Utah Jazz: End of season awards if the season is over
By Caleb Manser
Best Acquisition
This was an easy choice. Bojan Bogdanovic‘s immediate impact from day one of his contract might just make him the best free agency signing in Utah Jazz history.
Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur were signed off the market as well, and both became All-Stars, but they took a while to get acclimated and develop into those stars.
Bojan did not take long, and I can see him being a one-time All-Star in his career if the Jazz dominate enough in the next couple of years.
The Jazz rosters of the past couple years desperately lacked a legit second scorer to play alongside Donovan Mitchell. The opposing defenses could just load up on Donovan and focusing on stopping him, and it worked in the playoffs.
Bojan was the answer to that question, as he chose to sign a four year deal last summer. His defense doesn’t stand out, but he can get by as long as his teammates pick up the slack. Offensively, his shooting stroke is one of the smoothest I’ve seen in Utah Jazz history.
When he catches fire, the Jazz are tough to stop. In games where he scores 30 or more points, the Jazz are 9-2, good enough for a winning percentage of .818.
As Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic go, so go the @utahjazz? It's not quite simple, but both forwards need to be on the mark if the Jazz are to truly contend this season. From @andyblarsen: https://t.co/bgEJnVLwBy
— Salt Lake Tribune Sports (@sltribsports) March 3, 2020
Honorable Mention: Jordan Clarkson
It’s been well-documented how Clarkson transformed the Jazz bench from one of the worst in the league to one that gets by, allowing the starters to get some much-needed rest.
If it wasn’t for the NBA hiatus, this might have been one of the best in-season trades in Utah Jazz history.
It always seemed like when the rest of the Jazz team was slumping, Clarkson was one of the only willing players to keep giving it his best rather than surrendering victory. I would have loved to see him play in the playoffs this year.