Utah Jazz: Awards Predictions for the 2017-18 season

Sixth Man of the Year – Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson has seriously gotten me to consider yoga. 35-year-olds should not be able to be as effective on a basketball court as Johnson was last playoffs.

This season, the Jazz need offensive help more than anything else, and Iso Joe is still one of the surest two points in the game.

During the regular season, he averaged 9.2 points off the bench, in just over 23 minutes a game. When the playoffs rolled around, he upped that production to 13 points a game in roughly 30 minutes a night, and was one of the main reasons the Jazz won the Clippers series.

One of the reasons Johnson’s production increased in the playoffs was because of his shift to playing primarily the power forward position.

This next season, Johnson is likely to primarily play the power forward position all year long, and with the departure of Gordon Hayward, he is likely to have an increase in playing time as well. With that being the case, Johnson could average between 12-14 points a night off the bench.

Entering this season at age 36, it’s hard to picture Johnson increasing his production, but he has never been a player who relied on athleticism to be effective. When smaller players guard him, he will take them down low and use his size and strength. When bigs are matched up against him, he’ll move to the perimeter where they are no match.

The Jazz will be looking for points wherever they can get them, especially late in games and Quin Snyder will lean heavily on the veteran Joe Johnson. That will lead to Johnson being the top Sixth Man for the Utah Jazz.

Honorable Mention: Donovan Mitchell. If he is given the chance to be a primary option off the bench, he is capable of scoring 12 points a night.