A Chronological History Of The Reign Of Dennis Lindsey

Utah has slowly put together a roster that looks worthy of contending in the near future. They’ve done it the right way too. By building through the draft to acquire key pieces and using free agency to provide the team with complementary pieces, the Jazz have signaled their intentions to build around youth.

Instead of bringing in veteran players to have the young core learn behind, Jazz brass decided upon a full-on youth movement. They had these players play extended minutes in order for them to reach their full potentials.

There is one man central to the youth movement in Salt Lake City. That man is Dennis Lindsey.

Mar 12, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard

Trey Burke

(3) and guard

Rodney Hood

(5) react during the second half against the Houston Rockets at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 109-91. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Lindsey convinced the Utah brass of the possibilities that investing through the draft could bring through his five years of knowledge with the San Antonio Spurs and 11 with the Houston Rockets. Once Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were let go of in free agency after the 2012-13 season to Charlotte and Atlanta respectively, a new era of Jazz basketball had begun.

Of course when youth is the focal point of the team, there’ll be a few issues. With the starting group (Burke, Burks, Hayward, Favors, Kanter) sporting a combined average age of 21.8 years, the cracks were obvious with Utah, who’d missed the playoffs with a 43-39 record the year before.

Mar 16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward

Gordon Hayward

(20) keeps the ball away from Charlotte Hornets forward

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

(14) during the third quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Utah Jazz won the game 94-66. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

That season, Utah was 29th in points per game, 29th in defensive rating, 25th in offensive rating and 24th in field goal percentage. It’s safe to say that Lindsey’s team wasn’t all there yet. Lindsey, however, pulled off some acts of magic before and during that season. Moves that have helped the Jazz become the potential force that they are today.

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Through Lindsey’s first draft as the Utah GM, the team acquired Trey Burke, Rudy Gobert and the rights to talented Brazilian point guard Raul Neto. Each player the Jazz ended up with in this draft were acquired through trade, an indication of the shrewd dealings that were soon to come under Lindsey.

Burke, the ninth pick of the draft, was obtained in exchange for Shabazz Muhammed and Gorgui Dieng, the 14th and 21st picks respectively in a deal with Minnesota. The jury is still out on Burke, whom the Jazz brought in to be their starting point guard. He’s proven that he’s a talented scorer, fitting into an effective sixth man role after Dante Exum replaced him in the starting line-up.

Lindsey followed this by acquiring Rudy Gobert, by trading the 46th pick in that draft, Erick Green and cash to the Denver Nuggets. Gobert’s current play and potential might lead to this becoming one of the most lopsided trades of NBA history.

Lindsey saw the untapped potential stemming from Rudy coming out of the draft, with a 7’8 wingspan and a 9’7 standing reach, a physical rarity among the league’s current players. In his second season Gobert has made a name for himself with his knack at protecting the rim (best in the league at doing so) and his ability to make everything difficult for his opponents in the restricted area.

His first draft as the GM of the Jazz was a great one, but his best move of that off-season came mid-October

Raul Neto, whom the Jazz recieved for a future second-round pick and cash hasn’t played in the NBA yet, but he remains an untapped asset that Lindsey may potentially use.

In continuing his intentions of building through the draft, Lindsey cunningly executed a trade with Golden State in July 2013 that would provide the Warriors with the cap space necessary to sign and trade for Andre Iguodala. In doing so, he exhausted Utah’s cap space which would’ve been vacant regardless in acquiring the sky-high salaries of Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush. Richard Jefferson was a useful addition, but none were ever going to be apart of Lindsey’s master plan.The draft picks that he acquired for a year’s cap space and Randy Foye will be though.

Utah received Golden State’s 2014 1st round pick (this pick became Rodney Hood), 2016 2nd, 2017 1st, 2017 2nd and Denver’s 2018 2nd round pick from this trade.

Lindsey essentially gave up nothing, but received a king’s ransom in return for a deal that really helped everyone, with Iguodala being a key cog to a potential Golden State championship season.

His first draft as the GM of the Jazz was a great one, but his best move of that off-season came mid-October.

Derrick Favors, the young, emerging big-man who’d played only 23 minutes the previous season and had never averaged double-digit points in a season was signed to a long-term deal. The future ability of Favors was banked on by Lindsey, who awarded Derrick with a 4-year, $46.95M deal. So far, this move looks excellent, with Favors excelling this current year.

Mar 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) controls the ball between Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) and guard

Shaun Livingston

(34) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

He’s top-15 in the league for PER, 9th in scoring and rebounding, 5th in blocks and 3rd in field-goal percentage among power forwards. With a high-standard year to date, Favors has re-payed the faith put in him by Lindsey two seasons ago, and restored faith among the fan base that great things are soon to happen for the entire franchise.

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The next move in the rebuilding process was to find his coach, and not the one provided to him by the franchise.

Tyrone Corbin, the coach at the time of Lindsey’s inauguration into franchise was never the right fit. For a team that is now on the route to becoming a defensive juggernaut, ranking 29th in defensive efficiency (111.3 points per 100) wasn’t going to cut it for the front office, the fan base, and maybe the entire universe.

