The future of the Western Conference and the upcoming Jazz/OKC rivalry

[RyGuy]

I think we all love what Danny Ainge has done with this team over the past couple of seasons and how he has positioned the Jazz to be a real threat. However should we delay opening our window and continue to tank?

Looking at the future of the rest of the conference OKC will definitely be one of if not the biggest obstacle along with San Antonio. OKC is loaded with young talent and they actually have more assets than the Jazz. This upcoming season they get not only our pick (if it's outside the top 10) but also Houston's unless top 4 and the Clippers if outside the top 10. Plus everything they have after this season.

My fear is the Jazz will be a great team in 2 to 3 years but ultimately end up being second best in the West and OKC being number 1. We need to be able to beat these guys moving forward. Would the best way of going about that be to tank one more season and acquire one more high lottery talent?

I know that's a risk because if we don't give our pick this year to them then the closer we get to 2026 our pick swaps with Minnesota and Cleveland come into play potentially going to OKC. But is it worth it? Should we risk it?

I say yes to tanking one more season though it is a risk

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

NBA rivalries can really only exist if they are cultivated through the playoffs, so it's hard to predict any specific rivalry.

 

[RyGuy]

NBA rivalries can really only exist if they are cultivated through the playoffs, so it's hard to predict any specific rivalry.

Oh no doubt. Completely agree on that end. I think the Jazz and Thunder will have upcoming battles in the playoffs 2 to 3 years from now. I'm just wondering if there rebuild and assets will ultimately be better than ours thus making them the better team.

We want to win a championship right? To do that moving forward I think it will require the Jazz to beat OKC. Will they be good enough to that as presently constructed with the young talent they have or should they continue to tank and acquire more high end talent?

 

[HermanG]

I think we all love what Danny Ainge has done with this team over the past couple of seasons and how he has positioned the Jazz to be a real threat. However should we delay opening our window and continue to tank?

Looking at the future of the rest of the conference OKC will definitely be one of if not the biggest obstacle along with San Antonio. OKC is loaded with young talent and they actually have more assets than the Jazz. This upcoming season they get not only our pick (if it's outside the top 10) but also Houston's unless top 4 and the Clippers if outside the top 10. Plus everything they have after this season.

My fear is the Jazz will be a great team in 2 to 3 years but ultimately end up being second best in the West and OKC being number 1. We need to be able to beat these guys moving forward. Would the best way of going about that be to tank one more season and acquire one more high lottery talent?

I know that's a risk because if we don't give our pick this year to them then the closer we get to 2026 our pick swaps with Minnesota and Cleveland come into play potentially going to OKC. But is it worth it? Should we risk it?

I say yes to tanking one more season though it is a risk

Its easy to say but its not NBA2k. How would you execute the tank? Who would you send out?

There is a chance (injuries aside) we are going to come out of the gate and struggle... in which case the tank might happen.

But I dont see a smart way to force it, since our core guys and young guys might be good enough to prevent any chances for bottom 5 finish, and you dont want to give them away.

 

[RyGuy]

Its easy to say but its not NBA2k. How would you execute the tank? Who would you send out?

There is a chance (injuries aside) we are going to come out of the gate and struggle... in which case the tank might happen.

But I dont see a smart way to force it, since our core guys and young guys might be good enough to prevent any chances for bottom 5 finish, and you dont want to give them away.

Lauri proved last year he was too good for the Jazz to tank. Plus with Kessler having a year experience and the rookies it may be tough. We do have a solid but unspectacular group of role players

But we can start by even ranking the Jazz against the rest of the West teams. The pessimist in me says the only Western teams I'm confident the Jazz will be better than next season are San Antonio and Portland. Possibly Houston but there going to try and win, whether the do or not is yet to be seen. The optimist in me thinks the Jazz could be high as the 6th seed.

In the Eastern conference were definitely better than Detroit, Washington, and Charlotte and probably better than Chicago and Brooklyn. I'm not real confident about the rest.

Ultimately I think we probably finish somewhere between 6th to 12th worst league wide? I'm sure we could make some changes and or sit some people to improve those positions.

Is that worth it too tank?

 

[HermanG]

Lauri proved last year he was too good for the Jazz to tank. Plus with Kessler having a year experience and the rookies it may be tough. We do have a solid but unspectacular group of role players

But we can start by even ranking the Jazz against the rest of the West teams. The pessimist in me says the only Western teams I'm confident the Jazz will be better than next season are San Antonio and Portland. Possibly Houston but there going to try and win, whether the do or not is yet to be seen. The optimist in me thinks the Jazz could be high as the 6th seed.

In the Eastern conference were definitely better than Detroit, Washington, and Charlotte and probably better than Chicago and Brooklyn. I'm not real confident about the rest.

Ultimately I think we probably finish somewhere between 6th to 12th worst league wide? I'm sure we could make some changes and or sit some people to improve those positions.

Is that worth it too tank?

Next years draft sucks I've been told. Dont know if it sucks all the way or if there are some guys worth chasing.

