Utah Jazz: Why Wouldn’t You Start Trey Burke?
This season for Trey Burke is a make-or-break year, but should it really be?
Burke is entering the last guaranteed year on his contract playing for the Utah Jazz, but hasn’t Burke done more than enough to solidify his position as Utah’s starting point guard?
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Let’s delve into further research.
Burke’s biggest competition comes from the Australian point guard Dante Exum. Last season Burke lost his starting position to the 6’6″ rookie. The No. 5 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft wasn’t too impressive, though, as he averaged 4.8 points and 2.3 assists per game. Exum also finished 27th overall in points per game among rookies. It was the lowest total among top five draft picks.
However, Burke–in his second season–almost tripled Exum’s production. As a backup point guard, Burke’s 12.64 PER was more than double than Exum’s 5.7. In addition Burke also tripled Exum’s scoring average by scoring 12.8 points per game and also chipped in with 4.3 assists a night.
If those aren’t enough numbers, let’s present more evidence on the table.
Answer this question.
What point guard on Utah’s roster averaged the most points, assists, steals, rebounds last year? What point guard also had the best assist to turnover ratio? That answer is none other than Trey Burke.
A lot of people want to make this about how Burke hasn’t “lived up” to the hype that surrounded him leaving the University of Michigan and would you blame them?
Due to the fact that Burke left Michigan with a number of accomplishments including being named the National College Player of the Year, making first-team All-American, winning both the Bob Cousy Award and the Big Ten Player of the Year award, as well as leading Michigan to their seventh Final Four appearance and their sixth national championship appearance, there’s been a lot of hype around his career.
It hasn’t been exactly like it was at Michigan but Burke hasn’t been a terrible NBA player. He’s gotten a lot of flak but has definitely been a solid professional. The beauty of Burke’s 12.8 points per game is that he shot 36 percent from the floor. If Burke can get his shooting percentage near the mid-40s then he’ll be averaging close to 16 points a night.
People also need to keep in mind that last year was only Burke’s second season in the league. Because of the instant gratification era that we live in and everyone’s waiting for someone to automatically become a star, but most NBA players will tell you that it takes time.
Even though the Jazz haven’t been patient enough with Burke, has Exum really done enough in his short stint to prove that he belongs as the starting point guard? Does it really make sense that Burke, who’s a better player, isn’t starting? Does it make sense that everyone wants to find a way to trade him away from Utah?
Why is Exum starting? Because his “upside” is higher than Burke’s? What about his production? Upside is what got Hasheem Thabeet, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Darko Milicic chances in the league.
A lack of production is what all got them out.
Dennis Lindsey has done a masterful job when it comes to assembling this roster. Finding gems such as Rudy Gobert and Rodney Hood in the draft has been his speciality. It seems like Exum has been forced fed into the starting role because management doesn’t want to look like they made a mistake by drafting a bust at No. 5.
Especially because there were other point guards they passed on such as Marcus Smart (No. 6), Elfrid Payton (No. 10), and Zach LaVine (No. 13) who all could have been starting point guards of Utah’s future.
Why give up on a second-year player who’s still developing into a decent player? Giving Exum the starting position last season wasn’t deserved and that’s fine because it’s still not too late to make a change.
This season Utah’s ready to make a playoff push in the Western Conference and their team is more than equipped to handle the task. The only position that still has question marks is point guard.
But why would there be question marks from the position when you know if you start Burke you’re going to get a solid double-digit scorer and nearly five assists per game. Burke won’t be the best player in the starting lineup, but he’ll be the facilitator that Utah’s been missing. Even if he’s not hitting his open shots, consider the alternative.
Can Utah really afford to get held back by a point guard who may or may not turn into a 10-point scorer in his career?
Next: Utah Jazz: Biggest Takeaways From Summer League
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