The Utah Jazz In The Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert Era: Misses, Mistakes, And Critical Errors By Aidan McLennan
© 2023 by Aidan McLennan & 5 AM Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For permission requests, or more information, contact 5 AM Publishing at fiveampublishing@gmail.com.
Book Cover designed by Aidan McLennan, 2023.
Company Logo designed by Matthew Sleeper, 2023.
Contact @sleeper_studios on Instagram.
ISBN: 978-1-7389396-4-0
1st edition, March 2023.
Prologue
The Utah Jazz During The Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert Era were a regular season juggernaut and a regular playoff disappointment for over a half-decade - a relative eternity in today's ever-changing NBA landscape.
So what went wrong?
In this collection/compendium (what a fun word) of related thought pieces, I will attempt to answer just that, by means of examining each of the two star players that drove Utah's success from 2016-2022, the challenges of roster building, the most important offseason Utah had during this time period, a compounding mistake, and a summarizing and value-added note on modern success.
I hope you enjoy.
The Utah Jazz Should Have Made Donovan Mitchell A Point Guard Years Ago (and why not doing so cost them a chance at a championship)
When I think of Donovan Mitchell, I think of three things.
He's a small, offense-first (and sometimes offense-only) guard.He's best with the ball in his hands as a high usage, ball-dominant attacker.He's really good.
These truths I hold to be self-evident.
If not for sticking point #3, he perfectly fits the mould of my least favourite type of player (that's another discussion for another time).
However!
He is good. Quite good. good. Drop 71 in a regular season game good.
You know, when I think of small, defensively questionable players who are best with the ball in their hands, and how I'd like to build a roster around them, only one thing comes to mind: get another one!
It worked out so well for Lillard and McCollum, Steph and Monta, and many more ( , including one who can shoot threes, and I'm still not sure this will end up appreciably better). The Warriors front office learned and I'm sure the Blazers front office learned their lesson and will now....
Two small, offense-first, ball dominant guards in the backcourt is a bad idea for several reasons.
One, it is a waste of talent, as both players have to share touches and their complementary skills don't quite measure up to snuff.
Two, it makes you vulnerable to matchup hunting, rebounding, bigger wings (on both ends), and more. Three, and this is the biggie, it is a misallocation of resources off the court, as scorers get paid and therefore small guards can make up an inexcusable portion of your salary cap.(
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The Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert Era
Non-FictionThe Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert Era: Misses, Mistakes, and Critical Errors Want to learn what Utah did wrong, and how you can spot these warning signs with your favourite franchise? The Utah Jazz During the Donovan Mitchell & Rud...
