Depth & Health
Heading into last season, CBS Sports ranked the Utah Jazz as having the number one bench in all the NBA. It is one of the only reasons they were able to withstand the plethora of injuries they dealt with last season.
Heading into next season, the Jazz should still be considered one of the deepest teams in the league. They should benefit from being able to take advantage of opponents when going to the bench.
There is still time in free agency for them to make some key pick ups that will provide additional help. They should target another small forward and another backup big. There have been reports the Jazz are targeting James Johnson, who can play both the 3 and the 4. That could kill two birds with one stone.
The Jazz and free agent forward James Johnson have mutual interest, League Sources tell The Salt Lake Tribune
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) July 5, 2017
If the Jazz are going to make a run at the playoffs without Hayward though, they will need to stay healthy.
Last season they had to fight through several injuries to various players. Entering the playoffs, the Jazz finally appeared to be healthy, then Rudy Gobert rolled his ankle just seconds into game one.
They just could not shake the injury bug.
In a report by Man Games Lost, they calculated that the Jazz lost an additional nine games due to injury. Which means they could’ve been a 60 win team.
NBA top 5, wins lost due to injured players (Lost-ws metric)
— Man Games Lost NBA (@ManGamesLostNBA) April 9, 2017
1 UTA (9.0 wins lost)
2 TOR (8.6)
3 DEN (8.4)
4 MEM (7.6)
5 MIA (7.2)
Next year, the Jazz may not be as top heavy, but they will remain a very deep team with solid rotational players.
If Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood can remain healthy while also taking steps forward in their production, the Jazz will continue to be able to compete.
Next: Utah Jazz: Rodney Hood must step up offensively without Gordon Hayward
So stay optimistic Jazz fans. If things play out right, Utah could still be looking at a shot at the playoffs.