Opinion: The Utah Jazz Need Quin Snyder To Decide On His Future ASAP

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz are on the precipice of what some have called a pivotal summer in franchise history. Coming off a disappointing first-round exit in the NBA Playoffs, there seems to be a number of different scenarios that could play out this offseason. There is one key question needs to be answered before all others – what Quin Snyder will do regarding his future with the franchise.

Snyder, according to reports, has been engaged in talks with the Utah Jazz front office and owner Ryan Smith about his future with the franchise in recent weeks, but no resolution has been reached. The Jazz have offered Snyder a lucrative contract extension beyond the current two years remaining on his deal, which he has not signed. It would be easy for Snyder to have signed the deal and taken the money even with his mind not being made up, but for the sake of the Jazz, they can not allow this to become a protracted back-and-forth as plans for the team moving forward must involve the head coach, whoever it might be.

ESPN reporting with @ESPN_MacMahon: After weeks of conversations with ownership and management, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder’s future remains unclear and a possibility exists that he could decide to end his eight-year tenure with franchise: https://t.co/MFfns6fVqj

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 1, 2022

Let’s go back to the summer of 2017. Then franchise cornerstone Gordon Hayward had entered free agency and was looking at his options. He held meetings with multiple NBA teams, requesting that they travel to his offseason home to meet with him. The Jazz were the last team to visit with Hayward and his representation, and the delay caused by Hayward’s timeline to make a decision cost the Jazz precious time they could have been out pursuing other free agents who were rumored to have interest in the Jazz, but who ended up signing elsewhere. Some of those players are key rotation pieces on top-level teams to this day. Ryan Smith, CEO Danny Ainge, GM Justin Zanik and the rest of the Jazz brain trust can’t allow a similar situation to play out five years later.

Snyder is, by all accounts, a brilliant coach and would be an attractive candidate for any NBA franchise who has or will have a coaching vacancy. He has been linked to the San Antonio Spurs as a potential replacement for Gregg Popovich whenever the Hall of Fame coach decides to retire, but none of that pertains to the present conundrum at-hand. The Jazz need an answer from Snyder, and the sooner they get it, the better.

“Football legend Bill Walsh used to say that coaches and executives should seek change after 10 years with the same team,” Former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive Theo Epstein wrote. “The theory is that both the individual and the organization benefit from a change after so much time together.”

Snyder just completed his eighth season in Utah and he could be forgiven if he’s reached the equivalent of a decade coaching the Jazz, having navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and all of its challenges the past three seasons. It may simply be time in Snyder’s mind for him to look for a new job or take some time away to recharge his batteries before plotting his next move. 

The NBA Draft is three weeks away and free agency looms shortly thereafter. The Jazz can ill-afford to go into those important periods of the NBA calendar with the question of who will be leading the Jazz on their bench up in the air. The ball is in your court, Quin Snyder. 

Quin Snyder’s Coaching Career

Quin Snyder was hired by the Utah Jazz as the franchise’s head coach in 2014 as the team was coming off a 25-57 record and having missed out on the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. He endured two seasons as the franchise rebuilt their roster before making the first of what would become six-straight NBA Playoff berths, losing three times in the conference semifinals and enduring three first-round exits, three of the last four being of the latter variety. Snyder has an overall career record of 372-264 (.585 winning percentage) and a 21-30 career record in the NBA Playoffs.