The Utah Jazz: Make a move or settle for small-market relevancy
With the NBA trade deadline now less than 24 hours away, the Utah Jazz have yet to have made a move to address any concerns with their roster. And while the team is certainly strong as is, with this unit, there’s no title headed Salt Lake City’s way.
As presently constructed, the 2019-2020 Utah Jazz aren’t bringing home a title anytime soon.
And if you were to poll a sizable pool of devout, educated (and honest) Jazz fans, my guess is that their opinion wouldn’t differ all that much from my own, really.
Let me back up a bit, though …
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time on Twitter, you know that — in addition to my loyal fanhood of the Jazz — I’m a die-hard supporter of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I wish this wasn’t the case, but given my firmly-embedded roots in the Sooner State, I can’t help it.
Anyway, having seriously followed both franchises for the better part of a decade, first-hand, I’ve learned something about the positioning of small-market teams in a league dominated by big-name markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia …
Small-market NBA teams have a decision to make:
- Option #1 – “Do we want to be relevant in the league?”
- Option #2 – “Do we want to win an NBA championship?”
Each option carries with it a (wildly) different approach to building a franchise.
Before the end of the trade deadline, the Jazz need to decide which is more important to them.
Should the Jazz continue with their current roster, they’ll stroll into the playoffs with the third, fourth or fifth seed in hand. And with any luck, they’ll win a playoff series and have a tough matchup in the second round against a team with genuine championship aspirations.
Or in other words, they’ll be the Indiana Pacers — a cute team its fans can always cheer for come playoff time.
Does any of that sound familiar?
It should — it’s been Utah’s playoff fate for the better part of 20 years.
The Thunder are the perfect example of a team that understands this small-market reality and — in spite of an unexpectedly successful season — has made no secret of the fact that it will soon find its way back to the bottom of the Western Conference to try and reload for another title run.
In an op-ed article for The Oklahoman this past off-season, said Sam Presti of small-market teams:
“Given the way the league’s system is designed, small-market teams operate with significant disadvantages. There is no reason to pretend otherwise. This in no way means we cannot be extraordinarily successful — we, and several other small- to mid-market teams, are our own best examples of the ability to overcome these realities. It simply means we must be thinking differently, optimistically, finding our advantages by other means.”
With Presti’s words in mind, here’s the good news for Jazz fans:
Utah doesn’t need to tank — they’re nowhere near it, in fact.
Every night, the Jazz trot out two bonafide Western Conference All-Stars in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Heck, league-wide, even their periphery pieces are enough to cause jealousy amongst NBA executives — Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, etc.
This is (arguably) the best Jazz team Utah has had since John Stockton and Karl Malone …
Why waste that kind of killer opportunity at the trade deadline?
Listen, Gobert and Mitchell are untouchable — I get it.
But who’s to say that a swap of Conley and a future first for Chris Paul wouldn’t immediately elevate a Jazz roster that’s lost four out of its last five games? Or how about a quick-fire flip of Jordan Clarkson for an aging, but experienced Rudy Gay to try and kick things up a notch?
These moves might not be entirely feasible, but trades of a similar caliber exist.
The Jazz must be willing to make them, even if it means placing a few “fan-favorite” players (cough, cough — Ingles and O’Neale) and the future draft assets small-market teams hold in such high regard on the trade block.
Remember — tweets like these aren’t going anywhere anytime soon …
The clock is ticking on Utah’s two All-Stars; now is the time for the Jazz to win a championship.
The question remains, though …
Do the Jazz really want to win a title or is the franchise content to merely remain relevant in a stacked Western Conference? Fortunately, with the trade deadline looming, Jazz fans will soon have their answer — let’s hope it’s the one we’re all wanting to hear.
