SALT LAKE CITY — Training camp is different this year for the Utah Jazz. It's going on this week at Wynn Las Vegas, with two courts set up in a ballroom. It's the first time the Jazz have hosted training camp outside of Utah since 2008 when they went north to Boise, Idaho.
But the biggest difference is not the location, it's the urgency. This is a veteran team built to compete for an NBA championship, and they got right to work on day one.
We didn't spend too much time on teaching much stuff," said Mike Conley. "Normally in training camp you spend a good amount of time just walking around and going through detail after detail. With the vets we brought in we were allowed to just skip all that and just go straight to live action or working on different things that kind of expedite our situation as a team. So having that kind of group is huge."
The core group of players, led by Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, are back this season. With the addition of veterans Rudy Gay at Hassan Whiteside, and the improvement of the younger players on the roster, they feel good about where this team is at in training camp.
"Guys have stepped up in a big way," said Donovan Mitchell. "Obviously it's the first day so it's easy to say that, but I can tell it's a different mindset different vibe about the group, and we've got to continue to have that throughout the whole season. Not to start off early, or do it later, but throughout the full 82 and in the playoffs."
The window is open, and they're ready to make a run at a title before it closes.