But I agree that the worst case record (without injuries) puts us at 6th or 7th in the draft... but I think we wont end up there.

But what I'm sure of is we will come out of the gate trying to win. Whether we succeed or not remains to be seen.

 

[gomretat]

It is impossible to plan around what other teams are doing in the NBA not only based upon injuries but also players getting disgruntled and deciding they want a trade. You have to build and win around your own timeline. My bias is get back to winning as fast as you can possibly find a way to do so. No value at all in waiting around hoping for good picks etc. And I am probably alone but I do not love what Ainge has done. The jury is still out to see if it really works and if it was worth trading out of the playoffs. "Assets" mean nothing until they are translated into real talent.

 

[silesian]

I think we all love what Danny Ainge has done with this team over the past couple of seasons and how he has positioned the Jazz to be a real threat. However should we delay opening our window and continue to tank?

Looking at the future of the rest of the conference OKC will definitely be one of if not the biggest obstacle along with San Antonio. OKC is loaded with young talent and they actually have more assets than the Jazz. This upcoming season they get not only our pick (if it's outside the top 10) but also Houston's unless top 4 and the Clippers if outside the top 10. Plus everything they have after this season.

My fear is the Jazz will be a great team in 2 to 3 years but ultimately end up being second best in the West and OKC being number 1. We need to be able to beat these guys moving forward. Would the best way of going about that be to tank one more season and acquire one more high lottery talent?

I know that's a risk because if we don't give our pick this year to them then the closer we get to 2026 our pick swaps with Minnesota and Cleveland come into play potentially going to OKC. But is it worth it? Should we risk it?

I say yes to tanking one more season though it is a risk

Keep in mind:

1. If the 2024 pick conveys, we keep our 2025 pick in a draft that is considered much stronger.
2. If the pick does not convey until 2026, the TWolves and Cavs swaps become worthless (we have no pick to swap). Imagine if the Twolves fall apart and we lose their top 5 pick.
3. With the these pick tied up in the Favors trade, we can't use the asset for 3 years.

I prefer that the pick convey next year.

 

[sip]

The jazz are a long way away from being in the conversation for future of the Western Conference. We have a ton of relatively unproven young players and even our star has only had one really good season.

 

[Jingled]

The jazz are a long way away from being in the conversation for future of the Western Conference. We have a ton of relatively unproven young players and even our star has only had one really good season.

I definitely think there's reason for optimism we can become one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the west in the near future. We have two really good foundational pieces to build around in Lauri and Kessler, a very good young coach, one of the best GM's in the entire league, more draft assets than pretty much any team in the league other than OKC, a bunch of tradeable contracts, two rookies in Keyonte and Henricks that are likely to develop into really good NBA players, Keyonte could possibly even develop into a star.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Its easy to say but its not NBA2k. How would you execute the tank? Who would you send out?

There is a chance (injuries aside) we are going to come out of the gate and struggle... in which case the tank might happen.

But I dont see a smart way to force it, since our core guys and young guys might be good enough to prevent any chances for bottom 5 finish, and you dont want to give them away.

Easy answer is if someone gets injured hold him out. I still to this day believe Boozer missed an entire year after hyper extending his knee. I remember it being reported he’d be out 3 weeks. This was through the first month of the season. He ended up missing the rest of the season. After they were eliminated from the playoffs, he in an interview said if the season wasn’t over he could’ve played the next game. I recall the Spurs did this with David Robinson, which is how they ended up getting Tim Duncan.

 

[Jingled]

Keep in mind:

1. If the 2024 pick conveys, we keep our 2025 pick in a draft that is considered much stronger.
2. If the pick does not convey until 2026, the TWolves and Cavs swaps become worthless (we have no pick to swap). Imagine if the Twolves fall apart and we lose their top 5 pick.
3. With the these pick tied up in the Favors trade, we can't use the asset for 3 years.

I prefer that the pick convey next year.

From everything that's been reported, the front office would prefer that as well.

 

[HermanG]

Easy answer is if someone gets injured hold him out. I still to this day believe Boozer missed an entire year after hyper extending his knee. I remember it being reported he’d be out 3 weeks. This was through the first month of the season. He ended up missing the rest of the season. After they were eliminated from the playoffs, he in an interview said if the season wasn’t over he could’ve played the next game. I recall the Spurs did this with David Robinson, which is how they ended up getting Tim Duncan.

Didnt Robinson break his leg pretty bad and have surgery on it as well? Im not saying that extended injury leaves arent a thing but I cant recall anyone saying that about the Robinson injury.

 

[JFFR]

It's so much easier to tank than re-tool than to win a championship. Fans like it better too. Let's just keep collecting assets forever!

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Jazz still need that elite on-ball wing to make everything work. Having guys like Lauri, Kessler and Keyonte playing off the ball should be solid. Maybe Hendricks can develop into a DFS-type 3D wing within a few years. But someone needs to be the straw that stirs the drink on this team. Who that lead, on-ball player turns out to be will go a long way to defining what the Jazz can do.