How will Jazz fare in All-Star recognition, end of season awards?
This last question may not ultimately affect the Jazz as a team in any long-lasting way such as their record or playoff spot, but it could have individual impacts and also be helpful in convincing players to stay after free agency or wooing other players that want to make sure they can be recognized despite playing in small market Salt Lake City. Not only that, but having players earn All-Star bids, All-NBA recognition and NBA Awards is a fun experience for the fans.
As such, this is a question that almost certainly is lingering on the collective minds of the Utah faithful. Of course, it’s essentially hopeless that any Jazz player will make the All-Star Game as a starter. The voting popularity contest odds are far too stacked against them. However, there is the hope that the coaches may vote at least one of them in.
Thus far, Rudy Gobert has the strongest case as my J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston recently went into in some detail. He’s been an absolute monster defensively thus far and is putting up far better offensive numbers than he ever seems to get credit for. If Donovan Mitchell had played all season as he has in the past six games, he’d almost certainly be in that conversation as well, but unfortunately, due to his slow start, I don’t see a way for him to make it in.
Then there’s end of season awards and All-NBA awards. Rudy Gobert wasn’t an All-Star last year, but he did win Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBA recognition. Regardless of what happens in the All-Star voting, I could see that taking place yet again this year, especially All-NBA Defensive Team Honors, at a minimum.
Last season, Mitchell was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year while Quin Snyder was a Coach of the Year finalist as well. Snyder may have a chance at the award again depending how well the Jazz can close out the season, but no other NBA Award categories really fill a plausible spot for Donovan. As great as it would be to see Dante Exum win Most Improved or Jae Crowder win Sixth Man of the Year, neither has nearly strong enough of a case at this point.
So with that all being the case, it looks as though Rudy Gobert, and perhaps Quin Snyder if a miracle occurs, are Utah’s only shot at any of these aforementioned awards. And even that might be a struggle for Rudy as he tends to be overlooked for All-Star recognition, and voter fatigue combined with small market syndrome may play a role in his DPOY case, even if he is entirely deserving.
Nevertheless, as nice as end of season hardware and All-Star bids are, this Jazz team has proven the past two season that you don’t need those to outwit star-studded teams in the playoffs. This squad plays extremely well as a collective team, which has helped them reach their recent heights. Hopefully Gobert gets an All-Star bid, but don’t be surprised if Utah’s recent trend is the one that continues moving forward.