Welcome to Utah Mr. Gordon
Salt Lake City, UT – There was a point in this free agency where you could have heard kicking and screaming out of the Vivint Smart Home Arena, whether you were in Reno or Bismark.The Jazz had misplayed the biggest off-season in team history. An opportunity to perhaps bring in one, maybe two, max-worthy players on top of their own Dante Exum. Forced to deal with the system in place, the front office was just outmatched. Despite having original plans to go into free agency with empty pockets, the team slow played things and it backfired.
The first straw was the Larry Sanders signing, after the buzzer. Then, things erupted when word leaked about who the team would be targeting next, only to hear that the league office already submit the offers for the day and that the team was ultimately duped by a few not to be trusted GM’s.
Then, less than 24 hours later and they turned their attention toward an unorthodox approach for GM OCons. They threw significant dollars at restricted free agent big man, Aaron Gordon and he opted to sign on the spot. It was a tense 48 hours and memos were sent inside the organization to keep things quiet in hopes of the unlikely event that Brooklyn didn’t match the offer sheet.
Here we are, time has passed and the former Wildcat is officially a member of the Utah Jazz. He joins just 4 other players currently under contract; Damian Lillard, Robert Covington, Doug McDermott and LaMarcus Aldridge. Gordon is a super efficient big man who rebounds and defends his position well. A journeyman already, playing for four different teams in just as many seasons, who hopes to have finally found a home.
“We’re super stoked to bring Aaron in here and have him as part of our core going forward. He is a stellar young big man and his versatility will be a huge asset to the organization. Coming in, he was a target but one we didn’t think we had a chance of landing, at all. We’re very surprised at this. It cost us good money and,, in hindsight, maybe we didn’t need to spend that much but sometimes you just don’t mess around – regardless of the system your working with. . . or against. We’ve still got work to do and we are toying with a move that will flip this league on its head.”
Sources close to the team aren't sure whether this relates to a Dante Exum S+T or if Lillard and/or Aldridge will be on the move. Whatever happens, this team has a lot of holes to fill and aren't close to being complete. On the face, it's certainly been a step backward but there's time left to make improvements. Will they be able to redeem themselves of some early off-season mistakes? Time will tell.
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