Utah commits to Hardy as rebuild continues

Hardy inked a long-term extension to remain the coach of the Utah Jazz. (Francisco Kjolseth, The Salt Lake Tribune)

The 2022-23 Jazz had every reason to steer toward a hard reset. A generational prize awaited in the following draft, and a series of rebuilding trades had left Utah with a flawed roster that included eight players under the age of 24 as of opening night. They were led by a relatively unknown rookie coach to boot, so oddsmakers gave them the second lowest over-under in the NBA at 23.5 wins.

Instead, the Jazz jumped out to a 10-3 start, and eventually cleared their over-under win total by mid January. Only OKC exceeded their win projection by more that season. Because there was something that Vegas bookkeepers didn’t know, a secret Jazz brass started whispering with a smile and a shrug during that surprising first month: “We hired too good of a coach.”

Right from the start, Will Hardy schemed ways for Utah to compete against even lofty opponents like the eventual champion Nuggets, the reigning No. 2 seed Grizzlies, and the same Wolves to whom they had dealt an All-NBA talent months earlier. Then came wins against other supposed West powerhouses like the Lakers, Clippers and Suns. Hardy wasn’t the only reason, of course: his collaboration with Lauri Markkanen helped the Finnish forward unlock a new level, and Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson helped steady a young team with playmaking and dynamic scoring, respectively. But at the center of the unexpected competence was the (then) 34-year-old coach.

Most of us have no idea what we’ll be doing in April 2031, but because of his auspicious start as Jazz coach, Hardy does. Thanks to a new contract extension announced on Monday, that’s the month Hardy will be wrapping up his ninth season on Utah’s bench. Already somehow the 13th most tenured head coach in the league after his mentor Gregg Popovich officially stepped down, Hardy got a major vote of confidence with a new 6-year pact that enables him to build on his 85-161 start through three seasons.

Only four men have coached more Jazz games than Hardy, and a dozen games into next season he’ll catch Tyrone Corbin. That means that soon, he’ll be looking up at only the holy triumvirate of Frank Layden, Quin Snyder, and Hall-of-Famer Jerry Sloan. That surprise 37-win performance in his first year coincided with Markkanen’s All-Star leap and Conley’s final half season in Utah. Since then, Hardy’s front office partners have made gradual adjustments to the roster to make winning harder and player development more of a focus. The result was a 31-win season a year ago and then 17, the lowest win total in franchise history, even counting shortened seasons.

But the decision to retain Hardy into the next decade is not about win totals anyway. It’s more about his disposition, his character, and his intelligence in dealing with the human side of basketball. Hardy is, as Zach Lowe put it, “a rising young coach who pretty much everyone in the league agrees is at least a good coach, potentially a great one.” (Hat tip to Chad Lowe for catching the quote).

The basketball chops are there too. Hardy’s a clever play designer who’s constantly deploying counters, decoys and ghost screens to throw defenses. Right now his offense is primarily a concerto of off-ball screens and layered actions, because his most potent offensive weapon in Markkanen, who excels in those situations. If the Jazz get their wish of more difference-makers, he’ll tailor the system to those strengths, because he’s a really good and nuanced basketball decision-maker.

But that’s not necessarily what sets Hardy apart. There are numerous basketball savants patrolling the sidelines, including Hardy’s predecessor, a guy whose JD-MBA brain led him to scrawl out an academic-style dissertation on pick-and-roll defense. In other words, being a good basketball tactician is just a ticket to entry in this business.

The key differentiator, people who spend time around Hardy insist, is that his X-and-O wizardry is accompanied in equal parts by a real emotional intelligence about dealing with NBA players.

Walker Kessler said as much when he told a team reporter after the season, “Obviously he’s very intelligent, but he also actually cares about people.” Hardy’s answers about player development are ridiculously nuanced, because woven into each one is a complex tapestry that takes into account the skill-building part of it, the individual context, the broader prioritization and so much more. He’s at once demanding and empathetic, forward-looking and deeply grounded in the moment.

Take it from someone who has attended 60-70 media sessions with Hardy: he makes it clear in the way he talks about player growth that he thinks about each guy’s individual journey, in addition to thinking about the team’s trajectory. The latter certainly matters more, as Hardy constantly preaches the gospel of “give yourself to the team.” But understanding the frame of reference each guy is doing that in makes him a more savvy people manager, and helps him earn buy-in. It’s the reason you can see him, for example, barking at Collin Sexton one minute and calmly putting his arm around Young Bull the next to encourage him.

By definition of the rebuild process he inherited, he’s also dealing with a lot of players who were on some sort of discard pile before they found their way in Utah. So he’s described at length his and the staff’s conscious attempt to “not be influenced by what happened with any of our players when they were somewhere else.” That sort of attitude helped Markkanen reach All-Star status, but it’s also why he’s reached Sexton with very strengths-based coaching, revived Kris Dunn’s career, gave John Collins space to turn things around after two down seasons, and more.

The question of how quickly we get to see Hardy operate with a more competitive roster probably depends on his ability to also develop younger players — especially the one Utah will add next month with the franchise’s first top-5 draft selection in over a decade.

Hardy seems to genuinely like that part of his job. He has helped Kessler ensconce himself as a rotation-level NBA player, and doing the same with even a couple of the other recent draftees could really accelerate Utah’s progress. Keyonte George saw raw stat increases in year two but still has efficiency concerns, and Brice Sensabaugh looked more solid offensively but needs to round out his game. Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski has promising rookie campaigns in which some weaknesses (Zay’s shooting, Flip’s interior defense) were also on display. Cody Williams mostly struggled, and Taylor Hendricks lost the year to injury. Rebuilding teams don’t need to hit on all of their picks, but it would really help if there are two or three playoff-level rotation players in that bunch. Continuity can help them, and those guys now know that the same guy will be supporting their growth for the foreseeable future.

The frequency of those development successes will help determine whether we think of Hardy as a good coach or an elite coach by 2031. And of course, so will the needed improvements the Jazz have to make at some point collectively. Their defense (23rd, 30th and 30th in Hardy’s first three seasons) and turnover woes (28th, 30th, 30th) remain an issue, but that’s largely because of a young and experimental roster where “no free minutes” isn’t always feasible. Right now the accountability structures are tilted a little more toward let them eat cake, so we might have to wait until more is at stake to see if Hardy can coach major improvements in those areas.

That’s not a big concern for now. Hardy took over right as Utah was overhauling its roster for a reconstruction era, so the brain trust knew this wasn’t a coach they’d be judging purely on outcomes for this first little while. Based on the cultural foundations Hardy has set and his reputation around the league, this extension is a high-reward investment.

“I’ll continue to do everything in my power to bring the championship banner to Delta Center. We’re all in together, and I’m very, very thankful to represent you.”

-Hardy