The Utah Jazz had a big offseason, but what did some of the biggest voices in the sports bubble think about it?
The Utah Jazz offseason was huge for the team. While dividends of the period may not bear fruit immediately, the possibility and upside are there. The Jazz got John Collins in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, for Rudy Gay and a second-rounder, signed Omer Yurtseven on a good team contract, extended Jordan Clarkson, and drafted Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George, and Brice Sensabaugh.
That is a busy offseason and one that deserves to be applauded. The team got better, without giving up any important pieces, and set themselves up for a bright future in the process. And while we, members of the Jazz nation, think this was a great offseason, until we see it in action we really don’t know if it was.
So we turn to outside voices for some perspective. This doesn’t give them the power to decide how we should feel, but hearing other ideas does make us think. It can open us up to new concepts never before explored, or galvanize an idea we already had.
Hoops Reference broke down the East and West’s offseason, and his take on the Jazz wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible.
In the video, one of our favorite YouTubers gave the Jazz a “B+” and claimed that the Collins trade was the ultimate “buy-low deal”, a sentiment most agree with. He also sighted George’s Summer League excellence and talked highly of Hendricks.
He didn’t go into detail about why they didn’t deserve an A, which is fair to say a grade most of us think the Jazz got, but it’s not an insult by any means. There are lingering questions about Collins’ ability to fit in next to Lauri Markkanen, and the rookies are of course unproven to any real degree.
That’s a lot of hope and faith to have about an offseason. So while we’re on the “A-Train”, it’s fair to understand how some others may not be as convinced with so many unknowns flying about.