The Utah Jazz are a team on the rise, or at least, so we hope. The actions of the front office will determine a lot of what happens next for the club. Will they ascend to new heights or will they continue to fall on their faces due to a lack of reliable talent? After two straight years of selling off quality pieces for very little in return, it's anyone's guess what happens next.
Though NBA analyst, Rich Bucher, believes that the Utah Jazz are not destined to hang around the bottom of the standings for long. Speaking to the KSL Sports Zone crew of JJ and Alex, Buchere put his faith in Danny Ainge. He states that Ainge is very conservative when he makes trades, meaning he believes that if Ainge is trading for someone, it's going to be special.
Bucher also goes on to say;
"“I know how the last two years have gone [for the Jazz]. I thought expectations were a little over the top this season. I feel like you have things in place that it is not unreasonable at all that they should be back in the playoffs next year.
Then it is a matter of getting those young guys in the playoffs and seeing what guys they should really invest in.”"
Frankly, we agree with Bucher. We think the Utah Jazz are just a few good moves away from being playoff contenders. We're not even talking about a Devin Booker-sized trade to the Jazz. We're talking about getting an immediate impact player in the draft, re-signing Kris Dunn and maybe making a moderate signing and a moderate trade. Getting a sharpshooter in free agency and then maybe trading for a defensive-minded guy, like Isaac Okoro.
You make those small moves, not even counting what the other rookie prospects the team could get in this year's draft, and with the development of the core you already have, coupled with Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen and yeah, this is a team that could be the sixth-seed very easily.