Utah Jazz
Utah had an excellent offseason trading for Mike Conley and signing Bojan Bogdanovic.
Both will add offensive firepower and sharp shooting to a group that now has legit Finals aspirations. We say that with a straight face, but doesn’t it sound kinda funny? Well, it has been 21 years since Stockton-Malone.
The Jazz were 2nd in the NBA in defensive efficiency last year and finished in the very middle of the pack at 15th in offensive efficiency.
Conley and Bogdanovic will surely help the offense catch up to Utah’s defense. The D will be stifling per usual behind anchor Rudy Gobert, the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year. Gobert is underrated on offense, extremely efficient in the pick-and-roll, which just so happens to also be Conley’s specialty throughout his 12-year career.
Donovan Mitchell should thrive with the additional floor spacing created by his new off-ball weapons. Joe Ingles ought to see more open looks, his forte at 40 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s for four straight seasons. (Did you know that Jinglin’ Joe has only missed three regular season games in his 5-year career? He’s played all 82 games three years running.) Ed Davis is a beloved locker room guy everywhere he goes, and his locker now resides in Salt Lake City.
Dante Exum and Royce O’Neale are returning bench guys offering stability to a well rounded 2nd unit that now includes Jeff Green and Emmanuel Mudiay. We’ve always liked Uncle Jeff, but we would heed caution against relying on him too much in the playoffs. (But he did come through for LeBron in Game 7 at Boston in 2018, we haven’t forgotten!) Mudiay looked to have maybe turned a corner last year.
League Pass Notes
Couple of power dunkers here: Don Mitch — we prefer “Don Mitch” to “Spida” — is a 6-foot-3 power dunker who will rise up and come for your soul. Gobert rattles the rim with goal-shaking slams.
The French Rejection can also SWAT.
We’ve been a big fan of Craig Bolerjack on the play-by-play ever since Alec Burks threw down an insane power dunk back in 2015 in a fourth-quarter blowout against the Suns on a random Monday night in December that caused him to scream, “OHH did I just see that?!?! DID I JUST SEE THAT.”
The fans get pretty rowdy at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Also one of the more intimidating stadium names in all of sports.
The Final Question / The Final Take
How will Utah begin the season after arguably the best summer in franchise history? The Jazz started slow out of the gate two years in a row, but they persevered on both occasions thanks to monumental second half runs.
If Quin Snyder can get this offense humming early and up to their potential, we expect the Jazz to be a top-5 seed in the West for a fourth consecutive year and to be a bonafide contender at the top of the entire league. We do believe that the Finals could be attainable for Utah. It’s just that the behemoths in LA — and the Rockets, who have eliminated the Jazz in two straight postseasons — seem to present another echelon of playoff basketball that Utah might not be able to climb to.
We have the Jazz going OVER 50.5 wins but they’ll still be in deep shit when they run into the Rockets in the playoffs.