Utah
Jazz ROSTER
51-20 • 1st in WESTERN CONFERENCE
| NAME | POS | AGE | SALARY | HT | WT | COLLEGE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #44 | Bojan Bogdanovic | F | 32 | N/A | 6' 7" | 226 lbs | N/A | |
| #15 | Derrick Favors | F | 29 | N/A | 6' 9" | 265 lbs | GEORGIA TECH | |
| #45 | Donovan Mitchell | G | 24 | N/A | 6' 1" | 215 lbs | LOUISVILLE | |
| #33 | Elijah Hughes | G | 23 | N/A | 6' 5" | 215 lbs | SYRACUSE | |
| #77 | Ersan Ilyasova | F | 34 | N/A | 6' 9" | 235 lbs | N/A | |
| #31 | Georges Niang | F | 27 | N/A | 6' 7" | 230 lbs | IOWA STATE | |
| #5 | Jarrell Brantley | F | 24 | N/A | 6' 5" | 250 lbs | COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON | |
| #2 | Joe Ingles | F-G | 33 | N/A | 6' 8" | 220 lbs | N/A | |
| #00 | Jordan Clarkson | G | 28 | N/A | 6' 4" | 194 lbs | MISSOURI | |
| #16 | Juwan Morgan | F | 24 | N/A | 6' 7" | 232 lbs | INDIANA | |
| #21 | Matt Thomas | G | 26 | N/A | 6' 4" | 190 lbs | IOWA STATE | |
| #10 | Mike Conley | G | 33 | N/A | 6' 1" | 175 lbs | OHIO STATE | |
| #81 | Miye Oni | G-F | 23 | N/A | 6' 5" | 206 lbs | YALE | |
| #23 | Royce O'Neale | F | 27 | N/A | 6' 4" | 226 lbs | BAYLOR | |
| #27 | Rudy Gobert | C | 28 | N/A | 7' 1" | 258 lbs | N/A | |
| #3 | Trent Forrest | G | 22 | N/A | 6' 4" | 210 lbs | FLORIDA STATE | |
| #20 | Udoka Azubuike | C-F | 21 | N/A | 6' 10" | 280 lbs | KANSAS |
The Utah Jazz may not have been involved in any trades, but their offseason was certainly not characterized by a lack of activity.
For starters, the Jazz lost a number of guys via free agency. This includes Ed Davis, Tony Bradley, and Emmanuel Mudiay, to name a few. Utah, however, decided to bring back veteran forward Derrick Favors, who played for the New Orleans Pelicans last season. Favors, who has virtually played his entire career in Utah, returned on a three-year deal worth $29.2 million.
The Jazz drafted a couple of rookies in Udoka Azubuike (27th) and Elija Huges (39th), but their most significant offseason move came in the form of a five-year max extension for Donovan Mitchell. The 24-year-old was named to his first All-Star squad last season, and as Utah's superstar cornerstone, the team did not hesitate to shell out a whopping $163 million for a five-year deal.
Utah followed up Mitchell's big-money deal with a $51.5 million extension for Jordan Clarkson, who was outstanding for the Jazz after a mid-season move in 2019-20. The 28-year-old has been paying early dividends for the Jazz, emerging as a front-runner as the Sixth Man of the Year early in the 2020-21 season.
The Jazz waited until the season was in full swing, but they also rewarded two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert with a massive $205 million contract for five years, making him one of the highest-paid big men in league history.
Gobert and Mitchell are joined by Mike Conley, the returning Bojan Bogdanovic, and Royce O'Neale in the starting unit. The trio of Clarkson, Joe Ingles, and Favors are Utah’s most important players coming off the bench.
utah jazz Team Analysis
The Utah Jazz were a pretty effective offensive team during the 2019-20 season. All in all, Utah was able to accumulate an offensive rating of 111.8, which ranked ninth in the entire NBA.
In terms of total points scored per game, the Jazz were a middle-of-the-road kind of team last year. They averaged just 111.3 points per contest, which was good for 19th in the league. They made up for it, however, in their efficiency. Out of just 85.1 attempts per game (29th), Utah was able to make 47.1 percent of their shots -- sixth in the NBA. They did not take too many shots during games, but they made them count.
The Jazz also attempted 35.2 triples per contest (10th), making 38.0 percent of them. That's a very impressive shooting clip, and one that represents the very best in the entire league. Their most effective three-point shooter last season was Bojan Bogdanovic, who himself drained 3.0 treys per game on a 41.4-percent clip. Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, and Mike Conley all averaged at least two triples per game, with all four of them making at least 36.6 percent of their attempts.
Utah attempted 22.8 free-throws per game (19th), and they were able to make 77.9 percent of them (15th).
Offensive rebounds were one of their weak spots, averaging just 9.1 per contest, which ranks a lowly 26th. Then again, the lack of offensive boards can also be attributed to their efficiency from the floor.
The Jazz also weren't very good in terms of assisting the ball, with the team averaging just 22.4 assists per contest. That ranks just 26th in the NBA. The fact that their highest scorer in the team, Donovan Mitchell (24.0 points per game), operates best with the ball in his hands is a big reason for Utah's diminutive assists numbers.
