Utah Jazz: Who Will The Utah Jazz Let Captain The Ship? Who’s Playing Point Guard?

There have been talks about what the Utah Jazz should do with their point guard situation.

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Some people feel like Trey Burke needs to get traded for a more experienced veteran. Where as some people feel that the Jazz should draft another point guard for the third straight year.

However, the way that I feel about the Jazz point guard situation is that there is much room for improvement and the only way that we can see if the guards have improved is if they start to play more. We need one more year to see who should actually retain the starting job.

You remember when I wrote Utah Jazz: Is Trey Burke Or Dante Exum Even a Question?

Over the next several weeks we’re going to go in depth as to which point guard should start.

Sep 29, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guards Dante Exum (left) and Trey Burke during Media Day at Zions Bank Basketball Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

An entire season has ended and the thoughts of the original story are the same, but a lot has changed since then.

We’ve seen the two compete against each other all season and it’s starting to look more clear that the Jazz play better defense when Dante Exum is on the court. Although there still hasn’t been a change of opinion regarding who should get more playing time there are bigger questions looming between Exum and Burke.

What will the Jazz do this offseason? Has the clock struck midnight for both of these point guards? Who should be getting more minutes? Who should the Jazz start at point guard to begin the season? Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

To use that over gratifying football reference…

“If you have two quarterbacks you have none.”

On paper it looks like there shouldn’t be a question to who the starting point guard of the team should be.

Mar 8, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Utah Jazz shooting guard Dante Exum (11) controls the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Exum is head and shoulders above Burke, not metaphorically either. Exum stands at 6’6″ and 190 pounds and his strength is going to increase instantly once he starts hitting the weight room. That size alone is something that can’t be taught. It’s that size that made him a big prospect in the 2014 NBA Draft.

However, for as big as Exum was in his rookie season his size didn’t correlate to production. If we’re talking about the eye test, or even sheer statistics for that matter there shouldn’t be a question as to who the starting point guard of the team is because the Jazz didn’t get much offense from their 19-year-old developing point guard.

Exum scored in double figures 13 times, which was second lowest (Aaron Gordon was No. 5 with seven games. He only played in 42 games) out of all the top five picks in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Thankfully outside of all his struggles on the offensive side, we found out something else about Exum. He’s much better than expected when it comes to playing defense.

On a team with four other players in the starting lineup who can get their own shots and score in double figures nightly Exum found his niche.

Why even worry about playing offense? Play awesome defense and get in where you fit in. During the process of becoming stronger it would also help Exum if he started to become a better on-ball defender. Players like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Andrew Wiggins are known for being awesome defenders with great scoring ability.

There are also players like “First-Team All Defense” Tony Allen who are strictly known for being able to shut down your favorite player on a given night and lead his team to the W.

Point being, there are many different ways to find success in the league. You can play defense and be has celebrated as much as a great offensive player.

At times Exum looked seasoned defensively playing against players such as Mike Conley, Damian Lillard, Eric Bledsoe and Shane Larkin. Other times he looked overmatched going against Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, even Zach LaVine. But that’s expected since they all are a marvel of athleticism (Curry’s very quick).

Guards with that elite athleticism give him troubles as they do with everyone, but Exum didn’t shy away from the challenge. He’ll have to get his quicks up, as well as his strength in order to counter the way they attack him.

But who only wants a point guard that can play defense and not provide anything on offense? That’s where Trey Burke has the advantage.

Even though Burke found himself playing off the bench in his sophomore season (unjustly so too might I mention), he still produced. If we’re talking about age, experience, maturity and an overall better player than the edge is significantly in Burke’s favor.

It’s OK to have a bit of skepticism when it comes to Burke.

Many people, myself included, expected him to take a huge step up from his rookie season to his sophomore season. With the injuries to Alec Burks and Rodney Hood, as well as the saga with Enes Kanter, it was expected that he would. It didn’t happen that way exactly and that doesn’t matter because Burke didn’t do anything to lose his starting spot.

The circumstances that happened over the course of the year cause him to help the Jazz off the bench for some instant offensive firepower and he did just that. Now should Burks come off the bench instead of Burke next season, yes. Will it happen? We’ll have to see.

The facts of the season are that Burke played less minutes and still averaged the same amount of points per game (12.8) and he also added in 4.3 assists from his rookie year. It’s tough splitting minutes with another developing guard and seeing your role change throughout the season but it didn’t hamper his play.

Moreover Burke’s numbers as a backup were still better than Exum’s as a starting guard.

Thankfully the responsibility of Burke’s future is in his hands alone. If Burke can do his due diligence and make sure that he’s a much improved shooter he’ll become the starting point guard next season. I’ve been saying it, he’s a better shooter than what we’ve seen.

In an interview I had with Burke, he said these words:

"I want to be an All-Star, and winning championships. At every level, high school or college, I’ve won a championship. From AAU national championships, to state championships, to losing in the national championship game in college. I’ve always really been about winning, stats will come. I’ve always been a part of winning teams. Besides the last two years I’ve won on pretty much every team.I know that’s our goal with the Jazz organization to get into the playoffs and win, and someday hopefully we can compete for rings. We feel like we have the young talent to do so in the Western Conference."

Burke this past season shot 36 percent from the floor and 31 percent from the three-point line. Even his free throw shooting was off, as he shot 75 percent.

If Burke can make himself into a better shooter when he’s on the floor than he’ll instantly start to see more playing time. It will also help him get those championship appearances he’s had at every level in his basketball life.

The job is there for the taking, for either of these guards.

Next: 5 Players The Utah Jazz Should Think About In The 2015 NBA Draft

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