Utah Jazz Impending Free Agents Have Plenty To Prove in Playoffs

Although the Utah Jazz have plenty to prove as a team in the postseason, the stakes may be even higher for their three key impending free agents.

The Utah Jazz are finally headed back to the NBA Playoffs after missing out in each of the last four seasons. As the team has looked to rebuild and convert itself back into one of the league’s elite squads, qualifying for postseason play is without a doubt the next crucial step.

However, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and the rest of the Jazz squad have made it clear that simply making the playoffs is far from sufficient. They have aspirations of making some noise and, though it may not be realistic this season, sooner rather than later bringing a championship to Salt Lake City.

But there’s no doubting that the Jazz will have their work cut out for them in the upcoming playoffs that begin on Saturday. They’ve had significant struggles against their first-round opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers, this season and of course those who haven’t followed Utah much this year are likely expecting that series to be a breeze for the fourth-seeded Clips.

However, despite all the doubters out there, Gordon Hayward made his first All-Star team this season, Rudy Gobert has emerged as a top candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year Award and All-NBA recognition and as ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt so adamantly and simply pointed out earlier in the season, “the Jazz are good.”

Thus although public acknowledgement of this team’s prowess may still be relatively low, there’s no questioning that praise for the Jazz among several sports pundits is consistently growing. That’s great to hear, but it also means that Utah will need to step up and prove that that increasing recognition is well-deserved.

The Jazz have been on the cusp of greatness all season long and while a trip to the Western Conference Finals may be out of reach, even getting into the second round will certainly earn them some major respect and silence a lot of doubts about their ability to compete in the West.

Beyond the pressure and high stakes surrounding the team as a whole, though, Utah’s three key free agents – Gordon Hayward (unrestricted), George Hill (unrestricted) and Joe Ingles (restricted) – have a lot to prove on an individual level as well. And while each of them has plenty of motivation to play well in the postseason, perhaps none has as much at stake as Utah’s go-to guy, Gordon Hayward.