Should the Utah Jazz add a shooting guard rather than a point guard this offseason?

Considering Donovan Mitchell’s play at the point guard spot in recent contests, which guard position should the Utah Jazz aim to pursue this summer?

If you’re a Utah Jazz fan in any capacity, you’ve almost certainly heard about, and more than likely felt, some frustration with Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio. By all rights the Spanish Samurai is a tremendous guy off the court and a skilled player on the court in many facets. However, on many occasions his play has left fans wondering if he truly is a fit with the Jazz.

Sure, the chemistry and relationship that he has with his teammates is most certainly there, but sometimes that doesn’t translate over to the floor as much as would be desired. Rubio is prone to turnovers – 2.8 per game – and his lack of a reliable shooting ability often serves as a logjam for the Jazz offense.

Consider then that he’s a free agent this offseason and it’s entirely feasible that the Jazz could look to pass on re-signing Rubio and instead aim to upgrade at the point guard position, be it via free agency in the likes of a tantalizing prospect such as Kemba Walker or D’Angelo Russell, or in a trade for someone like Jrue Holiday or Mike Conley.

All four of those options are exhilarating but there’s a good chance they’re unlikely. Even if they were available, though, there’s an argument to be had that none would be exactly what the Jazz need. What I mean by that is, while there’s almost no denying that the Jazz need an upgrade at what’s been a shaky point guard spot, perhaps the solution already exists on their roster.

Perhaps their solution is rising star Donovan Mitchell.

The amount of point guard injuries the Jazz have suffered this year has been unreal. Not only has Rubio been sidelined for quite a few games, but Raul Neto has missed significant time and it’s once again getting to the point that it’s hard to remember what it’s like for this team to have Dante Exum in action.

All that poor luck in the injury department may be viewed as a negative by most, and for good reason. But if one positive has come from it, it’s given Mitchell the chance to show what he can do at the point. And in most circumstances, the results have been favorable.

During a six-game stretch from January 9th to January 18th, the Jazz were without Rubio as he dealt with a hamstring injury. In those six games, in which all but the first against the Orlando Magic Donovan started at the point guard spot, Mitchell put up incredible numbers of 30 points per contest on 51.2 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent from deep. He also notched 5.7 assists, 1.5 steals and nearly four rebounds per game.

With the offense in Mitchell’s hands, both he and the Jazz absolutely thrived. Utah won all six of those contests. On a smaller sample size, we saw this effect in full force in the recent contest against the Milwaukee Bucks in which Donovan ran the point for much of the decisive fourth quarter that led to a career-high 46 points for himself and a big-time win for his Jazz squad.

Furthermore, there’s these fun statistical nuggets from prior to the pair of games against the New Orleans Pelicans from The Athletic’s Ben Dowsett regarding the difference between Mitchell at the point compared to Rubio:

In a recent article from The Athletic’s Tony Jones, accessible in the link below, he also touched on the possibility of Mitchell’s best position potentially being the point guard spot. It has appeared quite possible lately that Quin Snyder is leaning towards allowing Mitchell to close games at the point in place of Rubio for these very reasons, meaning Spida’s transition may already be well underway.

As such, as much as the common belief has been that the Jazz need to pursue a point guard this summer to upgrade that position, perhaps such isn’t the case. Maybe the point guard position is set with Donovan Mitchell primed to slide into that role and instead the shooting guard slot is the one they most need.

If that holds true, this could open up a world of different possibilities for the Jazz that perhaps haven’t crossed the minds of many fans yet. Which shooting guard could be an ideal fit next to Mitchell? Or perhaps more important, which one would check that box AND also be a realistic target for the Jazz?

It seems highly unlikely that the likes of free agent stars Klay Thompson or Jimmy Butler would even give Utah a second glance. And in the case of the latter, I’m not so sure he’d fit. J.J. Redick is set to be a free agent this summer and while there’s definitely some appeal there in terms of how his style would mesh, I don’t know that he’s a realistic target at all.

From there, in terms of free agent shooting guard ranks, the Jazz would likely have to look more in the tier of a Danny Green, Terrence Ross, Wesley Matthews or Jeremy Lamb mix. All of those guys have intriguing aspects about them in one way or another, but are they really pushing the needle for the Jazz like one of the aforementioned point guard prospects would? I don’t think so.

Utah could always look to the trade market to try to upgrade the shooting guard position. Someone like Bradley Beal would be a dream come true for the Jazz in terms of style, fit and even contract in a lot of ways. After already offloading Otto Porter, though, and with a discouraging John Wall contract on their hands, it’s quite hard to see the Washington Wizards parting ways with Beal who is their best player.

So is it feasible that Mitchell becomes Utah’s starting point guard sooner down the road than later? Absolutely! But could the Jazz find a suitable shooting guard to then upgrade that position and help them take another step forward next year? That becomes the tougher question.

But I think it’s one that definitely merits consideration. The Jazz are a good team but certainly aren’t a championship-contending team just yet. They have a few more steps to take to get there, one of them likely being to replace Ricky Rubio in the starting lineup for future seasons.

Will they do so by finding a new point guard this summer? Quite possibly so! Or maybe Mitchell will continue to blossom as the team’s floor general and a new shooting guard will find himself in Utah’s ranks to patch that hole.

Either way, the moves the Jazz make following this season’s conclusion will be absolutely thrilling to behold.