Utah Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey is stepping down from his post, but he won’t be leaving.
The Jazz announced that after seven years as Utah’s general manager and then the last two as executive vice president, Lindsey will now move to an advisory role to new owner Ryan Smith and the rest of the front office, with general manager Justin Zanik managing the day-to-day basketball operations.
“Dennis Lindsey has had an incredible impact on the organization, and we are grateful for his dedication to the Utah Jazz,” Smith said in a statement. “We look forward to his contributions as an adviser to the Jazz and to Justin Zanik’s ongoing leadership as general manager.”
The transition is not dissimilar to the one that Lindsey’s predecessor, Kevin O’Connor, made back in 2013.
Taking on more of an advisory role is something that Lindsey has thought about for a while, discussing it with the Miller family and then Smith after he took over ownership of the team last year.
“This is an appropriate time to make the transition with the organization on such solid footing,” Lindsey said in a statement. “I am proud of the progress we have made in raising our level of competitiveness in the Western Conference. ... I look forward to making contributions to the Jazz in a different way, while enjoying more time with my wife Becky and our four children.”
In his time with the Jazz, Lindsey has been responsible for the hiring of head coach Quin Snyder as well as acquiring Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell after they were drafted by the Denver Nuggets, moves that led to the Jazz making the playoffs for the last five seasons.
“I greatly appreciate that Dennis believed in me and gave me the opportunity to be the head coach of the Utah Jazz,” Snyder said in a statement. “He was extremely committed to my success, our players’ success and he built a roster that continually put us in position to grow and to contend. I am and will remain grateful for the time spent working with him.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Smith is going to use this transition as an opportunity to look at how the front office is structured.
While there have been a couple of names that have been rumored to be linked to the Jazz as possible front office hires, it is expected that Smith will move forward with Zanik heading up the Jazz’s front office.