After falling to the Golden State Warriors in a sweep in the second round, the Utah Jazz will be staying home. The team had a successful season. They came 5th in the Western Conference, had a 50-win season, and won a playoff series. This is a huge step-up from last season as a group. They really showed signs of improvement in their team play and chemistry, as well as their ability to really dominate at times on offense and defense. There are two big keys for their off-season.
Re-sign Gordon Hayward
This is probably the main priority of the offseason.
The Jazz need to re-sign Gordon Hayward. Hayward who was their go-to this season, earning an All-star appearance. Hayward brings this team from average, to very good. They aren't at a championship level yet, but their main selling point to Hayward is that they are building something special around him and that if he trusts the process things will work out. Their biggest competition in this is Boston. Boston is the only other team that really makes sense for Hayward because of his Brad Stevens connection. If that option falls through they should be able to re-sign him.
Upgrade at Point Guard
The biggest area of concern on their team right now is a lack of dribble penetration from their point guard position.
The Jazz have a quality starter in George Hill, but he's not going to take you over the top. Hill also would need to get re-signed to stay in Utah. Ideally, signing Kyle Lowry would be a game-changer for this team. Lowry just recently opted out of his contract in Toronto and from the quotes and rumors it looks like he wants out of there.
If they can sign Lowry their team would be dramatically better. Lowry brings scoring and a veteran presence to a team that is getting more mature by the day. The biggest difference in Lowry and George Hill is that Lowry can drive and penetrate to get other players open. Hill can spot-up and facilitate an offense a little bit but nowhere near as dominant as Lowry can.
Lowry is a guy who could go get you 35 if you need it. This is what the Jazz need desperately.
This is a big if but the Jazz need an upgrade like this as their next step to being dominant. The good news for Utah and their fans is that they have a ton of time left. The process is not an overnight thing. They will need to get better as a group. Rudy Gobert needs to develop more of an offensive game, Hayward needs to get better at his isolation game, but the two have a solid foundation to build on.