Utah Jazz: Emmanuel Mudiay looking like a low-key steal

Not much was expected from the move when the Utah Jazz inked Emmanuel Mudiay over the summer. However, the early returns look promising.

So we’re four games into the Utah Jazz’s much-anticipated 2019-20 campaign and, very clearly, the team has work left to do before it begins to resemble the squad fans have dreamed of since July. That said, a handful of things are already clicking into place — a great development for the eternal optimists among us, because now is the prime time for early overreaction and small-sample-size theater.

If you’re looking to keep the summer hype train going, you needn’t look further than the play of Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic to get all hot and bothered. Even as the Jazz struggle offensively, the former is playing like an MVP candidate while the latter looks like a Kawhi-level offseason addition.

I’m not above indulging in the kind of too much, too soon prognostication that could totally blow up in one’s face in a matter of days, either, so here’s mine — Emmanuel Mudiay is low-key the king of bargain basement free agent pick-ups and one of the steals of the summer.

Not much was expected of the former No. 7 overall pick when he put pen to paper on a one-year, $1.7 million deal with the Jazz. But it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t been one of the team’s more impactful players thus far.

As one might expect, Mitchell, Bogey and Rudy Gobert are making the largest impact among rotation regulars in terms of on/off numbers and net swing. Surprisingly, though, it’s Mudiay that hits the scene next.

The Jazz are outscoring opponents by 14 points per 100 possessions when Mudiay is on the floor and are 11 points/100 poss. better when compared to his minutes on the bench.

One of the big issues with Mudiay’s game over his first four years in the league has been his defense, but he’s fit right in with Utah’s vaunted front in the early going. When the 23-year-old is the closest defender, opponents are making seven percent less of their field goal attempts overall compared to their average and 12 percent less on two-point attempts.

That kind of shot tracking can be misleading, but the team numbers say that he’s impacting that end of the floor as well. The Jazz are conceding just 86.6 points/100 poss. when Mudiay is in the game, the best mark on the team outside of the mop-up crew.

Even on Monday against the Suns, in a game that the Jazz narrowly escaped with a one-point win, Utah was plus-eight with Mudiay on the guard line. He was the only bench player with a positive plus/minus score.

Per 36 minutes, Mudiay is putting up an 18-6-5 line, and while his 3-point shot remains a bugbear, his effective field goal percentage is virtually the same as his career-best mark from last season. The biggest improvement looks to be in finishing plays at close range, which has been a problem zone for him in the past.

Within three feet of the basket, he’s connecting at an 80-percent clip; obviously, that’s unsustainable, but it does make one wonder if Mudiay has finally mastered the use of his large frame to get things done at the tin.

If he keeps this level of play up, Quin Snyder is going to have to make some tough decisions once Dante Exum returns to the court.

Still, we’re just four games in and as I alluded to earlier, anything proclamations we make now can crash and burn at the drop of a hat. For now, though, it looks like Bogey wasn’t the only hidden gem Jazz brass uncovered over the summer.