Now that the roster for the Utah Jazz is essentially set for next season, we explore some of the most intriguing lineups that Quin Snyder could roll out onto the court.
Kevin O’Conner of The Ringer recently ran an article going over the three most intriguing five-man lineups across the league. No variation of the Utah Jazz lineup cracked their list, but it got me thinking; what potential Jazz lineups fascinate me the most for the 2017-18 season?
The Jazz may not have as much star power as other teams, but they boast one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. They have solid backup players at every position, and even some decent options when you start getting to the third-string players at certain positions (i.e. Raul Neto, Alec Burks).
Quin Snyder has shown that he is a masterful coach since taking over the reins in 2014. One of his best traits has been his creativity and willingness to experiment. With such a deep roster full of multi-faceted players, it will be exciting to see what Coach Snyder can cobble together.
Before I jump into some of the more intriguing lineup possibilities, let’s review the Jazz roster so we all know what we are working with.
Projected Starters:
C: Rudy Gobert
PF: Derrick Favors
SF: Thabo Sefolosha
SG: Rodney Hood
PG: Ricky Rubio
Bench (in order of projected minutes):
Joe Ingles
Joe Johnson
Dante Exum
Donovan Mitchell
Jonas Jerebko
Ekpe Udoh
Alec Burks
I left a few players off that list, because I expect they’ll rarely receive playing time. More specifically, players like Joel Bolomboy, Tony Bradley and Raul Neto.
Now that we are all on the same page, let’s get to the first lineup!