Utah Jazz: Three pleasant surprises and three disappointments 10 games into season

Pleasant Surprise #2 – Contributions of Bogey and Mudiay

When the Utah Jazz added free agent extraordinaire Bojan Bogdanovic, most fans of the team knew they were getting a good player. But I don’t think they realized just how good.

So far, Bojan Bogdanovic has been absolutely extraordinary for the Jazz as a superb second scoring option alongside Donovan Mitchell by absolutely torching the nets, including concreting himself in Jazz lore with a thrilling game winner over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. So far, Bogdanovic is shooting a solid 46.7 percent from the field as well as a scorching 44.3 percent from three, which would be a career-high if it holds.

Bogey has long been known as a three-point ace, and all the open looks he’s receiving in Quin’s system seem to be paying off and should only continue to do so. He’s launching at the highest rate of his career (6.8 deep attempts per game) and if he keeps connecting at this level, he will be in for a stellar year.

But what has made Bogdanovic such a pleasant surprise is, first of all, the fact that he got off to such a sluggish start in preseason. His woeful shooting prior to the start of the regular season had many Jazz fans panicking. Fortunately, he’s quickly resolved all their concerns with several electrifying games.

Secondly, Bogey has shown that he is far more than just a three-point shooter as he’s displayed a knack for getting to the rim, setting up his teammates, cutting without the basketball and playing better-than-expected defense. His D on big man Al Horford last week was a primary reason why the Jazz were able to slow down and defeat the mighty Philadelphia 76ers. Bogdanovic is a guy who can always be relied upon to give his all, and he’s been superb in a Jazz uniform.

Even more surprising in many ways than Bogdanovic has been the play of Emmanuel Mudiay, in terms of expectation versus reality anyway. Mudiay signed a minimum contract to join the Jazz and made it clear that he was doing so with his eyes set on development and improving his game. He’s had a turbulent NBA career thus far, and many had their doubts about whether or not he’d even be able to contribute for the Jazz.

He’s still had some inconsistencies, but for the most part he’s been far better than expected in Utah. He’s cut down on his costly decisions and is finding comfort on offense to provide scoring for the second unit. While his abysmal 25 percent shooting from behind the arc is perhaps even a little worse than expected, he’s been great from the floor at a whopping 50 percent field goal percentage. That may not be sustainable, but if it does hold, it would be far and away a career-high.

Mudiay’s defense also looks much better than it has in years past as he is clearly making strides and effort on that end. In short, Mudiay isn’t setting the world on fire. But when comparing the rather low and skeptical expectations surrounding him when he joined the squad, he’s done far better than many presumed. If he can keep it up, he could prove far more valuable for the Jazz than many had predicted.