Utah Jazz vs Phoenix Suns: Depth
Of all three points of comparison we’ve drawn in this article, this one was the easiest to draw a conclusion on.
The Utah Jazz rostered both the Sixth Man of the Year in Jordan Clarkson and the runner-up for the same award in Joe Ingles. Generally speaking, any team that boasts the NBA’s two best reserves is likely to have a case as the deepest team in the league.
The Suns’ best reserve last season was probably Cameron Payne, who quietly had an excellent season. He scored 16.8 points and dished out 7.2 assists per 36 minutes, resulting in a fine 1.3 Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). Some may argue that Dario Saric was even better, but his 0.0 VORP suggests otherwise.
Nonetheless, Joe Ingles’ robust 2.5 VORP tops all reserves in this matchup, and it isn’t even close. Jordan Clarkson’s 1.4. narrowly edges Payne’s 1.3 as well, the highest mark from a Phoenix Suns reserve. Beyond the top reserves, the Jazz’s offseason additions of Rudy Gay, Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside project as better than Suns end-of-rotation players like Frank Kaminsky and Cameron Johnson.
The Utah Jazz were the deepest team in the NBA last season, and figure to be again in 2021-22. The Phoenix Suns never stood a chance in this comparison.
Verdict: Utah Jazz
The Phoenix Suns made a surprise Finals appearance last season. Far be it from us to call it a fluke. However, in a head-to-head comparison in offense, defense and depth, the Utah Jazz appear to be the superior team. They’ll hope for better health in order to block the Suns’ path to a repeat Finals appearance in 2021-22.