Could the Utah Jazz Reunion Tour be bigger than Bruce Springsteen and theE Street Band was at the turn of the millennium? One need only look at the recent success of the Salt Lake City based NBA team to find out.
The Jazz have now advanced to the second round for the second time time in as many years. They improved this season as they won the first round in 6 games and got one win in the second round.
The only risk in the risk reward analysis for bringing the free agents back together is injury and that is something the Jazz don’t have complete control over. Without Rudy Gobert on the defensive end they are closer to the lottery than the top seed. With Rudy they are one great team with the collection of talent they have meshed into one great whole.
So it’s time to bring the band back together. Bring back Dante for 33 million dollars over three years. Bring back Raul Neto. Bring back Favors, the man who wrote the kind of “Thank you Utah” post that all Jazz fans want to hear.
Jonas Jerebko so far has been the lone journeyman the Jazz have waived this offseason. He is reportedly looking to sign with the Warriors. He got some minutes for the Jazz last season and shot a good percentage but wasn’t in the starting rotation.
Jerebko will be valuable in the Splash Brothers Warriors rotation where shooting the ball well from the outside is highly encouraged. He nearly had a career high shooting percentage from three as he made 41.4% of his shots from downtown. The Warriors lost Javale McGee to the Lakers so they will need another rotational player to provide a spark off the bench, especially while their newly acquired star center Demarcus Cousins heals from an Achilles injury.
Back to the Jazz. Why are they bringing the band back together? One reason might be that Salt Lake City isn’t yet a top free agent destination. Donovan Mitchell has plans to change that but so far we’ve seen free agents like Paul George and Chris Paul stay with their respective teams as they are currently in winning situations.
The Jazz could find someone good on the market. Jabari Parker has been a name floating around. Giorges Niang has been playing exceptionally well in Summer League so he could fill Jerebko’s spot. Newly drafted shooting guard Grayson Allen could be a great help to Donovan Mitchell and the other guards in the backcourt.
It will be interesting to see what the Jazz do to improve their standing in the West next season and beyond. Time will only tell if these players deserve their hefty pay raises or if reunion tours should only be reserved for bands that sold a platinum album like Millenium by the Backstreet Boys did.