Utah Jazz Training Camp Battles: Back-Up Bigs

Jeff Withey

Jeff Withey logged most of his playing time last season while Rudy Gobert was sidelined with injury. Though he didn’t necessarily post any jaw-dropping performances, he was a lot more solid than he gets credit for.

In his ten games as a starter, Withey averaged 9.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. In 41 games played last season, he posted a formidable defensive rating of 97.6. For a guy who’s considered to be practically at the bottom of the depth chart, these numbers aren’t bad by any means.

In fact, of the reserves, there’s practically no doubting that Withey is the best rim protector. Nevertheless, to say that means that he will log significant minutes is a bit of a stretch. Despite being the only other true center on the roster besides Gobert, it’s likely that Favors will spend a decent amount of time playing the five-spot alongside either Lyles or Diaw.

While Withey certainly has some positive attributes, his offensive abilities and athleticism just can’t match up to that of Favors or Gobert and with two talented power forwards in Lyles and Diaw, it’s likely that Coach Snyder will want to utilize them as much as possible rather than insert Withey as a consistent back-up center option.

However, if injuries or foul trouble strike or if the Jazz simply need more size and length against a certain opponent, having a reliable back-up such as Jeff Withey should pay high dividends.

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So while the biggest battle for playing time will likely be between Trey Lyles and Boris Diaw, it will still be interesting to see how the second unit is rounded out by the likes of the high-potential Joel Bolomboy and the traditional center Jeff Withey.

While having such a number of skilled bigs vying for minutes off the bench can make for difficult decisions for Coach Snyder, it is certainly a good problem to have.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com/stats