Utah Jazz: The 3 most intriguing lineups for next season

The try and stop us lineup

Donovan Mitchell, Rodney Hood, Joe Ingles, Joe Johnson, Rudy Gobert

This is one of my favorite lineups when examining the Jazz next season. The reason? It may be the best shooting lineup they can throw out onto the floor, but unlike most teams top offensive lineups, they won’t be sacrificing any defense.

Ingles finished last season shooting 44 percent from three, which was good for third best in the NBA. Not only would he help our shooting in this lineup, but at 6-foot-8, I would like to see him run the point.

Ingles surprised many opponents with his point forward skills. He was extremely adept at initiating the offense, and using his slow-mo skills to get into the lane and set up his teammates.

Along with Ingles, Hood (37 percent from three) and Johnson (41 percent from three) are known commodities on the offensive end. Hood is going to try to take over Hayward’s role as the go-to offense player, but even if he falls short, he has shown the ability to score in a number of ways.

Johnson helps this lineup not only because of his ability step out and hit the three, but because of his ability to post up.

Mitchell is a rookie, but he showed the ability in summer league to be a reliable spot-up three-point shooter, while also being able to attack the defense off the dribble. With a more spaced floor, that ability should be even more potent.

The linchpin here is Gobert. He isn’t commonly recognized as an offensive threat, but all the advanced numbers say otherwise. While Gobert was on the floor, Utah’s offense had a rating of 111.7 last season. While off, it dropped to 106.8. He also added 8.3 offensive win shares, which was actually greater than his defensive win share of 6.0.

There is a concept in the NBA known as gravity. Certain players make movements on the offensive end, and the defense just can’t ignore it. Gobert is one of those players. When he rolls to the basket, it can’t be ignored, which puts the defense in an interesting predicament with this lineup.

In the video above, you can see what happens when Gobert rolls to the basket. Three Mavericks defenders collapsed, and if the defense collapses down on Gobert with this lineup, they are leaving themselves defenseless to capable shooters in Mitchell, Ingles, Johnson and Hood. If they choose not to collapse, then Gobert can use his go-go gadget arms to finish at the rim.

I fully expect Coach Snyder to roll out this lineup next season. The offensive upside is just too high not to try. When he does, it should be a joy to watch.