Analyst puts Jazz's 2024 Offseason Into Perspective
By Matt John
The Utah Jazz's offseason is all but wrapped up. With training camp mere weeks away, it can be split into three parts.
1. Their 2024 rookie class of Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski
2. Re-signing Lauri Markkanen (after weeks of trade rumor drama)
3. Adding and dropping a few veterans
After signing Svi Mykhailiuk and Patty Mills, the Jazz have their opening night roster, pending any surprise trades. However, this can't be completely ruled out until the start of the regular season.
At this stage of the offseason, it's unlikely the Jazz will make any big changes from now until the season starts. Because of that, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale explained the Jazz's biggest win and loss of the offseason.
Favale explained how the Jazz handled the Markkanen situation as their biggest win, writing that the move gives them "plenty of latitude."
"The money is far from egregious. Markkanen earns 30 percent of the salary cap next season, and that share will decline year-over-year," Favale wrote. "Footing this bill for an All-Star who will wrap up his age-31 campaign by the end of it is totally fine."
Favale further explained why keeping Markkanen long-term is good for the Jazz no matter what direction they take.
"Better still, the Jazz now don't have to worry about complicating his future in the context of their rebuild. If they want to accelerate their timeline with a big swing on the trade market, they know he'll be around. And if they want to follow a more gradual course, they don't have to worry about disenchanting him with too many Lauri-plus-kids arrangements not built to win."
Favale then explained why losing Kris Dunn was their biggest loss.
"No, the Jazz never projected to be good at the defensive end. But Dunn's ball pressure, wizardry in the passing lanes and bandwidth for guarding, let's say, 3.5 positions will be missed. Immensely.
"Nobody else on the roster fills this role. Taylor Hendricks has shown he can effectively defend down, but he probably shouldn't be tussling with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders and Anthony Edwardses of the world on a regular basis," Favale wrote.
What this says about the Jazz's offseason
The fact that the Jazz's most notable win and loss stemmed from moves that everyone saw coming points to the fact that this offseason has been more of what the Jazz have been since blowing up their squad two years ago: a wait-and-see project.
The last two Jazz seasons have divided fans because while they are clearly assembling some promising young talent, they haven't fully embraced the rebuild. There have been some really encouraging stretches, but it hasn't turned into anything worthwhile.
And after these last two seasons, the Jazz haven't exactly picked a lane. Markkanen's locked up for at least a year, meaning they'll get an All-Star-caliber player entering his prime combined with a mix of veterans and young players.
That can be frustrating because it can seem like it's Deja Vu. However, the Jazz clearly want to develop a youth movement while also developing some winning habits along the way. Indeed, such a product doesn't yield good results immediately, but that doesn't mean good results aren't coming, period.
Have the Jazz won anything big yet? Of course not, but they haven't lost big yet either. This offseason has revealed that the long game is exactly how it's described: long.