KSL.com/Salt Lake City With the NBA draft just a few days away, Austin Ainge’s initial drive to revamp the Utah Jazz is almost over.
In his first media appearance, the team’s new director of basketball operations made a bold claim, similar to what his father did the previous season, saying, “You won’t see that after going 17-65 last season. The Jazz are done tanking.”
Danny Ainge stated early in the 2023–24 offseason that the Jazz planned to go hunting for big wildlife throughout the summer.
Ainge may have made a few jabs at the big-gamers in his capacity as CEO, but nothing came of it. With the three drafted rookies and the core group of holdovers, the Jazz started the previous season with the obvious goal of losing as much as possible.
The campaign was the worst in the franchise’s history, hence the mission was accomplished. The greater disappointment came when the Jazz dropped to fifth place in the lottery after holding out a number of players throughout the season.
The new idea has now shifted to winning after tanking was shown to be useless. The question of how to approach it is there.
Other NBA executives have undoubtedly taken notice of Austin Ainge’s stated goals for the next season. In order to accelerate the lengthy rebuilding process, the Jazz will probably need to bring in more seasoned players.
Last weekend, the Memphis Grizzlies made the first major Western Conference trade when they sent veteran starting guard Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in exchange for four unprotected first-round picks, one first-round trade, and role players Cole Anthony and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Grizzlies, who dismissed coach Taylor Jenkins late in the season, may start a rebuild with the transaction. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant would be desirable trade candidates if such were the case.
The Jazz are among those in the Western Conference who had their gas pushed down. When reviewing the Memphis deals on ESPN, NBA writer Brian Windhorst stated that the Jazz want to try to step it up.
The younger Ainge must make a number of draft selections, beginning with the impending No. 5 and 21 picks, in order to regain legitimacy. Although there are various ways the squad can get better, it is crucial to bring in at least one talented youngster right away.
The Jazz have selected five players in the first round and one early in the second round throughout the past two years. Given that the Jazz also have two picks in the second round, the youth movement is probably going to grow by at least two, if not more.
The most likely situation, in my opinion, is that we draft the picks, but you never know what offers might be made. Ainge stated in a radio broadcast on The Zone that one must always be prepared.
During his tenure as the Boston Celtics’ manager, the elder Ainge committed a few heists, earning him the moniker “Trader Danny.” After Ainge left the team, a transaction that resulted in the selection of Jayson Tatum on draft day produced another NBA championship. Ainge had already created one by acquiring two stars, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
Austin Ainge is now in a position to begin building a wise reputation. As he stated, he will probably field bids for a number of desirable Jazz players in order to remain prepared.
League officials ought to blow up Ainge’s mobile phone, starting with former all-star Lauri Markkanen, whose brilliance has been wasted over the past two seasons. Given the price Memphis paid for an inferior player, there might not be much need to maintain Markkanen until they add players to surround him.
The same can be said, to a lesser degree, for Walker Kessler, a four-year veteran, John Collins, and Collin Sexton. However, the Jazz might significantly improve their standings if they use a number of strategies to retain some of the experienced quality while allowing the younger players to grow.
