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Utah Jazz Player Ranks: Nos. 15-11

By Spencer

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11. Elijah Millsap

Feb 11, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Bernard James (55) and forward Richard Jefferson (24) defend against Utah Jazz guard Elijah Millsap (13) during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Elijah Millsap is the newest Millsap to join the Utah Jazz. Unlike his brother Paul Millsap, who is a power forward, Elijah is a six-foot-six wing. He declared for the 2010 NBA Draft after two years at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and his junior year at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Millsap was solid in those three years and averaged 16.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 steals as a junior. ESPN had him ranked as the 69th overall prospect in the draft. After going undrafted, he bounced around in the NBA and D-League. Thanks to RealGM we can see that timeline—

Transactions involving Elijah Millsap according to RealGM.com

Millsap played 19 summer league games and 155 D-League games before signing with the Jazz. He was particularly good in the D-League where he averaged 20.6 points, 8.26 rebounds, 5.21 assists and 2.1 steals before being signed by the Jazz.

The signing came shortly after Alec Burks got injured. This led to the 27-year-old rookie playing in 19.7 minutes per game in 47 games last year. He brought a lot of what fans loved about his brother, Paul. The grit, tenacity and heart that he played with led to him winning Jazz fans over quickly.

Millsap is an elite defender. In fact, last year he rated as the second best defensive shooting guard and 18th best defensive player in the NBA according to ESPN’s real plus-minus. He is very strong for someone who is six-foot-six. Last year, he was asked to guard the other team’s best wing player on a nightly basis.

Knowing how much Snyder loves defense, I imagine Elijah will have a huge role on this team. Coach Quin knows he can sub him in at any time and he will instantly be able to apply pressure on the defensive end.

Rebounds at the shooting guard position are hard to come by, but extremely valuable. Last year, Elijah had the team’s sixth best rebound rate, i.e. the percentage of missed shots that a player rebounds. His number was even higher than Gordon Hayward’s mark.

While Millsap is an elite defender and good rebounder, he has some very big flaws in his game. He ranked 78th out of 82 qualified shooting guards in true shooting percentage. He shot 34 percent from the field, 31.1 percent from three, and 67.4 percent from the free thow line. He cannot shoot. Even within three feet of the basket, he converted only 47.9 percent of his shots.

Because of his shooting woes, Millsap did not have much of an impact offensively. Elijah ranked 55th in usage among shooting guards. He needs to find some way to play more of a role on offense if he wants to get steady minutes this year.

After having a full summer to plan different ways to use Millsap, I imagine Snyder has different schemes and strategies that he wants to use to maximize Millsap’s defensive talents. The real question is whether or not he can improve on offense. If he does not, can Snyder find ways to hide him? The return of Alec Burks hurts Millsap in the sense that there are now more wing players to divide minutes up to, but it also helps him in the sense that Millsap will not need to be asked to do much on offense.

Our own Greg Foster put it best when he said “If Millsap can find his stroke—especially from deep—he has all the makings of the “Three-and-D” guy every team covets”.

One great characteristic about Millsap is his attitude. He is a fantastic guy to have in the locker room and and has a passion for the game. He seems to love and want to be in Utah. In fact, he spent time this summer touring the state to visit Jr. Jazz groups across the league.

No matter what happens this year, Millsap was an incredible D-League find. It’s fairly unbelievable that he has not been on a NBA roster before now. Just look at that defense!

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