The Utah Jazz are going to have one of the more interesting rosters in the NBA next season. After acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. from the Memphis Grizzlies at last year's trade deadline, they're inevitably going to have some higher expectations heading into the season. However, they lost Walker Kessler this summer, sending him to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade. Now, they have some rebounding concerns.
For as great a defender as Jackson is, he's not a good rebounder. In fact, the Jazz don't have many players on the roster who are great on the glass. Jusuf Nurkic is probably their best option, and if he is their go-to starting center, that's not exactly a great place to be.
Losing Kessler hurts the Jazz's defense. But at least they have guys like Jackson to make up for that. In the rebounding department? They don't have much.
Losing Walker Kessler hurts the Jazz's rebounding
Throughout the course of his career, Jackson has proven incapable of making a huge impact on the defensive glass. That's why the Grizzlies have employed big, bulky centers to play alongside him.
Guys like Steven Adams and, more recently, Zach Edey have helped on the glass while Jackson focuses on defense and shot-blocking. That guy was supposed to be Kessler in Utah.
Unfortunately, the Jazz and Kessler couldn't come to an agreement in restricted free agency, and the Jazz were forced to trade him. Although they did get a pretty great haul back from the Lakers.
That said, as the Jazz look to compete for a playoff spot next season, which should definitely be their goal, they're going to be fighting an uphill battle on the glass.
With Kessler out of the picture and Jackson being a big man who struggles on the glass, the Jazz are going to have to get creative. That means it's going to have to be a gang effort on the boards.
Guys like Lauri Markkanen and even the team's guard core are going to have to hit the glass if Utah wants to avoid being one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA next season.
Kessler was supposed to be the solution. The reason that adding a non-rebounding big man like Jackson could work for the Jazz. But now, he's gone. So, Utah is going to have to hit the drawing board.
Because rebounding is a prerequisite for being a truly competitive team in today's NBA.
Add us as a preferred source on Google