The Utah Jazz fell short of their desired outcome last season. With then-sophomore rising star Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz were ousted in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs by the Houston Rockets in a gentleman's sweep. This came one year after Mitchell led Utah in a star-molding performance in 2018 to the second round, an impressive feat for a relatively-unknown collegian who was selected with the second-to-last pick of the lottery.
In 2019-20, however, the Jazz have rolled the dice, trading for Mike Conley and telling the rest of the league they mean business.
With that potential vault towards realistic championship contention, though, comes added pressure of meeting goals and exceeding what looks to be constant second-round dread for the Jazz. Here are three Jazz players facing the most pressure in the upcoming season.
3. Bojan Bogdanovic
Bojan Bogdanovic was, in a way, the crown jewel of Utah's free-agency splurge, as the Jazz signed the Croatian swingman to a four-year deal worth north of $70 million. The Jazz hope Bogdanovic pairs well on the wing with talented shooter Joe Ingles, as Mitchell and Conley get to maximize the amount of space to operate and create for themselves or find elite shooters on the perimeter.
Bogdanovic is no slouch, either. In fact, he was downright great with the Indiana Pacers the past two seasons. Last year alone Bogdanovic shot 42.5 percent from three-point range on 4.8 attempts per game and averaged 18.0 points per contest. The fact that Utah handed such a lengthy contract to a player already on the wrong side of 30 only adds additional pressure for him to deliver this season..
However, Bojan Bogdanovic has a chance to shine with the Jazz and be a wing threat to a team desperately in need of knockdown shooters given Conley and Mitchell's ability to break down defenses and Rudy Gobert's pick-and-roll action.
2. Emmanuel Mudiay
Another new player for Utah, but this time it's Emmanuel Mudiay, entering his fifth year in the league. Mudiay had a roller-coaster tenure in New York with the Knicks. He was often a pet project and favorite for head coach David Fizdale until closer to the end of the 2018-19 season when former ninth-overall pick Dennis Smith Jr. overtook Mudiay's starting role and the Congolese-born player quietly played a reserve role and missed near a dozen games from February to April.
Emmanuel Mudiay signed a one-year deal with the Jazz and he could very well be fighting for the honor of backup point-guard minutes with still-waiting-to-hit-his-stride Dante Exum. At times in his four-year NBA career it looked like Mudiay should be out of the league. The former lottery pick of the Denver Nuggets needs this season to prove many things: One, that he is a viable guard option in the NBA, and two, that Mudiay will not harm the Jazz in stretches where Conley and Mitchell need to rest.
That's the name of the game for Mudiay, who way too often hurt his team whenever he stepped on the hardwood. There's much to be improved upon for Emmanuel Mudiay, who finds himself between a rock and hard place, and must be at least net-neutral for the title-chasing Jazz.
1. Mike Conley
New team, new set of expectations.
It's a whole new ballpark, or arena, for the veteran point guard Mike Conley who, despite being one of the Jazz's least-tenured players, has spent the longest time in the NBA. In other words, Conley knows the difficulty and concentration it takes to perform at a high level for a long time, but now he has to fit in with new teammates and coaches.
Mike Conley has had perhaps one of the strangest careers in the Association. He has never made an All-Star team, he has made six playoff appearances in seven years with the Memphis Grizzlies, and it is oft-forgotten that at one point he was the highest-paid player in the whole league. Conley signed a five-year, $153 million contract with Memphis in the summer of 2016, and has a player option on the final season of his deal.
That means the new Jazz floor general could say goodbye to his new team, or it could forecast how his tenure in Salt Lake City plays out, all depending on Conley's performance.
Nevertheless, Mike Conley is a great point guard who will at the least give Utah a better baseline than in recent memory – and perhaps propel them to new heights.
The Jazz find themselves with the consummate leader and professional in the locker room.
Follow Us
Subscribe