This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gordon Hayward wants Jazz fans to know he's as miserable as everyone else around here.
As the NBA's conference finals unfold this week, Hayward wrote, "It's frustrating. … I can't stand watching these playoff teams play, and not be able to be a part of it."
The league's best blogger speaks for a lot of Utahns, whose level of annoyance will rise even higher if former Jazz center Enes Kanter wins an NBA championship. It could happen, as Oklahoma City opened the Western Conference finals by beating Golden State 108-102 with Kanter posting eight points and six rebounds in 18 minutes Monday.
Kanter's involvement at this stage of the playoffs is a double dose of irritation for Jazz fans, considering the shots he took at the franchise after being traded last season and the failure of Jazz management so far to exploit the mythical financial flexibility created by that move. DeMarre Carroll's appearance with Toronto in the Eastern Conference finals after the Jazz underestimated him is another source of frustration locally, for different reasons.
That's life with the Jazz these days, with alumni providing the only playoff presence. In addition to Kanter and Carroll, Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams are competing with Cleveland, Randy Foye is playing for Oklahoma City and Ian Clark and Brandon Rush are on Golden State's roster.
Kanter's success is tough to take, after he scorched the Jazz by basically calling the franchise unprofessional, compared with his Thunder experience. I'm sometimes critical of Jazz fans for devaluing and deriding former players after they're gone, but their longest-lasting grudges have some foundation — more real than imagined, usually.
Derek Fisher, Deron Williams and Kanter, especially, have provided some material for resentment, the biggest problem being that they keep killing the Jazz. Fisher's Los Angeles Lakers knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs in three straight seasons and Williams helped eliminate them from the West race in April.
And now Kanter is thriving with the Thunder. Oklahoma City went 4-0 against the Jazz this season — five years after the Jazz drafted him with a pick they obtained in the D-Will deal and one year after they traded him for a package that included the rights to Tibor Pleiss, as the most tangible asset. Pleiss played 82 minutes for the Jazz this season.
Kanter didn't fit into the Jazz's financial plans, going forward. His departure allowed for Rudy Gobert's development, dramatically improving the Jazz's defense. The Thunder then paid $70 million to keep Kanter after last season, an investment that was highly questioned around the league.
Yet he proved his value against San Antonio in the West semifinals. Oklahoma City's Billy Donovan, remembered in Utah for having been cut twice by the Jazz, has not been praised much for his work in his rookie season as an NBA coach. He discovered a strategy for beating the Spurs, though, by playing Kanter and Steven Adams together. That pairing made Kanter less of a defensive liability — he also showed some improvement, in that regard — and served to fluster San Antonio.
As Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the series, "Kanter and Adams were hard to deal with, and they were superb. They deserve a lot of credit for what they did."
That was particularly true in the pivotal Game 5 in San Antonio. Kanter made a series of key plays, while contributing eight points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in 30 minutes. The Thunder's series victory in six games came after Kanter helped them subdue Dallas in the first round by scoring 28 points in Game 4.
Kanter's impact will be interesting to measure in the West finals, as Donovan tries to match up with the Warriors. What's clear is that Jazz fans are hoping former University of Utah center Andrew Bogut gets healthy enough to offset the inside work of Adams and Kanter, enabling Golden State to advance to the NBA Finals and keep Kanter from haunting them.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Jazz alumni in the playoffs
First-round exits
Charlotte • Al Jefferson and Marvin Williams.
Dallas • Jeremy Evans, Devin Harris, Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams.
Indiana • C.J. Miles.
Conference semifinal exits
Atlanta • Kris Humphries, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap.
Conference finalists
Cleveland • Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams.
Golden State • Ian Clark and Brandon Rush.
Toronto • DeMarre Carroll.
Oklahoma City • Randy Foye and Enes Kanter.