Utah Jazz report cards: Ricky Rubio and the PGs at the quarter point

Raul Neto

If anyone has been the physical manifestation of the Jazz’s woes recently, especially if you’re talking about the ridiculous degree to which injuries have shaped the team over the last several years, it’s Neto. Sure, Exum has missed entire seasons, but the list of ailments that caused Neto to miss 41 games last season is so lengthy and varying it’s almost comical.

Despite that, Neto quietly put together a pretty solid season in ’17-18, abbreviated though it was. Per 100 possessions, he averaged 18 points, eight assists and five boards. Also — he was a 40-percent shooter from distance and the team leader in net rating.

In my eyes, his performance gave rise to the idea that he could cement himself as the league’s best third-string point guard this season; a rare end-of-the-bench guy with the ability to come in and impact games in a legitimately positive way.

Instead, the injury bug continued to bite. Neto missed Utah’s first 16 games, not to mention all of training camp, with a hamstring issue. So, to date, he’s played in just four games for the Jazz. He’s performed pretty well in them, overall, but at this point his body of work is just too small to provide him with a meaningful grade.

First quarter grade: Incomplete