Veterans and rebuilding basketball teams—it’s not always the most natural fit. For the Utah Jazz, a team knee-deep into an all-out tank job, discovering the proper role for each player on the depth chart is essential for both player development and creating a strong team culture to build from when the team has (in theory) developed into a championship contender.
The Jazz have struggled to find the proper balance for their roster since blowing up their all-star core of Mitchell and Gobert, with ruins of that era littering the locker room with no real direction. Now, with Utah’s ship veering into the vicious waves of the NBA lottery chase, signing talented veterans can feel like stuffing a square peg into a round hole—even a toddler knows that’s a bad idea.