Despite finishing with a 40-42 record and missing out on the playoffs for a fourth straight season, this Utah Jazz season was indeed a success.
Yes, this Utah Jazz season was an enormous gut punch. Disappointing doesn’t even begin scratch the surface when it comes to describing it. But to all those Chicken Little fans out there in Jazzland, I promise you, the sky is not falling.
Being outside of the playoffs looking in certainly sucks — especially with how hapless the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets have looked at times — but the best is yet to come during this franchise rebuild.
While all of us were brimming with hope and anticipation at the beginning of the 2015 season, things took a sharp turn for the worst. Dante Exum blew out his knee. And then Alec Burks broke his leg. And then Rudy Gobert sprained his knee. And then Derrick Favors had back spasms for over a month.
This litany of injuries left the team in disarray. While injured players did their best to recover, minutes were shifted, lineups were toyed with and stumbles happened often. Depth, maturity, experience and scoring became significant problems throughout this process.
It was heartbreaking to watch the team struggle. For me, it caused angst that made my stomach sour. Throughout the season, the Jazz never found their footing, eventually slipping out of the playoffs.
As a fan, I get how disheartening this season was. That radiant preseason hope was shattered so suddenly as the team’s flaws continued to be opened and exposed.
But there were so many more positive things about this season than negative. And Jazz fans should recapture that hope and anticipation, because there is plenty of good on the horizon.
Here are the reasons why.
Next: Jazz Won Games Without Key Players