Utah Jazz Might Surprise Some People

After a disappointing 25-57 record and firmly sitting at the very bottom of the Western Conference, Utah Jazz fans are looking for any reason to get excited.

It started when they secured a lottery pick and took Australian prodigy Dante Exum. They also managed to secure Rodney Hood, the 21-year-old out of Duke who dropped into their lap with the 23rd pick. Things continued when the Jazz were able to bring back Gordon Hayward despite heavy interest from other teams.

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Next up was the Summer League. The first real look at rookies Exum and Hood, but also a chance to plot the trajectory of

and

. Burke and Exum had their moments and while neither was overly dominant, there were positive signs that the two could definitely play together and that the talent was there to be one of the best backcourts over the next decade.

Rodney Hood was a real surprise packet though as he played all five games, led the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game and looked to be a late first-round steal. Super athletic and very talented, Hood played like he really wanted to impress and wanted to force his way into the rotation by opening night. And after his five-game foray, he may have done just that.

Finally, some refreshing signs came from the frontcourt as well. Rudy Gobert averaged nearly a double-double during the week’s action and showed deft touch around the basket. The 25-win season from last year was fast becoming a distant memory as the Utah Jazz faithful has some very positive things to look forward to.

Then the FIBA competition rolled around and while Gordon Hayward didn’t make the final cut, he will have seen great benefit from the tryouts against the best the U.S. has to offer. Rudy Gobert was playing for France and Brock Motum and Dante Exum would be pulling on the green and gold for Australia.

Gobert had pretty humble numbers with just 4.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 16 minutes of action per outing, but he was very effective. He moved well and continued his development from the Summer League.

Dante Exum (and we must remind ourselves that he is still just a teenager) didn’t see much action for the Australian team (other than the Angola contest where Exum played extremely well for 31 minutes netting 12 points and six assists), and Brock Motum surprised us all with 6.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg over the course of the tournament.

So, why is this exciting?

The young talent that the Utah Jazz have compiled are also very athletic and fun to watch. Sure, they are going to have to learn and develop a lot to become stars (or in some cases serviceable role players) in this league, but they have all the physical tools to make that an exciting journey. Dante Exum with his blend of pace, leaping ability, length and court vision, while Rudy Gobert moves like a swingman but is 7 feet tall.

Add to this, Trey Burke who is only going to be better after his injury-interrupted rookie campaign. Throw a dash of Gordon Hayward lighting it up and earning every penny he was paid and you can see the picture starting to be painted. By the time the training camps are done and the regular season begins — the Utah Jazz will be hitting the court running.

Alec Burks looks likely to have a breakout year after finishing strongly and Derrick Favors might just be ready to blow up and show everyone just how dominant he can be down low.

The future is bright in Salt Lake City. With a roster loaded with talent, and after finishing dead last in the West last season, the only way is up. Something tells me it won’t be long until we see the wins pile up for the Utah Jazz.