There’s been widespread speculation that Quin Snyder could be out as the Utah Jazz head coach following a first-round exit in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon of ESPN added a new wrinkle to this recently with a report suggesting that Snyder himself is still deciding about whether to retun to the Jazz for a ninth season.

“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 the franchise.”

Report on Quinn Snyder, Utah jazz situation

NBA

Jazz coach Quin Snyder contemplating future with team

All of this comes amid suggestions that Jazz general manager Justin Zanik could break up the core two of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert after years of playoff failure.

If Snyder does indeed opt to leave the Jazz, a potential replacement wouldn’t immediately be known. It’s all about how Zanik plans to forge ahead with Utah’s roster. If the team plans on retooling rather than rebuilding, a veteran head coach makes sense. If it’s a rebuild, Utah might want to go the youth route.

Below, we look at the top four candidates to replace Quin Snyder as the Utah Jazz head coach should he resign.

 

Utah Jazz promote Dell Demps to head coach

There’s a chance that Utah goes in-house to find a replacement for Snyder. That could come in the form of this former NBA player turned general manager. Demps, 52, served in that role with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans fom 2010-19 before taking an assistant gig under Quin Snyder in Salt Lake back in 2020.

Demps has obvious experience in the player development department. And while he has no head coaching experience, that could come in handy if Utah opts for a large-scale rebuild.

The only thing potentially stopping this is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ interest in bringing in Demps to work under new front office head Tim Connelly.

 

Utah Jazz hire Jerome Allen to replace Quin Snyder

Jazz executive Danny Ainge could tap into his relationships with forme Boston Celtics assistants. There’s a large number of individuals who could very well interest him should Zanik sign off.

Allen, 49, might make the most sense of that group. He served under fomer Celtics head coach and current team president Brad Stevens from 2015-21. Prior to that, the former NBA player spent six seasons as the head coach for the Penn Quakers. Most recently, Allen has served as an assistant for the Detroit Pistons. The only issue here is a bribery scandal that took Allen down with Penn.