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After falling short of a playoff spot last season, the Utah Jazz started this season with high expectations. With Gordon Hayward in his last contract year and a team that is still struggling with injuries, the Utah Jazz is at a crossroads
Before anything, let’s take a look at what happened this summer in the Beehive State, far from all the noise about stars being out of their comfort zone (wink wink). The Utah Jazz operated quietly and still managed to upgrade their roster wisely.
First, they received George Hill and got the type of point guard they were searching for: a team-oriented veteran, who can defend hard. Hill was a true upgrade compared to Trey Burke, who they sent to Washington via trade.
During free agency, they also managed to sign Joe Johnson. Despite his best years being behind him, he can still provide some spacing as well as hit a clutch shot or two in the money time. Johnson was joined by Boris Diaw, traded over by the San Antonio Spurs who needed cap space; Diaw brings to Utah his exceptional basketball IQ, devotion to his team and a cappuccino machine.
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Fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert committed to the Jazz with a $100-plus-million extension in the early season, proof of all of the faith the franchise has in him. How couldn’t they? In a three-year span, the Stifle Tower grew from a tall, lean and not-too-mobile center to a defensive intimidator who is now averaging a double-double (12.0 points per game, 11.7 rebounds) along with 2.8 blocks, which is good enough for the best shot-blocker in the league (76 blocks).
He is also the player with the best 2-point field-goals percentage (.682) and stands among the top 10 of the league in six categories : offensive and defensive rebounds, blocks, win shares, win shares per 48 minutes and defensive win shares (2nd).
Gobert has also made remarkable progress offensively since last year, and still has a significant margin of progression. Gobert differentiates himself from the modern centers who can shoot from deep and run the floor, instead, he is one hell of a defensive reliability inside, which makes it easier for the rest of the team to defend on the outside players.
With the small ball era soon over, no doubt that the Jazz have themselves an elite center for the future. If he continues on this path, Rudy Gobert will once again be a strong candidate for Defensive Player Of the Year.
In addition, if one had to choose a player to represent the franchise adequatly, it has to be Gordon Hayward. The 6-foot-8 forward is in his sixth year in Salt Lake City the longest any current player has spent in the franchise, a title he shares with Derrick Favors.
We can hardly see players in the NBA whose stage in their career and future are as in line with their franchise as Hayward’s. He entered this season in the last year of his contract and he will be highly coveted this summer.
His contract includes a player option for one extra year but there is no doubt that a lot of teams will try to attract him. Which makes sense considering his versatility and capacity to do anything and do it well. But such a fact enhances a feeling of “now or never” for the Utah Jazz.
If they don’t make it to the playoffs, all of the good we predict could fall like a house of cards. Utah can’t afford to lose Hayward since he evolved into an extremely valuable player for the franchise, and considering how hard it would be for such a small market like Utah to attract a player of his caliber, it would be disastrous.
It would be nearly impossible for them to fill the void left by Hayward.
As previously stated, Utah has a small power of attraction and apart from moving the franchise to a sunny and taxless state, that will never change. Thus, the process of building a team is even more perilous.
For that matter, the Utah Jazz deserve a lot of credit; they put together a strong core of team-oriented players who play in sync and a deep bench. Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward’s capacities were mentionned earlier, but the Jazz also have the talented and constantly-improving Rodney Hood, the versatile power forward that is Derrick Favors, a more modern forward who can shoot from the three-point line in Trey Lyles and a precious veteran like George Hill who has been averaging 20 points per game after only 11 games due to injuries to this point.
The Jazzmen being injury-prone, we almost forgot that Alec Burks is also part of the team and is able to bring significant scoring from the bench behind Rodney Hood. Since the beginning of the season, we have witnessed the return of Dante Exum who missed last season after a torn ACL injury. The Australian Institute of Sports’ progeny is expected to become a modern, athletic guard, able to defend on several positions and could become a reliable option behind George Hill.
At 21, he still has some time to develop and live up to the high expectations we have put on him.
After a look at the stats, the Jazz are an uncommon team in the league. They stand at the last spot in terms of pace even though head coach Quin Snyder once thought about speeding up their game and strenghtening them in transition.
But to hell with that, the Utah Jazz play better on a halfcourt focused game and on pick and roll rather than in transition. On the defensive side, the Jazz is a formidable machine, they allow the second-lowest total of field goals made (35.6), allowing a league-low 42.9 percent shooting to their opponents. They are also ranked third in defensive rating.
Altogether, we have not stopped talking about the Utah Jazz. Who knew in 2016 Jazz would be hype again ?
