Utah Jazz Offseason Roadmap

Let’s keep the same line of pieces I had on Pound the Pavement going even though we’re doing it on a sleeker looking platform. We’ve covered the Nets and the Blazers, and Milwaukee to a certain extent. This week, we’ll take a look at the team that’ve been knocked out of the playoffs, since their draft order has been cemented.

The Jazz are the most recently eliminated team from the playoffs, being cravenly swept by the Warriors buzzsaw. I’m pretty confident that if George Hill hadn’t gone out, they could’ve at least won one of Games 3 or 4, giving Hayward a safety valve for his isolation plays and Rudy Gobert’s amazing interior defense.

So, what went right for Utah this year?

Positional versatility is probably the one thing I’d point to that led the Jazz to a 51 win season. Against large frontcourts with bruising bigs (think San Antonio who plays Aldridge and Gasol together), the Jazz can throw Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors inside with Rodney Hood, George Hill, and Gordon Hayward. If they’re playing a team with a stretch- or playmaking four (think the Rockets starting lineup with Anderson or the Warriors starting lineup with Green and Pachulia), they can sub out Favors for Iso Joe or Boris Diaw’s ass, the only part of Diaw’s body that’s still worth a penny. They also have the ability to go small and offensively-oriented with Favors or Diaw or Gobert surrounded by Hill, Ingles, Hayward, and Hood. They have shooting, they have isolation offense, they have defense on the perimeter and inside.

They also have a key asset on the wings: tall wings. In fact, tall perimeter players, in general, which affords their positional versatility. Here’s a rough calculation: they played nine perimeter players in the regular season, and weighted by their minutes played, the average height of a Jazz perimeter player (point guards and wings) is 78.3 inches. Don’t hold me to this, but the only other teams that can compare are the Warriors at 78.0 inches and the Bucks at 78.8 inches (inflated because of Giannis and Beasley), two teams that are at the forefront of switching, futuristic defenses.

However, that versatility alone can’t carry them too far. Where the Jazz are lacking are enough playmakers. George Hill can’t be your second option, especially, in the case, when he’s injured, aging Joe Johnson becomes the second option. The good news is that the Jazz have young prospects who can become that second option behind Hayward, in Hood and Exum. Hood, in my opinion, isn’t going to get there. At best, he’s maybe a little more efficient version of what he is right now, so let’s a ceiling of maybe 15–16 points a game on 45/40/85 shooting splits. That’s fine for a third option on a great team. And his size and defensive ability are definite pluses.

The latter is still a really young point guard and shows flashes that he’s up to speed on the defensive end of the court. But, his shooting and his decision-making are still lacking. Exum gave us a look at his explosive ability to the rim and playing off picks, albeit in a blowout against the Warriors. The issue is that Exum has the mold of a scoring point guard, and his shooting is lacking for him to develop towards that, as he’s been a 31% three point shooter in his two years of play in the NBA.

So, Exum or Hood don’t quite seem to be key offensive units next to Hayward, rather supplementary pieces to make the offense flow better. Which brings us to what the Jazz need this offseason.

Their first priority is to resign Hayward. That’s a no-brainer. In Episode 25 of The Crevice, we had Aaron Mansfield of Complex on to talk about the playoffs, and both he and CJ opined that they’d put Hayward above or at the level of fellow mid- to late 20 year old wings, Jimmy Butler and Paul George. I’m not going to go as far as to say that, but it’s easy to see that Hayward is a top 20 player in the league. The Jazz need to retain him. (By the way, you can listen to that episode down here.)

George Hill and Joe Ingles are the other considerations, but I’m certain Hill will get offers in the high teens and Ingles will definitely command eight figures as well. If I were Dennis Lindsey, I wouldn’t saddle my cap with an aging point guard with injury issues. I wouldn’t want George Hill back. Unless Ingles gets a max offer or a contract upwards of $14 million, the Jazz should match on his offer and continue with their enormous rotation of wings.

So, no George Hill leaves a big gaping hole at point guard. Instead of chasing the big names on the free agency market, the Jazz should look to move one of their first round picks and a combination of their superfluous assets for a point guard. Take a look at this trade.

Who says no? The Suns free up room to play Ulis with Booker and get a solid forward/center in Favors to supplant Tyson Chandler in that lineup. Alec Burks finally gets some playing time at backup guard behind Booker. The Jazz, on the other hand, gets a defensive, heady point guard in Bledsoe, who would fit seamlessly in a pick-and-roll schemes with Gobert. He’s a capable second scorer and still has two whole years on his cheap, cheap contract. Dudley and Lyles have to pick up the minutes hole that Favors leaves, but that’s not terrible. The Jazz will probably need to throw in their better first round pick (pick 24) to sweeten the deal for the Suns.

With their remaining first round pick, the Jazz can target a forward prospect to add depth behind Gobert, Lyles, and Boris Diaw’s ass, maybe Caleb Swanigan, Bam Adebayo, or D.J. Wilson, given who falls to them at the end of the first round.

The future for the Jazz is bright. They’ll continue to contend for one of the top four seeds in the West, and their defense and offensive versatility could lead them to a few Conference Finals. But, the issue here, again, is that the Jazz could turn in to the Memphis Grizzlies of a few years ago. Small market, really good team with a couple really good players in Hayward and Gobert, with no Finals appearances to show for it. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Personally, I think that if they get a top half point guard, someone who fits more with their timeline, they’re closer to threatening the Warriors than not.