On April 29, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, the Jazz lost to the Lone Rangers 96-98, and the overall score was eliminated 2-4, which was also the third time in the past four years that the Jazz were out of the first round of the playoffs. At the same time, another piece of data is even more heart-wrenching.
According to statistics, in the last 4 years of regular season, the Jazz's winning rate is as high as 63.3%, ranking second in the league. But by the time they got to the playoffs, they had a 41.4 percent win rate. In addition to last year's 1st promotion to the second round in the West, the remaining 3 Jazz were eliminated in the first round.
And even last year, they were won by the Clippers four games in a row after taking a 2-0 lead, especially the last two games leonard was reimbursed, it can be said that the Jazz's exit has been very humiliating. This year, the situation of the Jazz is even worse, the lone ranger's number one star Doncic missed the first 3 games, but these 3 games, the Jazz are 1-2 behind, was beaten by Bronson. Even if Doncic returns to the Jazz in Game 4 to win, it is because the referee missed Mitchell's offensive foul.
Obviously, today's Jazz team has no problem getting into the playoffs, but it is difficult to go far in the playoffs, even the first round. And considering that both Gobert and Mitchell have begun to execute their big contracts, the Jazz's salary will be completely locked up in the next few years, and there is little room for reinforcement, in this case, if they do not seek a big deal, the Jazz can only act as someone else's runner. And such a position is probably unacceptable to Angie.
So this offseason, Angie is likely to undergo major surgery on the Jazz's lineup. Veterans such as Conley and Guy may be sent away, but frankly, even if they leave, the Jazz will still find it difficult to become a championship team, because it is not them who restrict the team ceiling the most today, but Gobert.
Some people may see this question, because Gobert is the winner of the 3rd best defensive player, his basket protection, blocking, rebounding and scrambling are excellent, it can be said that he has secured the lower limit of the Jazz. But the problem is that Gobert's shortcomings are also many, the offensive end of the butter hand, the defensive end is easy to be targeted by the small lineup, not to mention, his most inexplicable fatal injury, is too expensive.
Gobert signed the Jazz to a five-year, $205 million super-maximum contract in the 2020 offseason, averaging more than $40 million a year. This renewal directly led to the Jazz's salary space being completely locked, and there was no room to introduce strong reinforcements, and when renewing him, some Jazz fans also opposed it, believing that Gobert was not worth so much money at all.
Because in today's NBA, giving a super salary to a center player is a very risky move, although Jokic and Embiid are exceptions, but they are at least offensive and defensive, but Gobert is obviously a blue-collar worker who can only defend and cannot attack. And even his seemingly excellent defense is very easy to target and may even become a loophole in today's NBA small-ball play.
Whether it's losing to the Clippers last year or to the Lone Rangers this year, Gobert has been targeted by his opponent's small lineup, and even the Jazz's replacement of him for 5 small in this series has been better. But because of Gobert's super high annual salary, the head coach can not always abandon him, and Mitchell is now shooting too poorly, the result of the effect of the two people is very poor, even if there is a situation where the two sides cooperate in the 4th game to stage a quasi-kill, but everyone can see that Mitchell and Gobert are really incompatible.
Considering that Mitchell is only 25 years old this year, and his five-year, $163 million contract is far less than Gobert's, if Angie has to send away one of the two, it is obviously more cost-effective to keep Mitchell. If, in the offseason this year, Angie can exchange Gobert for a space-type No. 5 with a certain defensive ability (such as a player like Pacers center Turner) and a 3D player with excellent defensive ability, and rebuild around Mitchell, then the future of the Jazz, if not the championship, should be much better than the current situation.