GDHQNBA15_4pg-Utah Jazz

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WESTERN CONFERENCE NORTHWEST DIVISION Utah After losing both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap in free agency a year ago, the Utah Jazz clearly went into rebuilding mode. Instead of seeking to acquire veteran free agents, the Jazz agreed to take on the contracts of Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins from Golden State so they could also acquire two unprotected first-round draft picks. With Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors left as Utah’s best players, the Jazz struggled to a 25-57 record, the worst in the Western Conference. Utah has clearly decided to start a youth movement—with an average age of 24.5 years, the Jazz had the third-youngest roster in the NBA last season. After selecting 18-year-old Dante Exum with the fourth pick in the draft, it’s obvious Utah has no intention of making a playoff run anytime soon. A second consecutive finish at the bottom of the Western Conference standings should not be a surprise. Defense Having a young roster is often synonymous with having poor overall team defense, and the Jazz were no exception last season. Utah finished with a defensive rating of 111.3, the second-worst rating in the NBA and better than only the Milwaukee Bucks. The problems start on the perimeter, where the Jazz simply don’t have a plus defender on the roster. Trey Burke was put in a thankless situation as the team’s starting point guard, having to face opponents like Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry on a routine basis. The team also wasn’t able to hide Burke on lesser offensive players because there was no better option to match up against those point guards. Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward are both good offensive players, but they struggle to stay in front of their defenders or fight through screens themselves. The result is that Utah guards routinely allow opponents to leak into the paint. While this is something shotblocking teams like the Clippers or Thunder can put up with, the Jazz don’t have a shotblocker like Serge Ibaka or DeAndre Jordan. Derrick Favors probably counts as the best defender on the team, but he’s not really the shotblocking Gordon Hayward


Utah Jazz Gameday HQ
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