you guys keep mentioning the new york teams, but none if any jazz players were actually sent/signed there. sure dwill was traded there, but one of the main reasons he was upset here is because the jazz mgmt refused to spend enough around him. my man paul pimpslap was stolen for 2 yrs 19 mill and is flouriishin. wes matthews was a robbery too, even tho some here might think fluke injuries are funny and justify bad decisions. what the heck did they get for kanter? for big al, for pimpslap, etc. etc. again, not sure why yall hatin me for simply bringin up facts and an opinion based upon said facts. is it cuz my opinion isnt all sunshine and roses in the future? guess so. but that realization is the only thing that will spark change. not really happy with being on the treadmill of lottery/mediocrity, but i guess some here are.
You know why we lost Matthews? Because we overspent on players and then didn't rectify our mistakes. AK was a serious overpay. And because of that decision, keeping Matthews would have put Utah into the luxury tax and cost Utah $9M the first season. Salary cap and luxury tax MATTERS to almost every owner - EVEN Mark Cuban who decided to disband his team after their championship.
OK, let's play the "keep Millsap" game. Do you think he would have agreed to a $19M deal with Utah? I don't. And he certainly did NOT want to be a backup. Simply can't afford to pay $12-$15M for all three bigs. Had Utah kept Millsap, it would have been Favors asking for a trade. Jazz thought Kanter/Favors was a better decision LONG-term than Millsap/Jefferson. AS for what they got for Kanter: they got the best deal they could find. Enes forced their hand. Really, until Gobert EXPLODED, Lindsey admitted they still wanted Kanter. And he admitted they were shopping Enes way BEFORE the trade deadline. They got the best deal they could for a player who demanded a trade and whose agent made it known they expect a max deal this summer.
As for your "treadmill of lottery/mediocrity" we've been out of playoff contention for TWO years. I'd hardly call that mediocrity. ALL teams eventually have to rebuild. Only San Antonio has been the real constant since getting Duncan. Best run franchise in pro sports, IMO. Best organization at evaluating young talent and letting borderline older veterans go.
Jazz rebuilt quickly after Stockton and Malone left. Only 1 losing season, then reached the conference title game in a few years, made the playoffs several years in a row. I'll admit the Big Al era was not as successful as we had hoped. And Utah loses their star player AND HOF coach in the same season? That is going to DEVASTATE any NBA team. But Utah regrouped and made the playoffs the following year and were on contention the next season.
So crossroads time: keep signing vets and competing for the playoffs, or jettison the vets and do a complete rebuild. I would hardly call what Utah is now doing "being on the treadmill of lottery/mediocrity." ONE SEASON of being really bad - with a PURPOSELY weak bench - to get a TOP pick in what was regarded (at least pre-season) as being the strongest draft in recent history. We got Exum. He's raw, but I think we see the potential. I'd say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. And this season...yes, we'll be in the lottery again. Oh crap, this season is a disaster. Let's all run around saying the sky is falling.
Tell you what...do you promise to just go away if the Jazz don't make the playoffs next year? Or are you going to praise the front office for making great decisions, keeping the franchise fiscally sound - and in position to re-sign our key players - hiring a great coach and letting our players develop, or will you say we fell short IF we don't win the title? Care to look up the Jazz' records in the years prior to Malone and Stockton? This is eerily similar. Jazz are poised with this current group to be in the playoffs for the next decade - and hopefully be true contenders for several of those seasons.