The Utah Jazz extending Will Hardy came as no surprise, but signing him on for six more years definitely raised some eyebrows. Despite Hardy's talent, he doesn't have any playoff success to his name. As it turns out, Jazz owner Ryan Smith admitted Hardy had built even more favor in the three years since coming to Utah.
During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Smith admitted that the Jazz's fondness for Hardy has only grown since he joined the team post-blowup in 2022.
"He was the youngest coach in the league when we hired him, and we're growing up, and we're in a rebuild. We believe that as we roll out of this rebuild that he'll... see a lot of the fruits of the labor. It was a really, really easy decision, and we like him more now than when we hired him," Smith said.
Smith also admitted that he's thankful that the feeling was mutual between the two sides.
"That's a pretty cool spot, and fortunately enough, he likes us because he's definitely a coach that would have a lot of demand out there."
Jazz fans should be cautiously optimistic about Smith's words on Hardy
Even if Hardy hasn't gotten the Jazz back to the playoffs, there has been enough proof to justify him staying with the team for some time. Most of the confusion for the last three years has stemmed from Utah not knowing where they were going upon starting a new chapter. Hardy's only role in that was turning out to be better immediately than the Jazz anticipated.
The Jazz have declined considerably after Hardy got them to a hot start, but again, not his fault. The sentiment has not changed on Hardy since he proved what he could do in the face of lower expectations.
Smith's words further indicate that Jazz fans shouldn't anticipate any changes coming soon, and honestly, why would there be? The Jazz haven't exactly been good, but it'd be hard to find someone who thinks any of their struggles are on Hardy's head.
That doesn't mean Hardy will take the Jazz to new heights, but it does mean that the Jazz believe that he can do so in the future. If ownership is fully on board with Hardy, then the fans should be too. Now it's up to Hardy to prove he is worth the investment.
Getting a competent coach isn't the most crucial ingredient in building a title team, but it is still crucial. The Jazz will find out what Hardy is made of over the next few years, but Smith's words demonstrate their unrelenting faith in what he can do.