How long should the Utah Jazz wait to make changes to their lineup?

The Utah Jazz are 1-2 and not looking very good at the minute, so when can we expect changes?

Let’s be clear, if this was a team that was full-on in its rebuild, we wouldn’t be asking this question. The Utah Jazz’s own players and coaches have talked about the team competing for the playoffs. The goal is the playoffs. That’s the aspiration of everyone on the team. If this was a rebuilding team, we just eat the losses and find the good in the defeats.

This is not a Utah Jazz squad that is in a full rebuild, however. This is a team that expects to compete for the playoffs, so how long do we have to wait until the team makes moves to get guys out of the lineup that are hurting the team? Right now, the players causing the most damage to the team’s effectiveness seem to be Talen Horton-Tucker, Jordan Clarkson, and Collin Sexton, with Walker Kessler being someone the team needs to keep an eye on as well.

Clarkson may just be starting off slow, but as he’s played well in the FIBA World Cup and for the most part in the preseason, that seems unlikely. Sexton had a rough first two games but against the Suns looked much better; on offense. Defensively he’s becoming borderline unplayable. He has a defensive rating of 130, the worst on the team, and a defensive box plus-minus of -6.2.

Offensively, we know Sexton won’t be this bad all season. Defensively, with how bad this perimeter has been through three games, Sexto may be more exploited than ever, which makes him unplayable. He’s the worst-rated full-time player on the team according to DBPM, and it’s worrying that he’s never had a good defensive season in his career so far.

Walker Kessler can be summed up as overwhelmed. He’s on the worst defense in the league and even if he could cover four other spots on the court at the same time, it still wouldn’t be enough. So while Kessler isn’t single-handedly changing the game on his own, he’s also at the mercy of four other guys who are usually not doing their job either.

So, Clarkson should bounce back, Sexotn offensively is fine but defensively is not and Kessler is overwhelmed. What bout Horton-Tucker?

Well, Horton-Tucker is just bad. He’s shooting just 21% from inside the arc, and 33% from outside of it. He’s the top-rated guard defensively but considering how bad the other guards are known to be on defense historically (save for Kris Dunn), that’s not exactly a high bar for him to clear. Defensively he may be a better option than most but the team isn’t playing guys that long either.

Of the six guards, only Clarkson is getting anything close to 30 minutes per game, making it really hard to judge the play of guys who are getting 18-21 minutes per night.

Clearly, there are changes needed to the lineup, be it with the minutes given, the players in the lineup or the rotation, and the way in which they get used. But how long until the team realizes that this needs to change so that the team can get back on course?

The season can quickly get away from a team, and while you are going to play 80+ games this season, if you start too far behind the eight-ball, it’s going to be hard to get back into the swing of things.

After all, the West seems well-built, and Jazz as a whole is not playing well. This isn’t even something we are unaware of. These are issues we had prior to the start of the season and we’re seeing those concerns raise their ugly heads.

Now, can things look better in the next three as opposed to the previous three? Sure, but it’s a lot easier to finish in the top six if you go 3-3 over the first six as opposed to if you go 1-5. Now, there are going to be some who say “You have to give it time” and to those fans, one has to sincerely ask; do you?

We’re not talking about Keyonte George or the other rookie’s development; those young men need time We’re talking about Sexton, a six-year guard who’s known for his poor defense. Clarkson, who has been to the NBA Finals before, is long known for his poor defense. We’re talking about Horton-Tucker and his horrid, well, everything.

These are guys who have been in the league long enough for us to know what they can and can’t do. We aren’t under any illusions that Clarkson or Sexton will turn into good defenders, and if the team is struggling to play defense why would we sacrifice wins for them?

Changes have to be made before the season gets away from the team.