{"id":281,"date":"2016-09-02T15:06:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T20:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2016-09-02T15:06:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-02T20:06:12","slug":"utah-jazz-biggest-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/09\/02\/utah-jazz-biggest-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"The Utah Jazz Biggest Mistake in the Past Ten Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mistakes happen. We sleep in a little too late or we forget to do a project. But for us, mistakes are simply, just that \u2013 mistakes. For the thirty NBA<\/strong> teams, mistakes cost them, potentially, tens of millions of dollars, a playoff appearance or even a championship. They have been riddled throughout history. It can be draft picks (Blazers fans know what this is like), it can be free agency (can I get an amen from Knicks fans?), or it can be virtually anything else (in the case of the Kings, EVERYTHING ELSE).<\/em><\/p>\n

In this article, we discuss the Utah Jazz<\/strong> biggest mistake in the past ten years.<\/p>\n

The Utah Jazz\u00a0Biggest Mistake in the Past Ten Years<\/h2>\n

Fans in Utah have been blessed by great basketball for the better part of the past 30 years. After 18 seasons of watching John Stockton <\/strong>and Karl Malone <\/strong>execute the pick-and-roll to perfection, the Jazz made a near seamless transition into a new era under tenured coach Jerry Sloan. <\/strong>After acquiring power forward Carlos Boozer <\/strong>via free agency in 2004, Utah drafted point guard Deron Williams <\/strong>in 2005 to form a new era of high-low Jazz basketball.<\/p>\n

Background to\u00a0the Mistake\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From\u00a02005 to 2010, the Jazz remained competitive in the Western Conference<\/strong>, becoming the chief rival of the Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong>\u00a0come playoff time. Williams averaged 17.5 points per game, while dishing out 9.2 assists per contest during this stretch. Just as\u00a0importantly, Boozer contributed 18.6 points per game, while grabbing 10.2 rebounds per contest during his tenure in Utah. Under the expert guidance of\u00a0Sloan, the Jazz posted an impressive regular season win-loss record of 247-163 during the trio\u2019s five-year run together. As is true with relationships (and fine\u00a0wines), all good things come to an end, and the sky came falling down on the Jazz during the 2010-11 off-season.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0End of an Era<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The beginning of the end came when Carlos Boozer signed a free agent offer with the Chicago Bulls<\/strong> in 2010-11. While the Jazz were equipped with Paul Millsap <\/strong>waiting in the wings, this moment signaled the end of Utah’s dynamic on-court duo. Amid personal trauma and a tenuous relationship with Deron Williams, Jerry Sloan resigned as head coach only 54 games into the 2010-11 season. The final nail in the coffin came two weeks later, when Utah traded Williams to the New Jersey Nets<\/strong> in exchange\u00a0for Devin Harris<\/strong> and Derrick Favors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In theory, Harris and Favors were going to replace the production of Williams and Boozer on the court. However, the Jazz quickly learned that replacing near double-double production from perennial all-stars is easier said than done. This transition did not work out as fluidly as planned, leading the Jazz to miss the playoffs and prepare next for the 2011\u00a0NBA Draft.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lead-up to the Mistake<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After nearly 25 years of high quality basketball, the Jazz entered the draft facing an uncertain future. Holding the third and 12th overall picks in the draft, Utah had an opportunity to bolster its\u00a0roster and work toward replacing the talent lost in the previous twelve months. In hindsight, the choices the Jazz made on draft day in\u00a02011 were their worst\u00a0mistake of\u00a0the past decade.<\/p>\n

The Mistake<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With the 3rd pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Utah selected Enes Kanter<\/strong> out of the University of Kentucky<\/strong>. Blessed with a big body, long wingspan, and quality footwork,\u00a0the big\u00a0man\u00a0was expected to step in and assume the role vacated when Boozer departed. The young forward failed to meet\u00a0these lofty expectations, under-performing to the tune of 5.9\u00a0points\u00a0and 4.3 rebounds\u00a0per contest in his first two seasons. Inept at passing the ball out of the post, he posted a paltry\u00a00.25 assists per game during this time. Kanter went on to become a quality player in the\u00a0Oklahoma\u00a0City Thunder<\/strong>,\u00a0though he\u00a0never caught traction in Utah before being traded\u00a0during the 2014-15 campaign.<\/p>\n

Jazz fans\u00a0buzzed about the potential of\u00a0Alec Burks, <\/strong>who was selected with the 12th pick in the draft.\u00a0Following a\u00a0solid\u00a0career\u00a0at the University of Colorado<\/strong>, the athletic guard was expected\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0an aggressive scorer who\u00a0could\u00a0attack the rim at will for the Jazz. However, through five seasons in Utah, he has contributed just 10.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. The Jazz have\u00a0never seen the player development that they anticipated from Burks on draft night.<\/p>\n

The Alternatives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In what turned out to be a\u00a0draft that\u00a0produced\u00a0quality talent, the Jazz missed out on the following players at the forward positions: Tristan Thompson<\/strong> (picked no. 4\u00a0overall), \u00a0Jonas Valanciunas<\/strong> (5), Kawhi Leonard<\/strong> (15), Kenneth Faried<\/strong> (22), Jimmy Butler<\/strong> (30), and Chandler Parsons<\/strong> (38). In addition to the forwards mentioned, Utah also missed out on the following guards who\u00a0could have produced immediately: Kemba Walker<\/strong> (9), Klay Thompson<\/strong> (11),\u00a0Reggie Jackson<\/strong> (24), and\u00a0Isaiah Thomas<\/strong> (60). Utah left a lot of talent available to the rest of the league, without staking claim to any long term solutions at positions of need.<\/p>\n

The Consequences<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The combination of assets lost within 12 months, along with\u00a0what transpired\u00a0during\u00a0the 2011 NBA Draft, make these draft day decisions the\u00a0biggest mistake that the\u00a0Jazz have made in the past ten\u00a0years. While Utah has\u00a0taken steps to rebuild its\u00a0once proud franchise, returning it to relevance, the 2011 draft made that rebuilding process longer than necessary. It set\u00a0the franchise back a few years in development, perhaps costing the team\u00a0a chance to re-sign Paul Millsap in the process.<\/p>\n

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Main photo:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n