The Utah Jazz are all set to have their best season in what seems like ages, even if it's only been four years since they blew up the Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell team. By flipping the switch, there will be a lot of eyes on Will Hardy now that he has a team designed to win.
Because the Jazz's focus was on their rebuild, Hardy had to coach some pretty abominable teams. At the same time, he got perhaps the best job security of any head coach in the NBA. Despite how bad everything got, Utah extended him last summer without hesitation.
Anyone would kill for that kind of opportunity, but now play time is over, which means it's time to get down to business. Hardy hasn't proven much as Jazz coach, but in all fairness, it's not his fault and he has proven some things since 2022.
His biggest hallmarks have been unlocking Lauri Markkanen, developing Keyonte George, raising Mike Conley Jr.'s value high enough to get a valuable first-round pick out of it, and putting John Collins in a good enough position to succeed to get out from under his contract.
It doesn't count for a whole lot, but he gave Jazz fans a pretty good glimpse of how good he can be when nothing is holding him back.
And now, nothing is anymore. Not only do the Jazz want to win now, but they are talented enough to be a team that could put the NBA on notice if all goes right. That's where the responsibility lays on Hardy's shoulders.
There should be cautious optimism about Hardy
For the record, the Jazz's failures under Hardy are absolutely not on him. What exactly can a coach do when the team is designed to fail?
In a context like this, coaches like Hardy should be held in the same regard as a young prospect that shows *glimpses* of how good they can be. Utah has seen young talent blossom, while others only showed flashes.
George and Rudy Gobert are good examples of Jazzmen who needed some time to figure out how to succeed, showing only glimpses of the players they would later go on to be. Then there are Jazzmen like Dante Exum and Rodney Hood, who also showed their talent in spurts, but never quite put it together.
Hardy has shown his talent, and now he's no longer going to be held back by tanking. Now that he has All-Star caliber players like Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. to go with exciting young talent like George, Darryn Peterson, and Ace Bailey, he finally gets to make lemonade for once.
He also deserves some patience, as everyone knows how Rome wasn't built in one day, but that doesn't change that the spotlight will definitely be on him to deliver on Utah's potential.
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