It’s safe to say that the Utah Jazz’s roster is significantly more uncertain this year than last. Acquiring 14 new players will do that to a team.
But I was curious: given all those new players, along with a supporting cast with a few holdovers, who should the Jazz start? New coach Will Hardy hasn’t given any sort of indication on what he might prefer at this point, so I figured it might be reasonable to ask Jazz fans the same question.
So on Twitter, I did.
Then, after a few hours and receiving nearly 200 responses, I compiled them all. Truth be told, many of the responses were jokes — no, Jazz fans, you can’t have Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell back. But 87 legitimate responses were received, and here’s what you all said.
In all, 16 different players were chosen as possible starters — pretty crazy! Four players appeared on at least 50% of ballots: Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Mike Conley. The only Jazz players not to appear on a ballot were Johnny Juzang and Saben Lee.
But it’s messy throughout. Many fans want to start new acquisition Kelly Olynyk. Some see starting a younger center, Walker Kessler or Udoka Azubuike, as a better option. Some love the idea of starting veteran Mike Conley next to Sexton, while others want more size. Interestingly, nearly everyone supported keeping Jordan Clarkson as a bench player, though he’s Utah’s leading scorer retained from last season.
Regardless, we’ll get a better idea of what to expect come Sunday, when the Jazz play their first preseason game against the Toronto Raptors in Edmonton, Canada.
