Last week NBA 2K20 released their second update of player ratings for the season. How did they rank the current and former members of the Utah Jazz?
The Utah Jazz are off to an 11-6 start, which is not bad considering how many new pieces they are integrating into the offense. Add in the fact that they haven’t gotten the best versions of Mike Conley and Joe Ingles yet, and I think it is safe to say the Jazz have a high ceiling this year.
Monday night’s loss against the Milwaukee Bucks was probably the best loss of the season. Considering that the Jazz were playing their third game in four nights, Mike Conley shot 20 percent from the field, and that Rudy Gobert was out with a sprained ankle, I’m surprised the Jazz were able to stay in the thick of the game the full 48 minutes.
This game as well as the New Orleans Pelicans game Saturday night have showed me the Jazz have a resilient spirit, spearheaded by head coach Quin Snyder’s die-hard mentality.
As for the 2K player ratings, the Jazz took a small hit from the last couple of weeks. Rudy Gobert and Tony Bradley were the only Utah Jazz players to receive upticks. Gobert went from an 86 to an 87 overall rating. He is still ranked undeservedly low among the NBA’s centers, tied for fifth with Al Horford of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bogey: 24p | 5 3pm | 4a | 3r | 1s
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 26, 2019
Don: 20p | 3a | 2s | 1r
Joe: 15p | 5r | 4a | 3 3pm | |1s
Georges: 13p | 5r | 3 3pm
Emmanuel: 12p | 5a | 5r
Jeff: 11p | 3 3pm | 2r | 1b
Tony: 11r | 8p | 3b | 2a
Mike: 9a | 6p | 2r
Royce: 9p | 6r | 3 3pm | 2b pic.twitter.com/dyhntxMMIV
NBA 2K took note of Tony Bradley’s increased role, bumping him up from a 70 to a 72 overall rating. I’m not a big fan of Tony Bradley minutes right now, but he has proven his value as an NBA player getting points and rebounds on the offensive glass against bench units.
The game knocked Mike Conley, Joe Ingles and Jeff Green down another point, they are now sitting at 82, 77, and 74 overall ratings. Royce O’Neale is still the forgotten man as his rating hasn’t changed at all. I’m thinking about starting a petition on Twitter to bump up his 2K rating, similar to the ones Jazz started years ago to get Jeremy Evans in the dunk contest.
As for former Jazzmen around the league, Derrick Favors was bumped up from a 77 to a 78 overall rating. He had an impressive 20-point, 20-rebound performance within the two-week period, becoming just the fifth player in Pelicans’ history to do so. Gordon Hayward was bumped up from an 82 to an 83 overall rating. That slight uptick was a little odd given that G-Time only played in two games in the two week period, one of which he broke his hand and has been out since.
Ricky Rubio also scored some brownie points with NBA 2K, going from a 79 to an 80 overall rating. He had one impressive game in the last two weeks where he went for 21 points and 10 assists in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s missed four of the last seven games with back spasms.
https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1197648545676812289
Around the league, some of the biggest risers in their overall ratings are Luka Doncic, Andrew Wiggins and Devonte Graham. Doncic has been sensational, doing it all for the Dallas Mavericks at just 20 years old, and the game rewarded him by bumping him up from a 90 to a 93 overall rating.
Wiggins has remodeled his offensive arsenal this season, cutting down his attempts of long twos and mid-range jumpers. It has paid dividends for his efficiency, as he is scoring a career high 25 points per game on a career high 46 percent from the field.
As for Devonte Graham, he has been stellar in filling in the void Kemba Walker left the Charlotte Hornets with this past summer. Graham has upped his scoring from 4.7 points per game to 18.2, and the Hornets are a watchable team this year mostly because of Graham.
*All stats are a courtesy of basketball-reference.com