At this time last year, it was hard to have any optimism about the Utah Jazz. While they finally picked a direction, they didn't have any players that screamed "franchise cornerstone." One year later, the Jazz have already flipped the narrative on themselves long-term.
Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor was asked the other day who in the NBA had a bright future that is sure to pay off in the coming years. While the questioned pertained more to the Trail Blazers, O'Connor gushed about the Jazz's long-term future.
"I love what the Jazz are building. I think the Jazz are putting together a lot of really, really appealing young talent on their roster... there's just so many young guys on this Jazz team and so much different talent that I feel good about them being back in the playoffs at some point in the future," O'Connor said.
O'Connor delved more into Bailey and how fantastic he looks (he's not wrong), but Utah has plenty of players who, even if they may not have the potential to become a star, can most definitely evolve into essential pieces of a playoff team.
Walker Kessler is already one of the league's best rim protectors and rebounders. Brice Sensabaugh looks like he could be a three-point sniper and a complementary scorer who could pair well alongside a potential franchise player. Kyle Filipowski looks like, well, a poor man's version of Lauri Markkanen. That's just to name a few.
Sure, there are still some question marks, but there's a lot to like about the long-term vision of this roster. Even better, they are expected to add another franchise talent when this upcoming season wraps up.
It's why this season will be fun despite all the losing
While Utah may very well win even fewer games than they did last season, it shouldn't be nearly as depressing to watch as their most recent season was. No longer will fans see the Jazz play veterans who had no future with the team over their young players, but instead get to see their intriguing young talent get thrown to the wolves.
They won't emerge victorious from these games, but the Jazz get to plant the seeds for a fantastic tomorrow. And because Utah won't win that many games this season, they could have a centerpiece to put next to Bailey, who could very well be a centerpiece in the making already, to set them up for an extraordinary future.
It might not be too pretty for Utah right now, but only one year after they made it clear they were rebuilding, suddenly their outlook looks so much more promising.