The beginning of the 2010s for the Utah Jazz was near the end of the Jerry Sloan era and, after the Hall of Fame coach resigned, the Jazz’s successes mostly went away with him. Utah went four consecutive years without a postseason berth from 2013 to 2016. The organization has had just two coaches since Sloan resigned: Tyrone Corbin (112-146) and Quin Snyder (268-206). The Jazz made the last three postseasons with Snyder, and the team was on pace to make the 2020 playoffs.
Utah Jazz Best from the 2010s
Recapping the 2010s
Over the last 10 years, Utah, mostly led by Rudy Gobert, was an above-average basketball franchise during the regular season. However, they were in the bottom 10 in playoff wins.
In 2010-11, Tyrone Corbin took over mid-season for Sloan for the 39-43 Jazz. Then Corbin led Utah to a first-round playoff appearance in the lockout-shortened 2011-2012 season. After a 43-39 season in 2012-13, Corbin’s final season was a 25-57 last-place finish.
Then, Duke graduate and former Atlanta Hawks assistant coach Snyder took over and increased the team’s win total in 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. Snyder, who has a record of 10-17 in the postseason, hopes to improve it soon.
Utah Jazz All-Decade Team Starting Five
Guard – Joe Ingles
Joe Ingles, the team’s most prolific three-point shooter, ranked fifth in the franchise’s last 10 years in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player). The 6’7″ Ingles has been the perfect “backup” guard and forward for the Jazz even though he has started more than half of his career games. He has been the franchise’s best utility player in recent memory.
He also ranked second in assists and effective field goal percentage. His 468 steals over his six seasons with Utah rank third in team history. Also, his points, shots made, rebounds, true shooting percentage, and three-point percentage all rank in the top 10.
In 2017-18, Ingles had an impressive season. He played 82 games for the second of three consecutive years and scored double-digit points per game for the first time of his career. Although he scored fewer than 1,000 points during the season, his 204 three-pointers were a single-season franchise best.
Guard – Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell had the hype of being the team’s up and coming player and is now the star of the Jazz. The 2017-18 All-Rookie guard has improved his points, rebounds, and assists per game average as well as his three-point percentage each of his first three years in the league.
Although the 2020 All-Star is not the most efficient player, his 531 made three-pointers rank third in the franchise’s 2010s. He also is in the top 10 in shots and free throws made, rebounds, assists, steals, and points.
Mitchell has scored a career-high 46 points three times, and those performances account for three of the team’s four 46-point outputs over the last 10 years. The Jazz won two of the three games, but the loss came in the most recent 46-point performance, a loss at New Orleans.
Forward – Gordon Hayward
Gordon Hayward, who left the Jazz for the Boston Celtics, was the second-best member of the franchise during the last decade. He spent seven strong seasons with Utah and his final season was his first, and currently only, All-Star season.
He led the franchise in points, free throws, assists, and steals in the 2010s. His 689 three-pointers rank second overall over the last decade. In addition, he ranked in the top five in shots made, rebounds, and blocks.
Unfortunately, Hayward will not be remembered fondly in Utah. Each time the Celtics play in Utah, the Jazz fans boo the Butler University product. Hayward, who played more than 70 games in every full-length season in Utah, has been unlucky thus far with injuries in Boston.
Forward – Derrick Favors
Derrick Favors, who was drafted in 2010 by the New Jersey Nets, was acquired by the Jazz at the 2011 trade deadline. Another Jazz all-decade team player was also involved in that trade.
Favors then played eight full seasons with Utah and has been one of the franchise’s best players this past decade. During the 2010s, he had the most shots made by any member of the Jazz.
He filled the stat sheet, as he finished the decade in the top three in free throws, rebounds, steals, blocks, and points. He also was top 10 in assists. Favors’ farewell to Utah was much more amicable than Hayward’s one, as the Jazz traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019.
Center – Rudy Gobert
Rudy Gobert, the Jazz’s 2010s MVP, posted a VORP of 20.1 during the decade, and it was very impressive compared to Hayward’s VORP of 17.6 in second place. Gobert unsurprisingly led the Jazz in rebounds and blocks in the 2010s.
In addition to being a defensive stalwart, the “Stifle Tower” ranked second in free throws made, third in shots made, and third in points.
His rebounding, field goal, effective field goal, and true shooting percentages are all the best in Jazz franchise history. His win shares per 48 minutes also are the best among all Jazz players all-time.
Gobert’s 2019-20 season, his seventh year in the league, was his first All-Star season, and many Utah fans hope that he can remain a member of the Jazz for his entire NBA career.
Utah Jazz All-Decade Team Bench
Guard – Deron Williams
Deron Williams ranked only seventh in VORP in the last decade for the Jazz mainly because Utah traded him for Favors early in the 2010s. Just seven months before Millsap’s decade-best performance, Williams held the team’s best scoring performance in 2010.
On April 6, 2010, at EnergySolutions Arena, two of the Western Conference’s teams faced off: while Kevin Durant was on fire from three-point land (7-for-13) and scored 45 points, it was Williams who broke the 135-135 tie in overtime with a three-pointer. In the 140-139 victory, Williams scored the final five points of the contest for the Jazz, as he collected 42 points, the most for him in a Utah uniform.
The three-time All-Star and 2005-06 All-Rookie team member finished third in assists among Jazz players this past decade. He also was in the top 10 in points and free throws for the Jazz in the 2010s even though Utah traded him in 2011.
Guard – Rodney Hood
Rodney Hood, whom the Jazz drafted 23rd overall in the 2014 draft, played his first 227 games in the NBA with the Jazz. The lefty guard and forward started 167 games in Utah. He started all 79 of his games during the 2015-16 season.
In 2015-16, his 161 three-pointers ranked eighth in Jazz history for a single season. He even finished ahead of former Jazz guard/forward and 17-year NBA veteran Kyle Korver during that season.
Hood’s career-high scoring performance came in Utah’s 92-87 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Hood led the Jazz, as he shot 5-for-10 from three-point land and scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Forward – Andrei Kirilenko
Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko played almost his entire NBA career with the Jazz. His time with Utah came to an end after the 2010-11 season. However, he made an impact in his almost 700 games with the organization.
Even in just a short time with the Jazz in the 2010s, he ranked sixth in blocked shots. In Jazz history, he ranks second in blocks. He is the top five in free throws, assists, and steals for Utah all-time. He also is in the top 10 in points, made shots, and rebounds.
Forward – Paul Millsap
Paul Millsap, the other member of the Jazz who is responsible for a 46-point performance in the last decade, was one of the best Jazz players in the 2010s. Unfortunately, he has to ride the bench for this all-decade team because Hayward and Favors were two of the top three players on the all-decade team.
In just 300 games with the Jazz this decade, Millsap was an impressive player. Although he was not named to an All-Defensive team with Utah, he is one of the best defensive players in Jazz history. Millsap played his first 540 NBA games with Utah and he was on the 2006-07 All-Rookie team.
Center – Al Jefferson
Al Jefferson, who had the most rebounds in any game for the Jazz in the last decade, is the backup center for the team’s all-decade team. On April 16, 2012, Utah defeated Dallas, 123-121. In the contest, Jefferson posted the massive double-double of 28 points and 26 rebounds in triple overtime. The 26 rebounds were just one board off the franchise-best 27 done twice by Truck Robinson.
During Jefferson’s three seasons with the Jazz, he was one of the team’s best big men. He was in the top five in made shots, rebounds, and blocks in the 2010s. In 2011-12, Jefferson and Millsap were an impressive duo for the Jazz, but then in the 2013 offseason, the Charlotte Bobcats signed the 6’10” center.
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