Utah Jazz: Ranking the 5 most important players on the 2021-22 roster

In case you’re in the process of re-entering society after a decade spent living in a remote cabin somewhere off of Hell’s Backbone Road, here’s a tidbit: the NBA is in the midst of a three-point revolution.

Last season, the Utah Jazz were the vanguard of that revolution. They attempted a league-high 43.1 triples per contest. That they managed to do so with a non-spacer consistently manning the center position between Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors is even more impressive.

Bojan Bogdanovic made a strong contribution to the Jazz’s ability to hoist so many deep balls. He managed 6.4 attempts per contest, drilling an efficient 39.0% of those attempts. Furthermore, Bogey willingly played the role of pure floor-spacer, as a remarkable 96.1% of those made threes were assisted-on.

To some, that statistic may qualify as a weakness, as many fans are more impressed by players who create their own shots. That’s legitimate, but for a Utah Jazz team featuring an impressive depth of ball-handling and playmaking between Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, there is concrete value in a player who is willing to catch-and-shoot at such a substantial rate.

Admittedly, Bogdanovic was more effective in 2019-20, his first season as a Jazzman. Between the two seasons, his points per game dropped from 20.2 to 17.0, and correspondingly, his three-point accuracy dipped from 41.4% to that 39.0% mark.

Quin Snyder will still live with a stagnation in Bogey’s 2020-21 statistical output this season. If he can regain his 2019-20 form, we may end up having ranked him a position too low on this list.