Utah Jazz: Top question marks heading into the season
By John Keeffer
Can Exum & O’Neale take a leap offensively?
Due to injuries, Royce O’Neale was given an opportunity he never would have received otherwise; and he certainly made the most of it. If you can remember all the way back to last season’s training camp, O’Neale was in danger of not even making the roster. In fact, the primary reason he made the roster was Dante Exum going down with a major shoulder injury.
The Jazz no longer had the wing depth and he was an obvious choice.
Can you imagine if that had never happened? O’Neale proved last season that he can be one of the elite defensive wings in the league. While he isn’t the greatest offensive weapon in the league, he is a fine rotational player who stuck to his lane and didn’t have a negative impact. For a role player off the bench, sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
The Jazz now have Exum and O’Neale coming off their bench, which may just be the best defensive backcourt combination in the league.
During last year’s playoffs, both players showed that they are elite defensive wings. The question lies on the other side of the court for these two.
Utah’s biggest need this offseason (in my opinion), was 3-point shooting. When they chose to run it all back, the Jazz showed immense faith in the internal development of their players. That is absolutely what we are hoping for with Exum and O’Neale.
Last season, in a limited sample size, Exum only attempted 1.3 threes per game, and shot a paltry 28 percent from deep. The hope is that the early season shoulder injury was effecting his shot, and he will be able to rebound this upcoming season. For what it’s worth, this is one of the first times that he has had a full offseason to refine and develop his game.
O’Neale actually shot at a respectable clip from three (35.6 percent), but it would be huge if he could show improvement in the corner three, and even stretch himself to taking and making the above the break three. After spending much of the summer with Donovan Mitchell, and even working out with Chris Paul and James Harden, he seems to be taking the steps to make that happen.
The play and development of Exum and O’Neale this season could prove to be the biggest contributor to the Jazz becoming a true threat to the Warriors in the West.