Cleveland is still in the mourning phase.
Utah has moved on to the “what do we do now?” phase of rebuilding a team after losing a star.
Except Utah is not really rebuilding, they are restructuring. The Jazz are in pretty good shape. In part because they have Deron Williams, one of the best point guards in the game to build around. In part because they have a team that buys into coach Jerry Slaon’s system.
Paul Millsap (who the Jazz wisely matched an offer to last season and have for three more years) will get the bulk of the minutes at the four. Which is good. When Boozer was out last year, Millsap averaged a double-double. He’s not as complete an offensive player as Boozer, but Millsap is quality.
FanHouse asked Utah’s general manager Kevin O’Connor his thoughts and he said what they need is front line depth. Because he’s too smart to count on Andrei Kirilenko staying healthy all season.
The Jazz also picked up Gordon Hayward out of Butler in the draft, who it appears from Summer League is a guy that can find some minutes off the bench and contribute points right away. He will not be quite Kyle Korver, but he can start to fill that role.
Then there is the future. After this season Kirilenko’s $17.8 million salary comes off the books, the Jazz have only $36 million on the books for 2011-12. They can look at some free agents or trades that bring them another quality player or two.
Utah is still going to be good this year. And they are primed to restructure on the fly. How many other organizations could pull that off