As the architect of a team that reached five straight NBA Finals and won four championships in eight years, former Golden State Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers knows a little bit about the process of constructing a contending roster.
And he likes how the Utah Jazz are set up for the future.
Now a studio and in-game analyst for ESPN, Myers took part in a Zoom conference call this week both to discuss his transition to a media gig and to give his views on the state of the NBA and some of the teams in it.
Suffice it to say, he likes what he’s seeing out of Salt Lake City.
“The Jazz are positioned extremely well,” Myers said.
First of all, he explained, Utah’s front office “pivoted extremely well” from Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Trading away two bona fide stars naturally carries with it some fear that a team will be in “purgatory for five, six, seven years.” But, “That’s not the case at all,” with the Jazz, he said.
Amassing a haul of draft picks and adding some excellent players besides in Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler set them up for success.
Perhaps even more instantaneous success than they were expecting, given last season’s shock 10-3 start.
“Any GM — you have these best-laid plans, but the truth is, you don’t really know. I don’t think the Jazz knew how good Markkanen was gonna be out of the gates, but you’re absolutely thrilled by the fact that it happened. I don’t know that they knew Walker Kessler could come in and be what he was,” Myers said. “That’s a good issue. I wouldn’t call it a problem, that’s just a good result.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) and Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) as the Utah Jazz host the Los Angeles Clippers, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023.
In terms of how having players exceeding expectations can impact a team’s timeline for going from a full-fledged rebuild job to trying to win, he noted that’s always a bit iffy.
And he conceded he doesn’t know the preferences of owner Ryan Smith, CEO Danny Ainge, and general manager Justin Zanik, and whether they feel things are proceeding too fast and steps are perhaps necessary to slow the process down.
“The idea that the Jazz have maybe gone quicker isn’t a bad thing, it just means the players they have are maybe better than they thought,” Myers said. “… So I don’t think they’re sitting there thinking, ‘I thought we’d be worse.’ I would imagine they’re pleasantly surprised at what they’re going through.”
As for how that translates to this coming season …
The dueling extremes of gunning for a play-in spot/low playoff seed vs. bottoming out again in search of another top-10 draft pick both seem equally plausible at this juncture.
Myers just isn’t convinced that the latter is a good strategy, for multiple reasons.
“Tanking — whatever you want to call it — losing is hard on a fan base, it’s hard on the organization, it’s hard on the coaching staff, it would be hard on a young coach like Will Hardy, who did a tremendous job last year,” he said. “… It’s hard to get good players. It really is. This idea that, ‘Let’s just lose and draft great players’ — even if you try that, there are many teams that have done that, and there’s no guarantee if you pick fifth or third or second or seventh that those players are going to be great.”
Instead, he argued, becoming reliant upon lottery luck in the quest to add more high-end talent is a risk the Jazz franchise doesn’t need.
Managing their cap sheet and their assets well should position them to augment the roster with another star at some point.
“For an organization like that, what you want to do is have talent on affordable contracts, and then have the ability to pounce when the opportunity presents itself,” Myers said. “The Jazz are in a great place, almost as good a place as any team in the league, to go out and grab what might be the next great player.”
Given all of that, he believes fans should be thrilled with the position that Ainge and Zanik have the Jazz in.
“There’s got to be a good feeling and vibe around the team,” Myers said. “… So, if I’m a fan, I’m living in that market, I’d be pretty happy about the product they have been able to develop.”
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