With significant changes to the roster through trades and free agency, coupled with solid upgrades from a developmental standpoint, the Utah Jazz find themselves on the cusp of making a major breakthrough.
From a fan and analyst’s perspective, all of the hype and drama that is currently surrounding the Utah Jazz feels more than a little strange. What happened to being the underdogs? It’s an identity that the Jazz have built themselves through both a lack of a ‘superstar’ (as described by many who obviously aren’t familiar with Gordon Hayward‘s work), as well as working hard to compete defensively with each and every team in the league.
Nonetheless, it seems the underdog label could fall into disrepute with the glory and success Utah could have during the 2016-17 campaign.
Given the team’s newfound position as a darkhorse pick to take its place among the league’s elite, what can we expect to go down for the Utah Jazz this upcoming season?
Here are three bold predictions–
1) Jazz Win 33-plus Games at Home
The Jazz have a history of being a menacing team on their home floor. Combining the altitude with 19-thousand strong situated right on top of the action makes Vivant Arena a very difficult place to get a road win.
Think back to Kobe Bryant‘s airball party of ’97 or Michael Jordan‘s 11-from-27 night in Game 4 of the 1997 NBA Finals–products of Utah’s home crowd being right in their ears.
This could be huge come playoff time because it puts opposing teams under a lot of pressure knowing they can’t afford to drop games at home.
2) Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood Become All-Stars
After consecutive magnificent seasons from Hayward, neither of which resulted in an All-Star nod, this should finally be the year that the Jazz star makes an appearance in the big game.
He doesn’t even have to play as well as he did last season to become an All-Star next year; what separated him from All-Star status was simply his team’s win total. Given the offseason additions and natural development of the Jazz, that win total could jump from 40 to 50-plus very easily.
There is a lot of talk in the media about who will have the ball in their hands in the last two minutes of close games. Hayward aside, Rodney Hood is that man.
He has already shown that he isn’t afraid to take the big shot and is more than capable of scoring in isolation. Hood is capable of having a breakout year and could become one of the cornerstones of the franchise in the years to come.
I’m predicting that the 23-year-old will emerge as one of the NBA’s elite shooting guards next season and lead the Jazz in scoring while doing so.
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3) Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum Make First Team All-Defense
The last time the Jazz had Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert starting together, they played historically good defense. Exum was a huge part of that.
Once Dante gets some games under his belt, finds his footing and gets re-inserted into the starting line-up, opposing point guards will have their hands full. Standing 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, with quick hands and great lateral quickness, Exum has all the tools and ability to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.
As for Gobert, what more can be said about his remarkable defense. The Stifle Tower moniker is more than just a nickname when you can swat shots away like that. The 7-foot-1 Frenchman should be the anchor of the best scoring defense in the league and could potentially block three shots per game while doing so.
Players defended by the Jazz center last season combined to shoot 60.2 percent within six feet of the hoop against the rest of the league, but when Gobert was protecting the paint, the number dropped to 48.6 percent, the biggest difference made by any starting center in the NBA.
Statistics courtesy of NBA.com