Where the Utah Jazz go from here after second round exit
By Keith Rivas
Who’s their true floor general of the future?
Since the Utah Jazz do not have a draft pick this summer, this is an even more important point that it would normally be for most teams. When it comes to what the Utah Jazz have to do with respect to their starting point guard, the short answer for next season is still safely Ricky Rubio.
After next season though, it’ll be Rubio who will have his shot as an unrestricted free agent, and by that time and point in his career,, he will be 27 years old. That’s not to say he still won’t be an effective player if he were to stay with the Jazz, but it won’t help the long-term concern that fans should rightfully have of putting the best team possible around Donovan Mitchell.
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The Jazz successfully groomed Hayward into a star, and there’s no doubt that Mitchell can follow a similar trajectory in terms of growing with a smaller market team, but the reality is that the Jazz have to be ready to pull out all of the stops once Mitchell is past his first few years in the NBA. By that point, other more established or more attractive teams may be enticed to throw an offer out that might lure the best Jazz rookie ever away from the team and a fanbase that is one breath away from being too close to repeating the Hayward situation once again.
Considering how Ricky Rubio factors into that down the road is crucial, only because of the fact that three other Utah guards in Raul Neto, Dante Exum and David Stockton will be free agents this summer. If the Jazz don’t try and handle this situation sooner than later, they’ll regret it and it’ll only end in chaos and another heartbreak when it’s Mitchell’s turn to test the waters.
No clear point guard prospects really jump out as the best fit for Utah.
Keeping the right pieces around Mitchell matters for the sake of long-term success with what this team already has. The Jazz have shown they’ve got heart and that they can overcome all sorts of odds on the court, but does their front office have the ability to go from a great roster to that of a contender?
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Only time will tell, and that question might worry Jazz fans more than offer comfort — and rightly so.