Then, on the last season, with the regular schedule back, this depth edge of the Jazz wasn’t so visible, but with a young roster to work, coach Tyrone Corbin had on his hands a roster capable of being competitive.
Corbin had a group of four good frontcourt players, but who were relatively one-dimensional: Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap are good on offense, but subpar defensively, while Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter are the opposite. Common sense wise, it would be prudent to combine a good offensive player with a good defensive player in the lineup, but Corbin didn't do that and started the two good offensive players.
But Utah’s main problem last season was in managing the team’s backcourt, which didn't have the same individual talent as their frontcourt. Gordon Hayward was sent into the bench to have a 6th man role for most of the season, something weird, as the Jazz started most of the games with Marvin Williams, Randy Foye and Jamaal Tinsley on the backcourt thanks to that. Young players who could give the team a lot of energy, especially on defense, like Alec Burks and DeMarre Carroll were snubbed in order to give more minutes to veterans who could bring very little quality to the team.
So, it isn't surprising to see that from all teams that ended the past season with a winning record, the Jazz were the team with the worst average 1st quarter margin, an area where they ranked just #20 in the league with a -0.9 point differential per game. Utah was able to spank the lowly teams of the league with a 28-8 record versus teams with a record below 0.500, but they were constantly outplayed by top teams with an 18-34 record versus teams with a record above 0.500.
It was clear that it would be close to impossible for the Jazz to continue with the services of both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, who were both free agents. The most probable scenario was the Jazz focusing their efforts in securing one of these players, with youth being the main factor, but at the end the truth is that Al Jefferson went to Charlotte and Paul Millsap to Atlanta.
Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors indeed needed more minutes in order to develop quicker, but without both Jefferson and Millsap in Utah, their responsibility this season will go from little to huge!
It’s surprising to see that all veterans that Coach Corbin trusted more last season than the youngsters left the team during the off-season. Marvin Williams is just the exception to that, possibly because he has no market value. This just shows how weird Corbin’s decisions were last season.
Ever since Deron Williams was traded to the Nets, the Jazz struggled to find a PG to lead them. This time the Jazz took a gamble on the draft and selected Trey Burke from Michigan, who will be the team’s starting PG since they have no other better option on their roster in that position.
Utah made some minor deals to improve their depth with the acquisition of John Lucas, Brandon Rush, Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins.
If Utah reaches the playoffs this season, then Coach Corbin will be a contender for the Coach of the Year award, after being one of the worst coaches of the league last season. However, I don’t believe in miracles.
Over the last two seasons, Utah managed to be a competitive team thanks to their strong depth. It was really tough to play in Utah, hang around with them from the start and then suddenly, they would put an energetic second unit on the floor that would run them down out of the gym. This won’t happen on this new season and so, Utah will struggle to win games in the way that they had been doing over the last two seasons. One thing was their second unit with players like Favors, Kanter, Hayward or Burks and something completely different will be having Biedrins, Jefferson, Ma. Williams and Lucas this season.
Both Favors and Kanter will finally have the opportunity to establish themselves in the league as starters this season. Over the first three seasons in Utah, Favors averaged 20.2, 21.3 and 23.2 minutes per game. But those 23.2 minutes/game were enough for Favors to lead the team on blocks per game with 1.7! His defense is much better than his offense, so it would be important for him to play together on the frontcourt with a more offensive skilled player, so Favors wouldn't have the pressure from being Utah’s main target down low. However, that won’t be the case. If Utah manages to be competitive, then Favors will be a Defensive Player of the Year award contender.
Enes Kanter will now be the team’s starting center and I dare to say that what they will be losing on offense with Jefferson’s absence, they will gain on defense with Kanter on the court, as Jefferson was a black hole on defense and on rebounding.
Unless Coach Corbin has another one of “his ideas”, the Jazz’s backcourt will be formed by three young players that will be part of the future of the organization: Hayward, Burks and Burke. Alec Burks wasn't well used last season and I wonder if Coach Corbin will finally give him the minutes he deserves. Burks isn't known for his offense, but he is a huge upgrade on defense over the player Utah mostly used on this position last season. Having in account that Trey Burke will be the team’s starting PG, it will important for the Jazz to have a defensive minded player to be on court alongside Burke in the backcourt, in order to minimize all the potential defensive problems that Burke will possibly have on his rookie season.
The most positive scenario for the Jazz this season would be for Burke to become “this season’s Damian Lillard”. Unlike Lillard in Portland, Burke won’t have a great offensive frontcourt player to help him carry the load on offense and the early signs in the Orlando Summer League weren't good at all, as Burke shot 24% FG in those games!
Gordon Hayward was a starter last season in just 27 games and just like it happened with Burks, it seemed like Coach Corbin didn't trust him at all. His 41.5% 3pts mark was great and he shot 46.4% FG as a starter versus 41.7% FG coming off the bench. In my opinion, he has the upside to be the team’s best player, so Hayward’s potential improvement will be essential for the Jazz to be competitive in the near future.
The Jazz will have one of the youngest starting lineups in the league, with Burke being 20 years old, Burks 22 years old, Hayward 23 years old, Favors 22 years old and Kanter 21 years old! Therefore, the team’s potential is huge! However, when compared with the other top teams in the Western Conference, there is a substantial gap of current quality between them and the Jazz, besides the fact that I don’t trust in Coach Corbin to make the right decisions on the team this season. Therefore, I believe we will see the Jazz having a nice draft pick once again next season.