The Utah Jazz enter the 2021-22 NBA season with a plentifully stacked cupboard. With the additions of Rudy Gay, Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside, this team features improved positional versatility and better general depth than last year’s NBA-leading 52-20 squad.
Optimism abounds in Salt Lake City, as the Jazz figure to be in the mix for championship contention once again. In spite of the key marginal additions mentioned above, this team looks relatively similar to last year’s outfit. As such, internal improvement could be a meaningful avenue to an overall improved team performance in 2021-22.
Here’s one area that every member of the Utah Jazz should aim to improve leading into next season.
Udoka Azubuike: Fouling
In all likelihood, the addition of Hassan Whiteside portends Azubuike’s status as a benchwarmer for the second consecutive season. Such is life for prospects on NBA contenders.
Nonetheless, the Utah Jazz will be in need of his services should Whiteside find himself injured, and Azubuike should have an opportunity to challenge the veteran for backup 5 minutes in practice throughout the season.
Azubuike is an athletic marvel with strong shot-blocking and rim-running instincts. However, his 5.7 fouls per 36 minutes last season hint at a lack of discipline that could limit his (already limited) opportunities. He’ll need to learn to defend without fouling in order to advance his NBA career.
Bojan Bogdanovic: Playmaking
We know the Bogey man strikes fear in the hearts of opponents with his ability to score the ball. Last season, he did so to the tune of 17.0 points per game on a tidy, efficient 58.8% True Shooting (TS%). That figure actually marked a downward swing for Bogdanovic, who’d posted 60.3% and 61.3% accuracy by the same measure in his previous two seasons.
Efficient scoring always has value, but defenses have an even more difficult time accounting for a player who is a dual threat to create shots for his teammates. Bogdanovic’s 1.9 assists per game last season reflect a player who is uninterested in doing so.
If Bogdanovic can nudge that figure in an upward direction, it should only serve to diversify the Utah Jazz’s attack.
Jarrell Brantley: Consistency
Like Azubuike, Brantley is unlikely to crack Quin Snyder’s regular rotation as a raw 24-year-old on a contending team. Still, Brantley should get plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills for Utah Jazz G-League affiliate Salt Lake City Stars. It’s imperative that he make the most of those opportunities.
Over the course of the last full G League season, Brantley was generally great for the Stars, but could have stood to remain aggressive in a bid to score consistently. Viewing his game logs from that season reflects considerable unpredictability: a 26 point game here, an 8 point game there, and so forth.
A 6’5, 250 pound athletic freak, Brantley is one of the more intriguing long-term prospects on the Utah Jazz roster. He needs to maximize every opportunity he can to prove exactly that.
Jared Butler: Turnovers
A theme is emerging among Utah Jazz players under 25: they’re not likely to receive a lot of playing time. However, Butler may be an exception: the Jazz’s guard rotation gets pretty thin after the talented trio of Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. Barring any significant roster changes between now and opening night, Butler could find an unexpected opportunity as the fourth guard in a championship contender’s rotation.
Cutting down on the costly turnovers he was prone toward committing during his tenure at Baylor could help Butler entrench himself in that position. His 2.4 turnovers a night during the 2020-21 NCAA season do not pair nicely with the 4.8 assists he handed out per game. Given the caliber of offensive production and defensive energy Butler otherwise brings to the table, reducing his turnovers at the professional level could greatly benefit his standing in Quin Snyder’s rotation.
Jordan Clarkson: Efficiency
Call us a broken record, but unlike Clarkson’s shooting efficiency, at least we’re consistent.
Jordan Clarkson is the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year, but keeping his efficiency in check could do wonders for the Utah Jazz and their championship odds. Last season, Clarkson headed into the All-Star break with a solid 58% effective Field Goal percentage (eFG%). Unfortunately, that number plummeted to 49% from the break to the playoffs, where it remained woefully low at 50.9%.
Shooting inefficiency is typical of undersized scoring guards of Clarkson’s ilk, and frankly, that’s acceptable. Here’s the rub: 58% is not a wildly efficient eFG%, either. It is, on the other hand, solid.
Clarkson should aim to shoot around that level of accuracy again, and more critically, maintain that efficiency all throughout the year into the playoffs.
Mike Conley Jr.: Durability
It always feels a little dirty to hold a player’s health against them. These are professional basketball players: they’d all play 82 games a season in perfect health if they were in control of their fates.
Nonetheless, it is otherwise difficult to pick nits with Conley Jr.’s game. When he does see the floor, he is the picture of reliability: a near-flawless decision-maker with a consistent jump shot who gives a high level of effort on defense.
Unfortunately, his body is prone to failing him. Last season, Conley Jr. was available for 51 out of a possible 72 games, and injuries have been a trend throughout the floor general’s career. That trend carried over into the 2020-21 playoffs as well, much to the dismay of the Utah Jazz.
