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Utah Jazz: Will Alec Burks Be the New Backup Point Guard?
The Utah Jazz hit the jackpot in the offseason by acquiring George Hill via trade. Sadly, when Hill is off the court there is very little production coming from that position. Can shuffling a healthy Alec Burks to the point guard spot help?
During the summer prior to the 2015-16 NBA season, Jazz fans’ hearts were shattered with the news of Dante Exum tearing an ACL. Even at the time, the likelihood of him returning in the next 12 months was not great.
Long before the acquisition of George Hill, the Jazz looked stuck with nowhere to go as Trey Burke looked like the only available point guard. General Manager Dennis Lindsey wasted no time in signing another guard as Brazilian star Raul Neto became a Jazz-man in the coming weeks. At the 2016 All-Star break, the Jazz saw an opportunity with Shelvin Mack being the third string point guard in Atlanta and brought him over to Utah. He was traded to the Jazz for as little as a second-round draft pick.
After a short adjustment period, Mack was thrown into the starting lineup and immediately looked like a huge upgrade. With Mack starting and Neto coming off the bench, Trey Burke’s minutes dissipated over time and he was traded to Washington at the season’s end.
It was then that the Jazz made the trade to send George Hill to Salt Lake City, curing the Jazz’s desperate need for a quality point guard. Simultaneously, Dante Exum was getting back in shape and preparing for his return. Before the preseason, the Jazz roster was cluttered with talent, but one thing seemed for certain; Hill and Exum would split most, if not all the minutes at point guard.
Hill excelled in his role with the Jazz from the beginning and made himself without a doubt, the best of the four point guards. Unlike Dante’s rookie season, he was given much less opportunity with the organization going full steam ahead in ‘win now’ mode. He didn’t have much success running the bench unit and before long, Shelvin Mack was the full time backup instead of Exum.
At this stage, Alec Burks was working on his movement and desperately awaiting his return to the court. As time passed, Mack’s decision making seemed to worsen and his defense was not as solid.
This brings us to the present day with the Jazz coming off a 33-point obliteration of the Detroit Pistons. The first quarter went as expected; Hill played the first eight minutes before Mack came in to replace him. Mack’s four minutes were unimpressive to say the least. There was no flow in the offense, he turned the ball over and missed two shots.
Dante Exum then made his way onto the court after three straight DNP-CD’s (did not play, coach’s decision). He also had arguably his best game of the season; coming away with four points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals in 16 minutes of play.
It is yet to be seen how far Alec Burks is from playing 20 minutes without pain or fatigue, but he is moving well (evidenced by his monster dunk attempt on Boban Marjanovic). If the reason Exum has been ‘in the doghouse’ this season is because the Jazz want to win now, then Mack won’t be seeing the court much if Burks is healthy.
Going by what I see, Alec is the better shooter, he is quicker, more athletic, a better decision maker, as good of a ball handler and a better defender. He also goes six-foot-five with a six-foot-ten wingspan. Its nothing against Shelvin Mack, but Burks seems to be much better for what the Jazz need. They need a guy who can sustain the flow of the offense when Hill is out and disrupt plays with his length defensively.
Alec is just too good of player to be sharing minutes with Hood, Hayward, Ingles and Johnson on the wings. I for one see him sliding down to the one spot where he could return to his status of one of the league’s premiere bench players.
Statistics courtesy of NBA.com
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