Although they didn’t make a huge signing or a blockbuster deal this offseason, the Utah Jazz had some changes to make after being knocked out of the playoffs twice in a row by the Houston Rockets.
By trading for some names and signing for others they managed to have one of the most successful offseasons in franchise history. But the question is:
Why did they choose these players? And most importantly, is it good enough?
That’s what we’re about to find out.
Considering that the Jazz is one of the most consistent teams in the league (missed the playoffs only 8 times for the last 35 years and had only 4 losing seasons) with a reputation of an elite defensive team (fewest points per position – fourth fewest points per transition last season) they seemed to struggle against playoff teams and opponents who averages 100+ points in regular season. They were 10-23 vs teams that scored over 110 points (compared to the Warriors {24-20} and the Raptors {17-17}) and in their 5 Game series against the Rockets they managed to score over 100 pts only twice.
The issue was clear. It was their offence.
They lacked offensive versatility and relied heavily on the pick and roll (3rd team for most pick and roll plays last season) which resulted in an overload on their superstar guard Donovan Mitchell and their franchise player Rudy Gobert.
Despite clinching the 5th Seed in the Wild Western conference The duo have fallen short twice in a row against the same opponent and their coach Quinn Snyder had to figure it out coming into the 2019/2020 season.
They decided to trade one of their core players in Ricky Rubio for the star point guard Mike Conley as a first step in the right direction.
Conley is one of the most underrated players in his position who brings a lot to the table as a veteran playoff-tested floor general.
He’s much more efficient across the board than Rubio, well above average in corner 3’s and most importantly as a point guard he has a very low turnover rate along with pickpocket defence.
As one of the steadiest hands in NBA on both ends, Conley’s offensive presence will greatly enable Utah’s offence to be wider, swing the ball a lot more, and provide many more extra options to go for.
Next, they went on to land Bojan Bogdanovic from the Indiana Pacers and for their offensive plans, they sure made the right deal.
Although he’s not known for crashing the glass or locking down opponents or even pick and roll mastery, he’s great in catch and shoot opportunities and a smart mover off the ball.
He’s lethal coming off screens in either direction (55.1% from left corner – 44.1% from right corner – %42 overall) with such numbers, it’s a sure thing he will add a new weapon to Quinn Snyder’s playbook.
In addition, their notable signing of former Nets big man Ed Davis to replace Derrick Favors as Gobert’s comrade along with couple of quality reserves such as Jeff Green and Emmanuel Mudiay surely made the Jazz looking ready for their next playoff run
Now the Utah Jazz have changed their position from an “annoying team to face” into “A team to watch out for” and it will depend on how quickly they’ll develop their chemistry to make a deep playoff run and possibly if things went their way, to represent the West.
A busy offseason made Utah one of the most interesting teams to watch.
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