What's next for the Jazz?

The Jazz have had it awfully good most of the past couple of decades, and Larry H. Miller knows it.

Twenty consecutive trips to the NBA playoffs. Eighteen years with two teammates, John Stockton and Karl Malone, who defined the respective positions they played. Nearly 15 seasons with the same man, Jerry Sloan, as head coach.

But now, with the cornerstone that is Stockton having announced his retirement, the structure comes tumbling down.

Malone, a free agent, may or may not play in Utah next season.

Sloan, contemplating retirement himself, may or may not continue to coach.

The franchise will never be the same, especially not on the heels of three straight departures from the opening round of the postseason.

The man who's owned the Jazz outright since 1986, though, has a vision for the future.

And even though he knows there is a lot of work to be done before his team can be built back up, perhaps even lots of losses, Miller embraces what lies ahead.

"I clearly don't want to be a 25- or 30-win team, but I also am no longer satisfied to just show up in the playoffs and exit the first round," he said. "So, I'm willing to pay the price to become a truly competitive force — even if it takes suffering some losing seasons."

In a wide-ranging, hourlong interview Wednesday — five days after Stockton, the league's all-time leader in assists and steals, announced his retirement plans — Miller laid out his plan for resurrecting an organization that not long ago made back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals.

"I really look forward to the future," the Jazz owner said. "I mean, the Stockton-to-Malone era has been wonderful. But it's been here for quite a while. And now I think we have a chance — all of us, as an organization — to test ourselves.

"Not that I look forward to those guys being gone, at all, because I truly do hope that Karl (Malone) and I find a way for him to play these (next) two years here," Miller said. "But, having said that, I think it's exciting. Because I believe what we're going to work toward is having young legs — energetic, sometimes-unpredictable basketball."

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