No roster makeover for the Utah Jazz.
Rather than spend time and money trying to make a splash by bringing in a high-profile free agent
Rashaad Penny Color Rush Jersey , the Jazz are banking on continued internal development and continuity to boost a team that finished the 2017-18 season on a tear.
That approach is reflected in the team’s decision to bring back free agents Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, and Raul Neto under new multi-year contracts.
”Chemistry is a hard thing,” Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said at a press conference on Friday announcing the three free-agent signings. ”It’s a hard thing to predict. You can get five great people in the room and have it just not click for whatever reason, so we didn’t want to overthink that.”
Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Keeping Utah’s roster virtually intact going into the 2018-19 season appears to be a sound move given how the Jazz finished this past NBA season. Utah earned the fifth seed in the West with a 48-34 record, going 29-6 over their final 35 games, and advanced to the conference semifinals for the second straight year.
Utah became the first team since the 2004-05 New Jersey Nets to end the regular season with a winning record after being nine games below .500 on Jan. 22. The Jazz were 19-28 before their season-changing turnaround began.
That strong finish helped convince Favors to return to Utah rather than seek a larger role elsewhere.
”It was very important,” Favors said. ”I saw what we had and what we could accomplish in a full season when everyone’s healthy.”
