With a glut of young, relatively inexperienced players, the Utah Jazz will be expecting a lot of year-over-year improvement. With the future of the franchise depending on how good the “Future Five” of Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter can be, it is worth taking a look at who is positioned to see the most improvement. The exciting thing about the Jazz roster is that nearly anybody on it could be considered reasonably likely to have a breakout campaign.
Trey Burke – The rookie point guard is absolutely a candidate. Burke was the college basketball player of the year last year, and was drafted by a team where he’s nearly guaranteed to get the lion’s share of the point guard minutes. These factors have helped Trey be considered one of the top candidates to win the Rookie of the Year Award next season, though as his new home state struggles through a sweltering summer, the hype around Trey has done the opposite and cooled due to an underwhelming performance in summer league. Trey struggled with his shot and looked to be undersized.
Ian Clark – Another rookie for the Jazz, Clark went the opposite direction of Trey Burke in summer league. As an undrafted player, Clark was invited to play for the Golden State Warriors summer league team and thrived. Clark is a pure shooter with defensive skill. Ian likely won’t ever be a primary offensive option, but certainly has the ability to step in and make a mark off the bench for the Jazz this season. Similar to DeMarre Carroll‘s time with the Jazz, Clark could become Tyrone Corbin‘s X-factor off the bench.
Rudy Gobert – Gobert rounds out the list of Jazz rookies. At one point in time, Gobert was projected to be a lottery pick due to his unreal upside. The 7’2″ Frenchman has experience playing pro-ball in the physical French League and will look to exploit his freakish size to be an immediate impact player for Utah. Ty Corbin will certainly enjoy the ability to stick Gobert’s NBA draft combine record setting wingspan (7’9″) and standing reach (9’7″) in the paint to trouble opposition offenses. If Gobert gets minutes and is able to adjust to the NBA quickly, he could very likely have a breakout season for the Jazz.
Brandon Rush – Coming off a devastating injury last season, Brandon Rush will be looking to prove to his new team (and the rest of the league as a free agent), that he has the ability to be a primary offensive option. In the 2011-12 season, Rush was able to put up a true shooting percentage (TS%) of nearly 63 percent, which is approaching the elite level NBA players. Much of his success that season was due to shooting the 3 at a 45 percent clip. It will be hard to keep Rush off the floor if he is able to shoot as well as that next season.
Marvin Williams – A true sleeper to improve greatly, Marvin Williams may have it in him this season. Although Marvin will start the season recovering from surgery, he may finally have found himself in a situation that is suited for him to thrive. After all, Marvin is a former number one draft pick. If Marvin is able to recover from his injury, he will likely find himself coming off the bench for the Jazz to begin with, which means he may have the opportunity to become the Jazz’s primary bench scorer. If Williams shows the potential that has been so allusive throughout his career, he may find himself as a starter at some point during the season. The role of primary scorer for the Jazz this season will absolutely be a season long interview process, so Marvin may be able to make his mark.
Gordon Hayward – Hayward will likely start off the year as Utah’s biggest weapon. Hayward is finally starting to get the national recognition he deserves, after being one of the standouts during this summer’s USA select team workouts. Hayward’s TS% throughout his career has been an above average 56 percent, he shot better than 40 percent from 3 last season and averaged three assists per game. Hayward bounced around from being “the man” of the second unit, and being a starter in a lineup where he saw much less of the ball. This season Hayward will get his opportunity to be the leader of the team, and may even garner some all-star consideration.
Derrick Favors – Many Jazz fans have considered Favors the Jazz’s most promising player since the Jazz traded for him several years ago. Derrick has shown extreme potential, especially on the defensive end, but has been buried behind Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap until this season. When given opportunities last season, it was clear that Favors needed to work on his offensive game. Derrick’s effective field goal percentage (eFG%) was 33 percent on jump shots last season, but he was able to get to the free throw line at an impressive rate. If Derrick can add some offensive touch to his game to go along with his NBA all defensive team potential, he will be an All-Star waiting to happen.
Alec Burks – Alec has not gotten a lot of minutes to prove his worth in the NBA, but in the 17 minutes per game he has averaged over the last two seasons, his numbers have looked fairly pedestrian. With a TS% of 50 percent, Burks has not been a very efficient scorer, which is somewhat surprising as one of his main strengths has always been that he is a very good slasher/driver/finisher that gets to the free throw line a lot. Alec’s greatest weakness also represents his greatest area of opportunity: free throw shooting. There is no excuse for an effective NBA scorer to average 71 percent from the stripe, but that is what Burks did last season. Burks will likely need to shoot around 85 percent from the stripe if he hopes to be a starter in the league, but his nearly five rebounds per 36 minutes certainly helps his cause.
Enes Kanter – The Turkish powerhouse made a tremendous jump last year from his rookie season. Kanter only played about 15 minutes per game last season, but was able to prove that he will be a force down low. Kanter looked incredibly smooth in the post for a second year player last year, and seemed to be a sponge that soaked up all of Al Jefferson’s offensive tutelage. Enes’ TS% was above 58 percent last season, which is All-Star level. Can he replicate that percentage with starter minutes against starter level talent? Ask the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (Hobnats?), who were the helpless victims of the Turkish tank as he rolled over them to the tune of 23 points and 22 rebounds in a 30-point win for the Jazz during one of Kanter’s only starts last season.
If you’re a Jazz fan, can you watch that without smiling?