Jazz Have No Desire To Enter Rebuild This Offseason

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Utah Jazz will host the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, which multiple league sources have described as a "critical element of the franchise's future plans."

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report adds that it is of "great importance to Jazz governor Ryan Smith that Utah has multiple players in that midseason classic."

The leadership of the Jazz have no "no designs of entering any sort of rebuild" this offseason despite their first round elimination.

Instead of pursuing a trade of either Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert, the Jazz could explore the market for Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O'Neale and Mike Conley. 

Via Jake Fischer/Bleacher Report

[kowboy]

I wonder if the Jazz were to pull a Raptors and try to trade Donovan Mitchell for a Kawhi-level talent, could they get a ring out of it?

[Salty1]

I wonder if the Jazz were to pull a Raptors and try to trade Donovan Mitchell for a Kawhi-level talent, could they get a ring out of it?

Lebron?

[liquidswords]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

[oaktownwarriors87]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

[liquidswords]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

The situation with most of those names is that their cores changed (i.e Steph didn't have Klay till year 4, Lebron didn't win until he left CLE, Jordan didn't have Pippen until year 3, KG didn't win until he went to BOS, Robinson didnt' win until Duncan showed up.) That's the whole point here. You've had the same group together for 4-5 years and have crashed and burned. The alternative is if UTA had valuable draft capital or cap space which is not the case.

[davidavydave]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

Thank you for posting this. While Gobert is nowhere close to the big men you named lol, I understand the overall sentiment.
It would be absolutely foolish for the Jazz to rebuild considering this is the best lineup they've had since Stockton/Malone.
(I loved that Deron Williams, Kirilinko, Boozer, Okur team too, but I think the current lineup will be even better)

[liquidswords]

Geez - the defense of this particular Jazz team is confusing. You would think they went to the finals 3 years in a row and just need a piece to get over the hump.

[ebrian]

Of course the Jazz have no desire to rebuild. They're winning enough to sell tickets. At the end of the day, armchair GMs like ourselves will see a team that has failed to live up to expectations and want to see them blow it up and start over, but this is still just a business that is selling tickets and making money.

[CallMeKahn]

Engage the treadmill!

[Taget]

This is Danny Ainges 101. He will vehemently deny he's trading anyone until the trigger is pulled.

[oaktownwarriors87]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

The situation with most of those names is that their cores changed (i.e Steph didn't have Klay till year 4, Lebron didn't win until he left CLE, Jordan didn't have Pippen until year 3, KG didn't win until he went to BOS, Robinson didnt' win until Duncan showed up.) That's the whole point here. You've had the same group together for 4-5 years and have crashed and burned. The alternative is if UTA had valuable draft capital or cap space which is not the case.

No. Donovan is 25 and hasn't entered his prime. You can't expect a young guy to take a team all the way as the a major scoring threat. Not even MJ, LeBron and Curry could do it at that age.

It doesn't matter how long they've been together, Donavan is the #1 option and he isn't even in his prime. He has just as many playoff wins as Jordan did at the same age.

The Jazz problem is that they have no one that can defend the rim or rebound outside of their centers. Stephen Curry is a better rebounder than any of their guards or forward. They need to stick with their stars and find better role players.

[MitchB3]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

Kareem won his first title at 23.

[IWishIWasHarden]

Well, of course they don't have any desire. The question is do they have a choice.

[Theagreement]

Exactly. Why would you trade a 25 year old who just put up 26, 5, and 4? There is very little statistical or historical justification for doing something so stupid. You can always point to outliers like Kareem or Magic, but the overwhelming majority of championship-caliber alpha’s don’t ascend to those heights until their late 20’s/early 30’s. Trading Mitchell before his prime would be the definition of stupid unless he wants out. I know the Knicks are doing their best to make it look like that’s the case, but there’s no evidence Donovan has ever said anything about wanting out. It’s laughable that people actually think they’ve hit their ceiling. They absolutely need to get better (or they will lose Mitchell). But it’s fallacy to assume Utah’s hands are tied and cant improve their team, lol. They have two perennial all-stars and a very competent front office. They also have an aggressive, rich owner who doesn’t seem satisfied. So they already have pieces other teams would kill to have. Why would they throw those pieces away for picks and RJ Barrett? Is this really an argument? Until Don says “I want out”, he isn’t going anywhere and it’s up to Ainge, Zanick, and Smith to build around him successfully or they will watch him leave, and it will be on them. But that time is not now.


Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

The situation with most of those names is that their cores changed (i.e Steph didn't have Klay till year 4, Lebron didn't win until he left CLE, Jordan didn't have Pippen until year 3, KG didn't win until he went to BOS, Robinson didnt' win until Duncan showed up.) That's the whole point here. You've had the same group together for 4-5 years and have crashed and burned. The alternative is if UTA had valuable draft capital or cap space which is not the case.

No. Donovan is 25 and hasn't entered his prime. You can't expect a young guy to take a team all the way as the a major scoring threat. Not even MJ, LeBron and Curry could do it at that age.

It doesn't matter how long they've been together, Donavan is the #1 option and he isn't even in his prime. He has just as many playoff wins as Jordan did at the same age.

The Jazz problem is that they have no one that can defend the rim or rebound outside of their centers. Stephen Curry is a better rebounder than any of their guards or forward. They need to stick with their stars and find better role players.

[WaltFrazier]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

Kareem won in his second year in the league. Unless you are playing a game with his name change.

[step]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

I wouldn't take this statement in a literal manner. Ainge isn't going to go about and tank the value of Gobert or Mitchell, their two main pieces. Notice how everyone else is 'available' instead? Tactfully done to get teams calling, where they'll more than likely look to explore larger deals.

[dirkules_41]

Ok lol, so Bojan is 33 and will make 19.5m and is likely the only positive asset here. Conley has an awful contract at 35 and played poorly and O´Neal is hardly worth anything besides being a decent 3pt shooter (but not at volume).

[Years90Suns]

This is the definition of insanity. You've proven you can't win with the group. Change it up lol

Donovan is supposed to be the centerpiece and he's 25, and Gobert is 29

Championships at 25

Stephen Curry: 0
Michael Jordan: 0
Isiah Thomas: 0
LeBron James: 0

Big men champions at 29

Kevin Garnett: 0
David Robinson: 0
Hakeem Olajuwon: 0
Dirk Nowitzki: 0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 0

Their best years are ahead of them. Donovan hasn't even started his prime.

You are sooo right.
I thought Gobert was well over his 30s.

The fact is that the Jazz got their best roster in years, but Conley's permanent injuries and English's injury and other reasons got them a bad season.

They need a better or at least a taller/more athletic player than O'Neale in the S5,

[Temuhjan]

Jazz is young and have good shooters. They also have a good bruiser in a one of a kind named Rudy Gobert.

What's missing are a penetrator and a distributor. And if you want both elements in one player, that would be Ben Simmons.

Something like Conley+Bogdanovic+O'Neal+2026 FRP+2028 FRP for Simmons+Joe Harris can work. Ben Simmons is a gamble but it will probably work out wonderfully in the desert.