How “advantage basketball” could impact Utah’s offseason plans

The Utah Jazz surprised with their post-Hayward “advantage” offense, but it fell short against a switch-heavy defense in the playoffs. How will the Jazz address this issue in the offseason?

The unexpected (to some) success of the Utah Jazz this season has been met by the usual increase in coverage; exploring all the various factors that played a role in their 48 win campaign and first-round victory. While there is plenty of credit to go around, much of it is deservedly falling on head coach Quin Snyder and his ability to get the most out of his players on both ends of the floor.

Past and present, much has been made of his Rudy Gobert-centric defensive schemes but we are now starting to hear more about what the Jazz are doing offensively. Zach Lowe famously noted this in a piece for ESPN where he showed how Snyder’s “advantage basketball” system empowered players to punch above their weight offensively; primarily through a series of off-ball screens, cuts, dives and dribble hand-offs.

Unfortunately for the Jazz there is a trend sweeping the NBA that snuffs out many of the “advantages” these actions are designed to create: switching defenses. The worse news is that these switch-heavy schemes are currently being perfected by the two gatekeepers of the Western Conference in the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors.

This style of defense takes away the space the Jazz look to create in the flow of their offense and forces them to take advantage of one-on-one mismatches; something they are ill-equipped to do outside of Donovan Mitchell.

Despite the improvements in his offensive game Ricky Rubio is still more of a distributor, while Joe Ingles is at his best distributing the ball and spotting up for threes. And although Gobert and Derrick Favors are both capable post scorers, that’s not Gobert’s specialty offensively and Favors’ future with the club is murky at best.

With that in mind, let’s explore some of Utah’s off-season options in both the draft and free agency with a focus on finding players capable of beating a switching scheme. Game 2 of the Rockets and Warriors series showed us that aside from strong 1-on-1 scorers, players who can aggressively slash and attack the basket can expose the lack of rim protection often featured in smaller lineups so there is more than one player archetype the Jazz could pursue.

FREE AGENCY

Regardless of the outcome of the Derrick Favors situation, the Jazz are unlikely to have all that much cap room to play with this summer, which means they will probably be out of the running for the top guys on the market. Fortunately, this is a depressed market due to the unexpected cap flattening after the big spike a couple years ago, so the Jazz should still be able to make some noise with what they have.

Those bloated contracts are set to start rolling off teams’ books in the next few years so it’s important that teams take advantage while money is still tight around the league.

UFAs

A guy like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fits the bill defensively, can space the floor offensively, and would make for a dreamy fit at the right price. However, the market will likely get too rich for the Jazz without them shaking up the roster and it’s unclear if KCP is that valuable of a player to them.

Further down the line you have two similar players in Wayne Ellington and Will Barton, sharpshooters who are good moving off the ball and are capable when attacking closeouts. Both have also thrived in bench roles which is the kind of versatility playoff bound rosters need.

It’s less likely, but still possible that the Jazz get priced out of these two. However if the Jazz just need to move a contract around or something like the room exception winds up being able to get the job done, it would be worth investigating.

An unexpected entrant to the free agent market who would make for a good fit is Jamal Crawford. Crawford surprisingly turned down his player option with Minnesota, and a 38-year-old veteran choosing to jump into a cash-strapped market means he could be looking to join a more championship-ready team.

Crawford is a complete combo guard who could perform well in a lot of roles for the Jazz back court, and if the interest is mutual then a deal could likely get done without too much of an impact on the cap sheet.

A name that is unlikely to come up but could make for an interesting reclamation project is Mario Hezonja. There was some intrigue around him as a rookie and he showed some flashes in Orlando but couldn’t maintain any consistency.

However, Orlando hasn’t been able to get much from their recent picks and there is league wide precedent in supposedly busted lottery picks benefiting from a change of scenery. Obviously Mario Hezonja isn’t going to be the crown jewel of any team’s off-season, but he presents a low risk option who would be a great addition if he could turn it around.

RFAs

The restricted pool offers less options that make a lot of sense to me, which is why I haven’t mentioned any to this point. Jabari Parker to me hasn’t earned the type of contract he’ll be looking for quite yet and I think the Jazz would be wise to stay away. Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle both likely represent small upgrades over Favors, but would that small upgrade be worth the price they will likely command?

Zach LaVine comes with his own risks, and the Bulls will be motivated to keep him around. There are some interesting young guards further down in Bryn Forbes, Fred VanVleet and Patrick McCaw, but there’s a good chance it would take a gross overpay to stop their respective clubs from matching.

THE DRAFT

The draft represents several options for the Jazz, who could realistically choose a player ready to contribute or a longer term prospect with their top pick. Since trades are hard to predict, let’s assume the Jazz stay at 21 and look at a few options there.

The Jazz desperately need wing scorers, and my two favorites for them here are Dzanan Musa and Chandler Hutchison. Both profile as complete offensive players out on the wing that will add much needed offensive versatility.

They are also older, more experienced prospects that frequently fit well in the Utah system. Neither will boost the athletic profile of the team, so honorable mentions to Zhaire Smith and Khyri Thomas as two more athletic wing options that will likely need a bit of polish on other parts of their games.

A second route I like for the Jazz is finding a Ricky Rubio replacement at point guard. The Jazz are extremely fortunate that Donovan Mitchell can effectively run the point, but he’s very effective off the ball as well. I think it would be wise for the Jazz to maintain their lineup flexibility by bringing in a guy who can profile as a long-term replacement for whenever Rubio and the Jazz part ways.

My two favorites here are Aaron Holiday and Jalen Brunson. They were both 20 point scorers in college and both displayed a feel for the game and good playmaking ability. They also profile as higher floor players who could contribute right away which is vital for a Utah team that doesn’t want to fall off in the Western Conference race next year.

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The Jazz face an interesting and very important off-season as they continue to distance themselves from the Gordon Hayward saga and build to the future. They boast a talented core and are already elite at one end of the floor. However, they are still notably behind the elite of the Western Conference, which makes nailing these moves on the margins all the more important.