Utah Jazz: Emmanuel Mudiay may turn out to be more important than fans realize

As the Utah Jazz look for unique ways to maximize their new-look roster, fans shouldn’t be surprised if Emmanuel Mudiay plays a greater role than originally presumed.

The Utah Jazz undoubtedly hit the jackpot this summer when they added the likes of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic to their fold. Conley represented the dynamic playmaker and skilled point guard the Jazz have so desperately needed. Meanwhile, Bogdanovic fills a void as a sharpshooter extraordinaire that should bolster Utah’s offense while being a tireless worker that will fit the team DNA like a glove.

From there, they made some other nice moves, including adding Ed Davis and Jeff Green to help bolster the frontcourt after losing Derrick Favors and Jae Crowder. But what perhaps came as one of the most unforeseen surprises of the offseason was the addition of Emmanuel Mudiay.

Mudiay has had somewhat of a beleaguered NBA career. After initially having the enormous responsibility of running the point guard position for the Denver Nuggets as a teenage lottery pick, Emmanuel struggled to meet illustrious expectations and eventually found himself off the team that drafted him and a member of the New York Knicks.

His first partial season there was rocky, but he managed to bounce back nicely the following year. Although injury held him out for a significant portion of the 2018-19 season, he made some good progress as he finished with 14.8 points per game on the best field goal percentage of his career at 44.6 percent.

But those were decent figures on a poor team, so it’s hard to get too excited about those marks.

For that reason, with his addition to the Utah Jazz on a minimum contract, it’s entirely understandable why the majority of Jazz fans are taking a quite cautious approach with him. This upcoming season with the Jazz will largely be a proving ground for him wherein he’ll attempt to revitalize his previously floundering NBA career.

And because of his past struggles, he has a lot of work to do in order to truly prove himself. However, contrary to what many fans may be predisposed to believe, the odds are relatively strong that Mudiay is going to get a real chance to make a difference for the Jazz.

In a recent article from The Athletic (paid subscription required), Jazz insider Tony Jones revealed that the Utah Jazz are strongly considering moving Dante Exum off the ball this upcoming season. That would be an interesting development for the young guard who has been considered a point guard since entering the league.

However, considering his troublesome ball-handling and decision making at times (and that’s not even bothering to bring up his injury woes), doing so may actually make the most sense. When at his best, Dante has a deadly quick first step that allows him to burst past the opposition and get to the rim. And although he’s an undeniably poor shooter all around, he has been better throughout his career at catch-and-shoot opportunities rather than pull-ups, which would be a further testament to him being better off the ball rather than on.

That’s all fine and good if Dante can improve and become a weapon in whichever way the Jazz see fit. But if Exum is slid to more of a wing spot rather than the backup point guard position, that’s almost assuredly going to open up a massive opportunity for Emmanuel Mudiay. That sentiment was also backed up in the aforementioned piece from The Athletic as Jones made mention that Exum’s likely slide off ball would in theory make Mudiay a “primary option” at the backup point guard spot.

That could very well be an enormous responsibility for the 23-year-old to shoulder on a brand new team. However, you can certainly see why the Jazz would be interested in him. He showed a keen ability to get to the rim last season, and isn’t shy about being aggressive and using his athleticism.

Mudiay’s speed and agility were once among the most tantalizing aspects about his game prior to entering the league. And a Jazz team that may look to go more up-tempo to vitalize their offense in 2019-20, particularly in the second unit which Mudiay would help to lead, could certainly use that skill to their advantage. Last year the Jazz finished a measly 26th in the league in fast break points per game. That’s something they’ll definitely want to remedy to get easier looks at the hoop, and it’s something Mudiay should be able to help with dramatically.

Therefore, between Exum’s likely slide to more of a wing position at the two-spot or quite possibly even the three, and a need for the Jazz to inject more speed, athleticism and scoring into their second unit, it’s entirely possible that Mudiay will get a chance to spread his wings and truly prove what he can do in Salt Lake City.

That is tremendous news for him and could very well pay massive dividends for both himself and the Jazz as a whole as they’ll be anxious to see him be successful. However, considering Mudiay’s checkered history in terms of being reliable on the floor, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see him fail to quite live up to these expectations.

While ideally he will indeed prove the doubters wrong and thrive – and that would certainly be a best case scenario for all involved – Jazz fans shouldn’t get too worried about whether Mudiay sinks or swims. If he succeeds, he could add a new wrinkle to the Jazz second unit as a dynamic backup point guard. However, if he sinks, the Jazz fortunately have multiple options to fall back on.

One of those was brought up recently by my J-Notes counterpart Ryan Aston, who pointed out that anything Mudiay can provide will be mere icing on the cake. He continued by reminding Jazz fans that Donovan Mitchell will likely get run as the backup point guard on several occasions when Conley goes to the bench. Tony Jones echoed this sentiment by pointing out that one of either Mitchell or Conley will likely be on the floor at almost all times.

Not only that, but as we’ve all seen and heard in recent seasons, the NBA has been steadily progressing towards position-less basketball. The Jazz will certainly follow that trend as they can rely on others to run the offense and be primary facilitators outside of those officially denoted as point guards. Joe Ingles, who may very well come off the bench to lead the second unit anyhow, is the first who comes to mind.

Ingles did a lot of initiation last season as his pick-and-rolls with Derrick Favors became a thing of beauty as a staple in the Jazz offense. He furthered that role in FIBA play with his Australian squad, showing that he can indeed embrace a point-forward type of role.

I also don’t think it’s too outlandish to say that some offense could develop with the ball in the hands of the likes of Royce O’Neale or Bojan Bogdanovic, though admittedly it would come in rare samples.

In short, between being able to use Donovan as a filler at the one-guard spot while Conley rests and relying on other ball handlers, primarily Joe Ingles, to initiate the offense as well, the Jazz ought to be in great shape with plenty of options should Mudiay fail to rise to the occasion.

But with that being said, Emmanuel should still very well have a chance to rise to said occasion. Exum’s shift in role as well as a wide open opportunity for a backup point guard to thrive could give him an excellent opportunity. The prevailing question is whether or not he can take advantage.

Mudiay has the speed and athleticism to be a major force for the Jazz in leading the second unit’s offense. But he’ll have to show he can put several other aspects of his game together in order to truly earn that position.

Whether he’s in that spot at season’s end or not will depend on numerous factors. But at least at the commencement of the 2019-20 campaign, Jazz fans shouldn’t be shocked to see him playing a far more important role than many likely presumed he would when he was first signed this summer.