Utah Jazz goal #2: Improve Defensive Rating
This goal sure would have felt more achievable if the Jazz had landed a 3-and-D wing at the trade deadline!
Regardless, we shouldn’t harp on the past. They did not land a 3-and-D wing on the trade deadline. With any luck, they’ll land a player that resembles one on the buyout market. Whether that happens or not, this team should aim to improve its Defensive Rating after the All-Star break.
Not that it’s abysmal. Currently, the Jazz sport a Defensive Rating of 110.3. That’s good for 10th in the National Basketball Association.
Coupled with their league leading 117.33 Offensive Rating, the Jazz have the DNA of a championship contender. Generally speaking, the team that walks away from the season with the Larry O’Brien trophy ranks within the top 10 in both categories.
The Utah Jazz (barely) qualify. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t set their sights higher.
After all, this team features a 3x Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert. His backup, Hassan Whiteside, is no slouch when it comes to protecting the paint either. It feels wasteful to anchor the league’s top 10 in Defensive Rating with that kind of interior presence.
Of course, this is precisely why (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the Jazz needed a 3-and-D wing. Out of their rotation regulars, only Royce O’Neale and Mike Conley qualify as positive defenders according to Defensive RAPTOR.
O’Neale, to no surprise, is a distinct plus with a rating of 2.5. While it’s impressive that a player with Conley’s frame could grade out as positive in any defensive metric, his 0.4 rating barely makes the cut.
For the Jazz to meet this goal, players like Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic will have to improve their efforts on the defensive end. If they can, the Utah Jazz could climb the ranks in Defensive Rating.
Otherwise, they’d better hope their offense remains historic if they’d like to make a deep postseason run.