Even amid a quick first-round exit against the Rockets on Wednesday night, it’s hard to frame Utah’s last two seasons as anything other than a marked success. Gordon Hayward fled to Boston in July 2017, leaving the Jazz with no lead option and their eyes firmly on the lottery. They entered last season with Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio and a rookie guard out of Louisville. The rookie, Donovan Mitchell, proved to be pretty damn impressive.
The Jazz now bow out of the 2019 playoffs with 98 regular-season wins and a playoff series victory over Russell Westbrook and the Thunder since 2017-18.