The Utah Jazz surprised pretty much everyone (including their fans) on opening night when they demolished the Los Angeles Clippers. Their starting lineup, in particular, looked very dominant when they took the floor. Even scarier is the fact that they haven't played their secret weapon yet: Ace Bailey.
Utah also announced quite the surprise when they revealed that Svi Mykhailiuk would be in the starting lineup. Mykhailiuk has been a solid player in Utah, but he isn't exactly an NBA starter, as evidenced by the fact that he's a journeyman. Even so, the Jazz's starting lineup tore through the Clippers like a wet sheet of paper.
In 11 minutes of action, the starting five that featured Mykhailiuk, Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Keyonte George, and Kyle Filipowski had a blistering net rating of plus-49.6, per NBA.com. Mykhailiuk actually did a solid job as a starter, doing his job as the designated floor spacer, but that's about as good as it gets from him.
That's why Bailey is the secret weapon in their starting lineup. Bailey did not have the most impressive NBA debut, but anyone in the know could tell his reported illness was bothering him, which is why Utah had him come off the bench.
Okay, Bailey isn't necessarily too secret of a weapon, as he was the No. 5 pick in the most recent NBA Draft and looked very exciting during the preseason, but he is one they have yet to deploy when he is at 100% again.
He doesn't have much NBA experience to his name, but Bailey projects to be the real deal for the Jazz. They already have a good amount of firepower in their starting lineup, and there's a very strong possibility that Bailey could have a higher ceiling than all of them if he reaches his potential.
Bailey may not explode right away, but it's coming
If and when Bailey is at full strength again, it's entirely possible the Jazz may work him up slowly as he acclimates to NBA competition. That could mean he may spend a specific numbers of games playing the second unit until he proves he's too good for it.
For all we know, Bailey may need another game or two to get right as he still deals with his illness. It's also possible that even when he finds his footing, he will hit a rookie wall like anyone as talented as he is has throughout the course of NBA history.
The point is that the Jazz may have already found a starting lineup that works tremendously on opening night. To think about what that lineup could look like with an electric rookie with Bailey has to make everyone feel good for what's to come in Utah.