Recent losses haven’t diminished the Utah Jazz as a solid-bet playoff squad, but there’s more work to be done before they can truly contend.
The Utah Jazz went head-to-head with the Houston Rockets on Saturday in a game dripping with opportunity. With a win, the Jazz would have gotten one over on the Rockets sans Chris Paul, stuck their noses up at the “schedule loss” concept and moved up the West standings in the process.
None of those things happened. Instead, James Harden and company blew up at the Viv, securing a 125-98 win over the home team. They’re now a full game up on the Jazz in the standings and two up in the loss column.
For a team that’s not too far removed from winning 15 games in 20 tries, it was a disappointing result, and one that feels like part of a new trend; the wrong kind of trend. After all, the Jazz got waxed by the Portland Trail Blazers just three days earlier and took a full half to settle in against the lowly Atlanta Hawks.
To Jazz fans that think these things are signs of an impending doom, I would say to pump the breaks. This Jazz team is good, and they’ll stay that way as long as Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Coach Quin Snyder lead the charge. Particularly on defense, their 114 D-rating over the last seven games notwithstanding.
That said, Utah clearly doesn’t have a finished product. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey still has some tinkering to do before his team can truly contend.
Adding Kyle Korver earlier this season was a step in the right direction, but multiple other steps need to be taken, and the sooner the better. Lindsey and his brain trust still have work to do, and the February 7 trade deadline is the time to make the next move.
Of course, even some of the most pessimistic fans are apprehensive about the team trading away a Derrick Favors or a Ricky Rubio — the players most likely to be dealt in pursuit of roster upgrades. I can’t blame them, either. Favors is the longest tenured Jazzman and both players are solid contributors on the court, as well as great locker room and community guys.
They’re also gumming up the works.
Favors may be better than, say, Nikola Mirotic or (insert other power forward here), but the problem is that Favors really isn’t a power forward in today’s NBA. He’s a stone-cold five-man and he’s definitely not better than Gobert, even as he puts up a 17-11-2 line per 36 minutes and shoots 58 percent from the field.
It’s an irreconcilable redundancy that needs to be dealt with.
Not just for the Jazz, but for Favors. He’s sacrificing a lot individually for the team to be good, not great. The former No. 3 overall pick needs to get to a spot where he can be himself, help lead a team and get paid in the process. And the Jazz need a player that actually fits the offense, even if he’s not as good as Favors overall.
I mean, there’s a reason the team soars when Jae Crowder joins the regular starters at the four spot (net rating 13.4) despite the fact that he’s under 40 percent from the floor and below average from distance on the year.
The Rubio situation is similarly problematic. For all the good mojo he brings to the club, he’s as inconsistent as they come. And even at his best, he’s a flawed fit for the Jazz roster. Rubio has done his best work as a shooter in Utah and still rates as below average with an effective field goal percentage under 48.
When you already have another non-shooting threat on the court in Gobert, you have yourself an offense that will never reach its potential. Add a third in Favors and you have a starting five that puts up just 102 points per 100 possessions. That’s the fifth-worst output league-wide among the Association’s most-used (200-plus minutes) lineups.
It’s not a good look from your first five and there’s really little defense for continuing on with it.
If the two were a little bit older or less established, they would be ideal back-ups. But they both still have a lot to offer as front-line players in the league and key cogs, and their best results will never come with the current iteration of the Jazz.
It hurts me to say it, but for the sake of everyone involved, the time for change has probably come. Rubio and Favors are great players and great guys, but they keep the Jazz from being a truly great team.