Utah Jazz: Why the Jazz made the right decision to stand pat

The Utah Jazz chose to essentially run it back for this next season, and while that may be boring, it was the right decision.

Heading into the 2018 NBA off-season, the Utah Jazz could have gone a number of different directions. Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, Raul Neto, Jonas Jerebko, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh all had the potential to not be brought back next season.

If the Jazz really wanted, they could have allowed the majority of those players to walk, and it would have freed up nearly enough space to offer a max contract.

Aaron Gordon was able to be retained by the Orlando Magic on a 4-year, $76 million contract, Julius Randle just got 2-years, $18 million to join the Pelicans, and until just recently, Jabari Parker hadn’t even been rumored to have been extended any offers, though he has now come to terms with the Chicago Bulls.

Keeping those numbers in mind, certainly the Jazz could have freed up the space and made a splash in free agency by bringing in a sexier, younger name. Instead, they brought all but Jonas Jerebko back into the fold, and barring any trades, they seem set to roll out almost the exact same team from last season.

While there may be many out there who feel the Jazz have made a mistake in not shaking things up, there are many positives to the Jazz simply bringing back the band and seeing how things play out next season.

Short of LeBron James, there was not really anyone the Jazz could have brought in to make them a legitimate threat to the Golden State Warriors, and based on the second half of last season, there is no reason to believe that the Jazz are not already the number three team in the Western Conference. That said, why not just run it all back, and see what you have here?

Last season was the definition of a roller coaster. The Jazz started off the season high, with Rudy Gobert looking strong, and Ricky Rubio having a fantastic first few weeks. Then things began to unravel. Gobert got hurt, and the play of Rubio fell off a cliff. That coincided with perhaps the most difficult scheduled stretch for any team in the NBA. During the month of December, and even through mid-January, the schedule was brutal, and the Jazz absolutely faltered without their defensive star.

We all know what happened from there though–

And they were.

The reason we should all be optimistic about the Utah Jazz simply running this all back next season, is because when they clicked in, they were one of the most dominant teams in the entire NBA. I may be a homer, but there is an argument to be made that if the Jazz are in the Eastern Conference last season, they make it to the NBA Finals

From January 23rd on, the Jazz had the second best record in the NBA at 29-6. The impressive record was due in large part to an above average offensive – 108.2 offensive rating – to go along with one of the most dominant defenses we’ve seen in years – 96.5 defensive rating. That combined offensive and defensive effort gave the Jazz a net rating of 12.

I know offensive and defensive rating numbers can be hard to put into context at times, but to put it into perspective, only four teams had a net rating higher than 5.0 over that span. Over the course of a season, that number would have easily led the entire league.

If that is truly who the Utah Jazz are when fully healthy and clicking, there should be no need to break that up.

Last season, even with the difficulties over the first half, the Jazz were still able to claw their way up to the fifth seed, and finished with an impressive 48-34 record. Based on a projection from Man Games Lost, only the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors were affected more by injuries last season.

One can only wonder what type of record the Jazz could have pulled off had they been healthy throughout the entire season. Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum missed a combined 94 games, and while the 13 wins lost seems a bit high, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility.

Next: Utah Jazz: Could Georges Niang become the next Royce O’Neale?

The Jazz made the right decision by bringing the majority of the roster back, and I, for one, am excited about next season. With internal growth, roster continuity, and hopefully a healthy season (for once), the Jazz just may be able to be a 55-plus win team next season…is it October yet?