Oct 22, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Mike Miller (3) defends against Utah Jazz forward Trey Lyles (41) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 98-78. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
7) Jazz Rookies Aren’t Ready for Primetime
Without question, rookies Raul Neto, Trey Lyles and Tibor Pleiss are all intriguing young players who could make important contributions to the team in the future. Alas, it would seem that future isn’t quite now. None of them looks ready to shoulder major minutes in the Jazz rotation.
Pleiss has barely seen the court and although Lyles has played and even cracked the starting five as the replacement for an injured Gobert, his shot hasn’t fallen and he has struggled to defend. The two are currently posting net ratings of minus-31.4 and minus-21.2 respectively.
Meanwhile, Neto has been the team’s starting point guard in the absence of Dante Exum and has posted a defensive rating of 85.5–good for fourth in the league. Unfortunately, the Brazilian is making only 29.5 percent of his field goal attempts. Oof.
Next: No. 6