Utah Jazz: 2 glaring weaknesses that may cost them a title

Glaring Utah Jazz weakness: Perimeter defense

It’s no secret that the 2020-21 Utah Jazz team struggled to defend the heavy wing play of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Utah has a team-oriented defense that centers around the Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert. This team-oriented scheme works well during the regular season. However, postseason basketball can expose this type of defense if the individual pieces can’t keep up with the shot-making and pick-and-roll heavy offenses that come in the postseason.

The franchise’s only good wing defender is Royce O’Neale. Although Rudy Gay has signed on this offseason and has been solid defensively for stretches of his career, the 34-year-old is certainly on the tail end of his time in the NBA.

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If Utah plans to defend the Western Conference contenders, then they will need to find another defensive stopper on the perimeter. One more wing stopper would go a long way to relieve the pressure on O’Neale and give the Jazz another option if he were to get into early foul trouble during a postseason series.