Come, let's discuss Sir Utah, where do their futures go?
In the 17-19 season, when Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz for two consecutive years, achieving a record of at least 48 wins, and in the playoffs in 2018, beating the Thunder led by Wei Shao and George, team owner Ryan Smith realized that this was probably the best time for them to return to the championship.
In the summer of 2019, the Jazz have successively dealt with Bojan Bogdanovic, and Mike Conley, and in the middle of the season, they have acquired Jordan Clarkson through a trade, forming a luxurious championship lineup, and, with the entry into force of several new contracts, the Jazz have paid luxury taxes for 2 consecutive years, and this season is more than $10 million, but the result?
In the past 3 years, the Jazz have stopped the first round twice and fallen into the semifinals once, compared to the total salary and lineup configuration, such a report card is indeed difficult to satisfy Ryan Smith and the fans, so how should the Jazz break the game in the next offseason?
Speaking of which, the Jazz are also very unlucky, the regular season is playing well, but once it comes to the playoffs, it will go through all kinds of tribulations.
In the 19-20 season, the Jazz achieved the 4th record in the West, and the offense has improved significantly compared to previous years, however, just when the fans were expecting the home team to be able to play in the playoffs, Bojan accidentally suffered a rupture of the right wrist scaphoid bone ligament and failed to go to the park with the team, Conley also missed the first 2 games of the first round due to injury, although Mitchell played a god-like performance, it was still difficult to stand alone, and was tragically reversed by the Nuggets;
In the 20-21 season, Bojan and Conley returned with blood, and the Jazz also ushered in their own peak, achieving a record of 52 wins and 20 losses, with a winning rate of 72.2%, pressing the Suns to the top of the league, and was the only team that ranked in the top five in the league in terms of offensive and defensive efficiency that season, properly winning the championship, but who could have imagined that after entering the playoffs, the same script was staged again.
Due to hamstring strain, Conley missed the first 5 games of the semifinals, to know that that year, he was in surprisingly good shape, averaging 15.3 points, 7.7 assists per game, three-point shooting rate as high as 48.6%, is the team's most important offensive hub, although the 6th game of fire return, but at this time, the Jazz, is already a grasshopper after the autumn, it is difficult to resist the Clippers, which have won 3 consecutive games, and once again tragically reversed.
In fact, at the moment of being eliminated by the Clippers, the Jazz had already missed the best time to win the championship, Mitchell was young and could withstand defeat, but Conley and Bojan were getting older day by day, especially the former, this season, his state was visible decline, and Bojan, his efficiency on the offensive end, was far less than in the past few years.
This season, although the Jazz have won 49 wins again, in the hearts of fans, they are no longer the favorite to compete for the championship, and with the departure of Ingles, the Jazz's outside line not only loses height, but also loses defensive hardness, coupled with Conley's decline, Bojan's inaccuracy, stopping the first round, in fact, has been expected by many people.
As for the future, the Jazz have no need to continue to pay luxury taxes for such a lineup, among the 4 people, Mitchell should be the only non-sale, after all, he is the youngest, for the Jazz, with their influence, it is difficult to find a suitable substitute in the market;
And the other 3 people, Bojan is the easiest to shoot, the contract that is about to expire, the salary is not high, and it can be exchanged for some good chips;
Veteran Conley, Jazz definitely want to give up, but at present, the shot Conley will inevitably lose money, so the probability will stay behind and wait for the market;
Finally, Rudy Gobert, as a 3-time DPOY winner, his defensive data is indeed amazing, the coverage is extremely wide, but in the playoffs, there is no way to see where Gobert's defensive dominance is reflected, still trained by the defenders, under his defense, Doncic 6 of 11, Smith 12 of 7, Brunson 16 of 7, last year's defense of Valanciunas, 27 of 17, anti-Morant, 30 of 17, anti-George, 38 of 18, anti-small cards, 10 of 17...
Admittedly, many centers in the league can't prevent those top scorers, but Gobert is different, his value is 5 years 205 million US dollars, compared with those big men with an annual salary of 10 million, the requirements will naturally be higher, which is normal, so put it on the shelf.
Continuing to build a team around Mitchell may not be a success, but for the Jazz, he is still the best choice until the next All-Star is discovered.