Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic has been invaluable to Quin Snyder’s rotation since he signed with the club in 2019. He’s an elite floor-spacer who creates ample space for Utah’s platoon of playmakers in Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson who can also create his own shot when he’s required to.
Nobody could deny that Bogey has met his expectations in Salt Lake City, but like the majority of players in the National Basketball Association, he’s imperfect. At 32, it may be asking too much of Bogdanovic to make substantial strides in his game. He is, in all likelihood, a fully realized version of his NBA self. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t modest gains for the veteran wing to make that could increase his value for the Utah Jazz.
After all, improvement is an ever-present goal for every player in the NBA. Sometimes, even seasoned veterans are forced to improve in particular areas when other facets of their game begin to decline. Think of Vince Carter suddenly developing into a quality NBA defender once he was no longer able to jump over 7 footers, for example.
Granted, that’s an ability the Bogey man never had, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t avenues for improvement for him as well. Here are three goals for Bogan Bogdanovic heading into the 2021-22 NBA season.
Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic 2021-22 Goal #1: Improve Defensive Rating
Bogdanovic’s reputation as a defender is somewhat complicated. Teammates and coaches raved about his defensive efforts in last season’s playoff run, but the numbers told a different story.
In fact, the Utah Jazz wing’s Defensive Rating over the 2020-21 playoffs was 124. That cartoonishly poor figure almost certainly comes with a lot of noise, but his -0.6 Defensive Box Plus/Minus does indicate that those teammates and coaches were a little biased in their assessment of his efforts.
Asking Bogdanovic to suddenly evolve into a world-class defender in his age 32 season borders on delusional, but improvement seems like a fair request. His Defensive Rating from last season was 112: the exact same mark as his career average.
It’s not a very strong mark, and Bogey should aim to improve it over the course of the 2021-22 season. While the Utah Jazz posted a league best 107.5 team Defensive Rating last season, adding another defensive plus into their wing rotation through internal growth would be a much-welcomed boost to the club’s championship odds.
Royce O’Neale is Head Coach Quin Snyder’s most reliable wing defender, and he’s rock solid. Joe Ingles is a heady team defender with an exceptional basketball IQ, but his athletic limitations render him unable to be relied upon to consistently defend any given team’s second-best player on a nightly basis.
On some nights, Ingles can do exactly that, but there are certain matchups that stand to pose him problems. If Bogdanovic could emerge as a net positive defender, that would at least help to minimize the impact of Ingles’ limitations.
Again, nobody should be expecting Bogdanovic to suddenly compete for a spot on one of the league’s All-Defensive Teams. If he could simply post a Defensive Rating under 110 for the first time in his career, it would be a blessing for the Utah Jazz.
Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic 2021-22 Goal #2: Shoot above 40% from three-point range
If Bogdanovic were able to make good on the first goal in this slide, it would be revelatory for the Utah Jazz wing. If he were able to accomplish this one, it would merely mark a return to form.
Bogdanovic’s ability to shoot the 3 has been vital for the Jazz since his 2019 arrival. Last season, the team attempted the most threes in the entire National Basketball Association with 43.1 per contest. That’s especially remarkable considering that the Jazz ran exceptionally few five-out lineups. Generally, Snyder had a non-shooting big at the 5 spot, whether it was Rudy Gobert or Derrick Favors.
The Jazzmen still managed to get up a historic number of triples by placing snipers at every other position on the floor. Bogdanovic and his three-point cannon were integral to that strategy, but last season, his three-point accuracy dipped below 40% for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
The Utah Jazz will live with an exact replication of last year from Bogdanovic. The 39% he shot on 6.4 attempts per game last season is still an exceptionally strong mark. Really, this is the kind of nitpicking that’s only afforded to sportswriters: an extra 1% accuracy mark from three-point range will not move the needle for this club.
Furthermore, Bogdanovic, like every other player in the National Basketball Association, would love to shoot 100% from deep. Without a doubt, his goal is to hit as many of the three-point attempts that he launches as he possibly can in any given season.
That’s the thing about goals: you can set unrealistic ones and hope to get as close as you can to them (the “shoot for the moon” approach), or, set realistic ones and hope to meet them precisely. If Bogdanovic subscribes to the latter philosophy, he should aim to return his three-point accuracy to 40% or higher in 2021-22.
Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic 2021-22 Goal #3: Set a career high in assists per game
If the first goal in this slide was a pipe dream, and the second was too modest, this one feels like a solid compromise. If Bogdanovic was able to post a career high in assists per game in the 2021-22 season, it could provide his Utah Jazz with a tremendous boost.
In fact, this club only ranked 23rd in assists per game last season, despite having the league’s fourth best Offensive Rating at 116.5. Partly, that’s due to team strategy, as the Jazz only played with the league’s 16th fastest pace (per Hollinger). Transition-heavy offense tends to generate more assists, and Utah’s propensity to slow it down and run sets may have contributed to the discrepancy in their assists per game vs their overall offensive efficiency.
Of course, one could counter that the Jazz have no need to improve upon the NBA’s fourth most efficient offense. That’s a reasonable argument, but there’s a simple counter: fourth is not first.
On a related note, the Utah Jazz did not win the NBA championship last season. Of course, it would be hard to take the position that they would have if Bogdanovic had averaged an extra assist-and-a-half per game. Nonetheless, a little additional playmaking from the Croatian assassin could add an interesting wrinkle in the Jazz’s overall attack.
Similarly to the goal of an improved Defensive Rating, nobody should expect Bogdanovic to emerge from this offseason as a 6’8 Ricky Rubio with a three-point cannon. He averaged 1.9 assists per game last season: he should aim for 3.5 in 2021-22.
As an elite floor-spacing wing, Bojan Bogdanovic has been a precious commodity for the Utah Jazz since signing with the club in 2019. If Coach Snyder gets more-of-the-same from Bogey next season, that’ll be perfectly fine. On the other hand, if he could accomplish these three goals, he could provide his team with even more value.