Hardly anyone has complained about the Utah Jazz's performance this season. Although they have one of the worst records in the league, many thought this was their best option after they blew up their squad in 2022.
Because their season has gone according to plan thus far, The Athletic's Tony Jones explained why he gave them a B+. However, it goes beyond their tanking efforts.
"Utah’s season starts in May with the draft lottery and what the Jazz hope is the chance to draft Cooper Flagg. That, and development of their young players, is what this season is about. What we’ve seen is encouraging. Isaiah Collier has emerged as a starting level point guard in his rookie season. Walker Kessler has emerged as a potential star-level big man. The Jazz don’t have a potential superstar on their roster. But they hope the ping-pong balls fall their way in a few months, so they can correct that," Jones wrote.
That is exactly what a tanking team wants. They want a higher pick, but they also want to see which of their young players should stick around for the long haul. Collier and Kessler have stood out, which have made them among the best storylines for the Jazz this season.
To get a potential franchise player in the draft - and that doesn't necessarily mean only Cooper Flagg - on top of a promising young core would make this season a success, all things considered, but it does bring the last two seasons into more question than they already have.
The harsh truth that this season has exposed is how much of a waste of time the last two seasons were for the Jazz.
The Jazz should have embraced this all along
In the last two years, the Jazz were supposed to be as bad as they are currently, but they would go on multiple good enough stretches that they didn't get high lottery picks. Last year, it was defensible because the draft class wasn't much to brag home about, but the year before, it was pretty inexcusable.
The Jazz screwed themselves out of their chance of getting Victor Wembanyama by doing so. There's no telling where they would be right now if they had him on the squad right now. While there's no point in wondering what-if, and the Jazz are not taking any chances with the "Capture the Flagg" sweepstakes, it is painful to know how much different their future would look.
It hasn't been all bad, as watching Lauri Markkanen turn into a star has been pretty cool. However, the Jazz really missed their chance to have their cake and eat it for the last two seasons. This one has been different, and better yet, despite the losses, this season has been pretty fun to watch because Utah has been competitive in most of their games.
Now, the Jazz are on the right track, but right now, they are on Step One in what will likely be a long process, and that's new for them because most of the playoff teams they've assembled in the past haven't been through the strategy they're using now.
While they are on the right track, it is difficult knowing they are two years late to starting this new era.