Coach Firings Show Jazz Hiring Will Hardy Last Offseason Was Brilliant

The Jazz's decision to bring in coach Hardy has since proven to be an excellent one.

Coaching firings and hirings have never been more frequent around the league than they are today. In the modern NBA, an ineffective two to three years as a head coach can result in losing your job with the snap of a finger. Success is expected to happen quickly, and if you can't meet those expectations, front offices have proven they are not afraid to move onto the next guy ASAP.

For example, let's just look at the coaches that have been let go as a result of just the 2022-23 season:

• Mike Budenholzer let go by the Milwaukee Bucks, just two years removed from an NBA championship win.
• Steve Nash let go by the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the season, after being hired two and a half seasons ago.
• Nate McMillan let go by the Atlanta Hawks in the middle of the season, ending up only coaching one full season in his career the team.
• Nick Nurse let go by the Toronto Raptors, four years removed from an NBA championship win.
• Monty Williams let go by the Phoenix Suns, two years removed from being two games away from an NBA Finals win. Also had two of his best four players injured in the series that lost his job.
• Stephen Silas let go by the Houston Rockets. This one actually makes sense!

The drastic coaching moves may not be done either. Both Ty Lue and Doc Rivers have been mentioned as potential candidates to be out of their respective teams as well. Moral of the story is, coaching turnover rate is higher than ever, and the Utah Jazz were wise for hiring coach of the future, Will Hardy during the 2022 offseason.

Yes, coaching turnover is high, which means Hardy's job security over the next two to three seasons isn't a guarantee by any stretch. However, considering the excellent job he did with the team last season, locking in a coach of Hardy's caliber before enticing openings appeared this offseason is a massive move for a rebuilding, smaller market team like Utah.

If the Jazz instead were to enter this offseason with a coaching opening, they would find themselves competing with title contenders like Milwaukee and Phoenix. Also considering some of these teams with openings potentially securing the services of Victor Wembanyama in the draft (Houston or the Detroit Pistons?). Therefore, Utah would end up likely finding themselves as a secondary destination in terms of potential hires.

While yes, Utah does have among one of the better futures in the entire association, a coach's ability to have either a championship-caliber team or a superstar level player is valued higher than a team with a good share of draft picks.

Instead, Utah doesn't have to worry about any of these hypotheticals. Will Hardy will enter the 2023-24 season as the coach of the Jazz with the hopes of building on from last season's encouraging results. After a 37-45 season, now with three first-rounders in this year's draft, along with being top five in the league's practical cap space, Hardy is stocked with opportunity.

The soon-to-be second-year head coach will have a great chance to secure his first winning season as a head coach with a successful offseason.

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