Jazz will build around Rudy Gobert, have no plans for rebuild
The departure of Gordon Hayward is an undeniable blow to the Utah Jazz, but the organization isn’t going to panic over it.
General manager Dennis Lindsey says the plan is to build around center Rudy Gobert instead of tearing it all down.
“We feel like we can build defensively around Rudy Gobert,” Lindsey told Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. “We look at him, and he’s a top 10 player and unique defender. So we wanted to build a team around his talents.”
With Hayward’s departure coming too late in free agency to adequately replace his scoring, the Jazz have focused on solid defensive players to fit into coach Quin Snyder’s system.
“We just felt like we had too much talent to tear it down to the foundation,” Lindsey said. “The main thing with Quin and Rudy is what do we stand for? We feel like we have a great player in Rudy, and we want to showcase his ability.”
Utah will have a lot of skeptics this season, and Gobert is certainly ready to prove them wrong. The Jazz are making the best of what they’ve been left with.
