SALT LAKE CITY -- Danny Ainge didn't end his brief retirement, agreeing to join golf buddy Ryan Smith's Utah Jazz as CEO, just to be bored. But Ainge's first NBA draft with the franchise was an exercise in mundane misery.
The Jazz were fresh off a first-round playoff exit, which felt like a frustrating end to an era in franchise history in which Utah was good but not good enough to break through to the postseason. That sense was enhanced a few weeks before the 2022 NBA draft with the resignation of coach Quin Snyder, who led the Jazz to six straight playoff appearances but never to the Western Conference finals.