Limited Upside NBA podcast: Without Gordon Hayward, the Jazz are a mystery box
The loss of Hayward in free agency leaves a massive hole, but the Jazz have a deep, defensive-oriented roster to fill it.
The sudden loss of Gordon Hayward has turned the Jazz into one of the NBA’s mystery teams. How will they replace their franchise player? Can they still succeed with a deep, defensive-oriented roster surrounding Rudy Gobert? Will they actually stay healthy this year?
We brought on Mychal Lowman and James Hansen from SLC Dunk and the SLC Punks podcast to discuss the following:
- Why did Hayward’s departure sting so much for fans? How have views changed over the last three months? And what does it say about Hayward and the Jazz players still on the roster that the sniping still hasn’t stopped?
- At least the Jazz still have Gobert. What makes him such a great, underrated player?
- So ... how is this team going to score points?
- Are the Jazz committed to playing Gobert and Derrick Favors together again? What can we actually expect out of Favors this year?
- Utah was the slowest-paced team in the league last year, with an offense that relied on lots of passing and movement. They just traded for a point guard in Ricky Rubio who loves to push the ball, can’t shoot, and is a wizard as long as he actually has the ball in his hands. Does that mean the team’s style will change?
- We play our favorite game: the NBA version of Do/Marry/Kill called Max/Play/Trade. The candidates: Donovan Mitchell, Rodney Hood, Dante Exum.
- The Jazz famously made 20 straight playoff appearances in the Karl Malone/John Stockton era without winning a title. How many of those 20 would Jazz fans trade in to have won just one championship. We got two wildly different answers.
- Which three Jazz players would each panelist put on their all-time banana boat, i.e. the three they most want to vacation with.
- Predictions and much more.
This is the 23rd (well, kinda 24th) of Limited Upside’s 30 team previews leading up to next season. We’re bringing together representatives from all 30 SB Nation team sites and other team-specific experts from the SB Nation/Limited Upside community to gauge the temperature of the fanbase heading into the season.
Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
