The Utah Jazz have a lot of big decision to make this year that will leave a big impact for better or worse.
In the calendar year 2019, the Utah Jazz had a winning percentage of a 55 win team including an awesome 32-13 stretch run last spring. Donovan Mitchell had the best year of his career, and the Jazz have finally gotten him some proper help with the addition of Bojan Bogdanovic.
Now with a proper second option to defer to, Mitchell and the Jazz head into the new year and decade with high hopes of raising their first championship banner.
It’s exceptionally rare that a team wins the chip the first year they are in contention, but Utah is hopeful that their win-now moves from the front office will pay off big time in the postseason.
There will be plenty of opportunities in the new year for the Jazz to soar above the competition. This upcoming fall Donovan Mitchell will be eligible for an extension to his rookie contract, and Utah would be fools offering him anything other than the max.
Rudy Gobert will enter next season in a contract year, and will be eligible for the supermax contract if both sides desire to make it happen. The Charlotte Hornets had a supermax candidate last summer but ended up botching that situation. Let’s hope Utah will learn from the Hornets’ mistake and be able to retain Gobert at the right price.
As the days pass by it is looking like Royce O’Neale won’t get an extension to his contract. He can make more on the open market and his play of this season speaks for itself.
The Jazz are also likely to retain their first round pick this June, so Justin Zanik will be very busy deciding what to do with that pick.
Jordan Clarkson and Emmanuel Mudiay are both on expiring contracts, and Mike Conley has a player option for the next season. Conley can become a free agent and negotiate a new contract for long term stability with the Utah Jazz, or he can opt in to make 30 million dollars one last time.
Given how good of a point guard Donovan Mitchell has become this season, that will be an interesting situation to watch. Before all of that can happen though, the Utah Jazz will have to pass through the upcoming trade deadline.
NBA teams only have until February 6th to make major trades with each other; some will be looking to sell their veterans and move in a different direction, and others will be looking for the trade that pushes their team over the top (such as the Raptors acquiring Marc Gasol last year).
The Utah Jazz have all 15 roster spots occupied, but their backup centers have played dismal this season. With Ed Davis having not played in the last two contests, a trade seems imminent. Davis has another year left on his contract so it wouldn’t be wise to waive him, but he also hasn’t played well enough to raise his trade value.
The biggest domino to fall in the year 2020 for the Utah Jazz is the playoffs. The front office made some really aggressive moves last summer to give the team a chance to be the last one standing. If the acquisitions of Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley end up being futile for the Jazz’s championship hopes, then the front office will have a hard pill to swallow.