1 Clear advantage might help the Jazz make the trades they want
By Matt John
The Utah Jazz sport a 2-7 record, which is good for the worst in the Western Conference. Such a discouraging start is encouraging for the Jazz knowing it's change of pace from last season. However, for all that's gone wrong for the Jazz, one thing has gone right.
That one thing is bench-scoring. Don't look now, but the Jazz rank second in the NBA in bench scoring. They average 46.3 points per game, per NBA.com, second behind only the Warriors, who average 61.3 points a game.
This has shown itself in their lone two wins this season. In their first win against the Bulls, the Jazz's second unit scored 48 points, with John Collins leading the way with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
In their latest win against the Spurs, the Jazz put up 54 points. This time, the scoring was more spread out, but while Collins did his thing (15 points), so did Jordan Clarkson (16 points), and Johnny Juzang (10 points).
It's not totally surprising that a bench featuring Collins and Jordan Clarkson has made for one of the most productive second units in the NBA. This may add a few wins to the Jazz's win total, which may not bode well for their tanking chances, but it could help them with something else.
This could help the Jazz's hopes of trading Jordan Clarkson & John Collins
Clarkson and Collins are what they are at this point. They are productive players on contracts that no NBA team wants although for different reasons. In Clarkson's case, it's because teams don't want to commit to long-term money because adding him could hurt their long-term cap flexibility if they cross the league's tax aprons.
In Collins' case, he is just overpaid whether the tax aprons are in place or not. However, if they show how functional they can be as a second unit, that could help the Jazz's chances of trading them without having to sacrifice any assets.
This season still very much is in it's "short sample size" stage, but if they can maintain this, as long as they don't win too many games in the process, this could help their chances of trading them at the trade deadline.
Part of forming a contender is having a good bench. Anyone who associates Jazz with the contender label is doing a bit, but thanks to Collins and Clarkson, they have a bench that a contender could use. It would be hard to work out the financial side of it, but thus far, they've shown why a winning team would want them despite playing for a team that's not winning much.