zero24gravity wrote:I'm not sure how this comment was taken out of context,
"The team's ownership and, by extension, the front office, have demonstrated over decades that they are perfectly willing to put out a team that makes the playoffs every year but has no chance of being a true contender. The goal shouldn't be to be pretty good, the goal should be the best, to go all the way"
Seems a pretty obvious knock on the team's FO and questions their desire to do everything they can to give Jazz fans the best team possible. Perhaps the word "willing" instead of "content" softens the blow a bit? Also, the last sentence seems to imply they don't have a goal to be the best.
I never said the FO are not doing their job, for example. If anything, they are doing their job too well--more on that, below.
As for the team's goal, yes, I don't think that creating a the best team in the NBA is their main goal. I think their main goal is to put out there a team that makes the playoffs consistently, and that is more important to the ownership\FO than composing the best team in the league, or one that can contend for a championship. "Willing" or "content" both work in this case. The FO was perfectly willing to bring back the same team as last season even though it was clear it is not a contender, so that pretty much shows that they are willing to put together a team that has no shot at contention as long as it makes the playoffs. The Corbin yeas showed the ownership\FO were both willing and content of putting together teams that have no shot at contention as long as they make the playoffs. So do decades 1st-2nd round exit teams.
You look at what OKC and the Raptors did this season--it didn't work for OKC and may not work for the Raptors, but their FOs went for it. So did the Sixers this season, or in the Hinkie years, when they were willing to endure the pain to get top talent through the draft. It shows what a an ownership\FO that really want to win a ring looks like (there are other examples too). Point being, the FO is very conservative and risk-averse. It's not like they don't have a reason to do that and sometimes it's a good thing, but since making the playoffs is good enough, the ownership\FO don't have an incentive to assume much risk, even if the payoff is catapulting the Jazz to contender status. There had been plenty of stars traded over the past few years, when the Jazz touted cap space and asset accumulation just for these opportunities, and they came away with nothing, even though once the trades went through it was clear the Jazz had the assets to make a better offer, for example.
In the end, the Jazz's ownership and FO's main goal seem to be the next Memphis Grizzlies, not the next (insert contender name). If they somehow luck out to be more than that, I'm sure they'll be happy, but if not, I think they'll be perfectly fine with making the playoffs for the next 7 years and get bounced in the first-second round.
