National Basketball Association

Gordon Hayward and the urgency of the Utah Jazz

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Expectations for the Utah Jazz are sky high this season and they need to be. Gordon Hayward is almost certainly going to opt out of his contract next offseason to take advantage of the new TV deal, and whether or not the face of the franchise re-signs may be contingent on how well they live up to the pre-season hype.

But you would need more than Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones to ascertain what result may come of this roster. Simultaneously tantalizing and baffling, the international melange that passes for the inaccurately-named team from Utah is as multi-faceted and flawed as anything a gemologist might find. There’s a veritable cavalcade of point guards, ranging from the penally promising (Dante Exum) to the profoundly underrated (George Hill). You have the fascist front court of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert — two players Jerry Sloan would have probably cursed out his mother to have mentored (not that that’s much of a stretch) — who SHOULD dominate for the next half decade or so. And then the likes of Hayward, Joe Johnson and Rodney Hood on the wings, representing three separate epochs of NBA All-Star types, while also possibly representing the empty statistics of NBA players and franchises that, frankly, haven’t been that good.

So where does that leave Quin Snyder’s lunatic fringe? How far do they have to go this year to declare success?

To help dig through these questions (and defend Utah’s honor) is Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) from Salt City Hoops and KSL.com. Are the Jazz merely good enough to be a gritty squad that frightens an undisciplined team in an early playoff round? Or will they reach their full potential? Can they seize the moment and be the unexpected team that stands toe-to-toe with the other title contenders?

If you have missed them, there are previous Fastbreak Breakfast off-season podcasts focusing on the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Pacers, Bucks, Hawks, Heat, plus player interviews with Wade Baldwin IV and Brandan Wright. Fastbreak Breakfast episodes are also available on iTunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud.

Music by Codaphonic.

Follow and interact with Fastbreak Breakfast NBA Podcast on Twitter and Facebook.