The Utah Jazz are coming off a 2018-19 NBA campaign in which they won 50 games and were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round, with the Houston Rockets making it incredibly obvious that the Jazz needed more.
Well, Utah answered the bell this offseason, swinging a trade for Mike Conley and then signing Bojan Bogdanovic in free agency to beef up its offense. Conley and Bogdanovic essentially replaced Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder, both of whom were offensively challenged.
While Donovan Mitchell remains the No. 1 scoring option and Rudy Gobert is the defensive anchor, the Jazz's new additions will be what ends up vaulting them into legitimate contention in the Western Conference.
The biggest key here may be Bogdanovic.
We know Conley is a stud. He was one of the best point guard for years in Memphis, and now, he will be able to rejuvenate himself on a team that is actually good, unlike the past couple of Grizzlies teams.
Basically, Conley has a track record of being a really good player.
Bogdanovic, on the other hand, still has something to prove.
The 30-year-old flourished in an increased role with the Indiana Pacers last season, as his usage skyrocketed once Victor Oladipo went down with a season-ending quad tendon tear in January.
Bogdanovic ended up pouring in 18.0 points per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor, 42.5 percent from 3-point range and 80.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Obviously, those numbers are very impressive, but are they sustainable?
While it's entirely possible that Bogdanovic suddenly “got it” five years into his NBA career, it's also hard to ignore the fact that he isn't exactly young and may have just had a career season in a contract year.
Bogdanovic is a lifetime 46.3 percent shooter from the field and a 38.9 percent long-distance shooter. Those numbers are certainly solid, but they are not the same as 2018-19.
To be fair, Bogdanovic has been on an upward trajectory for the past several seasons, so maybe he really did just break out this past year. But we don't know that for sure, and neither do the Jazz, regardless of how much they believe in Bojan.
This is why Bogdanovic may very well end up being the X-factor. We already know how good Mitchell and Conley are, and Gobert is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. They are all proven, and Mitchell is only getting better.
But Bogdanovic kind of came out of left field with the season he just had, and you also have to wonder how a change of scenery—and expectations—will affect him heading into the 2019-20 campaign.
Personally, I think Bogdanovic will be just fine. he is genuinely a good player, and there is a chance he will be just as efficient in Utah as he was in Indiana. He certainly has the supporting pieces around him to make it happen.
That being said, it's hard to deny that he is a bit of a question mark, especially for a Jazz team that will be relying heavily on him in order to stand toe-to-toe with the Clippers, Lakers and Nuggets, among other teams, in the rugged West.
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