Intuitively, the Utah Jazz have not declined significantly this season compared to last season when they just lost Gordon Hayward and performed surprisingly well. In fact, they won 50 games in the regular season this season. 2 more games than last season. However, judging from the performance of in the playoffs in the past two years, the competitiveness in the playoffs this year is indeed not as strong as last year. Last season, the Jazz defeated the even more talented Oklahoma City Thunder in 6 games in the first round, but were eliminated by the Houston Rockets in 5 games in the first round of this season. Considering last season's performance, the Jazz entered the 2018-19 season with a lot of expectations, so the playoff failure will be magnified.
Can the Utah Jazz make strong signings during the offseason?
The Jazz have 17 million in salary space this summer. If they give up all free agents and Derrick Favors's non-guaranteed contract, the salary space freed by the Jazz will be enough for them to get a super maximum contract. At the beginning of the season, there were many trade rumors about Favors , but in the end the Jazz kept him. Facts have proved that Favors can help the Jazz in the playoffs. So are the Jazz still willing to use part of their salary space to keep Favors next season? The Jazz's defense ranks second in the league this season. The defensive system with Rudy Gobert as the core is also the reason why they win most games. Gobert will guard the inside to resist the impact of other teams. What the Jazz urgently need is offensive firepower. Take their first-round opponent Rockets this year as an example. When encountering a top team like the Rockets, excellent defense is not enough to make up for the gap in firepower between the two sides on the offensive end, so how to supplement the team's offense? Firepower is a problem that the Jazz should focus on solving this offseason.
So which players can the Utah Jazz get? Utah has never been a destination for free agents, even when Gordon Hayward was with the Jazz. The Jazz's attraction to free agents can only rely on cap space and the potential of Donovan Mitchell to become a superstar. If Khris Middleton chooses to leave the Milwaukee Bucks and Antetokounmpo, then the Jazz will be a team suitable for him. He can also play the role of a scorer well next to Mitchell. Of course, Middleton The chances of Don leaving the Bucks are not high. There is also Tobias Harris, which is even more suitable for the Jazz than Middleton because he has the ability to create scoring opportunities independently. It's just that the probability of Harris leaving the 76ers is even lower. The Philadelphia 76ers will find ways to keep him in the summer. There are also Malcolm Brogdon and Jeremy Lamb that are also worthy of consideration by the Jazz. Of course, their attraction to the Jazz cannot be compared with Middleton and Harris.
How should the Jazz handle the Ricky- Rubio situation?
Rubio is more like a double-edged sword for the Jazz. He is an excellent defender in terms of organization and defense, but his offensive ability will become a burden to the team. Like Lou Williams, he is more suitable for the team. The role of the sixth man. Unlike Lu Wei, Rubio is not good at offense. He is better at organization and defense. When Donovan Mitchell's offensive touch is not good, Rubio can lead the team to attack well, but if he wants to go further in the playoffs, Rubio's personal offensive ability has become a big problem. The Jazz need to introduce a point guard who can perfectly fill the gap in offensive firepower when Mitchell is off the court, and who must have stable off-the-ball and scoring abilities. This requirement may be a bit high, unless the Jazz can spend a lot of money to recruit players like Kemba Walker and D'Angelo Russell . Of course, even if they are given a maximum salary contract, these two free agents may not be willing. Come to salt lake city .
If the Jazz ultimately choose to keep Rubio, who has become a free agent, it will actually be a good choice. After all, Rubio is very familiar with the current Jazz system, and his performance is worthy of the Jazz staying. The problem of wing scoring ability still needs to be solved, otherwise this problem will still be exposed in next year's playoffs.The Jazz need more offensive firepower, and head coach Quin Snyder also needs more options to improve the team's offensive performance. It is unreasonable to put all the offensive burden on second-year rookie Mitchell. .
What changes should Donovan Mitchell make next season?
In the two seasons since he came to the NBA, Mitchell has been proving to people that he still has a lot of room for improvement. Shot selection is a problem for him. Of course, this is also related to the offensive ability of other Jazz players. Mitchell has to take more than 20 shots per game to provide the offensive firepower the team needs. For the 22-year-old Mitchell It is normal for the condition and feel to fluctuate. Mitchell does need help, but at the same time he cannot ignore that the Jazz coaching team has created an offensive system suitable for him, so he also needs to convert his talents into stable output as soon as possible and grow into an all-star level player of.
Mitchell performed very well in the second half of the regular season this season. After the All-Star Game, he averaged 26.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 46%. In the third game of the playoff series with the Rockets, Mitchell's shooting touch was very bad, and the Jazz lost the game in the end. However, Harden's shooting touch was also very bad in this game, missing all his first 15 shots, but The Rockets still won the game. In the fifth game of the series, Mitchell made only 4 of 22 shots and missed a key ball. The Jazz were officially eliminated by the Rockets. But without Mitchell scoring 19 points in the last quarter of Game 4, the Jazz would have been swept out by the Rockets. The guard from the University of Louisville has received a lot of attention since he entered the league. Now if he wants to join the ranks of league superstars, he must show a more stable performance. Mitchell and the Jazz will face the same situation next season and must prove themselves with real competitiveness.
Original text: Paolo Uggetti
Compiler: Sunny
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