Back-up point guard Raul Neto re-upped with the Utah Jazz on a two-year deal over the summer.
Raul Neto may be No. 13 in our ongoing Utah Jazz preseason player rankings countdown, but fans should take care not to overlook him. When he’s healthy and getting minutes, you could argue that he’s the best third-string point guard in the NBA.
Unfortunately, being in good health and getting court time weren’t things that really happened for the 26-year-old last season.
The Jazz continued to be one of the more banged-up squads in the Association during the 2017-18 campaign and Neto spent more time on the shelf than most. He began the year with a quad injury, which was followed by rib pain, after which he tweaked his hamstring, hurt his foot, suffered a concussion and took a shot to the knee.
And all of that happened before January 1. I won’t even get into a late-season wrist fracture.
When all was said and done, Neto appeared in just 41 games for the Jazz. On two separate occasions, he spent a solid month on the team’s inactive list.
Nevertheless, Neto continued to do the things that initially secured his spot in the league when he did actually play. The Brazilian point-man was always at the ready when Jazz coach Quin Snyder called his number and gave solid effort on both ends of the floor when that happened.
As a matter of fact, Neto was quietly Utah’s most positive player. In terms of net rating, the Jazz outscored opponents by nearly 11 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court. That spread was most affected by the team’s defense, which surrendered just 96.8 points/100 poss. when Neto played.
Only Jae Crowder posted a better D-rating.
His impact was evident in his individual numbers as well. Despite battling injuries all year, Neto notched career-bests from the field (45.7 percent), from 3-point range (40.4 percent) and also put up more points, assists and rebounds per 36 minutes than he had during his previous two seasons; checking in at 13.2, 5.4 and 3.5, respectively.
Along the way, he even made a few highlight reel plays —
As such, it should come as no surprise that the Jazz gave him a two-year deal this offseason. He’s one of the best bang-for-your-buck players in the league. And while only the first year comes with a guarantee, Neto could be with the team for the long haul.
At the least, his low-dollar status would jibe with the team’s financials when the time comes to work on extensions with Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell down the road.
Bottom line: Neto is the kind of player every squad could use. A guy who’s solid, if unspectacular, at his job when given the chance to perform, doesn’t make a lot of noise when those chances are fewer and is a positive presence in the locker room in both cases. If not for the injuries, he probably ranks higher on this list.
Still, if a player like that is your No. 13, you’re probably doing pretty darn good as a team. I’d say that descriptor fits the Jazz band to a T.