Utah Jazz: Three lineups that will be a ton of fun in 2019-20

Lineup #1: Shooting and Space around Gobert

Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert

As I mentioned, this could very well be Utah’s starting lineup depending on how they want to utilize Bojan and stagger minutes at the four-spot. But whether or not this is the lineup they start with, it’s almost certainly the one they’ll end with. These are Utah’s top five players (barring an unforeseen but welcomed jump from the likes of Royce or Dante Exum), and together they’ll be a deadly quintet to close out games.

During the past couple years, particularly in postseason play against the Houston Rockets, the Jazz have fallen victim to a lack of space to operate on offense against a switch-everything defense, and to missing wide open looks. But with these five in action, it’s unlikely they’ll suffer from those same symptoms.

Both Bojan and Joe are proven 40 percent-plus shooters from deep. Not only that, but Bogdanovic is so capable off the ball as more than just a catch-and-shoot producer. He is great at reading the D, cuts extremely well and forces defenders away from the ball handler at all times as they attempt to stay glued to his hip.

Meanwhile, the Jazz have something they’ve never had in Mike Conley, a second ball handler alongside Donovan Mitchell who can penetrate the paint, create his own shot and collapse the defense. In years past, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see defenses swarm and smother Mitchell. Now if they do that, he’ll have deadly threats on the perimeter in Bogdanovic and Ingles, and another incredible shooter and creator in Conley.

Oh, and let’s not forget Rudy Gobert who’s essentially the lynch pin of this whole thing. Conley is a superb defender, Ingles has proven his worth as a perimeter defender, Mitchell is relentless, and Bogdanovic, though not a lock-down defender by any means, is far better than he gets credit for and can actually defend out to the perimeter far better than even Derrick Favors could. But of course they’re also all backed up by Rudy Gobert, the Stifle Tower and back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year.

Gobert will ensure that this lineup remains staunch on defense as the defenders funnel the opposition into the paint and as he backs them up while protecting the rim. But his offensive presence should be felt much more in this lineup as well. With so many shooters spacing the floor, Gobert will have an enormous runway through the lane in the pick-and-roll.

Not only will he be able to create better opportunities as a screener, but the attention his teammates will command should also earn him plenty of lobs and rolls to the rim. In all, the Jazz have five commanding options with this lineup that will all be hard to defend in their own right. Because of the lack of shooting and space among their former top five players, sometimes their options were cut down to just one or two such options.

It’s going to be a headache and a half for teams to stop this group of five, and their focus and attention to detail on defense should remain very much intact. Therefore, whether this group is the starting bunch or is held in reserve for the closing minutes with Ingles coming off the bench, expect it to be one of the most formidable and commonly used groups.