A 5-Year Jazz Rebuild Favors its Championship Ambition
Among corners of the Utah Jazz fan base, there are controversial arguments about trading Donovan Mitchell for draft capital and young personnel pieces. It's hard to look forward when the future is dictated by the crap-shoot that is the NBA draft.
Jazz fans have been fortunate enough only to have been through a true rebuild twice in the past 40 years. Once, when John Stockton and Karl Malone retired and again when the Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer team was dissolved.
The Jazz, most recently, built back strong with two incredible talents in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, but rumor has it that executive Danny Ainge is looking to move on from Mitchell after the trade of Gobert and hit the reset button.
The 25-year-old Mitchell certainly has a strong career ahead of him, and with three years left on his contract, he would surely continue his explosive offensive game at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Although beyond a pure entertainment factor, Mitchell doesn’t seem to have the overall production and star power to ultimately convert his talent to a championship as a No. 1 option.
With that unfortunate forecast, Ainge is taking the necessary steps to extract the most out of his assets. Especially an asset like Mitchell, whose value is at an all-time high.
With no clear path to a championship, the best option is to capitalize on that value and acquire as many draft picks as possible as the Jazz move into a rebuild.
The good news is that as we examine the current landscape of the NBA, a rebuild right now would frame the possibility of reentering contention in five years. The timing for such a rebuild coming to fruition for Utah would be perfect.
The NBA has some strong young talent and a bright future ahead, but there is no question that as long as Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant are in the league, they represent a threat to win a title every year. Five years from now, most likely, all three of these stars will be in retirement, and the landscape will be wide open.
Whether the young stars of the league now will represent that same dominance is yet to be seen, but the uncertainty of this undeniable shift will be an opportunity for NBA teams to reach for a title in the wide-open landscape. The Jazz are positioned perfectly for this opportunity with a full rebuild.
There is a very strong upcoming draft, and numerous future draft picks to give Ainge the flexibility to build a contender that fits in that window. Jazz fans may fear that giving up Mitchell could surrender their best chance at a title, but he also can’t be the best player on a title team.
Drafting in the NBA is a very high-risk proposition but can be an even higher reward. We know that there isn’t a clear path to a title with Mitchell, but the Jazz have a chance of building an even stronger contender with a little luck in the draft and the trust of a very competent organization that has proven its ability to develop talent to its maximum potential.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ArembaczNBA.
