The Utah Jazz may be going back to their purple jerseys next year, but if they don’t change something in that team, they will keep having years of playoff disappointment.
This team has been on the verge of playoff greatness for what feels like a decade now. The “Big 3” of Rudy Gobert, Donavan Mitchell, and Mike Conely Jr. has failed yet again. And it is probably time to move on from one of these guys and retool under a new vision and team chemistry.
With Quin Synder leaving after 8 years with the Jazz, it is easy to create a new vision with a new head coach for how the Utah Jazz will play next season. Under Quin Synder, this team was fast on offensive and lethal from the 3-point range, often blitzing teams with dozens of successful threes a night.
While defense was never a strength of Utah collectively, they could usually rely on the brilliance of Rudy Gobert to make up for the lack of defensive responsibility from others. And it has worked in the regular season.
But not so much in the playoffs. In the playoffs this year, the Jazz ranked 10th out of 16 teams in terms of team defensive rating, 10th in blocks, and 16th (last) in steals. For a team with Rudy Gobert on it to be only 10th in defensive blocks is bad. In comparison, they were 11th out of 30 teams in the regular season in that same category. Clearly, something was not clicking on defense during the playoffs.
The gross defensive incompetence against the Dallas Mavericks mainly came from perimeter guarding (or a lack thereof). The issue got so bad that Quin Synder had to take out Rudy Gobert for more perimeter mobility to try to stop the onslaught. And, surprisingly, it somewhat worked.
Am I saying that it was Rudy Gobert’s fault that the Utah Jazz were so badly outplayed on defense? No. Am I saying that Rudy Gobert was failing in the system that Quin Synder employed during the playoffs this year? Yes.
Rudy Gobert, for all his defensive prowess, is not a swift, agile basketball player. And he usually does not have to be as he is primarily tasked with guarding the rim from any onrushing forward or guard.
That is his strength. Stationary, rim guarding, and defensive rebound collection was never an issue with Gobert. Against the Mavericks, however, he was being forced to defend both the perimeter and the rim, which is something his lack of mobility prevented him from doing effectively.
In the series versus the Mavs, Utah’s 3-point blitz attack was halted, while their defensive rigidity was exploited. And this trend has been occurring each year the “Big 3” in Utah has existed. It is time for one of Conely Jr., Gobert, or Mitchell to be moved. The question is, which one?
The easiest choice would seem to be Conely Jr. The point guard has recently come off his worst shooting year with the Jazz by putting up just 13.7 PPG, 40.8% 3-point shooting, 5.3 assists, and 3 rebounds. All of these stats are Jazz career lows for him, which is especially bad considering he played his most games in a season with the team this year. Let’s also not forget he is 34 years old.
Rudy Gobert may be the favorite to leave the Jazz, considering Utah could pick up a great trade haul for him. He still was one of the best defensive players in the league again this year, putting up 14.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 0.7 steals, and a solid 15.6 PPG. Also, he is just 29 years old.
His only issue is his contract. His monstrous 5 year, $205 million (average annual salary: $41 million) makes it difficult for any team keeping their salary under the cap ceiling if they wish to take him on.
And that leaves Donovan Mitchell, Utah’s most valued player. Drafted 13th overall in the 2017 draft by Utah, he is beloved by every Jazz fan. His 25.9 PPG, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists this season makes him Utah’s best offensive weapon. That is why he would be the easiest to trade.
At only 25 years old and making an average of $32 million/season, every contending team in the NBA would be more than willing to trade for the 3-time All-Star guard. The only issue is, do the Utah Jazz really want to trade their franchise player and condemn this team to mediocrity until they can draft/sign a new one?
One of the “Big 3” in Utah has to leave with Quin Synder. That is non-debatable as new faces and new ideas must be implemented into this team. Nevertheless, the Utah Jazz better choose the right player to move on, or risk destroying all their time and energy creating this playoff-caliber team.
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