Are the Utah Jazz Meeting Expectations?
By Caleb Manser
Player Development
The Jazz are in a unique situation to be a tough playoff team with young talent that is yet to peak. Fans have gotten accustomed to the rebuilding phase the Jazz were stuck in the past three years, but now winning games has to be a bigger priority than developing young players.
Dante Exum, Trey Lyles, and Rodney Hood are the three main rising stars that come to mind for players still developing on the Jazz. Lyles and Hood both had great finishes to 2015-16, anticipation and excitement mounted for Dante Exum to take the court again, but they have disappointed this year.
Through no faults of their own, Lyles and Exum have been given a short leash this year from Quin Snyder. If they mess up there are veterans Mack and Diaw ready to take their minutes.
Exum has 15 DNPs under his belt this season from lackluster performance and knee tendinitis. When he has played he has been making rookie mistakes, and his defensive calling card left him from his rookie year.
With an unreliable jumpshot and shaken confidence Exum got put in the doghouse for a while, but has recently had a nice surge. Here’s to a good post-all star break for Dante Exum.
Dante Exum since February 1: 16.6 PTS, 3.5 AST & 3.5 REB per 36 minutes with a 50.7 FG% and a 57.5 TS%.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) March 2, 2017
As for Lyles, he seems to want to be a big-time scorer when he steps on the court. His efficiency has plummeted from last year and he’s struggling to be effective when his shot isn’t falling.
Among the 161 players who've taken at least as many shots this season, Trey Lyles' FG% of 37.5 ranks 158th. His eFG% is 155th in that group.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) March 2, 2017
Rodney Hood has definitely been missed when he’s had to sit out. Did you know that the most consecutive games he’s played this year is…………..11? That’s hardly enough time to build any sort of rhythm.
With two scary knee injuries (one of them non-contact) turning out to be only hyper-extensions, the Jazz can thank their lucky stars that he hasn’t torn a ligament and done himself in for the year. Hood is extension eligible this summer, but he has yet to shoot better than 42 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from the three in his career, I would bet that both Hood and the Jazz will want to play his fourth season out before signing a long-term extension.
So while player development hasn’t been a huge plus this season, the Jazz still have reason for optimism that veterans George Hill, Joe Johnson, and Boris Diaw can mentor Exum, Hood, and Lyles into modern-day versatile weapons, and hopefully those vets will stick around long enough until the young guns are ready to take over.