How long does Will Hardy have before Utah Jazz fans expect him to win?

With the Utah Jazz now in full-on rebuild mode, it could take some time before the team is competitive again. Any rebuild requires patience and taking a long view, but both are traits that most fans don’t have. That could mean that first-year coach Will Hardy could be expected to win games by Jazz fans before the front office and the roster itself are ready to.

It could create added pressure for Hardy because stringing together several losing seasons in a row to start a head coaching career isn’t exactly how most successful coaches begin. Then again, the Jazz have a history of keeping coaches around, and that could and should mean some job security as he oversees a potentially long but hopefully short rebuild.

Utah Jazz: Can they fast-track a rebuild?

While a rebuild could take several seasons, the Jazz have never really been bad for long and there are possible ways that it could be accelerated. The most obvious way is to select first or second in next year’s draft and take center Victor Wembanyama or guard Scoot Henderson.

Either one would give the team a building block and, assuming that happens, then they’d have plenty of future assets to use to add more talent around that player. That could be through the draft or to acquire another star, though that’s obviously unlikely.

Of course, a few of the players on the roster could always pop, and that could further accelerate things. The most obvious candidate is Collin Sexton, who averaged a strong 24.3 points and 4.4 assists in 60 games during the 2020–2021 season.

He started only 11 games last season before being included in the Donovan Mitchell trade and considering how he played prior to his injury and that he’s only 23, there’s reason to hope that he could thrive in Utah.

Then there’s Lauri Markennnen. In Cleveland, he averaged a solid 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and made 35.8 percent of his three-point attempts. That doesn’t necessarily hint at him becoming a star, but he’s young enough to be part of the team’s core if they land Wembanyama or Henderson.

Utah Jazz: How long will fans have to wait for the team to make the playoffs?

With a core of Wembanyama or Henderson, Sexton, and Markennnen, plus a ton of picks, it would put the Jazz in a good place to start the 2023–24 season. In that case, the Jazz would be just a couple of seasons away from returning to the playoffs. That would mean a four-season wait, best case scenario, which is perfectly reasonable.

Of course, there’s a scenario in which the Jazz don’t end up with the first or second pick. There are still plenty of talented prospects in the 2023 NBA draft, but likely not as impactful as the two aforementioned players. Fortunately, with so many future first-round selections, they could always bowl a team over with picks, even if just to move up a few spots to ensure they ended up with one of those players.

Overall, fans will have to be patient with Hardy as he navigates a rebuild and a drastically different roster. It could take as long as four seasons before the Jazz find themselves back in the playoffs, which coincides with Hardy’s nearing the end of his contract, giving him plenty of incentive to meet that goal.