Quin Snyder’s appointment received a mixed reaction, with some looking to Snyder’s time at Missouri and the fact he was unproven as an NBA head coach to dismiss this hire. The current truth is that Lindsey nailed it in his appointment of Snyder.

He’s brought a more modern approach to the Jazz, allowing the second youngest team in the NBA to get out and run. On defense the Jazz are stout in their approach. They now lock-down the paint, work to push opponents off the perimeter and hustle hard for loose balls, all a rarity when at the hands of Corbin. The Jazz lead the league in opponent points per game under the tutelage of Snyder, only allowing teams to make 94.7 of them each outing against the Jazz.

Lindsey found himself a long-term head coach, who values the same philosophy surrounding youth to carry his championship-vision for the Jazz into the future.

In years to come, Lindsey will be regarded as a genius for taking a chance on Exum, who’s already emerged as one of the best young defensive talents

Up next for the Utah GM was the pending restricted free agency of Gordon Hayward, arguably the most valuable asset to the the team. Lindsey had his hand forced in re-signing him, having to sign him to a much larger than what he desired 4-year, $63 million deal due to an offer sheet sent to Hayward by Charlotte. Gordon was labelled as overpaid with his new deal, but his stellar play as the Jazz’s focal point and leader has seen him earn every dollar given to him this year. He’s grown as a scorer, rebounder and leader, making Lindsey’s decision to retain him another fantastic one.

Alec Burks, the incumbent shooting guard was signed to an extension as well, being rewarded with a 4-year, $42 million deal. In another ploy much like the re-signing of Favors, Lindsey had re-signed Burks for a value that he hopes would be below market value after the year is up, helping the team financially. Unfortunately Burks underwent season-ending surgery on his shoulder 27 games into the season, so we weren’t fully able to witness Burks as a member of Snyder’s squad.

The second opportunity for Lindsey to add to the draft was an interesting one, as it looked like the Jazz had a starting five set already with Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Lindsey had the luxury of picking who he thought was the player with the highest upside on the board, rather than for need.

Dante Exum and Rodney Hood were the prizes once the tough slog was over.

Lindsey acquired Exum with full knowledge that he’d take extra time to fully develop and flourish into reaching his full potential as a player. Exum has intangibles that are rare to the point guard position, already assuming these as a young 19 year old. He’s 6’6 with an imposing height differential over other point guards, has a 7′ wingspan and has an athletic ability that could rival some of the games best point guards.

In years to come, Lindsey will be regarded as a genius for taking a chance on Exum, who’s already emerged as one of the best young defensive talents. Even though he currently possesses numerous holes in his game, from an inability to drive to the rim (attempted just 31 free throws all season) through to a inefficient passing game (3.9 assists per 36), the upside is visible with Dante. Much like Giannis Antetokounmpo who struggled at times as a 19 year old in Milwaukee, Exum will continue to improve the more he makes it onto the court.

Mar 16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) dribbles the ball during the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at EnergySolutions Arena. Utah Jazz won the game 94-66. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Hood’s inclusion into the Jazz roster was a reward for Lindsey’s epic deal in assuming salary space that he wouldn’t use for one year in exchange for assets. And even though Hood was injured was a foot injury, he currently looks like he’ll remain a large asset for the Jazz, scoring in double-figures in 5 of his last 7 games as a starter. Utah were missing a solid wing scorer on the roster outside of Hayward, and Lindsey has found that with Hood.

The final move of the Lindsey era to date of note, is the trade of Enes Kanter. Lindsey electing to move the defensively-inept Kanter now looks like a Western Conference version of the Detroit Pistons electing to rid themselves of Josh Smith, going on a 6-game win streak afterwards. Since the trade deadline where Enes was shipped to Oklahoma, Utah are 12-4, much better than the 19-34 record that they were this season with Kanter on the squad. Best of all, they worked themselves into getting another first-round pick in the trade, this time Oklahoma’s 2017 1st.

Unfortunately for Lindsey, the GM’s of higher profile teams will always find themselves with the spotlight placed upon them. Masai Ujiri, Danny Ainge and Daryl Morey especially are all media friendly, being at the center of attention for their extravagant moves early and often.

Utah isn’t finished with the re-build just yet — including their own picks, they’ve got 17 over the course of the next four years worth of drafts

In pulling my best Skip Bayless impression, the truth is that Dennis Lindsey is just as good as these three, if not better at his job.

Lindsey’s work in acquiring young assets through the draft, sticking with them and trusting them is phenomenal. He’s been fully committed to the job, which has brought the Jazz back into relevancy much faster than any of the previously mentioned GM’s did with their rebuild jobs.

Utah isn’t finished with the re-build just yet — including their own picks, they’ve got 17 over the course of the next four years worth of drafts. Lindsey now has the luxury of further extending his empire through a series of smart and calculated decisions, as it’s obvious that 17 players won’t quite constitute making it onto the roster.

With the role Lindsey has played so far, with his commitment to youth, the Utah Jazz fan base should be alive and alert. This is the time we’ve all waited for since Stockton and Malone, and we’re now so close to a team that could finally contend within the near future.

And it’s largely thanks to the work of Dennis Lindsey.

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