I want to dive a little deeper into the comparison with the d-will led team.
We all know that team was better this current team is. Lets look at a few reasons why.
Player peaks: Was deron ever better before or after those years? Im betting the answer is no. He was at his absolute peak as a player. Same goes for boozer. Same goes for memo. AK had better years before that time but he was still in his prime and near his peak.
How many current jazz players are at their peak for sure? Probably zero. Maybe Hayward is just barely peaking.
Experience: Im not going to look up each players age but im thinking that the ages are similar from the core of that team (d-will, boozer, memo, ak) to this team (gobert, favors, Hayward, exum, hood, burks). (I would bet that our core is the younger of the two though)
However, d-will played 3 years of college at Illinois and averaged 27, 34, and 34 minutes per game in those years. That is some pretty good experience and developing time.
Boozer played 3 years at duke under coach k and won a national championship. He then played 2 years with Cleveland before ever coming to the jazz.
Memo played in turkey and won a championship in 2002. was drafted by the pistons and played for them for 2 years and won an nba championship there. (memo was older than any of our core players)
AK: before d-will, memo, and boozer all arrived AK had was already a three time all nba defensive player and an all star.
They also had Derek fisher and matt harpring.
Looking at that team, they were young and well built. KOC did a great job of assembling that team. But the key was getting lucky in the draft with d-will. He was a true star. An elite player. Was an all star 5 years in a row with the jazz. Always averaging around 20 points per game and 10 assists per game (one year he averaged 12.8 assists per game!)
Those guys were coached by a hall of fame coach. The current guys were coached by ty corbin. Exum, and lyles are babies. much younger than any of the guys on that d-will team.
The big difference between this current jazz team and that jazz team is D-will. They got lucky and hit a home run in the draft. That's what the current management has tried to do. They had the #3 pick and #12 pick in one draft. The #14 and #21 (iirc) that they traded to get the #9 pick and then bought the #27 pick in another draft. They had the #5 pick and #21 in another draft. Then the #12 pick. They have a bunch of future drafts with multiple first round picks coming up. They traded for favors (the #3 pick). They have tried really hard to find another d-will caliber player in the draft and it has not happened yet. D-will was what made that team what is was and they got to the western conference finals 1 time (because they got lucky that an 8 seed beat a #1 seed) and then got destroyed by the spurs.
I think the jazz have had a plan to get as many good draft picks as possible (they have done a good job of that part of the plan) and hope to find and develop another d-will caliber player. Its not always easy though and not always quick. They still have many up coming draft picks, they have a lot of cash to spend, and they still have a lot of untapped potential talent on the current roster. They are doing fine. All they have to do is have one star player (via draft, free agency, trade, or development of a player currently on the roster) and they are golden.
THE JAZZ WERE A TEAM ON THE FRINGE OF THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR WITH ONE OF THE YOUNGEST AND MOST INJURED TEAMS IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE AND HAVE A TON OF SALARY CAP SPACE AND A TON OF FUTURE DRAFT PICKS COMING UP.
I don't understand how someone can read that sentence and see only doom and gloom. Doesn't make sense to me.
