There’s no doubt that the 2017-2018 iteration of the Utah Jazz will look different from the 2016-2017 version that made it to the Western Conference semifinals.
Gordon Hayward’s departure to the Boston Celtics left a huge hole in the Jazz's roster, and Utah management went all-in on building a defensive identity with the players they signed after Hayward left.
As the Jazz get set to open training camp next week, what will all the offseason moves mean in the win-loss column this season?
Defense
Over the past few years, Utah has become one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. It doesn’t need to be repeated that Rudy Gobert is one of the elite defensive players in the league, as evidenced by his second-place finish for the Defensive Player of the Year award last season. Additionally, the Jazz have good secondary defenders such as Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors and Dante Exum.
Even before Hayward’s July 4 announcement that he’d be heading to Beantown, Utah improved its backcourt defensively by trading up to draft rookie combo guard Donovan Mitchell and then dealing for Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio.
Mitchell’s 6-foot-10 wingspan should make him a pest in passing lanes (he started to prove it by snagging eight steals in one summer league game), while Rubio has averaged better than two steals per game during his career. Adding those two in the backcourt should help the Jazz get easy buckets in transition off turnovers.
After Hayward left, Utah committed even more to defense by making veteran wing Thabo Sefolosha its first free-agent signing. Throughout his 11-year career, Sefolosha has used his 7-foot-2 wingspan to be one of the better wing defenders in the league and should pair well with Ingles in that regard.
The day after Sefolosha was signed, the Jazz added big man Ekpe Udoh. The former lottery pick has played the last few years in Europe and is looking to finally stick in the NBA. His role will likely be centered around doing the dirty work on defense and on the boards.
In an appearance on 1280 The Zone following the signings, Utah general manager Dennis Lindsey said he wants opponents to feel like they’re at the dentist when they play the Jazz, with games being long and painful because of Utah's defensive talent. That is certainly a departure from the pace and space narrative that is all the rage in the NBA these days, but it just might be the key to success for the Jazz given their offensive shortcomings (more on that in a bit).
Although Utah has good secondary defenders alongside Gobert, the Jazz's aim last season defensively was to funnel the opposing offenses to the Stifle Tower.
Evidence?
While the Jazz allowed the fewest points per game of any team in the NBA, they were dead last in forcing turnovers. Additionally, in the few games Gobert missed, suddenly those secondary defenders didn’t look as good.
While Utah will surely still try to funnel the opponent into the paint to meet Gobert, it’s easier to envision Quin Snyder’s club trying to force more turnovers this season. The Jazz will need to get as many easy buckets off their defense as they can and Rubio, Mitchell and others should make that happen.
Perhaps the one question for Utah offensively is: Can players such as Gobert, Ingles and Rodney Hood run the floor effectively in those situations?
They’ll need to in order for the Jazz to maximize their ability to turn what should be an elite defense into easy offense.
Offense
As good as Utah’s defense should be, the big question is how are the Jazz going to score. This has been a problem for years, given the spacing issues playing Gobert and Favors together brings, and even with Hayward's good-but-not-great scoring and Hood’s inconsistency.
So, now, without Hayward, and because Utah didn’t replace him with any effective scorers, this becomes even more of a question mark for the Jazz. While they’ll likely look to be more opportunistic in running off turnovers, all things point to it being a tough go in the halfcourt.
Starting at point guard, while Rubio is a great playmaker, he is rather notorious for his struggles as a shooter and finisher around the rim. At shooting guard, Utah is counting on Hood to take a big leap this season, but that would mean going from a career average of 12.4 points per game (and 12.7 last season) to at least 17 or 18 per game.
Mitchell was the darling of summer league and enters the season with high expectations because of that, but summer league is still summer league, so the question remains just how good he’ll be as a rookie. Exum is also a question mark given that he hasn’t really developed into a player capable of running an offense or as a knockdown shooter.
At small forward, Ingles has turned into one of the best spot-up 3-point shooters in the league, something the Jazz will desperately need, but he’s never going to be able to create much of his own offense, and neither will Sefolosha.
Up front, if Favors returns to full health, it will be interesting to see how Snyder staggers his minutes with Gobert. At the end of last season, Favors was used almost exclusively as Gobert’s backup, allowing Joe Johnson to stretch the floor at the 4 spot. Will Favors continue as the backup center if he is 100 percent healthy?
Bottom line
In totality, it’s hard to see Utah’s offense producing a lot of points, which will put a great deal of pressure on its defense. That defense is built to be successful, but it's likely the Jazz will struggle mightily on the other end of the floor and that puts a ceiling on just how successful they can be.
If Rubio turns into a capable shooter, if Hood can raise his game another level or two and if Favors can regain the form that once made him be one of the most promising young big men in the NBA, Utah could be primed for another run in the playoffs — so long as Gobert remains a force and the defense is as good as expected. Significant contributions from role players will be crucial.
To be clear, the Jazz probably have enough talent to make the playoffs, but if players such as Hood and Favors don’t step up and either the defense isn’t as good as expected or the offense struggles mightily, it will be a fight to get there and Utah’s stay in the postseason will be short-lived.