the Utah Jazz, and Justin Zanik, the general manager, had a press conference on Monday to address the significant changes they made this offseason. Ainge was candid about why the front management opted to overhaul the roster entirely. Via Salt Lake Tribune's Andy Larsen.
Ainge observed that the team's players "truly didn't believe in each other" throughout the season. "I believe each person has resolved" (sic). I don't think they did it all together. As a result, we observed several players trying to succeed independently because the team's sense of unity wasn't as strong as in previous groups I've been a part of. As a result, when the playoffs began, I reasoned that this squad had a history of unsuccessful postseason runs and might simply be waiting for the playoffs. Thus, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. But it was evident that the club struggled in the playoffs once more.
The Jazz had developed a competitive squad on paper, but they couldn't make it past the first round of the playoffs in three of the previous five seasons, and they never got past the Conference Semi-Finals. The elimination from the playoffs this year was especially painful because they could not beat a Dallas team without Luka Doncic for the series' first three games. In Ainge's opinion, that was all it took to realize that the team he joined in December lacked the necessary talent to be a legitimate contender.
Once, the cornerstones of their franchise, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were sold during the offseason. As a result, Ainge's front office collected 13 first-round picks that were unprotected or lightly protected. They still have more future first-round picks on the way as they look to offload veterans like Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, and Bojan Bogdanovic. They currently have 17 guaranteed contracts on their roster, and by the time the 2022–23 regular season begins, they'll need to reduce that number to 15, meaning at least two of these 30-plus veteran players will have to go. Although Zanik stated during Monday's news conference that he wouldn't be against keeping some of the veterans on the roster to act as mentors this coming season, it seems unlikely that Conley and Bogdanovic will be around for very long given their continued ability to help a playoff squad.
It's a new era in Utah that will be led for the foreseeable future by Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen. Still, if there's one thing Danny Ainge has proven throughout his storied NBA career, he's more than capable of developing teams that can challenge championships. He's an expert at coordinating trades and analyzing NBA prospects, and he'll have enough resources to build this team into a contender over the coming years.
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