The Utah Jazz went from being left at the altar to carving a new and greater destiny. What takeaways are there from the 2017-18 NBA season?
Ten months ago, the Utah Jazz were dreaming of futures that might have been, futures that fate — and unrestricted free agency — had stripped away. Fast forward to the present, and those dreams have become a different but no less sweet reality.
This past season is a diorama for a team that has changed paths but not destinations. From a slow start to a scorching finish, from a first round upset to a war of attrition in the playoffs, the Jazz had a 2017-18 season that went longer than could have been expected.
Gordon Hayward may be sitting in Boston Celtics green, but Donovan Mitchell is wearing sunset orange. George Hill bounced between two different teams while Ricky Rubio had a career year. Rodney Hood has been excised, and Royce O’Neal warmly welcomed into the rotation.
Looking back at a season both exciting and surprising, what should fans and the Jazz themselves take away from 82 regular season contests and 11 postseason battles? Utah’s season may have ended against the Houston Rockets, but the future starts now. How should what happened influence what will next?