Defensively, the Jazz were not bad last season, but they also weren't very good. Overall, Utah ranked 13th in the NBA in terms of defensive rating, with a 109.3 mark.
Utah did relatively well holding down their opponents in terms of scoring. On average, the Jazz allowed just 108.8 points per game, which is ninth in the NBA. They allowed their opponents 89.1 attempts per contest (17th), while keeping them at bay in terms of efficiency. Opposing teams averaged 45.7 percent from the floor (12th).
The Jazz also didn't allow too many three-point attempts, with opponents averaging just 31.0 attempts from distance per game. That ranks third in the league, while their opponents' efficiency from rainbow territory (35.3 percent) ranks 13th.
Utah was also effective in preventing their opponents from getting to the free-throw line. Opposing teams averaged just 21.5 free-throw attempts per contest against the Jazz (eighth). Utah averaged 20.8 fouls per game, which is 17th in the league.
Having one of the best rebounders in the league in Rudy Gobert (he grabbed 13.5 boards per game last season) did not translate to the Jazz emerging as one of the most effective rebounding teams in the NBA. As a matter of fact, they averaged just 44.9 total rebounds per game, which is 13th in the league. 35.8 of their rebounds came on the defensive end (eighth).
One of Utah's biggest weaknesses last season on the defensive end was their steals. They averaged just 6.1 steals per game, which was dead last in the NBA. Blocks weren't one of their strong suits either, as they averaged just 4.1 swats per game (28ht) -- and that's despite Gobert averaging 2.0 blocks per contest.
Needless to say, the Jazz need to provide Rudy Gobert with some help on defense next season. After all, not even a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner can carry an entire team defensively.
Quin Snyder has been at the helm for the Jazz over the past six years. The 54-year-old first joined the franchise in 2014, and it took him two seasons before finally taking the Jazz to the postseason. Since then, Utah has made the playoffs four straight years. The Jazz suffered back-to-back West Semis exits in 2017 and 2018 against the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, respectively. The team did not do too well the past couple of seasons, though, exiting the playoffs in the first round each time.
Snyder holds a record of 271 regular wins for the Jazz against 211 losses. That's good for a .562 winning percentage.
Top utah jazz Roster Questions
The Jazz traded incoming second-year shooting guard Rayjon Tucker along with a 2027 second-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for cash considerations.
Tucker played 20 games for Utah last term, averaging just 3.1 points and 1.0 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per contest.
Since being established in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, this franchise has never had the privilege of winning an NBA championship. The farthest they have gone was a couple of trips to the Finals in back-to-back seasons during the late 1990s. That memorable squad also happens to be the greatest Jazz roster of all time.
The 1996-97 Jazz recorded a franchise record 64 wins in the regular season. Utah landed the top seed in the West that season, and they were just five games behind the league-best Chicago Bulls, who eventually defeated the Jazz in the Finals.
This particular Utah side was led by the legendary duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton. Jeff Hornacek, Bryon Russell, and Greg Ostertag comprised the rest of the starting five. Guys like Antoine Carr, Shandon Anderson, Adam Keefe, Chris Morris, Howard Eisley, Ruben Nembhard, and Greg Foster all played their respective roles in the squad.
Jerry Sloan — the greatest coach in Jazz history — was at the helm that season.
According to spotrac, the Jazz are estimated to have a total cap of $132.9 million.
Given how Mike Conley has already declined the early termination option on his deal for next season, the Jazz will need to pay him $34.5 million for 2020-21. Moreover, the Jazz also decided to re-sign Jordan Clarkson to $51.5 million for four years, which further complicates their cap room. Finally, they brought in Derrick Favors from the New Orleans Pelicans on a three-year deal worth $29.2 million, so as it is, the Jazz are almost certainly going to operate as an over-the-cap team next season.
Jordan Clarkson served as Utah's 6th Man for the 2019-20 campaign, and he did a tremendous job in the role.
The 6-foot-4 combo guard joined the Jazz in December of 2019 by way of a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In order to acquire Clarkson, the Jazz had to send Dante Exum and a couple of future second-round picks to the Cavs. With the benefit of hindsight, we are now able to determine how much of a win this turned out to be for Utah.
Clarkson averaged 15.6 points (on a career-best 46.2 percent shooting), 2.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 24.7 quality minutes off the Jazz's bench. The 28-year-old also connected on 2.2 triples per game (also a career-high mark) on a 36.6-percent clip.
Clarkson emerged as one of the top 6th Men in the entire league, and he will look to reprise the same role in 2020-21.
Last season, the Jazz rolled with a starting five of Mike Conley (PG), Donovan Mitchell (SG), Joe Ingles (SF), Bojan Bogdanovic (PF), and Rudy Gobert (C). Despite bringing in Derrick Favors via free agency, Utah will likely field the same starting lineup for the upcoming season, with Favors and Jordan Clarkson serving as two key players for the second unit.