Conley Jr. may not have any recourse to improve his health outside of prayer, meditation or visualization. Nonetheless, durability is the area in which he is in most dire need of improvement.
Trent Forrest: Three-point shooting
Trent Forrest went on an absolute tear in this year’s Summer League, and he may have earned himself a spot in the Utah Jazz’s rotation to show for it. A high level playmaker and explosive athlete, Forrest’s potential as a bonafide NBA-level guard is unassailable. His three-point shot, on the other hand, is not.
During his rookie campaign with the Utah Jazz, Forrest shot a ghastly 19.2% from three-point range on 0.9 attempts per game. By contrast, his 33% three-point accuracy in Summer League play inspires hope. Still, he’ll need to prove he can hit somewhere close to that mark on the professional level to reach mainstay status in Utah’s rotation.
Like many prospects in today’s NBA, three-point shooting is Forrest’s swing skill. If he can make strides in that area, his potential is as high as his vertical leap.
Rudy Gay: Rebounding
As a 15-year NBA pro, Rudy Gay might not be a prime candidate to diversify his already well-rounded game. Still, leveraging his stout 250 pound frame to grab more rebounds every night could provide a great benefit to the Utah Jazz.
Last season, Gay grabbed 8 per 36 minutes. That’s a solid figure, but it’s a little underwhelming. Gay figures to spend time as a small-ball 5 in Quin Snyder’s rotation next season, and minimizing the rebounding disadvantage that’s often associated with smaller lineups could pay dividends for the Jazz’s positional versatility.
It’s hard to identify areas of improvement for such long-standing veterans: in reality, if Gay can manage not to regress in his 16th NBA season, that will be a victory. Still, a stronger presence on the glass would benefit both Gay and his team.
Rudy Gobert: Spacing
The decision between floor-spacing and defensive versatility was not made without considerable apprehension. With that said, we’ve already spilled too much ink over Gobert’s inability to close-out three-point attempts in the Western Conference semi-finals against the Los Angeles Clippers, and besides, a man with such size that he’s nicknamed for a tower is unlikely to dramatically improve his foot speed over an offseason.
So, we went with spacing. Anyone who watches the Utah Jazz knows that Rudy Gobert is an absolute non-spacer. The front office has done a fantastic job of ensuring they run plenty of four-out lineups by surrounding the French rim-protector with shooters aplenty. Still, the development of an occasional three-point cannon, or even a midrange jumper, would do wonders for Gobert’s offensive profile.
Maybe the mere mention of the possibility of Gobert adding a jumper to his repertoire is wishful thinking. On the other hand, we know he practices them. Whether added floor-spacing is a realistic goal for Gobert or not, it would certainly benefit the Jazz’s quest for an NBA title.
Elijah Hughes: Finishing
Elijah Hughes is yet another Utah Jazz prospect who is unlikely to garner Coach Snyder’s favor in 2021-22. However, improving his ability to finish at the rim could go a long way towards achieving that goal.
During Hughes’ 2020-21 rookie campaign, he shot an unimpressive 33% from the field. Uniquely, he actually shot a higher percentage on three-point attempts at 34.8%.
Granted, the 3.6 minutes he averaged over 18 games for the Jazzmen is a smaller-than-small sample size, but those statistics actually square with Hughes’ reputation heading into the draft. We know Hughes has a deep bag of dribble moves that allow him to be an effective isolation scorer, but until he can finish with consistency, his sizzle-to-steak ratio is too poor to find a consistent role with the contending Utah Jazz.
Joe Ingles: Nothing
Here, we confirm what Utah Jazz fans have long expected: Joe Ingles is the perfect basketball player.
Jokes aside, Ingles plays the game with a level of athleticism that more closely resembles your local YMCA than the National Basketball Association. With that said, you try finding a hole in Ingles’ game that isn’t his inalterable lack of athletic prowess. We’ll wait.
He’s a crafty, intelligent passer who coach Snyder relies on for secondary, and at times primary, playmaking. He’s a lethal three-point threat, as indicated by the 45.1% he shot on 6.1 attempts per game last season. He’s also a savvy, reliable defender with a 107 career Defensive Rating.
If making significant strides in foot speed and vertical leap were an attainable goal, we’d list athleticism as the area in which Ingles could stand to improve. It isn’t, and for that reason, we’re left without a feasible suggestion for Joe Ingles’ improvement.
Donovan Mitchell: Defense
Donovan Mitchell is the most important player on the Utah Jazz. That’s a designation you earn with 26.4 points per game. He is the Jazz’s offensive lifeline, and without an offensive lifeline, an NBA team is dead in its tracks.
