The Utah Jazz have had an offseason for the ages, and they aren’t done yet

After a blockbuster trade and two incredible free agent signings, it’s been an amazingly successful offseason for the Utah Jazz who still have work to do.

It’s time to get excited, Utah Jazz fans.

For those who have only been loosely paying attention, you might have noticed that there’s been a lot of buzz around the Utah Jazz so far this summer. And not just from the local homers. After a series of bold and exciting moves, several national media members have distinguished the Jazz as legitimate contenders in the Western Conference next season.

And for good reason. There’s an extremely strong argument to be had (actually I’d go so far as to say it can’t be argued) that this is the best offseason the Utah Jazz have ever had. Typically Utah isn’t known as anything even remotely resembling a free agent destination. Instead, this year the Jazz added two impactful free agents to go along with a monumental trade earlier in the summer.

The blockbuster trade, of course, added Mike Conley to the mix, who is one of the league’s best point guards, albeit an underrated one. He’s a 20-plus point per game scorer who can distribute, create and defend with the best of them. He represents a massive upgrade as the floor general for the Jazz and was Utah’s top target going into the offseason, meaning just landing him was a massive success.

If the Jazz had done that and only that, it would have been a great summer. Conley’s easily one of the best players they’ve ever traded for or had in their ranks period. Getting him on the roster was an enormous win.

But they were far from done there, as when free agency rolled around on Sunday, Utah continued their flurry of aggression to continue to enhance the roster. First they added sharpshooter extraordinaire Bojan Bogdanovic, who ought to be an absolutely prolific addition to Utah’s offense which often failed to capitalize on open looks and frequently would go stagnant.

The only downside to signing Bogdanvic, though, was that it forced the departure of Derrick Favors. Forget a moment about what a great person and talent Favors has been during his long tenure in Utah, though that’s a real and true loss in and of itself, but losing him also marked a massive loss of size and rebounding for the Jazz.

Luckily, their next free agent addition helped with that in a big way. The Jazz would later go on to sign free agent Ed Davis, who is a spark plug if there ever was one, an intense rebounder and a solid defender.

Now, let’s be clear, Davis isn’t as good of a player as Favors. However, his abilities and impact fill a lot of what Favors would have otherwise contributed and Utah was able to add him at less than a third of the cost of Derrick’s salary. That’s incredible value.

So, losing out on Favors was a big loss, but can the addition of Bogdanovic and all he does, coupled with the size and similar abilities that Davis brings combined be enough to outweigh his departure? I honestly think so, and Jazz brass is currently banking on as much as well.

Bogey will give the Jazz an amazing scoring and shooting threat while allowing Utah to have prolific smaller lineups in the right situations. Meanwhile, Davis will allow the Jazz security against larger lineups and will be an excellent backup to Rudy Gobert as needed as well.

All told, the Jazz are in a great spot with an amazing starting lineup and solid members of the supporting cast. But guess what? They remain far from done.

For one thing, they still need more depth in the frontcourt and security at the point guard position. After having to waive Raul Neto to clear space to finalize the Conley trade, the Jazz are left extremely thin at that position with just Mike and Dante Exum at the spot. Considering Dante’s injury history, that’s a dangerous place to be in.

Not only do the Jazz have positional holes, but they have literal holes as well – I mean, they only currently have 10 players even on their roster! That’s five roster spots they have to fill! And, unfortunately, they have next to no money to do it with save for veteran minimums.

Luckily, every year there are quality players that either slip as money runs dry in free agency or that want to play for a contending team that end up taking the minimum. Although the Jazz are in a bit of a holding pattern for the time being until Kawhi Leonard makes his crucial decision, they’ll certainly be scouring the remaining free agent market looking for the best person to add to their mix.

There’s been speculation of them going after Jeff Green, who despite being somewhat criticized would be an absolute bargain on a minimum contract, among others. Not only that, but the Jazz’s Summer League play is an important audition for who may be the next up-and-comers to join Utah’s ranks. Between their trio of second-round draft picks – Jarrell Brantley, Justin Wright-Foreman and Miye Oni, and Salt Lake City Star standout Willie Reed, there’s a good chance that one or two of them make the final roster.

In other words, the Jazz have work to do and players to find. My guess is that while some of the Summer League guys could end up on the final roster, we’ll see the Jazz be aggressive, make a great free agent pitch and snatch at least two other guys on minimum contracts that will be exciting additions.

But even if they struggle to do so, at this point it would be hard to fault them in the slightest. They’ve had an absolutely mind-blowing offseason, one that many are considering the best in Jazz history.

Between the additions of Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis and hopefully a couple under-the-radar ones here and there to wrap up the offseason, the Jazz have put themselves in an excellent spot to compete for a Western Conference Finals appearance and perhaps even an NBA Championship.

It’s been a thrilling summer for the Jazz, but my guess is that the excitement is only beginning.