The Utah Jazz have arguably the most promising young core in the league. The quintet of Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter form a potential starting lineup that are all on their rookie contracts, were drafted no lower than the 12th overall spot and are all 23 years old or younger. There are reasons to believe each could reach All-Star potential and if the Jazz see the improvement they hope and expect to see from these players this season, they will be a playoff team the following season and contenders beyond. Here’s a quick look at each of the Future Five.
There is tremendous hype about Trey Burke’s rookie season. The Michigan product has been predicted by many to be the Rookie of the Year and the sports betting group Bovada has Trey as a 4-1 favorite to win the prize. A look at Trey’s numbers from his last year with Michigan paints an exciting picture for Jazz fans. The Big Ten was college basketball’s strongest conference last year according to RPI (Rankings Percentage Index), SOS (strength of schedule) rankings and according to Statsheet.com, Trey was second in points and points per game in the Big Ten last year. He was in the top 10 in 3-pointers made, attempted and 3-point percentage, as well as top 10 in each of free throws made, attempted and free throw percentage. Most importantly for the Jazz is that Trey Burke was second in assist-to-turnover ratio, first in total assists, first in assists per game and first in assist percentage. Burke also excels in the pick-and-roll, something the Utah Jazz have a bit of experience with.
At shooting guard, the Jazz have Alec Burks. Burks was drafted 12th overall in the 2011 draft. He came out of college as a slasher/driver out of Colorado who could flat out score the basketball. The question mark for Burks has always been whether he could shoot. He wasn’t a great shooter in college, but has seems to have the range to make it work in the NBA. Burks gets to the free-throw line at an elite level, something that could really help propel his career success and the success of the Jazz going forward. However, he’s yet to really make his trips to the free throw line pay off. His 71 percent mark from the stripe last year will not cut it. He will need to figure the free-throw line out if he hopes to be anything more than a role player throughout his career. One thing that Burks shares with many of his young teammates is a low total of career minutes played. Burks has played just more than 2,000 minutes in his career, while many of the players drafted near him in the 2011 draft have close to 3,500. Burks will get the minutes this year and will likely improve his game. The question: How much?
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At small forward, Gordon Hayward is the one of these five players that Jazz fans have been able to see the most of. Gordon seems to do a little bit of everything. At 6’8”, he is a great ball handler and averaged three assists per game last year. His effective field-goal percentage (measuring FG% with the idea that a 3-pointer is worth more than a 2-pointer) was better than 50 percent each of his first three seasons, his 3-point percentage is better than 40 percent for his career and his free-throw percentage was 83 percent the last two seasons. He plays extremely good on-ball defense and may be one of the best transition defenders in the game. If you watch the Jazz play regularly, you would swear he has at least one chase down block to stop a fast break every game (though he only averages half of a block per game). After his third year in the league, it will be interesting to see if he can continue to improve. The conditions are there for that improvement to happen as Jazz management has called for Gordon to take a stronger leadership role and he will certainly have the ball in his hands more going forward as one of the main scorers and playmakers on the team.
(NBA.com photo)
Derrick Favors, the recently turned 22-year-old, is a freak of nature. The 6’10” power forward has unreal athletic ability and strength. He already has the ability to be an elite level defender and rebounder. Only playing 23 minutes per game last year, Derrick averaged seven rebounds, nearly two blocks and 1.5 steals per game. His offensive game needs polish, however. Though he averaged nearly 10 points per game as a player who was not a go-to option on the offensive end, he frequently looked lost with the ball in his hands. He will need to cut down on a nasty habit of flattening defenders in the post who have established position and are ready to draw a charge and make better decisions with the ball. The Jazz will hope that newly appointed big man coach, Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone, will help some of his offensive skills rub off on Favors. This seems quite possible, as Favors’ new pick-and roll-partner, Trey Burke, was great at Michigan in setting up his teammates in pick-and-roll situations.
Enes Kanter suffers from the same affliction that Alec Burks has (as well as Derrick Favors, if you ask many Jazz fans) in that his minutes totals for his career are very low. Enes was drafted as the third overall pick in the same draft that Alec Burks was drafted, though he has played fewer minutes than Alec. He has played less than 2,000 total minutes for his career while many players drafted near him have played close to 4,500 minutes. Enes is 6’11” and has the physique of a gorilla. Though incredibly strong, Enes has shown great touch around the basket. Enes also showed off an effective jump shot last season. He shot 54 percent last season, though only in 15 minutes per game. If Enes can continue that production with more minutes and more touches, he could be considered one of the best centers in the game soon.
The Jazz have some exciting young pieces to build around and they will get the opportunity to prove themselves this season. With Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Randy Foye and (likely) Mo Williams gone, there will be plenty of shots and plenty of touches to go around. The Jazz young core can be competitive next season, but they will also struggle at times. This season will be a good chance for the Jazz front office to evaluate their young core, as well as their coaching staff. For the Jazz, the future has arrived.