The Utah Jazz had a successful regular season but when push came to shove in the NBA Playoffs they were routed in online betting by the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Jazz want to take the next step and contend for an NBA title and be a consistent factor in Internet betting they need to make some changes.
Online betting was very successful on Utah during the regular season. The Jazz were good in the first round of the playoffs against Denver but Utah did nothing against the Lakers as they were swept in four straight. “It’s not fun to walk away from a series when you’ve just been zapped four-zip,” coach Jerry Sloan said. “I don’t care who you are. In this business, if you accept that then I’d like to play against you.”
Utah is going to make some changes but what they do probably won’t be decided right away. Utah could have a high draft pick as they own New York’s pick. If the Jazz get lucky that pick could be a great one. At worst, the Jazz will be picking ninth overall. Utah will begin to plan for next season after they know where they stand in the draft order. They may not be able to re-sign free agent Carlos Boozer. The Jazz also have to decide whether or not to bring back guard Kyle Korver who will be a free agent.
Utah needs to do something to improve their chances in online betting in the NBA Playoffs. They also need to keep All-Star guard Deron Williams happy. He has seen enough of losing to the Lakers in the playoffs. “I was just saying I think we want to compete for the title, we have to add pieces. I see teams doing deals year after year and we stay the same. And we get the same results,” Williams said, “It wasn’t a threat or anything like that. It was me being honest. If we want to compete for a title we need to make some moves.”
Utah was missing Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko for most of the playoffs but even with both of those players healthy there are not many people in Internet betting that believe the Jazz could have beaten the Lakers in a seven-game series. Utah probably won’t be able to keep Carlos Boozer so they definitely have some work to do before next season.