Utah Jazz: Three takeaways from the 2018 preseason

The Utah Jazz wrapped up a successful preseason with a blowout win over the Sacramento Kings and look to be in good shape for the regular season.

The main goals of every NBA team heading into the preseason are to get through the exhibition series without any injury concerns and to gain confidence and build chemistry heading into the new year. Utah’s roster is in good health as it stands, minus Raul Neto‘s hamstring injury, and a 5-0 preseason slate should have the Jazz in good spirits heading into regular season.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from the Jazz’s five preseason outings:

1. Grayson Allen is really good, but still not in the rotation

One thing we knew for certain coming into the preseason was that the Jazz run really deep at every position. Grayson Allen, the 21st overall selection by the Jazz this summer, had a stellar preseason and proved beyond doubt that he can be an immediate contributor, but he still isn’t in the rotation.

In five games, the rookie averaged 12.6 points on 51 percent from the field and a blistering 52 percent from downtown, to go with 1.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 steals in 19.2 minutes. He was also among the team leaders in plus/minus at plus-14.6.

Toward the back end of the preseason, we got a better idea of what Quin Snyder’s rotation will look like to begin the season, with an unchanged starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert.

Dante Exum, Alec Burks, Royce O’Neale, Jae Crowder and Georges Niang (due to Thabo Sefolosha‘s suspension) will likely be the bench players earning minutes on opening night.

The main reason Allen won’t be in the rotation on opening night is Burks’ impressive preseason campaign. Burks averaged 13.4 points on 51 percent from the field and 48 percent from deep, with 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in just shy of 19 minutes.

In Utah’s last two preseason games, Allen didn’t play in the first half and rolled with the third unit for the majority of the remaining minutes. Even still, he made it abundantly clear that if called upon, he’ll be ready to come in and make an immediate impact.

2. Dante Exum is poised for a breakout season

Injuries have been cruel to Exum since his rookie year and he hasn’t been able to show his full potential as of yet. However, the reasoning behind his top five draft selection is unquestionable.

Between his incredible frame, explosive first step and elite athleticism, Exum has all the physical tools to be an elite two-way player in today’s NBA.

Dante missed two preseason games due to knee soreness but looked incredibly impressive in the other three outings. Despite averaging just 6 points per contest, Exum showcased his all-around game, getting to the rim at will, making the right reads as the ball handler in the pick and roll, and finding the open man for 4.7 assists in just 19.6 minutes of action.

If Exum can stay healthy and play 70 or more games this season, it’s not outlandish to picture him in the Sixth Man of the Year race leading Utah’s second unit.

Exum’s primary position is still unknown to fans and maybe even Quin Snyder. For him to utilize his greatest strength, which is his blow-by speed, catching the ball with an advantage already created by the offense is key. This gives validity to the notion that Exum is best suited to an off-ball role.

However, defenders won’t close out hard enough for Exum’s first step to be effective if he’s not a threat to shoot from the perimeter.

3. Despite their record, the Jazz struggled against good teams

From afar, two preseason wins over the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers looks like good confidence builders heading into the regular season. But neither result was indicative of how the games played out.

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The Jazz played the Raptors in their second preseason game at home after dominating the Perth Wildcats. Toronto played the same rotation in the first half that we’ll likely see in the regular season. The Jazz got the better of them in the first quarter, taking a 31-25 lead into the first break.

But the Raptors came out in the second quarter and utterly dominated for the most part, blowing the Jazz out in an eight-minute period. The Jazz would go on to take the lead in the third quarter due to All-Stars Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard sitting out the entire second half.

Utah’s fourth preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers best resembled a regular season game through the first three quarters. This was plenty of time for a 3-point onslaught from the backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to blow the game out of reach under normal circumstances.

So although the Jazz fought back to take the victory in each of these two games, speaking once again to the incredible depth of the team, the preseason wasn’t as much of a breeze as Utah’s record might indicate.

On the whole, the preseason was a successful one for the Utah Jazz. They got through relatively unscathed as far as injuries are concerned and will enter the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on opening night with confidence after giving them a shellacking in their last preseason game.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com.