It is no surprise that patience is wearing thin in the Utah Jazz organization. The franchise continues to be in search of its first NBA title and has failed to get closer with its current core. Despite reaching the postseason the past six seasons, the Jazz have failed to make it past the Western Conference Semifinals. They entered this year’s postseason as one of the coldest teams in the NBA, losing 7 of their last 11 games. The Jazz seemingly caught a break with Luka Doncic coming into the series injured, however, the Mavs were able to cruise past Utah and won two games without their superstar stepping on the floor.
There have been growing reports of frustration in recent weeks and for good reason. The most notable storyline is the potential breakup of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.
Rudy Gobert is at "him or me" point with Donovan Mitchell and will demand that one of them be traded in next few days, per @realOCsports
“Rudy feels that his own numbers are consistent or getting better, while Don is D liability and is falling off in terms of explosiveness” pic.twitter.com/ilIJRMXX2z
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 2, 2022
While the recent frustrations are for good reason, the Jazz are not as far off as it may seem. The organization can make some slight tweaks to the team that could breathe new life into this Utah roster. While some changes will certainly be expected, the Jazz should keep the current core intact and attempt another run.
3 reasons Jazz should run it back
Donovan Mitchell’s Development
It is nearly impossible to win in the NBA without a superstar on your roster. This is not a concern for the Jazz as they have found this type of quality player in Donovan Mitchell. The 25-year-old has improved in every area of his game since he was the 13th overall pick in the 2017 draft and still has plenty of room to grow.
Mitchell averaged 25.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.2 rebounds last season with the Jazz. He also is a career 36.1% three-point shooter and is one of the more advanced shot creators in the NBA. Spida still has plenty of room to grow and the rate he is improving is impressive. Even with the whispers of him desiring a larger market, the Jazz should not be looking to move on from Donovan Mitchell unless they absolutely have to.
Improve the Supporting Cast
While so much criticism is given to Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, there are other concerns on this Jazz team. Utah has maintained its identity by surrounding this duo with three-point shooters during their time together. The Jazz were second in the NBA last season in three-point attempts with 39.6 per game. They led the NBA in offensive rating and had eight different players on their roster this season who averaged over 35% shooting from beyond the arc.
As the saying goes, “you live by the three, you die by the three,” and the Jazz found this out in the postseason. In Game 5 against the Mavs, the Jazz set an all-time record for the worst three-point percentage in a playoff game. Utah was just 3 of 30 (10%) in the matchup and this was simply too poor of a shooting performance to overcome.
While possessing talented three-point shooters is essential in today’s NBA, it cannot be the team’s only game plan. Rather than scrapping its entire identity, the Jazz could improve in a major way by adding two-way wings to its current core. Adding some athleticism to the roster and finding more shot creators would create more versatility with the Jazz. There are sure to be some changes to this Jazz roster moving forward, but the end of bench upgrades could play a bigger role than it is being credited.
Jazz Offensive Tweaks
One of the other notable weaknesses in the Jazz offense is the production of Rudy Gobert. Utah tends to space the floor, allow Donovan Mitchell to create, or launch a three-pointer. While Gobert occasionally adds points through putbacks and catching lobs, there simply has to be more to his game. The Jazz often use Gobert as a screener, however, do not capitalize on a switch unless the lob is there. Gobert averaged just 0.7 post-ups per game last season which is a 5.9% frequency. Adding more sets to the offense to ensure Gobert is more active offensively would benefit the Jazz.
While Rudy Gobert is never expected to become an advanced post player, there are still matchups he can exploit. The Frenchman should be confident enough to take advantage when a guard is switched on him. These are easy baskets that the Jazz are not capitalizing on and occur often in the postseason. If he can establish post position when a smaller guard switches onto him, there is no reason the 7’1 center can’t get some easy lay-ins around the basket. The regular season and postseason are two different beasts in terms of what is effective offensively. Quinn Snyder must make some tweaks to ensure the Jazz are not too reliant on three-point shots and getting more creative in Rudy Gobert’s usage is a clear way to combat this problem.
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