Utah Jazz: Exploring Bojan Bogdanovic’s gains in efficiency

Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic is quietly enjoying a splendid campaign.

Time and again this season and in various quarters of play, third-year Utah Jazz player Bojan Bogdanovic has knocked down momentum-changing 3-pointers. His clutch hand presented itself again on Monday night in the final minutes of Utah’s 115-104 road win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Yes, back-to-back deep splashes from Bogdanovic essentially squelched any hopes of a late Pelican comeback. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound full-time starting forward finished the contest with 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field, including a 5-for-11 clip beyond the arc.

It marked Bogdanovic’s third straight game with 20 points or more, his first such stretch this season.

The Utah Jazz’s efficient Croatian sensation

Perhaps the trusted clutch displays from Bojan Bogdanovic are simply a byproduct of his clear gains in the efficiency department this season.

At 1.7 turnovers per game, his turnover average is at an all-time low since his 2019 arrival with the Jazz in free agency. The same goes for his 1.6 fouls per game.

Although Bogdanovic still sometimes spills butter on his fingers before trying to catch a pass, he doesn’t appear to stay in a funk afterward like he so often did the past few years.

Meanwhile, all of Bogdanovic’s shooting percentages mark improvements upon his last two years with the Jazz except at the charity stripe, where he’s hitting 86.6 percent of his attempts this go-round just the same.

Bogdanovic is shooting 47.9 percent from the floor right now, up from 43.9 percent last season and 44.7 percent the year before. Furthermore, it’s worth noting his 42.6 percent from downtown would end up as the 32-year-old’s personal best from his eight seasons to date in the NBA.

And it’s not as if Bogdanovic has seen a marked dropoff in 3-point shots. No, his average of 6.4 attempts per game from deep equals what he finished with last season; he’s just making more.

All in all, it seems Bogdanovic has steadily unearthed his most beneficial role and money spots beyond the arc, notably from at or near the corner. Indeed, his comfort level nowadays as a Jazzman is showing up in the boxscore and on the floor in the form of more frequent momentum-changing fist pumps.

Up next for Bojan Bogdanovic and the Utah Jazz, who remain No. 3 in the Western Conference at 27-10, is a road showdown at 8 p.m. MT Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets (18-17).