The Jazz have found their magic formula to build.

[HermanG]

If they had won the lottery, I could see an argument for taking Flagg, keeping Lauri and Kessler and then trying to consolidate assets for a third star while keeping the team stocked with role players and young talent. That didn’t happen, so I think their best bet now is to tear it all the way down, stockpile more assets, feature the young guys and see who should be kept moving forward, add two top 5 picks (AceTreVJ this year and hopefully one of CamAJ next year) and then pivot towards making a big move in 2027 when they likely have 3 or 4 picks available to work with.

I think for every vet you need to go through the thought process. There are questions such as:

• Do they provide something valueable that helps the development of our youngsters? This is TOP priority since we wanna max out the outcome for the next iteration, and that is more valueable than what most of the guys could EVER get in a trade.
• Do they fit the timeline of our next competitive iteration?
• Are they at peak value? Forget history here, and look forward only.

We have no reason to dump guys who we think will gain value. If we dont think they are gonna gain value, then we still have to consider if they could be part of the next competitive iteration or if they are useful in helping the young guys.

Being useful is more complex, as it kinda depends on the kids. For some youngsters the most useful thing would be that there are vets standing in their way that they need to beat to win a role. Also leadership, professional attitude and work ethic are important, and if you got guys who will keep the kids in check and help them learn good habits you probably wanna keep them.

Full "tear down to studs" is not my cup of tea. It leads to entitled kids who learn bad habits. Like imagine if Keyonte becomes "the vet" in that locker room, just because you decide to remove everyone who is better or more experienced than him.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Jazz are right back where they were in 22/23 and they really need to do now what they should’ve done then. Fire sale with the vets. Tear the team down to the studs and then burn that down to the foundation. They need to go back into hard-core asset accumulation mode.

Trade Lauri for whatever haul they can get for him. Use Collins, Sexton, Clarkson and Martin to add some more assets by taking on bad salary. Take whatever vets they get out of those deals and play a reverse version of bigger and better to stockpile some additional 2nds.

Front office tanks by leaving Hardy no choice but to rely on rookies, young players and 3rd stringers.

Maybe. But the Jazz are able to do what we're discussing here because there's solid talent through the top 5 picks of both this and next year's draft. Last year's draft wouldn't have helped that much. If the Jazz had the 5th pick, they still probably would have taken Cody Williams.

 

[Coach Ellis]

Maybe. But the Jazz are able to do what we're discussing here because there's solid talent through the top 5 picks of both this and next year's draft. Last year's draft wouldn't have helped that much. If the Jazz had the 5th pick, they still probably would have taken Cody Williams.

That’s probably correct. In fact, my guess is that the only major difference between how it is and how it could’ve been is Coulibaly or Black vs. Hendricks (assuming the Jazz failed to jump inside the top 4 either time.

 

[homeytennis]

Tay Henny never looked "right" to me his entire rookie season. There was the top secret injury that kept him from playing summer league that I still don't think the Jazz have disclosed what it was. Then when he did play it still looked like he was moving stiffly. Then last season was a wash. I don't think any of us know what the Jazz have here including the coaching staff and front office..

 

[jom2003]

Assuming they tank again next year.. there’s already pressure from impatient “fans” to give up on the idea.

Fans here need to realize that we owed a top 8 protected first to OKC next year. So tanking was always gonna be the plan. We don't have a playoffs caliber squad. Worst thing that could happen to us is putting up a 30 win season and giving our 9th pick to OKC.

 

[Schrödinger's Gerbil]

If they had won the lottery, I could see an argument for taking Flagg, keeping Lauri and Kessler and then trying to consolidate assets for a third star while keeping the team stocked with role players and young talent. That didn’t happen, so I think their best bet now is to tear it all the way down, stockpile more assets, feature the young guys and see who should be kept moving forward, add two top 5 picks (AceTreVJ this year and hopefully one of CamAJ next year) and then pivot towards making a big move in 2027 when they likely have 3 or 4 picks available to work with.

