By Jared Woodcox
When Dante Exum went down with an ACL injury over the summer, it was immediately assumed that Trey Burke would have to step up in his absence to help carry the Utah Jazz to new heights this season. It may have come as a surprise then when Raul Neto was announced as the Jazz’s starting point guard while Burke was assigned a bench role. Despite coming off the bench as part of the second unit, Burke truly has done an exceptional job in filling in for Exum and his play is a large reason why the Jazz currently have a winning record.
The Jazz’s most recent win against the Memphis Grizzlies was Burke’s best performance of the season and a perfect example of the impact he has had for the Jazz so far this year. In Utah’s commanding 89-79 win over the Grizzlies, Burke finished with 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including 6 of 8 from behind the three point line. His shot looked comfortable and was obviously accurate as the third-year player out of Michigan continued to hit big shot after big shot.
In reality, although Burke isn’t in the starting lineup, he is filling in nicely in Exum’s absence by playing exactly the role the Jazz need him to. Burke had his most productive minutes last season when he was moved into the second unit. He has seen similar results this season as the leading sixth man for the Jazz.
Although Neto gets the start, Burke has averaged nearly six minutes more per game and has undoubtedly been the more effective and trusted player. However, Snyder’s decision to let Burke come off the bench while giving Neto and Rodney Hood the nod as starters is a testament to each individual Jazz player’s commitment to the team and to Snyder’s incredible ability to recognize which lineups will be most effective together. This ability to create rotations that mesh so well together and maximize the chemistry of the players on the court is a large contributing factor to the Jazz’s impressive 4-2 start.
Burke’s willingness to sacrifice a starting role to ensure that this chemistry on the court is preserved has not only helped the Jazz, but has helped him individually to prove doubters wrong and enjoy a breakout season so far. Over the course of six games, Burke’s shooting percentage has improved drastically from last season. His 46.9 percent field goal percentage is over 10 percent better than his overall percentage last year and his incredible 50 percent 3-point percentage is almost 20 percent better than during 2014-15. Burke’s improved efficiency has carried the Jazz and has been a key factor in their four wins.
Following Exum’s injury, many thought that the Jazz’s quest to become a playoff team was severely jeopardized. The overwhelming sentiment was that Burke lacked the defensive prowess or shooting consistency to push the Jazz to the next level. While it’s a small sample size, so far these concerns have been far from the truth. Burke has looked excellent and the Jazz defense has continued to play at a high level. If these first six games are any indication of the season that Burke and his teammates have in store, the Jazz have a thrilling and competitive year to look forward to.
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