Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Five Things to Watch For

What Will the Jazz Rotation Be Like?

The Utah Jazz have struggled through so many injuries this season that they’ve had to change their starting lineup and bench units almost constantly based on who’s been available. Although the presumed starting lineup, both to start out the season and heading into the playoffs, consists of George Hill, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, there’s a chance that Coach Snyder could opt to mix it up.

Even in a pair of games where both Hood and Favors were healthy near the end of the season, Quin opted to bring both of them off the bench. This obviously had somewhat to do with working them in carefully from injuries, but from a strategic standpoint, I feel like it makes sense to continue to do as well.

Boris Diaw and Joe Ingles have developed an excellent chemistry with the other three Jazz starters and in a lot of ways, Ingles has actually been more reliable on both ends of the floor than Hood. However, Hood is still capable of getting hot and lighting it up from behind the arc, so bringing him in off the bench to add some punch to the second unit could continue to be a great fit as well.

In the case of Favors, while he would likely log more minutes than Diaw, and could spend significant time on the floor alongside Rudy Gobert as part of Utah’s big lineup, allowing him to come off the bench to begin the game as the backup center to Gobert is a great way to keep a formidable rim protector out on the court at all times.

Factor in that Joe Johnson can also come in off the bench as a stretch-four and using Favors as the backup center in the second unit makes a lot of sense as well.

Of course, many have pinned Favors as Utah’s best bet of slowing Blake Griffin, so it’s quite possible that Coach Snyder will opt to bring him in with the starters to match up against LA’s All-Star power forward from the get-go.

Nevertheless, I still like the idea of taking more of a “line change” approach and rather than necessarily starting all the best guys at once, staggering them in the first and second unit to always have some daunting options on the court, then close with the guys who will be the best fit, whether it’s Favors and Hood, Favors and Ingles, Johnson and Hood or any other fitting combination.

The other big question that looms regarding the rotation is the backup point guard position. That spot has been a carousel all season long as Raul Neto, Shelvin Mack and Dante Exum have all battled to prove worthy of minutes.

Of course, Neto is injured and Mack got a lot of run to end the season, but there’s a very good chance this could be mixed up based on who does the best job at slowing Chris Paul and LA’s backup point guard (at least until Austin Rivers is healthy) Raymond Felton.

I have a feeling that Mack is going to be the first point guard off the bench behind George Hill, but that Exum may very well be brought in for defense or as a two-guard in certain situations.

Seeing how Quin decides to manage minutes on a team that is finally healthy is going to be very intriguing. While I’d like to continue to see Hood and Favors come off the bench myself, I have a hard time believing such will be the case. Either way, I’m willing to trust whatever Snyder and the Jazz coaching staff has cooked up.