With that said, his -0.6 Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) does suggest room for improvement on the defensive end. With the prerequisite length and burst, Mitchell could stand to make a habit of playing passing lanes, hounding ball-handlers, and generally making a larger mark on the defensive end.
If Mitchell never develops into a plus-defender, the Utah Jazz will survive. After all, he possesses the type of elite offensive creation that comfortably compensates for deficiencies on the other end. Nonetheless, a stronger two-way impact would be the safest avenue to improvement for Utah’s young star guard.
Juwan Morgan: Aggression
Like every other young player on the Utah Jazz’s roster, Morgan has not found a great deal of opportunity in Coach Quin Snyder’s rotation. However, it might be fair to say that Morgan has done the least with the opportunities he has had.
Nobody could expect Morgan to light up the scoreboard in the 5.1 minutes per game he averaged last season, however, the 8.6 points per game he scored per 36 minutes last season are suggestive of a player who is still unsure of himself.
It’s hard to talk about a player we’ve seen so little. It’s unclear what Morgan’s bankable NBA skills are. Whatever opportunity he gets to show them next season, it’s imperative that he does so.
Royce O’Neale: Shot creation
First, a caveat: Royce O’Neale is unlikely to add a great deal of shot creation to his game for the 2021-22 season. O’Neale has carved out a role as a superb 3-and-D wing as a member of the Utah Jazz and elsewhere throughout his NBA career, and it’s fair to assume that if he could create shots for himself, he’d be doing so by now.
That’s fine: 3-and-Ds of O’Neale’s caliber are in high demand across the league, and for good reason. His 38% accuracy on 3.9 three-point attempts per game coupled with his stout 108 Defensive Rating will be more-than-enough to stay in Coach Snyder’s good graces.
Nonetheless, if you’re looking to identify a potential area of improvement for O’Neale, the ability to create shots for himself and others could elevate him from solid role player to a player with higher esteem.
Miye Oni: General improvement
Another rookie-or-sophomore who has languished on the back of Coach Snyder’s bench, Miye Oni is a raw, soon-to-be third year player with a ton of potential. In the meantime, a perusal of his per-36 numbers reflect a number of areas in which improvement is critical for the young guard/wing.
His 4.2 fouls per 36 minutes seem like a good place to start. They’re much too high for any player, yet along a non-big. His 35.4 FG% needs to jump by at least 5% for him to become a viable rotation option. Furthermore, he’s flashed very little skill in the realm of playmaking with 1.9 assists per 36 minutes.
Oni is a quick, explosive athlete with the necessary physical tools to make an impact in the NBA. However, if he’s going to do so, he’ll need to develop a lot of important skills first.
Eric Paschall: Defense
We’ve already covered Paschall’s need for defensive improvement at length, but it warrants a repeated mention.
A bruising combo forward, Paschall is a player with significant offensive utility, as demonstrated by his career 18.7 points per 36 minutes across two seasons with the recently dynastic Golden State Warriors. Paschall can drive to the basket with great effectiveness, and made significant strides in his three-point shooting in his two seasons in the Bay Area, jumping from 28.7% to 33.3% accuracy. The kid, without question, can score the ball.
Still, his DBPM of -1.5 leaves much to be desired. It’s possible that Paschall’s ceiling on that end is limited as a “tweener”: he may be too short to consistently protect the rim, and too hefty to consistently guard the perimeter.
If he can progress on the defensive end, he has an opportunity to become a key acquisition for the Utah Jazz this season.
MaCio Teague: Playmaking
Teague will be entering his first season with the Utah Jazz, and in all likelihood, it may more closely resemble his first season with the Salt Lake City Stars. Nonetheless, making strides in the playmaking department could do wonders for Teague’s chances of seeing playing time in the big league.
The 1.9 assists per game he averaged during his time at Baylor demonstrate his need for improvement on that end. Teague has exceptional scoring chops, but at 6’4 and 195 pounds, it may be difficult for him to earn a role as a featured scorer at the NBA level. If he was a player who could set up teammates on a consistent basis, his likelihood of finding success at the NBA level would increase significantly.
Hassan Whiteside: Defensive consistency
Whiteside is an enigma. Assessments of his defensive impact are as divisive among NBA fans as identity politics are on an American College campus. Nonetheless, advanced stats indicate that his doubters have a stronger case than his supporters. Last season, Whiteside posted a negative DBPM of -2.5.
Whiteside can block shots in bunches. For proof, look no further than the obscene 3.7 per game he blocked for the Miami Heat in 2015-16. However, he has often been accused of “chasing” blocks at the expense of maintaining proper defensive positioning throughout his career.
The Utah Jazz can provide the veteran big man with an opportunity to break this bad habit in the 2021-22 season. If he can, he should function as one of the best backup bigs in the NBA behind the always-in-position Rudy Gobert.