A lot of factors go into doing the rebuild the right way. Because of that, the Utah Jazz know how important these next few years will be, and that goes beyond accumulating the best talent they can find in the draft.
The Jazz can draft a Cooper Flagg or a Dylan Harper in June, which could lead to some glorious times for them for years. However, assembling elite young talent is only part of the equation. There's more to it than that, though, because other ingredients need to be added to the mix to create a winner.
Keyonte George harped on this while talking with HoopsHype's Cyro Asseo de Choch. He knows that for the Jazz to assemble a winner for years to come truly, they will need one crucial ingredient
"Right now, it’s very important to build the right habits, lay the right foundation, and understand how we want to play as a team," George said. "We also want to create the culture we want, so when new guys come in, they know what Utah is about. From there, we can keep moving forward. We just want to build that culture, and once we have it, once everyone understands how Utah plays basketball, everything else will take care of itself. That’s the first building block of anything."
Although the Jazz haven't won many games this season, they have tried to be competitive nightly. These habits pay off long-term because they show young and impressionable players that even if they intend to lose, playing to the best of their abilities doesn't stunt their growth in the process.
The wrong habits and cultures have doomed other rebuilds
Rebuilding is not a foolproof strategy for teams trying to create a consistent winner, but it is an understandable one. However, teams that have embraced their rebuilds and then some have forgotten the necessity of creating that culture that George talked about in depth.
The 76ers had one of the most well-known rebuilds both fo the 2010s and of all time, which was highlighted by their slogan, "Trust the process." Said process led to high lottery picks like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Michael Carter-Williams.
However, only two of those players turned into stars, and only one of them stayed a star. Part of why the Sixers' young talent didn't pan out was because they never tried to establish a winning culture. They just banked on that their young talent would be more than enough.
Now was it all bad? No. the Embiid era took the Sixers to heights not seen since the Allen Iverson days. Know what else? Iverson only took the Sixers on one extensive playoff run, while Embiid has taken the Sixers past the first round multiple times.
Still though, the second round has been the best their playoff runs go. A lot of it is because they skipped that step of forming those winning habits that playoff contenders want. Look at them now. They've been technically better than the Jazz, but that doesn't count for much, and they look like a team whose window closed two years ago.
The Jazz would be wise to avoid such a fate. Of course, everyone wants to see Utah become a perennial contender for years to come, and they can do it. However, they can't skip the necessary steps to do so.
Times like these make the rebuilding process seem slow, but as long as the Jazz form this winning culture that George alludes to, then they're still going it the right way.