The Offense
The Jazz offense will probably never be as good as its defense under the current roster, but things are looking up when compared to last season. After finishing 17th in the league in offensive rating at 103.1 in 2015-16, the Jazz have been slightly better so far this season at 104.0 and are outscoring opponents by 5.3 points per 100 possessions.
The Jazz also rank 12th in the league in field goal percentage, hitting 45.3 of their shots overall.
Not bad considering their two best offensive players have only played three games together.
If they could ever get their actual starting five on the floor, look out! In the one game where it happened — November 6 at the New York Knicks — the five man combination of Hill-Hood-Hayward-Favors-Gobert posted an offensive rating of 114.2.
For comparison, the Golden State Warriors starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia are just three points better at 117.6.
However, it hasn’t been all roses for the Jazz band. They’re making just 33.7 of their three-point attempts, which is tied with the Hawks for the ninth-worst mark in the league. They’re also failing to move the ball like fans want to see. Just 50 percent of the team’s field goals are assisted, which is the third lowest rate in the league.
The Jazz are also in the bottom 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.4-to-1 and continue to play slower than any other team, netting just 93.5 possessions per 48 minutes.
Despite some modest improvement and the individual awesomeness of Hayward, Hill and Hood, the Jazz offense isn’t yet a finished product. Still, there’s reason to believe it can crack the top 10 if players can get healthy.
Offensive Grade: B-
Next: Defense