The trade deadline has passed, but there are still ways the Utah Jazz can potentially beef up their roster before the playoffs start.
The Utah Jazz decided to stand pat at the trade deadline. This wasn’t too surprising to me, since they still have pieces in place to be a really good team.
The five game losing streak didn’t induce enough panic for the front office to shake things up, which was probably a wise move. The Jazz are short on assets, and would have had to give up a rotational player like Emmanuel Mudiay or Jordan Clarkson to get anything back with real value.
As presently constructed, this Jazz team has two go-to scorers in place with Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic. They have other play makers to take pressure off Spyda and Bogey, such as Joe Ingles and Mike Conley.
They have Rudy Gobert as the defensive linchpin, and frankly he’s almost just as valuable to their offense with his screen assists and vertical spacing.
The weakness of the roster is 1) the backup center position, and 2) inconsistency of role players.
Tony Bradley is on a good trajectory for his career at 22 years old, but there will inevitably be times when he gets eaten alive in the playoffs. JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, Mason Plumlee, and Ivica Zubac are the centers Bradley is likely to have to go against in the playoffs.
The Utah Jazz didn't make a trade today, which isn't a surprise to me. The buyout market is going to be interesting, thoughhttps://t.co/oBUWtFdKHv
— Zack Padmore (@ZP12Hoops) February 6, 2020
The Jazz defense struggles to hold a lead with Gobert off the floor, and that’s a problem since Rudy can’t play 48 minutes a night.
As my colleague Zack Padmore explained yesterday, Joe Ingles has been a hit or miss player this season. When he’s on, he’s a really good asset and playmaker. When he’s off his game, he fades in the background without making a real difference for the team.
Ingles hasn’t been the only fault of the Jazz roster of late. Georges Niang and Royce O’Neale also hit a cold patch over the recent losing streak and it really hurt the Jazz.
Since Utah doesn’t rely on a superstar to carry 40 percent of the usage rate, a la Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic, they need to have all hands on deck from the starters and bench.
With the Clippers adding Marcus Morris at the deadline, the Rockets adding Covington, the Bucks adding Marvin Williams, and the Lakers expected to add Darren Collison, it’s time for the Jazz to join the arms race before the playoffs start.