The Utah Jazz tore it all down
It's going to be a weird season in Utah, as the Jazz stripped down the roster and initiated a rebuild after another playoff failure.
The last gasp of the Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell era in Utah was a tad anticlimactic. Facing Dallas in the first round, with Luka Doncic out for the first three games, they inexplicably went down 2-1 as Jalen Brunson diced them up. They went on to lose in six after Doncic returned, yet again ending the Jazz’s playoff run before the conference finals.
The time had come for this era of Jazz basketball. Danny Ainge initiated the takedown by trading Gobert to Minnesota for a huge haul of players and draft picks, and later dealt Mitchell to Cleveland for even more draft picks. The tank is on, and more moves could still be made to send away the remaining veterans.
Projected rotation
PG: Mike Conley
SG: Colin Sexton
SF: Malik Beasley
PF: Lauri Markkanen
C: Kelly Olynyk
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PG: Jordan Clarkson
SG: Talen Horton-Tucker
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
PG: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
C: Walker Kessler (rookie)
LOST: Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Royce O’Neale, Hassan Whiteside
The new-look lineup
I’m not sure what they’ll do with the starting lineup, but ESPN’s depth chart has them starting Beasley at the three. It’s an offense-heavy starting lineup with five legitimate floor-spacers. Absolutely no one is playing defense in that lineup, though, apart from maybe Markkanen.
Colin Sexton is the closest thing this team has to a young core. Acquired from Cleveland in the Mitchell trade, Sexton missed almost all of last season with a torn meniscus, but he poured in points with the rebuilding Cavs teams in 2019-20 and 2020-21. In the 2021 season, he averaged more than 24 points and shot 37 percent from three.
Sexton is a pure scorer who isn’t much for passing or defense. As long as he’s at a hundred percent coming off the injury, I could see him getting back to mid-20s averages again.
Markkanen played pretty well for the Cavs last year as part of the jumbo lineups that JB Bickerstaff used. He will get chances to make plays with the ball as potentially the second option for this team.
The vets
The Jazz have already dealt Bogdanovic and Patrick Beverley since the Gobert and Mitchell trades, and I’d imagine they have more up their sleeve. Conley is the most obvious candidate, considering his utility as an experienced point guard and knockdown shooter on a good team. At some point a needy team will emerge that will give the Jazz value for him.
Clarkson, one of the league’s best bench gunners, would also make sense for a number of playoff teams that need a scoring boost with their reserves. (Toronto and Chicago immediately stand out.) Olynyk, picked up in the Bogdanovic trade, is a stretch five with playoff experience. They may keep somebody around as an adult in the room.
Vanderbilt is one of the most underrated fun players in the league. Last year, with Minnesota, he emerged as a bouncy power forward or small-ball center who can catch lobs and pogo-stick for offensive rebounds. He’s also a good perimeter defender against big wings.
Horton-Tucker is here as part of the Beverley trade with the Lakers. THT is a good risk to take for this team, given his need to have the ball in his hands. A lengthy shooting guard who bulldozes into the lane and finishes with crafty layups, he was a disappointment for the Lakers last year. He has to develop as a shooter, playmaker, and defender.
X-Factor: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Might as well choose another young-ish flier for this spot. Alexander-Walker is one of the multiple shoot-first, pass-never scoring guards on this team. Their half-court offense is going to be something else when two of NAW, Clarkson, and Sexton are on the court together.
Alexander-Walker, a former first-round pick of the Pelicans, has never really found his NBA form, but he’s at least averaged double-digit points in the past. If he can stabilize his shooting numbers, he could grow into a nice option off the bench.
The bottom line
This team is going to be bad. I actually kind of like the starting lineup for its chaos factor, as it will rain threes and give up a whole lot of layups. At some point, like the other rebuilding teams, the Jazz will tear it down further with trades and some mysterious injuries. They will be in the thick of the race for Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.