2. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert must expand his offense
For years, Rudy Gobert himself has asserted that he’s ready to be a bigger part of the Utah Jazz offense. Despite this, we haven’t seen much of a leap in his offensive production since his third year in the league.
During the 2020-21 season, Gobert averaged 14.3 points per game. That tied him with Ben Simmons for the lowest-scoring players who made last season’s All-Star Game.
In an era where 7-footers like Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porziņģis seem to be able to score from anywhere on the floor, Gobert’s offensive skill set has yet to expand outside of the restricted zone. Of the 14.3 points per game that he averaged a season ago, 11.0 came in the paint.
Until now, Gobert’s offensive game has consisted almost entirely of putbacks from offensive rebounds and catching lobs at the dunker’s spot. I’m not saying that he needs to take five 3-pointers a game, but he will need to add something to his scoring toolbox.
The best thing Gobert could do right now to help the Jazz scoring output is to develop a better low-post game. At 7-foot-1 and nearly 260 pounds, if he could punish smaller defenders on the block, it could change how teams game-plan for Utah. And this would surely secure the big man’s spot on the 2022 All-Star roster.