10 Hot Takes & Predictions on the Utah Jazz After 25-ish Games

Nov 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) and Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) celebrate after Gobert blocks Houston Rockets shot during the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz win 120-101. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) and Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) celebrate after Gobert blocks Houston Rockets shot during the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz win 120-101. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
10 of 11
Dennis Lindsey Utah Jazz
Oct 20, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey prior to the preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

2) Dennis Lindsey Won’t (and Shouldn’t) Make Major Moves

Last month, Coach Snyder had a clever way of describing his banged-up basketball club, what we know about them and his hopes for the future. From the Deseret News

"“Hopefully the band will be back together,” he said, pointing out that the Jazz have only had one game this year where George Hill and Gordon Hayward played together. “We haven’t really established a band, so I don’t even know what that sounds like, but hopefully we’ll at least get some guys who know where to sit and what they’re supposed to do.”"

The Jazz have given some games away and fans tend to look for change when things don’t go exactly as planned. But how can Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey make major improvements when he doesn’t even know what he has?

As Snyder says, the band hasn’t really been established, so it’s hard to know whether it needs more rhythm or more bass. A minor tweak here or there is always an option, but big-time changes shouldn’t be on the table until we’ve seen the squad at 100 percent.

The Jazz aren’t a perfect unit, but when we haven’t actually seen the squad as it was envisioned by Lindsey and Co., there’s no way of knowing how close to greatness they truly are. Lindsey knows this and, as a result, won’t (and shouldn’t) make any blockbuster deals at the deadline.

Unless, of course, he knows something about Gordon Hayward’s upcoming free agency that we don’t.

Next: No. 1