That would be the second tear down over only a three-year time period. You don't think that's a bit excessive? So the thinking seems to be, "The tear down didn't work the first time, so let's tear it down again!"

If that doesn't work after three years, do we tear it down yet again? Another tear down so soon probably means at least another 3-4 years of sucking, so we're looking at 7 years or so of losing before we even compete the for playoffs again. What's the goal after this 7 years of losing?

This illustrates one of my primary critiques of tanking (especially the tear down variety); it's become the knee-jerk cure-all solution for all team building problems. It's lazy, unimaginative, and the product of stultifying group think.

It's as if no NBA front office had any idea how to build a team for the last 80 some odd years. They were all grappling in the dark absent light and knowledge from on high about the one, true team building strategy. But lo, it came to pass that the heavens opened and our minds were enlightened. Thus verily the truth has been revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt: tear it all down.

 

[efukillar]

Do we want the Jazz to win a championship or to be playoff regulars? I think the Jazz are already at a point where it’s hard to compete for a championship. The Jazz could have challenged for a championship with a Collier-AJ-Cooper-Markkanen-Kessler lineup if they got both Cooper and AJ (or a similar prospect). But that’s impossible now. If the Jazz get the No. 5 pick in 2026, we’ll have completely abandoned their championship hopes and hope they make the playoffs more often. Long tanking isn’t the answer. Even the Philadelphia 76ers have had little success with long, orthodox tanking. The Jazz's tanking should last at least until the 2025-26 season, and then they should hope that the current prospects develop well.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Do we want the Jazz to win a championship or to be playoff regulars? I think the Jazz are already at a point where it’s hard to compete for a championship. The Jazz could have challenged for a championship with a Collier-AJ-Cooper-Markkanen-Kessler lineup if they got both Cooper and AJ (or a similar prospect). But that’s impossible now. If the Jazz get the No. 5 pick in 2026, we’ll have completely abandoned their championship hopes and hope they make the playoffs more often. Long tanking isn’t the answer. Even the Philadelphia 76ers have had little success with long, orthodox tanking. The Jazz's tanking should last at least until the 2025-26 season, and then they should hope that the current prospects develop well.

If the Jazz were properly motivated, they could trade up to #3 in a strong draft this year. They could then do the exact same thing next year. The champion Celtics team is built around two #3 picks in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If the Jazz were built around Ace Bailey and Cam Boozer, they might be on their way.

 

[David Hume]

If the Jazz were properly motivated, they could trade up to #3 in a strong draft this year. They could then do the exact same thing next year. The champion Celtics team is built around two #3 picks in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If the Jazz were built around Ace Bailey and Cam Boozer, they might be on their way.

Ferguson, thy symbolic representation that stands in for your likeness now resembles an organism much younger, with more telomere life, less entropy, than the bearded, bewildered looking symbolic representation that used to encumber your profile. Why, dear Sir, the change?

 

[efukillar]

If the Jazz were properly motivated, they could trade up to #3 in a strong draft this year. They could then do the exact same thing next year. The champion Celtics team is built around two #3 picks in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If the Jazz were built around Ace Bailey and Cam Boozer, they might be on their way.

The Philadelphia 76ers aren't going to give away the No. 3 pick for nothing, so they're going to take something from the Jazz. And that "something" is going to be something big, which is scary.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Ferguson, thy symbolic representation that stands in for your likeness now resembles an organism much younger, with more telomere life, less entropy, than the bearded, bewildered looking symbolic representation that used to encumber your profile. Why, dear Sir, the change?

I got tired of Les Grossman. I sought to adopt a new comical avatar.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

The Philadelphia 76ers aren't going to give away the No. 3 pick for nothing, so they're going to take something from the Jazz. And that "something" is going to be something big, which is scary.

If the Jazz want, they can stay at #5. If they want back-to-back, top-3 picks they'll need to pay for it. Look at what the Cavs paid for one All Star player in Donovan Mitchell: 5 years of draft capital, an All Star-caliber player in Lauri, plus Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji.