Can they score enough to win games?
This was the most reoccurring question the Jazz faced this off-season. How are they going to score the ball without Gordon Hayward and George Hill? I think we can safely say the Jazz are going to be just fine on offense this season.
The Jazz finished with the 4th best offensive rating in the NBA this preseason, finishing with a rating of 110. They averaged 112.2 points per game, and never finished below 105 points in a game. We already touched on how the faster pace of play will help the offense this season, but it also became clear that the Jazz are still going to be able to be effective in the half court.
Rudy Gobert is going to be a much bigger component to the offensive success than I think people realized.
Even die-hard NBA fans have yet to realize the offensive impact of a player like Rudy Gobert. When he rolls or dives to the basket, he has the same type of gravity that a player like Steph Curry has on the perimeter. His ability out of the pick n’ roll either leads to him finishing layups or lobs at the rim, getting fouled, or sucking in the defense and opening up open looks from three.
Another common sight in Jazz games. When Gobert rolls and catches it in the paint, defenses collapse, leaving shooters open... pic.twitter.com/tFKSqBkrTj
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) October 14, 2017
Per 36 minutes, Gobert averaged 23.1 points on 73.5 percent shooting, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. As crazy as it sounds, those numbers aren’t too out of reach for Gobert this next season. The points are definitely too high, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gobert averaged 18 points a game, and then the same number of rebounds and blocks.
If the Jazz win 45 plus games and he puts up those numbers, he should be in the MVP conversation.
The Jazz will also rely heavily on the shot creation of Rodney Hood and rookie Donovan Mitchell. Last season the Jazz led the NBA by shooting 10.4 percent of their shots within the final four seconds of the shot clock. The Jazz will likely push the pace more frequently, but when they do go into their half-court sets, look for them to continue shooting late in the clock.
They will need shot creators for those late shot clock situations, and that is what Rodney Hood and Donovan Mitchell have shown they can provide. Hood may have only played in three preseason games, but he showed the ability to be a go-to scorer and an efficient shot maker. He scored 14.3 points in only 19 minutes a game. If he can stay healthy, I believe he will lead this team in scoring.
Donovan Mitchell also showed an impressive ability to score the ball. Which leads us to the next question that was answered this preseason.